Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Who can Pull Us up out of the Pit?

Pastor Sherry’s message for August 11, 2024

Scriptures: 2 Sam 18:1-33; Ps 130; Eph 4:25-5:2; Jn 6:35, 41-59

In the first church I served, we were to have composed our sermons by Tuesday so we could alert the Music Director, who would then choose music that complimented and reinforced the message.  This about killed me. I am often struggling to finish my sermon by Friday night or Saturday afternoon.  So I have relied here, at Wellborn Methodist Church, on the Holy Spirit to guide the selections our musicians make.  This morning, Joy’s anthem, “Undo,” by a band called “Rush of Fools,” was perfect.  Isn’t that just what we look to Jesus to do for us?  We need Him to pull us up out of the pit.  As the song says, “Turn me around, pick me up, undo what I’ve become.  You’re the only One who can undo what I’ve become.”

Paul, in our New Testament reading today (Ephesians 4:25-5:2), continues to remind us that as Christ-followers, we are to put away our old fleshly life, and adopt a new way of living that imitates the life of Jesus. To that end, we are to (1) be truth-tellers, not liars; (2) control our tempers rather than let anger drive our behavior; (3) say things that are good and helpful rather than foul or abusive (limit criticisms and eliminate cursing!);

And (4) be kind to others rather than spew out bitterness, rage, anger, slander, or any evil behavior (like holding grudges).  As imitators of Christ, therefore, we are to live lives characterized by love, and that demonstrate self-sacrifice, just as Jesus did. This is a tall order, isn’t it?  It’s a high standard to try to attain.  But this should be the life standard toward which we each aim.  If not, we find we fall into a pit of our own making, and we need the divine rescuer, Jesus—Who we just might call “The Great Undo-er.”

As you know, we are in an election year and it would be very easy to locate examples of each of the fleshly behaviors Paul warns us to avoid in the behaviors of various candidates.  But rather than do that, let’s look to King David’s family, and the legacy of violence and rebellion exhibited by his relatives in 2 Samuel 18:1-33.  Our passage opens with King David telling his army commanders to take it easy with the young man Absalom.  Why? What’s the deal with Absolom? To find out we have to rewind and review some earlier chapters:

Remember that some years prior, Amnon, the eldest of David’s sons, raped his half-sister, the beautiful Tamar.  David was angry about this, but did not avenge Tamar.  Perhaps he was still feeling guilty about his own sexual immorality with Bathsheba.  Perhaps he thought, “Who am I to punish him for actions I also took?  Maybe he realized this was part of the playing out of the consequences of his past sin.  The prophet Nathan had told him—even though God had forgiven him— Now, therefore, the sword [violence, rebellion] will never depart from your house [dynasty; extended family] (12:10).  Maybe David feared taking any punishing action would bring about more bloodshed. So, even though he could have insisted Amnon marry Tamar, thereby legitimizing her status as a wife, David did nothing.

This apparent inability of King David, to discipline his wayward son Amnon and to help restore his daughter Tamar, incensed Absalom, Tamar’s full brother.  Absalom slyly and covertly plotted revenge against Amnon for 2 years.  He invited Amnon, together with his father’s other sons by other wives, to a sheep-shearing festival at his country home.  Absalom got Amnon drunk, then had him killed.  Now, just as David had had Uriah killed so he could marry the pregnant Bathsheba, Absolom has had another person kill his half-brother.  David must realize Absalom’s murder of his eldest mirrors his own homicidal act. Furthermore, Absolom has demonstrated that murderous rage leads to bitterness and to evil behavior.

Absalom hits the road and is exiled from his father for 3 years.  Scripture tells us that, all that time, David longed to see Absalom—now his eldest, his heir, his favorite—and mourned his absence (13).  Curiously, though, he did not send for him.  Absalom is as good as banished.  In effect, David has now lost his 2 eldest sons—1 dead, 1 exiled. 

In a complicated strategy, Joab, David’s cousin and general, (14) manipulates David into calling his son home.  David agrees, but does not invite Absalom into his presence (Is he holding a grudge?).  Another 2 years go by and Absalom grows embarrassed and increasingly embittered.

Let’s examine David’s behavior toward Absalom:  David is uncharacteristically unforgiving!  He has nursed an offense toward his son.  The King has to be urged by his cousin to recall Absalom to Jerusalem.  Then, 2 years later, he has to be again urged by Joab to reconcile with Absolom.  So, 5 years after Absalom kills Amnon (7 yrs. after the rape of Tamar), David finally summons him.  The King greets him with a kiss, but this is too little too late.  The damage to their relationship has been compounded.  Many cultures in the Ancient Near East then, as now, were “Shame-based cultures” (Honoring the family was the supreme virtue). A son, even a prince, did not shame his father. By taking a father’s right to discipline Amnon, Absalom has shamed the King.  David had exhibited his corresponding displeasure by not inviting his son back home, thus shaming Absolom.  (Contrast this with God’s example of the father in the Prodigal Son story.)  Privately David loves Absolom and misses him, but publically his pride has taken a hit, and he harbors an offense against Absalom.  He builds up a wall in his heart, and he emotionally abandons his heir.

Now let’s look at Absalom’s behavior toward his father:  After having taken himself into exile for 3 years, then feeling ignored for another two, Absalom is embittered. Like Father, like son.  He too has registered a hit to his pride. He too has taken offense and held onto it.  He too has established walls in his heart against his father.  From all of this, it’s a simple step to betrayal.

  So (15) describes how Absolom campaigns—over the next 4 years—to win over his countrymen. He was exceedingly handsome and famous for his beautiful, luxuriant hair. Though he had slain his ½ brother at his own table (a huge violation of Ancient Near East hospitality rules), he is now nice as can be to everyone. It’s a presidential campaign! He is kissing babies, promising tax cuts, and telling people what they want to hear. He is also trying to usurp his aging father’s public popularity.

Then, before David even suspects what is happening, Absalom launches a coup, and a Civil War erupts between the followers of the father and those who are loyal to the son (Chapters 16-17).  David, the seasoned warrior, flees the city (He desires no fighting in Jerusalem). He has his experienced and loyal army with him (Green Berets, Navy Seals). One of his Mighty Men, for instance, was Benaiah. He was famous for having jumped into a pit on a snowy day, where he killed a lion with only his spear (1 Chronicles 11:22).  David’s military was brave, bold, and highly skilled. They beg David, due to his age, not to go into battle with them. They realized that if the king were captured or killed, Absolom would win the war. So David agrees, sees them off, but asks them to spare his son’s life (18).

Now remember Absalom is not a warrior (he is instead a shrewd politico). Lacking an army, he has to call in Israelite citizens to bear arms for him. These are like the “national guard.”  They have some training, but limited experience. The armies encounter each other in a large forest.  Absalom’s forces pick this place, but it is not a wise battle-site, as trees, hills, and cliffs appear to have impeded troop movements. David’s veterans overcome the larger, inexperienced forces.  Absalom may have been trying to retreat or desert, when his rich, lush hair entraps him. Even though Joab, David’s cousin, had been told to capture but not kill the rebel prince, he insubordinately kills him anyway and buries his body in a pit (adding insult to injury). By the way, isn’t this the same cousin who brought Absolom back to Jerusalem, only to murder him 4 years later? Perhaps Joab reasoned that Absalom was a trouble-maker who would never fall into line; that he would always present a threat to David’s reign.  Whatever his motivation, he ruthlessly brings a sad chapter in King David’s life to an end. Joab, a second cousin, kills a second cousin. And a bereft King David loses his favorite son and heir.

What might God be saying to us today through Paul, Absolom, and King David?

      (1) What do we do when relatives take offense? We cannot hang on to offenses. They expand over time. They harden into bitterness.  They shrivel our hearts and set our spirits up against God. We must recognize and take responsibility for our own sins of pride.  We must forgive the offense and pray for the person who offended us. We must make an attempt to make amends. From the perspective of time and distance, we can see where either Absalom or David could have attempted to mend the breach.

       (2) Isn’t it true that we reap what we sow?  David kiiled a man so that he could have that man’s wife. In the very next generation, one son is sexually immoral, ravaging a woman who was not his wife. The second son kills the first.  God forgave David and forgives us of our sins, if—like David—we just humble ourselves and ask it of Him. Nevertheless, He often lets us experience the fruit or consequences of our mistakes, either in our own lives, or in our children’s or grandchildren’s generations. I have seen this so often in my counseling practice.  Similar sin patterns run down the generations in a given family. One family may be characterized by multiple suicides, another—like the Kennedys—for violent deaths; another for pornography, adultery, and serial affairs.  Intergenerational sin patterns that are not recognized and repented of can be and are passed down.

        (3) We want to forgive, before it’s too late. I picture King David wailing, keening his grief, sobbing with regret, wishing he had handled Amnon, Tamar, and Absalom differently.  The child born of David’s adultery died, but three of his other children’s lives were also ruined.  I believe he must have been so sorry that he had not been as competent a father as he had been a king or a warrior.

(4) Who could have pulled King David out of the pit of despair?  It is the same God who pulls us up out of the pit. Psalm 130:1-2—Out of the depths [the pit] I cry to you, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice.  Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.  We turn to the Lord for help. As Jesus advises in our Gospel lesson (Jn 6:35, 41-59), we stay intimately connected to our Lord, through communion conversation, and worship.

When we find ourselves in the pit, let’s remember to call upon the Lord.  As the song says, “He is the only one to undo what we have become.” Let’s ask Him for wisdom and discernment; for strength to endure (resilience); and for assistance in living a life like that of Jesus.  Amen!

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Pastor Sherry’s message for May 5, 2024

Scriptures: Acts 10:44-48; Psalm 98; 1 John 5:1-5; John 15:9-17

Back in 1984, the singer, Tina Turner, released a song called, “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” Some of you may remember the chorus to this song:

What’s love got to do, got to do with it?

What’s love but a second-hand emotion.

What’s love got to do, got to do with it?

Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?

The song had a great tune and was catchy, but the theme was sad. She sang that you can’t trust in love. She sang that she is trying to protect herself emotionally. She was tempted to love again, but feared that if she did, her heart could be broken (and no doubt already had been).

A lot of people go through life this way.  They hold themselves back, afraid to invest in others.  They prefer emotional safety to the potential for hurt and disappointment.  Last week, I talked about how countercultural our God is…this is exactly a case in point:  We are called to love Him and to love others, despite the emotional risk to ourselves.

To quote Tina, “What’s love got to do with it?” Our Scriptures today answer:  Everything!

A. In our Gospel lesson (John 15:9-17) Jesus calls us to love Him, love others, and obey God.  He is essentially repeating and emphasizing the greatest commandments (Matthew 22:37-38)—Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your mind [Be all in with God].  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it:  Love your neighbor as yourself.  He also reminds us that we demonstrate or show our love by being obedient to God.  So, even though we might be disappointed or even have had our hearts broken, our Lord wants us to continue to love Him and to love others.  Love is how we abide in Christ—it’s how we stay attached to the Vine.  Sorry, Tina, holding back out of fear is an excuse Jesus would understand but He would not want us to let that fear limit us.

B.  John, the beloved disciple, says pretty much the same thing, but with a slightly different emphasis (1 John 5:1-6): In verse 1, he defines what it means to be born again.  We believe in Jesus and we learn to love Him.  We are born again through our faith, together with our love.  In verse 3, he stipulates how we prove our love for God—This is love for God: to obey His commands.  And His commands are not burdensome….We believe, we love, we obey.  In verses 4-5, he argues that we overcome whatever evil there is in the world not by fighting, but by our faith (typically expressed in prayer).

C. Today, I want to make two points concerning these truths:

1. 1st, we often find what we are looking for, or what we are focused on: The story is told of two fellows who had been in India and happened to be visiting in the home of the same friend.  The guests were talking about mission trips and missionaries.  The first man—who had been in India all of 5 months–said, “I have no use for missions and missionaries.  I spent months there, and didn’t see that they were doing anything; in fact, in all that time I never met a missionary.  I think the church is wasting its money on missions.”  The second fellow was a quiet older gentleman.  He had not spoken up at all until this point.  He now said, “Pardon me; how long did you say you were in India?  ‘Five months.’ ‘What took you there?’  ‘I went out to hunt tigers.’  ‘And did you see any tigers?’  ‘Scores of them.’  ‘It is rather peculiar,’ said the old gentleman, ‘but I have spent thirty years in India, and in those years I never saw a tiger but I have seen hundreds of missionaries.  You went to India to hunt tigers and you found them.  I went to India to do missionary work and found many other missionaries.”

(As reported by Rev. Dr. J. Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on 1 John, Thomas Nelson, 1991, pp.143-144.)

In the same way, I had never noticed pregnant ladies in bathing suits at the beach, until I became one.  Then I saw them everywhere.  If you drive a Jeep or a Corvette, I am told, you similarly note them wherever you go. The point is that we find what we focus on.  If it’s on becoming broken-hearted, Dear Tina, that’s what we will notice.  But if we can begin to trust in love, we will begin to notice evidence of trust-worthy love all around us.

Neuroscience tells us that our brains are pre programmed to look for the negative in life.  It was probably adaptive back when we were trying to avoid saber-toothed tigers (speaking of tigers).  To habitually think positively, we have to reprogram our brains, deliberately developing new neural pathways.  We have to train ourselves to think positively and this positive thinking is highly correlated with achieving happiness.  Negativity may keep a person emotionally and physically safe, but it does not lead them to happiness.

2. The 2nd point is that any fight we face in the world is God’s to contend with.  He usually does not call us to fight but rather to obey Him in faith.  Paradoxically, Joshua’s battle at Jericho is a perfect example of this (Joshua 6:1-20).  Joshua was God’s choice to succeed Moses as the leader of the children of Israel.  The Lord charged him with taking the Promised Land and conquering the pagans who inhabited it.  Lest you feel sorry for the pagan Canaanites, please note that the Lord gave them over 400 years to accept Him as God and they refused.  They seemed to prefer sacrificing their babies to the fire, and all the sexually perverse religious rituals they performed, to worshipping a holy God.  So He determined that He—who owns the whole earth—would give the land to His Chosen Ones.

In a strategy that is masterful and brilliant, God first stopped up the Jordan at flood stage so all 2 million Israelites could cross over into Canaan (on dry land, as the text makes clear).  Remember the generation that had refused to trust in God to take the Promised Land 40 years earlier had all died out during the wilderness wanderings.  They had experienced the Red Sea Crossing.  Their younger descendants had not.  So God repeats the miracle, both to show them He is with them and to remind them of what He had done for them in the past.

Now bear in mind that this strategy no doubt freaked out the folks of Jericho, who mistakenly thought they were safe until the Spring floods receded. Then when the Hebrew army approached the city, they simply marched around the outside of the city walls.  The Levites carried the Ark of the Covenant and 7 priests blew ram’s horn trumpets, signaling that the Lord will be taking the city.  The soldiers followed, armed, but did not engage the enemy.  They did this once a day, as per the Lord’s instructions, for six days.  Don’t you know the folks of Jericho were wondering, “What in the world are they up to?”  The truth is that our God was engaged in psychological warfare.

On the 7th day (seven being the number for completion or perfection), they marched around the city seven times.  On the 7th trip, the trumpets were blown, the marching army and the encamped women, children, and elderly shouted in unison, and the city walls suddenly collapsed.  Without their massive walls to protect them—and given how psychologically demoralized they must have been–the citizens of Jericho were quickly overcome.

This is such a great example of how God fights for us (2 Chronicles 20:15)—This is what the Lord says to you: “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army.  For the battle is not yours , but God’s.”  We often summarize this passage by saying “the battle belongs to the Lord.”  Back in Joshua 5:14, and prior to the circular marches, Joshua had encountered the pre-incarnate Christ, Who calls Himself, the Commander of the Army of the Lord (Remember, when Jesus comes again, He will slay all the evil people at Armageddon; He will return as the “Commander of the Army of the Lord”).  At this meeting, Jesus told General Joshua God’s strategy and said to Joshua, See I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 

We may not have a similar encounter with Jesus, but it is still true that the battles we believers face belong to the Lord.  Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:12—For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  The forces of evil inhabit this world.  When things look to be inspired by evil, we utilize the main weapons we have—the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) and prayer.  Upset about the economy?  Pray that God would reverse the policies and the governmental overspending that have led to inflation.

Distressed about strife or broken relationships in your family or difficulties at work?  Pray that God will soften hard hearts and bring about peace and reconciliation.  Out of work? Pray that God would supply the right job and help you to have the right attitude as you embark on it. Troubled about your health or your finances?  Pray.  None of these issues is too difficult for God to address and to transform.  On our own, we can’t but He can!

We worship the God who is love.  So “What’s love got to do with it?”  Everything!  Love is the key.  Love is of foremost importance to God–followed closely behind by our faith and our obedience.  We are usually not called to fight; instead, we are called to believe, to trust in the Lord.

If we love God, have faith in Him, and are obedient, we are indeed His children.  He will and does provide for us.  He will and does protect us.  He will and does bless us and shower us with His love!  Thanks be to God Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!  Alleluia, Alleluia!

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Love in Action

Pastor Sherry’s message for September 10, 2023

Scriptures: Ex 12:1-14; Ps 149; Ro 13:8-14; Matt 18:15-20

A group of 4-8 year olds was asked, “What does love mean?” Here are some of their answers:

Rebecca — age 8—>“When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore so my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.”

Karl — age 5—>“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.”

Chrissy — age 6—>“Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.”

Danny — age 7—>“Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is okay.”

Bobby — age 7—>“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.”

Noelle — age 7—>“Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day.”

Cindy — age 8—>“During my piano recital I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.”

Chris — age 7 —>“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Brad Pitt.”

Lauren — age 5—>“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.”

Jessica — age 8—>“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.”

(Borrowed from PASTOR LARRY PRESNELL’S BLOG, 2/14/11.)

These kids have the right idea, don’t they? Love is a positive, generous feeling. But it is a feeling expressed in an action. Kids recognize love when they observe a loving action.

Our God tends to express his love in action and wants us to do likewise.

A. Psalm 149 is a psalm of praise to God because He is both our Creator and our Redeemer. He redeemed the Israelites from Egypt by the blood of the Passover Lamb and through His powerful judgment of Egypt. Just as the Israelites (v.3) Praise[d] His name with dancing and ma[d]e music to Him with tambourine and harp following their escape through the Red Sea, we too can and should praise Him for His powerful, redemptive acts on our behalf. Scripture tells us that God is love. If we have eyes to see, we can confirm that He clearly loves us. As we acknowledge each Sunday in our “Joys” of Our “Joys and Concerns Prayers,” we can and do see clear evidence of His love in action in our lives.

B. Paul exhorts us to make sure our actions are loving in Romans 13:8-14. He insists that those who abide by the 10 Commandments are living a life-style characterized by love, as (v.10)—>Love does no harm to its neighbor. Again, as I have mentioned before, the vertical of the Cross represents our love for God (commandments 1-4), while the horizontal, our love for others (5-10). People who love well do not break these laws.

C. Jesus describes a loving way to address conflict between Christians in Matthew 18:15-20. We are not to sweep conflict under the rug and ignore it. And, rather than talk ugly about a person who has offended us—which many choose to do–we are to go to that individual and try to work it through. I recommend you pray before trying to do this. Ask God to give you the words, the wisdom, and the right heart attitude, and also to be working on the other person before you meet. He often, I find, solves the problem before we even begin the needed conversation.

D. Our Old Testament Lesson (Exodus 12:1-14) provides a perfect and memorable example of God’s love expressed in His actions. You may recall that back in Ex 3:7+, God had told Moses:

I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go. That was God’s promise: He would create a situation that would compel stubborn Pharaoh to let His people go. The Hebrews had been in Egypt about 400 years—long enough for the Canaanites to have time to come to love the true God–which they never did. So the Lord was ready to rescue the Israelites from Egyptian slavery and give them the land occupied by various pagan Canaanite tribes. His method was to judge Egypt with 10 plagues. Each plague was actually a put down of some Egyptian god. Yahweh had declared war on the gods of Egypt:

1st, He turned the Nile to blood—the fish died and no one could drink the water. They had to dig wells. The Egyptians so depended on the river for their water supply and commerce that they equated it with life. By polluting the Nile, God was saying to them, “I, not your river god, am the source of all life.”

2nd, He sent down upon them a superabundance of frogs. Egyptians of that day equated frogs with evil spirits. God is saying, “I can produce animal pests which your numerous gods of nature cannot prevent.”

Similarly, out of dust Moses tosses into the air, God produces 3rd, a plague of lice and 4th, of biting flies. God is saying, “Why aren’t your gods able to counter and destroy these pests?”

5th, God sends disease on their cattle, rams, sheep, and goats–many of which die. The Egyptians had gods for each of these animals. But our God is saying, “I have complete control over animal life, not Osirus, the bull god or Apis the ram god.”

6th, He afflicted the animals that remained—as well as the people—with boils. Even Pharaoh’s magicians couldn’t prevent these painful boils from manifesting. God is saying, “Only I have power over physical health.”

7th, He sends hail, actually fiery ice clumps. Egypt normally gets very little rain. God is saying, “I—not Hephaistos, your god of fire or Porphry, your god of rain—have complete authority over forces of nature.”

8th, God sends locusts to eat up any vegetation left over, then sends them to drown in the Red Sea. Egypt’s gods of nature are obviously helpless to combat any act of the One, True God. Our God is saying, “I can raise up hordes of any destructive creature, deploy them, and then I can put an end to them.”

By now, the Egyptian economy is in ruins, but still Pharaoh will not let his slave labor go free. God then sends the 9th plague, 3 days of complete darkness over all of Egypt–except over the Nile delta where the Israelites live. God is saying, “Your sun god, Re, is powerless before Me.”

Finally, God sends the 10th plague, the death of the firstborn person and animal. Egyptians believed their god, Horus, was the god of life.

They also believed they owed their lives to their Pharaoh, who they believed was divine. But God is saying, “Not so fast, My friends! I am the giver of life and I can take it away when it is in rebellion against Me…even to and including the first born of Pharaoh.

This brings us to chapter 12 and the institution of the Passover: God intended to take the life of every 1st born in Egypt. Those who loved Him, however, were to be spared. Through Moses, He told the Hebrew slaves to select a perfect 1 year old male lamb. They were then to slaughter it on the evening of Abib 14th (meaning young head of grain for the Spring harvest), or the 14th of Nisan (the later Babylonian name). God directed them to re-order their calendar so that Nisan became the first month of their year. Additionally, they were to paint their door frames with the lamb’s blood. The blood of the lamb would signal to the angel or death that they were true believers and their lives will be spared. They were to remain inside their homes, but dressed for travel, as they would be leaving Egypt directly.

Next, they were to eat the roasted lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. Roasting, rather than baking or boiling, was meant to recall the fire of God’s judgment on Egypt. The bitter herbs were to remind them of their tribulations under slavery. Leaven was a metaphor for sin, so the purpose of unleavened bread (like a pita) was to prompt them to remember that something else—the lamb-had paid the price for their sin. They were protected from the angel of death by the blood of the Passover Lamb. The first born of all of those with no blood over their doors died that night. By the next day, all of Egypt wanted the Israelites to be gone!

This is love in action! God protected the Israelite people from the angel of death by the blood of the Passover Lamb with which they had earlier anointed their door frames. The Historic Jewish Passover finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ—it foreshadows or predicts Jesus’ blood shed for us on the Cross. He too was a perfect male lamb—>John the Baptist calls Him, in John 1:29—>…the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. He was completely without sin. He was God, the only Son of God, so His blood was the blood of God. No imperfect person would have been capable of atoning for our sins. But the writer to the Hebrews says that Jesus is the once and for all perfect sacrifice for our sins. Peter, on trial before the Sanhedrin, testifies in Acts 4:12 that—>Salvation is found in no one else [meaning Jesus] for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. John tells us in 1 John 3—>This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. What perfect love!

We know that God is love. We also know He daily demonstrates His love for us in action. We must have spiritual eyes to begin to recognize His loving actions toward us. The 10 plagues and the Passover constituted God’s strategy for motivating a despot, a tyrant, to let go of a free labor force of 1-2 million people. The plagues and the Passover demonstrate how far God will go to redeem those He loves. Jesus’ death on the cross proves the same truth again: Our God has died an undeserved but agonizing penalty to obtain our freedom from slavery to sin and death. Like His Father before Him, He has gone to extreme lengths to redeem us.

As the apostle John tells us in 1 John 4:10—>This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Alleluia, alleluia!

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Pastor Sherry’s messages will return in October following her vacation.

Posted on by Cheryl Norman · 2 Comments

Family Reunion

Pastor Sherry’s message for August 20, 2023

Scriptures: Gen 45:1-7, 25-28; Ps 133; Ro 11:1-2a, 29-32; Matt 14:10-28

Amy Peterson writes, “…I started reading The Kindness of God by Catholic theologian and philosopher Janet Soskice. In her examination of the etymology of the word kindness, Soskice helped me see it for the first time as a strong virtue rather than a weak one. “In Middle English,” she writes, “the words ‘kind’ and ‘kin’ were the same—to say that Christ is ‘our kinde Lord’ is not to say that Christ is tender and gentle, although that may be implied, but to say that he is kin—our kind. This fact, and not emotional disposition, is the rock which is our salvation.” I paused after reading this sentence to try to take it in, to try to peel the sentimental layers off my definition of kindness and replace them with this fact: to be kind meant to be kin. The word unfolded in my mind. God’s kindness meant precisely that God became my kin—Jesus, my brother—and this, Soskice said, was a foundational truth about who I was. Not only that, but for speakers of Middle English, Lord had a particular meaning—a lord was someone from the nobility, the upper social classes. To say “our kinde Lord” was to say the difference in social or economic status between peasants and nobility was also erased through Jesus the “Lord” being of the same “kinde” as all, landowners and peasants alike. Jesus erased divisions that privileged some people over others.”

(Amy Peterson, Where Goodness Still Grows: Reclaiming Virtue in an Age of Hypocrisy, Thomas Nelson, 2020.)

The theme of our Scripture readings today is “Divine Kinship” or “Family Reunion.”

A. It begins with our Genesis reading (45:1-7, 25-28). After having lived in Egypt for about 22 years, Joseph has recognized his brothers and now reveals himself to them. Why would they not have recognized him?

By this time, he did not look Hebrew. They were bearded but he was clean shaven. Additionally, he was wearing an Egyptian wig (Egyptians shaved their heads, due to problems with lice, and were noted for wearing elaborate wigs). There was also his Egyptian style of dress and perhaps an arm bracelet and a jeweled collar signifying being a high Egyptian official. The last time they had seen him, he had been a gangly boy of 17; now he’s 39 years old and no doubt looked very different from the way he had in their last encounter. They also would have heard him speaking Egyptian/Arabic, but talking with them through an interpreter (even though he understood Hebrew). Finally, they were not expecting to see him again since slavery was usually implied a death sentence.

Unbeknownst to them, he has put them through two tests to see if they have changed in the intervening twenty two years. First, he has them leave Simeon behind and promise to bring back Benjamin, his full brother. He is checking to see how honest they are now. They had betrayed him. They had no doubt lied to their father. Will they sacrifice another brother to get what they want? Second, they return and bring back Benjamin, but Joseph has his favorite cup put into Benjamin’s bag of grain, and has his servants accuse their father’s new favorite of theft. Joseph wants to know if they have come to grips with what jealousy cost them in the past. Are they more loyal to Benjamin than they had been to Joseph? Have they developed more compassion for their aging and grieved father?

Apparently so because Judah, their leader, steps up and offers himself (and even his children) in place of Benjamin. Judah recognizes this dilemma is God’s punishment for what they had done to Joseph. He and the others cannot bear to imagine Jacob’s grief over losing Rachel’s only other son, Benjamin.

So, satisfied that his ten half-brothers have truly undergone a moral transformation, he reveals himself to them as their long, lost brother, Joseph. At first, they can’t believe it is him. Then they fear his retribution. But in a truly Christ-like way, he reassures them, [Peterson’s The Message, p.93] am Joseph your brother whom you sold into Egypt. But don’t feel badly, don’t blame yourselves for selling me. God was behind it. God sent me here ahead of you to save lives. There has been a famine in the land now for two years; the famine will continue for five more years—neither plowing nor harvesting [will take place]. God sent me on ahead to pave the way and make sure there was a remnant in the land, to save your lives in an amazing act of deliverance. So you see, it wasn’t you who sent me here but God. He set me in place as a father to Pharaoh, put me in charge of his personal affairs, and made me ruler of all Egypt. God uses Joseph to save his father, Jacob/Israel, his brothers, and his whole extended family (a total of 90 people). But Joseph’s wisdom also saves thousands, perhaps millions of Egyptians as well as untold, unnumbered, other Gentiles. What a fabulous and far-reaching family reunion!

B. In Psalm 133, King David continues the theme of family reunion. Verse 1 celebrates —How good and pleasant it is when brothers [and sisters] live together in unity! There is no back-biting, no sarcasm, no jealousy; no murderous rage, no hidden agendas. Instead, such family members experience love, support, and acceptance.

He goes on to mention two metaphors for how rich a blessing this could be: (1) a generous supply of anointing oil, representing empowerment of the Holy Spirit; and (2) abundant dew, highly desired and valued in an arid climate. As troubled and complex as were the kinship relationships in King David’s family, this psalm sets out his longing for this kind of God-inspired love, cooperation, and blessing among brothers and sisters.

C. In Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32, Paul continues his case for the Jewish people. True, most at that time, rejected Jesus as their Messiah. But Paul is adamant (v.1) that God has not rejected them, His Chosen People. They have rejected Him but He has not washed His hands of them. Instead, the Lord has a plan for bringing them to a saving knowledge of Christ.

Back in verses 25-26, he wrote —the harvest of the Jews will come after…the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved…. Just as God has been merciful to us, He too will have mercy on the Jews. Many students of the book of Revelation believe the main purpose of the Great Tribulation (assuming the Church has already been raptured) is to turn a massive number of Jews into Jesus-followers. What a grand family reunion that will be!

D. Finally, in our Gospel lesson (Matthew 15, also Mark 7), Jesus delivers a new doctrine and graciously responds to a Gentile woman.

The new teaching is on moral uncleanliness. Yes, it’s a good health practice to wash your hands before eating—but hand-washing has only to do with the physical. Instead, it’s what comes out of one’s mouth that demonstrates one’s spiritual condition. Our moral or spiritual cleanliness—our heart attitudes–are revealed by what we say. This is why we want to work hard to eliminate cussing and gossip and lying and slander from our daily speech. He calls the rule-bound religious leaders of the Jews blind guides, and appears—by this point–to have given up on appealing to them further.

In fact, He leaves the country for the first time, venturing North into Tyre and Sidon (cities in Phoenicia). No doubt He wants a time-out from his Jewish adversaries. But almost immediately, He encounters a persistent Syro-Phoenician, Canaanite, or Gentile woman. Remember, He says (v.24) was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel (not Gentiles).

She calls Him (v.22) —Lord, Son of David. She knows He is a descendant of King David. But she is an outsider, not a member of the family. She is an ethnic outsider; she is a religious outsider; and her gender, in those days, made her an outsider as Jewish rabbis would rarely have spoken directly to a woman.

But she has a demonized daughter that no one has been able to heal, and she is desperate. She is begging Him to heal/deliver her child. Jesus makes the point that she does not belong to “the family.” He came to feed the “children of Israel” (v.26)It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the puppies [the Hebrew word here means not adult dogs but the diminutive, puppies]. He is essentially saying, just as in a family, there is an order here —The children (Israelites) eat first; Then puppies get fed, but not from the table and not until the kids are done. He is not telling her she cannot expect help from Him, but rather that there is a set of priorities to His ministry.

She gets what He is saying, steps into His metaphor, and reminds Him (v.27) —…but even the puppies eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table. She knows she does not have a legitimate place at the Jewish table. But even as a nonfamily member, she has faith that Jesus can provide enough that some leftovers will be available to her and to her daughter. Notice, she doesn’t say, Give me what I deserve due to my goodness or my rights, as many today might demand. Instead, (as Timothy Keller asserts in his book King’s Cross , Dutton, 2011, p.89), she implies, “Give me what I don’t deserve on the basis of Your goodness—and, please, I need it right now.”

Jesus commends her faith (The Message, p.1775) —Oh, Woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get! Right then her daughter became well. She entered into His metaphor and responded with belief in Him. Because of her faith, He made her a member of His family.

There is no reason for us to ever feel like we are alone or outsiders. God’s family is made up of both Jewish and Gentile believers. Our weekly worship service is like a big family reunion. We who believe in Jesus Christ are members of God’s family. Come, every Sunday, to be with people who love Jesus and who love you. Amen!

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Trusting Jesus.

Pastor Sherry’s message for December 18, 2022,

Scriptures: Isa 7:10-16; Ps 80:1-7, 17-19; Ro 1:1-7; Matt 1:18-25

In his book, Holy Sweat, Tim Hansel shares the following biking metaphor for how he came to trust Jesus:

“At first, I saw God as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was out there sort of like a president.

“But later on when I met Christ, it seemed as though life were rather like a bike ride, but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that Christ was in the back helping me pedal.

“I don’t know just when it was that He suggested we change places, but life has not been the same since. When I had control, I knew the way. It was rather boring, but predictable…it was the shortest distance between two points.

“But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, up mountains and through rocky places at breakneck speeds. It was all I could do to hang on! Even though it looked like madness, He said, ‘Pedal!’

“I worried and was anxious and asked, ‘Where are you taking me?” He laughed and didn’t answer, and I started to learn to trust.

“I forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure. And when I’d say, ‘I’m scared,’ He ‘d lean back and touch my hand….

”I did not trust Him , at first, in control of my life. I thought He’d wreck it; but He knows bike secrets, knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners, knows how to jump to clear high rocks, knows how to fly to shorten scary passages.

“And I am learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I’m beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, Jesus Christ.“

(Chuck Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Word Publishing, 1998, p.586-587)

I think Tim Hansel captures the experience many of us have as we learn to surrender control over our lives to Jesus. It can be and often is a very difficult lesson to learn—to trust Jesus–but as Hansel says, it is well worth taking the risk.

Two of our lessons today relate to this issue of putting our faith and trust in the Lord:

A. In our Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 7:10-16, the prophet Isaiah relates for us the example of King Ahaz of Judah. He was a faithless idolater who is reported to have sacrificed his first born son to the fires of the pagan god Molech. He was 20 years old when he ascended the throne and ruled Judah for 16 years. A descendant of King David, he was a grandson of the good king, Uzziah, and a son of Jothem, another good king. But unlike his father and grandfather, he did not believe in the Lord, the one, true God. We are told in 2 Kings 16:3-4 that… he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God.

The context of today’s lesson finds him, in 734 BC, surrounded by enemies who threaten to invade his kingdom: Rezer, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, have formed a coalition against him and are marching on Jerusalem. So a terrified Ahaz is thinking of aligning himself with either Egypt or with Assyria—both traditional enemies of the Jews–for safety. Since Ahaz is a godless king, we would expect the Lord to abandon him to his own devices. However, our God is not like that. Seeing an opportunity to gather Ahaz to Himself, God sends the prophet Isaiah to offer the king comfort. Because he is a nonbeliever—pedaling his bike on his own—it has never even occurred to him to ask God for help! (Some years back, I saw the film “Perfect Storm” with George Clooney. Clooney played a fisherman who is down on his luck and who needed a great catch to save his both boat and his livelihood. He succeeds in loading up his boat with fish, only to find himself in a dangerous storm at sea. His boat is swamped and he and his men know they are about to drown, and not one of them cries out to the Lord. I was truly dismayed, wondering if we as a nation have wandered so far from God that even when in danger of dying, we fail to ask for His help.)

Probably Ahaz similarly assumed that because he does not worship God, he cannot expect the Lord to help him overcome his enemies. Isaiah meets him at the source of Jerusalem’s water supply, in the place where the citizens of the city did their laundry, and informs him that God will not abandon him or Judah. Notice the rich symbolism God has set up: “Ahaz, despite your unbelief, and your heinous sins, I can wash you clean; I can sustain your life with living (flowing) water” (an image of Christ Who later will refer to Himself as “Living Water” in John 4). God has also told the prophet to take his son to this meeting, Shear-Jashub, whose name meant a remnant will return.

We lit the candle for love today. Do you see how loving and generous the Lord is toward this sinful reprobate, Ahaz? God tells him, through Isaiah, that He will protect him and he can even ask for a sign that this will be so. Ahaz acts pious Far be it from me to ask God for a sign…I would never test God like that! Somewhere along the way, he had learned not to test the Lord. However, he is in a national emergency and God has offered. Nevertheless, he doesn’t trust God enough, even given the encouragement of this very trustworthy, accurate prophet.

Ahaz is looking to the current crisis, but the prophet predicts a long-term solution, Jesus: A son—Jesus–will be born to a virgin. He will be Immanuel, God with us. He will eat yogurt (curds) and honey, the food of poor people in that day (available during drought or poor agricultural years). By the time He is 11 or 12 years old, the kings you fear will have long been taken over and deported by the Assyrians. Scholars believe there might have been an Israelite princess then (perhaps Isaiah’s 2nd wife?) who would give birth to a son in Ahaz’ time. There is, however, no record of a child born to Isaiah named Immanuel. However, this side of the Incarnation, we know this is a prediction of Jesus. Ahaz is graciously given a sign, but he still refuses to believe. He is entirely faithless!

B. Now contrast Ahaz’ response to that of Joseph in our Gospel, Matthew 1:18-25. Luke describes the circumstances of Jesus’ birth from the perspective of Mary, while Matthew emphasizes Joseph’s response. Notice Joseph’s trust in God. He has learned that Mary is pregnant and knows he has never slept with her. Instead of demanding that she be stoned, as he could have done by law, Joseph [v.19]…was a Righteous man [who] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, so he decides to quietly divorce her. God, however, intervenes by sending him a dream. In the dream an angel tells him [v.20] Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Unlike King Ahaz, Joseph is a man of God and so he believes the angel’s message and is obedient. He marries Mary and cares for her. He does not consummate their marriage until after Jesus’ birth, so there is no question of Jesus’ divine paternity. And Joseph does name the baby Jesus, which means God saves.

What a great opening for Matthew! Remember, Matthew wrote his Gospel for the Jews, writing to demonstrate to them how Jesus fulfills the Messianic prophesies from the Old Testament. He immediately references our Isaiah 7 lesson [vv.22-23] all this took place to fulfill what the Lord has said through the prophet: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to son and they will call him Immanuel, which means, “God with us.” The current day New Testament scholar and Anglican Bishop, N.T. Wright, claims that until Matthew wrote his Gospel, no one had ever thought of this Isaiah passage as referring to the promised Messiah. But under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Matthew asserts it, attesting to the supernatural origin of Jesus. Jesus is both human (born of Mary), and divine (born of the Holy Spirit). Furthermore, in Jesus, God Himself is here, God Himself is with us, as the fullness of God is present in Christ.

John Ortberg, a Presbyterian pastor and author, writes in his book, God is Closer Than You Think, The central promise in the Bible is not, “I will forgive you,” though of course that promise is there. It is not the promise of life after death, although we are offered that as well. The most frequent promise in the Bible is “I will be with you.” This promise is spoken in Scripture over and over again: to Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, King David, the prophets, the Virgin Mary, and the Righteous Joseph. They all heard the comfort, the love, and the promise: Don’t be afraid, I am with you.

Ahaz was afraid and mistrusted God. He did not accept God’s sign to him. Instead, he aligned himself with an untrustworthy human ally—Assyria—against his northern enemies. And in 722 BC, (12 years later) the Assyrians overran Syria and Israel, and made Judah a vassal state. Joseph was also afraid, but God told him not to be. In fact, God made him the same promise he had made to the old, idolatrous king: “The Child will be a sign, Immanuel, God with us.” Joseph believed and was comforted, protected, and blessed.

So, our Scriptures today poses the question: How are you doing with regard to trusting Jesus? Is your faith going to look like that of Ahaz or like that of Joseph? Are we going to trust in our own plans and schemes to save us? Or, are we going to trust–like Joseph did and despite our fears– in the God of love? In Immanuel, the One who promises to be with us, no matter our fears, our trials, or our difficulties. As Christmas Day draws near, let us put our faith and trust firmly in the hands of our loving Savior…come, let us trust Him and adore Him. Let’s let Jesus drive our tandem bike.

©️2022 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Advent Expections

Pastor Sherry’s message for December 11, 2022

Scriptures: Isa 35:1-10; Lk 1:47-55; Ja 5: 7-10; Matt 11:2-11

The story is told of a baby boy born into the Lane family in 1958. The father, a man named Robert, chose to name his boy Winner. How could the young man fail to succeed with a name like “Winner Lane”?

Several years passed and the Lanes had another son. For unknown reasons (this is a true story), Robert named this boy “Loser.” What a terrible thing to do to the baby—(like Johnny Cash’s “A Boy named Sue”)—Robert and his silent wife seemed to have doomed their 2nd son’s prospects. I wonder how many years he spent in counseling trying to overcome that moniker.

Of course, everyone who knew the boys probably thought they could figure out how they would turn out. After all, the psychological concept of the “Self-fulfilling Prophecy”–or you get what you expect from a child–is well known (Consider the “Pygmalion in the Classroom” research in which 4th grade teachers were told their students were brilliant—when they were actually ordinary—and watched how they treated these kids. By year’s end, those kids had performed excellently and had even raised their IQ points, demonstrating that teachers’ expectations had an important effect on kids’ performance.)

But contrary to everyone’s prophecies, Loser Lane succeeded. He graduated from college and later became a sergeant with the NYPD, shield # 2762. Nowadays, no one feels comfortable calling him “Loser.” His colleagues simply refer to him as “Lou.”

And what about the other brother? The one everyone expected to be a great success? The most noteworthy achievement of Winner Lane is the sheer length of his criminal record. Inmate #OOR28Q7 has nearly three dozen arrests for burglary, domestic violence, trespassing, resisting arrest, and other assorted acts of mayhem. Sometimes things don’t quite turn out as we might expect.

(Borrowed from Tom Hughes, Down to Earth: How Jesus’ Stories Can Change Your Everyday Life, NavPress, 2019, p.13).

These examples demonstrate that we need to be careful about what we expect of our children and of others. Often our expectations may be too high or too low. They can put emotional pressure on those we love and thus limit or frustrate them, disappointing them and us. This time of year, we also tend to have expectations of Christmas which may or may not be appropriate.

The best way to keep our Advent expectations realistic is to check them against what Scripture records and predicts:

A. Our psalm this morning is the Song of Mary, also known as “The Magnificat” (Luke 1:47-55). (The custom in the early church was to name psalms after the Latin rendering of the 1st word or two; so, Magnificat for “My soul magnifies….” Notice: We would expect the whole psalm to say, “YIPPEE, God picked ME!” Young women from the tribe of Judah grew up wishing and believing they might be the one to bear the Messiah. And despite her challenges of being unmarried and poor, Mary does rejoice in God’s choice of her.

But the majority of her focus is on glorifying/praising God for what He is doing (through her) for His people! How mature! She wisely takes the focus off herself, and sets it upon God’s activity. She praises Him for His mercy to those who respect and revere Him; His past works of power; His surprising, unexpected propensity to reverse worldly fortunes (the low are raised up and the lofty are brought low); and for His fulfillment of His promises (Genesis 12, 17, and 22) to Israel: a king from the lineage of David; and a messiah who will bless all nations on earth.

What does Mary have to teach us about expectations? She had been raised to expect the Messiah to come. She knew from Scripture that He would redeem His people.

What does Mary have to teach us about love and joy (We lit the candle for joy today)? Because she loved God, she was willing to bear up under public criticism and condemnation. Because she loved God, she surrendered to His will. Because she loved God, she praised Him, with great joy, for keeping His promises to His people.

B. In our Gospel lesson today, Matthew 11:2-11, Jesus has sent the 12 out to put into practice all He has taught them. He, Himself, continues to preach and teach. JtB (John the Baptist) has been imprisoned for some time now, and—as often happens—he begins to doubt his earlier faith that his cousin Jesus is the Messiah. He deploys 2 disciples to ask Jesus (v.3) Are You the One who was to come, or should we expect someone else?

No doubt JtB expected Jesus to set him free. Jesus does not do so. Instead He reiterates His job description from Isaiah 61:1: the blind see; the lame walk; lepers are healed; the deaf hear; the dead are raised to life; and the Good News is preached to the poor. Because He avoids saying He will…proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, JtB learns Jesus will not be leading his jail break. The response comes back to him, “Yes, your cousin is the Messiah you proclaimed at the beginning of His earthly ministry. But no, He will not be supervising your prison release.”

Jesus does not meet JtB’s personal expectations. Apparently, it suited God’s purposes for JtB to leave the scene (decrease) so Jesus’ ministry could increase. But He does proclaim him the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. Hopefully, JtB understood this need to exit the world stage and began to prepare himself to meet his Maker.

C. In fact, JtB probably knew Isaiah 35:1-10, a Messianic prophecy from 700 years before Jesus’ birth. He would have remembered that in the predicted Messianic Age (the 1000 year reign of Christ). The material earth will be restored to the time before the Fall. Scholars believe it will be returned to what the Garden of Eden was like. When Adam and Eve sinned, God cursed the ground and the serpent, but not the people. Paul will later assert (Romans 8:22) We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Paul had learned from Jesus that creation, too, would be redeemed at Jesus’ 2nd Coming.

Additionally, JtB would recall that the bodies of human beings will be renewed. Verses 5-6 state …the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. Jesus accomplished the healing of many individuals during His 1st Advent. But when He comes again, all of humankind will be spiritually, physically, and emotionally healed. How’s that for a truly wonderful Advent expectation (and promise)!

D. No wonder we have the James 5:7-10 passage assigned for today as well. The 2nd coming of Jesus Christ will right all that is now wrong with our world. However, as James counsels us, we need to (v.7) Be patient, then, brothers [and sisters] until the Lord’s coming. Scripture has told us what to expect. We just need to wait with faith, as a farmer waits for his/her crops to grow. When I was in seminary in Pittsburgh, I planted crocuses around my house. Even if there was still snow on the ground, these were the first blooms of Spring to manifest. They made such a beautiful display against a white or dirt background. Unfortunately, there were also many deer around my place, and they dined on those flowers about as fast as they came up. James also recommends we meditate on the lives of the prophets—including JtB—who prophesied the wonders to come, but did not get to experience them during their lifetime on earth.

Remember how, as a child, it was so difficult to wait until Christmas morning to see what Santa left under the tree or to unwrap our gifts? We would be so anxious and excited we could hardly sit still. As grown-up believers in Jesus, we can have this same excitement over Jesus’ appearing, while we patiently wait, in faith, for that great day. We just want our Advent Expectations of Jesus to line up with what Scripture promises and describes.

Thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Alleluia, Alleluia!

©️2022 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

God’s Generosity Towards Us

Pastor Sherry’s message for July 31, 2022

Scriptures: Hosea 11:1-11; Ps 107:1-9. 43; Col 3:1-11; Lk 12:13-21

The missionary, Jim Elliott, killed (in 1957 at age of 28) while attempting to witness to the Auca Indians of Ecuador, once said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.” What does this mean? Elliot lived this out, didn’t he? He gave up his life in service to God. We all know life is fragile. We act like we can control the number of our days, but the truth is that we could each—God forbid—be run over by a truck tomorrow. None of us knows for sure when we will die. So Jim Elliot gave up what he couldn’t keep (his life) to honor God and to gain–due to his heart-attitude—what he could not lose (his salvation/his position as an adopted son of God). This guy was sold out to God! Jesus said, Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). If we can believe what others tell us about Jim Elliott, he was willing to die to help spread the Gospel. By the way, his widow, Elizabeth Elliott, continued Jim’s work with the Auca’s and ended up converting his murderer (and others) to Christ. Jim Elliot lived a short life of incredible generosity toward God and others.

Let me share another illustration of generosity:

“Two young men [were] working their way through Stanford University [members of its 1st class in 1895]. Their funds got desperately low, and the idea came to one of them to engage Paderewski for a piano recital and devote the profits to their board and tuition [There was no “GoFundMe” at that time]. The great pianist’s manager asked for a guarantee of two thousand dollars. The students, undaunted, proceeded to stage the concert. They worked hard, only to find that the concert had raised only sixteen hundred dollars. After the concert, the students sought the great artist and told him of their efforts and results. They gave him the entire sixteen hundred dollars, and accompanied it with a promissory note for four hundred dollars, explaining that they would earn the amount at the earliest possible moment and send the money to him. “No,” replied Paderewski, “that won’t do.” Then tearing the note to shreds, he returned the money and said to them: “Now, take out of this sixteen hundred dollars all of your expenses, and keep for each of you 10 percent of the balance for your work, and let me have the rest.” The years rolled by–years of fortune and destiny. Paderewski had become premier of Poland. The devastating war came [WWI], and Paderewski was striving with might and main to feed the starving thousands of his beloved Poland. There was only one man in the world who could help Paderewski and his people. {After appealing to this man], thousands of tons of food began to come into Poland for distribution by the Polish premier.

After the starving people were fed, Paderewski journeyed to Paris to thank Herbert Hoover for the relief sent him. “That’s all right, Mr. Paderewski,” was Mr. Hoover’s reply. “Besides, you don’t remember it, but you helped me once when I was a student at college and I was in a hole.” (True story, prior to Hoover serving as our 31st president from 1929-1933, from the website www.sermonillustrations.com).

Later in his life, the former college student from Stanford was able to repay the Polish Premier for his earlier generosity.

Three of our lessons for today center on the heart—attitude of generosity.

A. In Hosea 11:1-11, the prophet not only speaks for God, but he also lives out a metaphor of God’s love for His people. In chapter 1, which we read last week, God tells Hosea to marry a whore, a woman who will be repeatedly unfaithful to him. What a dreadful assignment! God used Hosea’s tragic marital life to demonstrate to the Northern Kingdom how He felt about their idolatry—or what God considers “spiritual adultery.”

Hosea’s wife, Gomer, humiliated him time and again by running around with other men. By Jewish law, Hosea was justified in stoning her to death. But God told him to break the law God Himself had created in order to make his life an object lesson for the people. So, Hosea remained faithful, as does our God, to a spouse who was a serial or repeated adulterer.

Gomer bore him 3 children, but he could not be sure they were his. God had him name his 2 boys and 1 girl names that reflected the Lord’s increasing disappointment with and distress over Israel:

1.) A son, Jezreel, whose name meant God scatters;

2.) A daughter, Lo-Ruhamah, whose name meant not loved; and

3.) A second son, Lo-Ammi, whose name meant not My people. God was saying to the people of the Northern Kingdom, I have faithfully loved you, but you have been consistently and blatantly unfaithful to Me. I am withdrawing from you. I will scatter you.

Now, 10 chapters later, God changes the metaphor from a marital relationship to a parent-child relationship. He poignantly recalls (vv.3-4) It was I who taught Ephraim [Israel] to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them. God rescued them from slavery in Egypt. He freed them, loved them, healed them, led them, and fed them. And how did they respond to His continuous, long-suffering, fatherly love for them? They left Him to take up with pagan gods.

So God names the nation He will use as His method of discipline: Defeat at the hands of the brutal Assyrians. This punishment, finally meted out in 722BC, was not simply meant as just retribution for their on-going betrayals. Rather, it was meant by God to be remedial. God used their defeat by the Assyrian army as a last resort to teach lessons they had rebelliously refused to learn. Our God means what He says. When I first taught high school (1970), my principal told me to always mean what I said to students and to say only what I meant. Otherwise, she said the students would not respect me or trust me. She was right. If I said a certain consequence would follow an act of disrespect or disruption, I had to enforce that consequence even if it meant punishing my favorite student. (Often I found the kids I liked the best were the first ones to try me.) Like a teacher who is firm and in control of her classroom, God loves us but will not tolerate our disobedience and disrespect forever. He is a God of love and mercy, but He will also act to bring about reformation of our character and our morals.

B. Psalm 107 celebrates the goodness of the Lord, in that He hears our prayers and saves us. The Psalm rejoices over God’s saving interventions on behalf of the Israelites in the past. Even though they were often disobedient, He provided for them, guided them, and protected them. He was justified in destroying them, but chose not to due to His love for them.

I believe this is a prophetic message for us today too. Due to His great love for us, our God continues to provide for and to protect us. He is extraordinarily patient with us. But as with the Israelites, there comes a time when He disciplines us to reform our characters.

This is why we pray for His continued mercy. This is why we weekly (and daily) pray for our nation to return to God.

C. In our Gospel passage, Luke 12:13-21, Jesus provides us with a lesson regarding those who are selfish and self-focused. We are meant by God to act generously toward God and others. Those who don’t, like the rich guy in the parable, will not be able to hold onto their wealth and possessions forever. He blithely assumed that he would continue to be blessed as he greedily horded all of his profits to himself. He probably never considered that it could all end for him at his sudden death. Jesus calls him a fool! Let’s think back to the Jim Elliott quote: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.” We cannot trust we will keep our wealth. The stock market can crash; inflation cheapens what we have; expected inheritance checks fail to arrive (the deceased may have spent it all before dying; fire, rust, rot, floods, tornadoes, volcanos, and hurricanes can reduce what we own to nothing. While there are no u-hauls carrying our wealth with us in the afterlife, we can trust that God will reward us for being generous toward Him and others.

Our God is generous even as He disciplines us. He gave Israel—and He has given us—dozens and dozens of warnings of coming punishment. In the 350 years from 750-400BC, He sent 12 Minor Prophets and 4 Major ones to warn the people not to stray from Him. There was no social media then and no cable news networks, yet those folks cannot claim they were not warned. 16 prophets in 350 years amount to approximately one every 20 years. Most of them prophesied over a number of years, so their warnings overlapped. The people were not ignorant of God’s displeasure. They simply didn’t care. So He took them to the proverbial woodshed for a thorough thrashing.

And so that we know He means what He says—so that we discover that He is indeed trustworthy and true—He will eventually lower the boom on us as well. As much as we don’t want the discipline we have coming, He punishes us because He loves us: (Hebrews 12:5) My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son [or daughter].

We are wise to trust in His generosity towards us. We are also wise to fight against any tendencies we have toward greed and selfish self-interest. We can learn to be content with what we have.

We can commit to give to others in need out of our excess; i.e., rather than stock-pile it, we can give it away to others. And we can discipline ourselves to gift God with a tithe of all He has given us. Scripture says He owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10). This means He owns all wealth. He gifts us with some of it. As a way to demonstrate our continued trust in His provision, and as a spiritual discipline, He wants us to give back to Him a portion…not because He needs it, but because we do.

Let’s pray:

Thank you, oh Lord, for Your incredible generosity towards us! We are exceedingly grateful. Help us to be generous toward You and toward others, we pray in the name of Jesus, our Messiah. Amen

©️2022 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Claimed!

Pastor Sherry’s message for January 9, 2022

Scriptures: Isa 43:1-7; Ps 29; Acts 8:14-17; Lk 3:15-22

I told this story a few years back, but I believe it bears retelling: A young woman was applying to college. She was uncomfortable with the question on the admission form, Are you a leader? She figured colleges were looking for leaders, but she was also pretty clear that she wasn’t one. She filled the form in honestly by answering the question with a “No.” As a result, she expected to be rejected. What a surprise when she got back this response: Dear Applicant, a careful review of this year’s application forms reveals that we will be accepting 1,452 new leaders. We are also accepting you because we feel it is important that these 1,452 have at least one follower.

In our Gospel today (LK 3:15-17, 21-22), John the Baptist makes it clear that he is not the leader—the Promised Messiah—but rather His devoted follower. John, Jesus‘ cousin, is baptizing Israelites in the Jordan. Now we know that baptism is a sacrament, an outward, visible sign of an important, inward, spiritual truth. By being dunked (or sprinkled like we do), the people were indicating their intention to die to their sins. Going under the water indicated symbolically their decision to turn away from or die to their sins. Coming up out of the water symbolized their decision to commit their lives to God. In other words, John was preaching a revival and encouraging everyone who heard him to be baptized—both as a sign of their repentance (sorrow for sin) and of their desire to live a changed life.

Apparently, he preaches so effectively and so convincingly that the crowd began to wonder aloud if he could be the coming Messiah. He heard their murmurings and replied, “No, no no…not me! I’m just the warm-up act. I’m baptizing you with water…but Someone mightier is coming after me Who…” (according to Peterson’s paraphrase, The Message)…will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He is going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper perspective before God; everything false He’ll put out with the trash to be burned. John the Baptist is saying, “I’m not the Messiah, but only the prelude to what Jesus will accomplish in the lives of those willing to believe in Him.”

The difference between Jesus’ and John the Baptist’s baptisms is this: John’s baptism was about jettisoning the old life. In the movie, O Brother, where art thou?, the fugitive convict, Delmar, gets baptized in a river. Returning to his other 2 convict buddies, he is filled with joy! He exclaims, “I have been redeemed. The preacher said so. All my sins and wrongdoings has been wiped away, including robbing that Piggly-Wiggly.” Another convict pipes up, “Uh, Delmar, I thought you said you was innocent of those charges.” Delmar replies, “Well, I lied, but I been forgiven of that too.”

As far as we know, Jesus never baptized anyone with water. Instead, He imparted to them the Holy Spirit. He gave them/us the supernatural power to live a new life. Again, John’s baptism jettisoned the old life; Jesus’ baptism in the Holy Spirit empowers us to live a new one–a life in which we love and serve God and others.

Now Luke is not telling this story chronologically, because after he tells us that King Herod had John the Baptist arrested, Jesus comes on the scene to be baptized. Regardless of the order of events, Jesus was without sin, so what did He have to die to in baptism? What old life was He getting rid of? Matthew’s Gospel tells us He submitted to John’s water baptism to fulfill all righteousness (3:15); that is, to identify with our sinful natures; and to model for all the way we should turn to God. Notice that while He was being baptized by John, the rest of the Trinity showed up as well: The Holy Spirit took on the form of the white dove and hovered over His head, indicating that Jesus was now empowered for ministry. Some apocryphal gospels (not considered accurate enough to have been included in the “canon” of Scripture) describe Jesus healing birds and transforming things into butterflies as a child. This cannot be as He had not yet been baptized in the Spirit. When the dove descended upon Him, the God-man Jesus was then plugged into His supernatural power source. Additionally, the Father’s voice (which we have been told in Ps 29 is exceedingly powerful) pronounced: You are my Son whom I love; with You I am well pleased!

Wow, just before He begins His ministry of saving humankind, Jesus heard a powerful affirmation from His Father! He receives this wonderful blessing, His Father’s statement that He was not just pleased with Him, but well pleased.

Wouldn’t you have loved to have heard that from your earthly father? My step-father never even told me he loved me, but my Heavenly Father has. Modern psychology tells us that it is the father in the family—not the mother–who conveys to children their self-esteem. Isn’t it true that we all need our Father’s blessing to feel confident and good about ourselves? One of my seminary professors, Rev. Dr. John Rogers, conveyed the Father’s blessing to me every time I saw him after graduating. We would occasionally see one another at a clergy conference. He would come up to me, cup my face in his large hands, and kiss me on the forehead. I believed then and still do that the Lord used him to let me know He loved and approved of me. I pray you have had someone similar to do the same in your life!

Our Acts lesson (8:14-17) describes a situation in which a deacon, Philip, has baptized new Samaritan converts with water, and the Apostles Peter and John show up to baptize them with the Holy Spirit. You may recall (from Acts 7) that a deacon, named Stephen, was stoned to death in Jerusalem, with Saul (soon to become Paul) presiding over his execution.

This begins the first persecution of the early Church, with Jews beating, imprisoning, and killing Christ-followers. Why would God allow this to happen in His enfant church? He allowed it to prompt them to leave their Holy Huddle in Jerusalem and to take the Gospel—as Jesus commanded them (Acts 1:8)–to Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

So Philip, a 2nd deacon, goes to a city in Samaria. We are told, in verses 5-8, that he preached the Word, performed miracles, healed the sick, and cast out demons there—what a powerful ministry! And…there was great joy in that city! Later, the apostles Peter and John are sent to check into this “city-wide-revival.” They approved Philip’s work, then went on to baptize the people with the Holy Spirit. Why follow up water-baptism with a baptism in the Holy Spirit? Remember, John the Baptist baptized with water, representing repentance for and cleansing from sin; representing a turning away from the pre-baptism life. Jesus baptized with the Holy Spirit.

In our modern service of baptism, while sprinkling water on head of the person being baptized , we baptize him/her in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Immediately after this, I make the sign of the cross on the person’s forehead (with oil that has been blessed) and say, “_______, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and claimed as Christ’s own forever.” To be baptized by the Holy Spirit is like having the dove descend upon us as happened with Jesus. It means we have been claimed and adopted, by God–through the saving work of Jesus–as His beloved daughters and sons. It also means we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to reach out to others and to minister to them in Christ’s love.

So, all of us in this congregation have been baptized by both water and by the Holy Spirit (If you doubt this, please remain after church and I will pray with you to receive the Holy Spirit). Let us remember verse 1 from Isaiah 43–Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; You are mine! We have been claimed by God, through Jesus, and are now commissioned and empowered for ministry. This new year, let’s look for opportunities to tell others about Jesus and His impact on our lives. Let’s be like the fellow in the story of a father and son who “…arrived in a small western town looking for an uncle whom they had never seen. Suddenly, the father, pointing across the square to a man who was walking away from them, exclaimed, “There goes my uncle!” His son asked, “How do you know when you have not seen him before?” “Son, I know him because he walks exactly like my father.” If we walk in the Spirit, the world should know us by our walk (Related by Lee Roberson in, The Gold Mine , 2000, Sword of the Spirit Publishers). Amen. May it be so!

©2022 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Filled Back Up

Pastor Sherry’s message for October 31, 2021

Scriptures: Ruth 1:1-18; Ps 146; Heb 9:11-14; Mk 12:28-34

This morning, we encounter as our Old Testament lesson, the lovely story of the friendship of Ruth and Naomi. (Various verses from the book of Ruth are often quoted at weddings.) The context is provided right off the bat, in the first verse in the days that the Judges ruled…. This means it was after the Israelites had entered the Land of Promise, and after the death of Joshua, Moses’ successor. It was a very dark period of Hebrew history (1380-1050BC). It was dark because, just a few generations after entering the Land—and after 40 years of wandering in the desert, and after seeing God’s signs and wonders—another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what He had done for Israel. Then the Isaelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals (Judges 2:10-11).

In other words, they would sin mightily against all the commandments, but especially the first 4. They rejected God and got involved in idolatry (Baal worship=spiritual adultery). God would then say, OK, have it your way…(Ro 1:28-29) Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity (sins against the last 6 commandments). God would then also remove His hand of protection from around them: He would allow Moabites to terrorize them; the Amalekites, Ammonites, or Philistines to subjugate them; the Midianites to raid them and cart off their crops, animals, and even their women and children. Sometimes God would not command rain to fall, which resulted in famine. They would then repent, beg for His help, swear again their allegiance to Him, and He would graciously rescue them. This would happen in about 40 year cycles, time for one generation to die off and be replaced by another.

When the story of Ruth begins, God has allowed a famine in the land. Scripture tells us that famine, locusts, or plagues are evidence of God’s judgment! So what should have been Israel’s response? 2 Chronicles 7:14 If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Even if they did not yet have 2 Chronicles to read, they had the 40 year cycles playing out in the book of Judges. The lesson, again and again, is Repent, pray, ask for God’s mercy.

Naomi and her family lived in Bethlehem in Judah, which means house of food/bread; in Judah which means praise. But, unfortunately, Naomi’s husband Elimelech (my God is King) decides not to repent, pray, and ask for God’s mercy, but rather to leave and head to Moab. YIKES! Understand that Elimelech leaves God’s protection and provision to move in with Israelite enemies/God’s enemies. He leaves the house of bread, in the region of praise, choosing not to wait on a miracle from God, but to leave the covenant community of Israel, and trust in his own resources; to do as he saw fit. He moves his family to the land of the Moabites, who were descended from Lot, born of incest. In Psalm 108:9, God says, Moab is my washpot garbage can. Willful Elimelech leaves the house of bread for the garbage can.

He takes with him Naomi (pleasant; Merry Sunshine!) and their two sons, Mahlon (sickly; weakling;) and Kilion (puny). Because of this fateful and foolish move, Naomi is reduced from fullness to emptiness: With 2 sons and a husband, Naomi leaves Bethlehem feeling “Full.” But, during their sojourn in Moab, she begins to empty. She has no additional children; her husband, Elimelech, dies; her two sons marry Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah—who are both lovely and loving, but who appear to be barren. Then, both young men die! Naomi winds up empty in Moab!

What does she decide to do? Like so many of us when life leaves us frustrated and alone, we either strike out for a new place/new beginning or we go back home, don’t we? She’s already done the former. So now it’s time to try the latter. She probably thought to herself, When was I last full? In Israel, when I lived among family; in Israel, where I had women friends; in Israel, where I lived under God’s protection. She may have even thought, Maybe the Lord allowed all of this because we didn’t trust Him

Did Naomi repent for having fled from the Promised Land? Did she pray? Did she ask for God’s forgiveness? It doesn’t seem like it because at first she returns to Bethlehem and tells the women there, call me Mara (bitter). Like a lot of us, rather than taking responsibility for being out of God’s will, she blames God for her misfortunes.

But our lesson today points to one benefit she has gained from her sojourn in the garbage pail: Ruth. Through Ruth, God begins to fill Naomi back up:

1.) First, consider Ruth’s character: She is compassionate. She knows Naomi is grieved and depressed, so she puts Naomi’s need for companionship and assistance ahead of her own comforts. This is what St. Paul would later define as agapao, a 1st Corinthians 1 type of love. She is also loyal. Maybe she had experienced first-hand Naomi’s kindnesses to her as a young bride. Perhaps Naomi had consoled her in her childlessness. Maybe Naomi had been very helpful to her during Mahlon’s illness and death. Scripture is silent on these points. Whatever had happened between them, it was enough for Ruth to prefer leaving her own homeland to venture to a land where she might be forever an outcast. I think that tells us she was courageous.

2.) Second, Ruth had become a God-follower, v.16–Your God will be my God…may the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separate you and me. How had that happened? Probably because of Naomi’s example: Naomi tells the women of Bethlehem that she knows God has brought me back empty (Hmmm, that implies she prayed), and to call her Mara. But she seems also to have practiced St. Francis’ (much later advice: Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words. Even if her depression was talking most recently, Ruth had seen the true Naomi, before all of her misfortunes. Maybe God was telling Naomi, through Ruth’s presence, I have blessed you with a true-blue friend!

And that was just the beginning, wasn’t it? If you know the story of Ruth, you know that Naomi still held a deed to a family-owned, but mortgaged, tract of land. God supplies a kinsman redeemer (a foreshadowing of Christ), Boaz, who generously pays off the mortgage and marries Naomi’s foreign daughter-in-law. We know God designed this because there was another fellow in the family who wanted the land, but not Ruth. Also, Boaz, an older guy, was rather amazed that this lovely young woman would desire him over guys her own age.

The childless Ruth bears a son to Boaz, Obed (servant of the Lord.) Obed is the father of Jesse, and the Grandfather of King David. More importantly, we know that Ruth and Boaz establish the line of Jesse of the tribe of Judah, out of which comes the Messiah, Jesus. The Lord fills Naomi back up–just like Job–really beyond anything she can ask or imagine.

Psalm 146 echoes the theme: Verses 5-6 say, Blessed is he [or she] whose help in the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his [her] God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—the Lord, who remains faithful forever. Verses 7-9 almost seem to have been composed for Naomi in particular: He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry…the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down…the Lord…sustains the fatherless and the widow….

Hebrews 9:11-14 exhorts us to trust in Jesus’ saving power. While Naomi and Ruth’s time predated Christ’s by centuries, nevertheless they were redeemed by a prototype of Christ. The writer to the Hebrews wants us to know and to appreciate the fact that the blood Jesus shed to pay the penalty for our sins far surpasses the blood of animals to make atonement for us. Jesus is our Kinsman Redeemer.

Mark 12:28-34 presents us with a lawyer (or teacher of the law) who confesses that loving God and loving our neighbors is more important to God than making burnt offerings (to remove the blot of sin) or sacrifices. Jesus commends him for his wisdom. Love of God—trust in God—and love of people are what most please God.

There are some wonderful lessons for us, given current events as well as our personal dilemmas and calamities:

1.) You may remember from last week, There is no situation I can get into that God cannot get me out of. If we trust in God, we will be all right. Elimelech and Naomi should have trusted in God. They could have saved themselves a lot of trouble if they had humbled themselves, repented, sought God, and prayed. He promises in 2 Chronicles 7:14 to hear, forgive, and heal if we do. However, because God is a redeemer, even though Naomi returned to Bethlehem minus a husband and two sons, she was richer for having a loyal, generous, and loving daughter-in-law. Ruth became the great-grandmother of King David and is included in the lineage of Jesus. Surely Naomi is in heaven rejoicing that that is the case!

2.) I am convinced that 2 Chronicles 7:14 is God’s answer to our personal dilemmas. No matter what be-devils you—health issues, depression or crippling anxiety, family quarrels, money problems, unpleasant situations at work or in the neighborhood—bring all these issues to God’s attention. Repent of your sins. Ask for His help. Trust in His love. Then watch and see what He does.

3.) I am also convinced that 2 Chronicles 7:14 is God’s answer to the trouble our country is in now. We need to confess our sins as a nation, to repent, and to return to our foundational beliefs in God. America was meant to be a “City set on a hill,” an example to the rest of the world of what a country can look like when it is focused on loving God and obeying His will. What we see now is a country that is suffering the consequences of being out of God’s will. He has lifted His hedge of protection from us. We are encountering all manner of troubles because we have walked away from Him. The answer, the antidote, is not to throw more money on our problems, but to return to the God who has purchased us with His own blood! Thanks be God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Alleluia! Alleluia!

©2021 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams