Appleton Gospel Church

The Burning Bush (Exodus): When Yahweh God sent Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses clearly had fears and doubts about his ability to do what God called him to do. Yahweh graciously (and patiently) provided his name, miraculous signs, and other help. But what would guarantee success? God promised, "I will be with you." Recorded on Oct 6, 2024, on Exodus 3:1-4:17 by Pastor David Parks.

This message is part of our Exodus series called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation — of God working to rescue and redeem a people for himself, freeing them from slavery and leading them to the land he promised to the family of Abraham and Sarah. Exodus is also a picture of the gospel and the Christian life. In Christ, we, too, are freed from captivity to sin and death and led through the wilderness of life by God’s Word and Presence as we make our way to the Promised Land of the world to come. Join us as we make this journey to find true and lasting freedom.

Sermon Transcript

Well, today, and for about the next six months, we’ll be working through a sermon series on the book of Exodus called Journey to Freedom. For the last two weeks, we’ve said that Exodus is a wild story, but it’s a story of liberation, of God rescuing and redeeming a people for himself. We’ve also said Exodus is a picture of the gospel and the Christian life. Chapter 1 started something like 3,200 or 3,300 years ago when the ancient people of Israel were suffering bitterly as slaves in Egypt. Would God keep his promises to the family of Abraham and Sarah? Would he be faithful to save? Last week, in Chapter 2, with the birth of Moses, we saw God’s rescue plan start to unfold. However, Moses’ disastrous first attempt at helping his people led to his exile in the foreign land of Midian. Was this God's plan?? Well, today, in Chapter 3, forty years have passed. Moses married Zipporah, the daughter of a pagan priest named Jethro, started a family, and worked as a shepherd for his father-in-law. And for many years, that was it. It probably seemed like God was done with him. Have you ever wondered about this for your life? Maybe things haven’t turned out how you thought they would, and you wonder, “Is this it, or does God have something more for me?” Maybe a bigger question for Moses would be, given his first failure, would he be able to handle it if God called him more? Well, God’s not done with Moses. If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Exodus 3:1. This is a fairly long text, but it’s all one story, and we’ll unpack it as we go. 

Exodus 3:1–4:17 (NIV), “1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. 7 The Lord said, “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. 8 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—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.

Moses Flees to Midian (Exodus): Chapter 2 tells the story of Moses' birth and adoption into the Egyptian royal family, which seems to set him up to be the great deliverer of the Hebrew people. However, after his disastrous first attempt at helping his people, he was forced to flee to the land of Midian. Had he squandered his chance? Was this God's plan?? Recorded on Sep 29, 2024, on Exodus 2:1-25 by Pastor David Parks.

This message is part of our Exodus series called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation — of God working to rescue and redeem a people for himself, freeing them from slavery and leading them to the land he promised to the family of Abraham and Sarah. Exodus is also a picture of the gospel and the Christian life. In Christ, we, too, are freed from captivity to sin and death and led through the wilderness of life by God’s Word and Presence as we make our way to the Promised Land of the world to come. Join us as we make this journey to find true and lasting freedom.

Sermon Transcript

Well, today, and for about the next six months, we’ll be working through a sermon series on the book of Exodus called Journey to Freedom. Last week, we started by sharing that Exodus is a wild story, but it’s a story of liberation, of God rescuing and redeeming a people for himself. And we saw the context of this story was the bitter suffering and oppression of ancient Israel when they were slaves in Egypt, something like 3,200 or 3,300 years ago. Things went from bad to worse and culminated in the wicked command of the king to commit genocide against the baby Hebrew boys. They desperately needed God to intervene. But would God be faithful to save? If you missed that intro to our series, you can always go back and watch or listen online. But we said that besides being a great story, Exodus is a picture of the gospel and the Christian life. That in Christ, we, too, are freed from captivity to sin and death and are led through the wilderness of life by God's Word and Presence as we make our way to the Promised Land of the world to come. Well, today, in Chapter 2, we’ll see the rescue plan of God start to unfold with the origin of Moses. But it doesn’t go at all how you’d expect. In fact, by the end of Chapter 2, we might have more questions than answers about God’s rescue plan. If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Exodus 2:1. Chapter 2 has three parts with a little epilogue at the end. Here’s part one…

Exodus 2:1–10 (NIV), “1 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. 5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. 7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” 8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.” Part one is all about the birth story of Moses, who would become the mighty prophet and leader of the Israelites out of Egypt. Here, Moses writes that his parents were both of the tribe of Levi. Later, we learn that Moses’ father’s name was Amram, and his mother was Jochebed. Now,

Slaves in Egypt (Exodus): This is the beginning of our series on the book of Exodus, called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation — of God working to rescue and redeem a people for himself, freeing them from slavery and leading them to the land he promised to the family of Abraham and Sarah. Exodus is also a picture of the Christian life. Is God faithful to save? Recorded on Sep 22, 2024, on Exodus 1:1-22 by Pastor David Parks.

This message is part of our Exodus series called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation — of God working to rescue and redeem a people for himself, freeing them from slavery and leading them to the land he promised to the family of Abraham and Sarah. Exodus is also a picture of the gospel and the Christian life. In Christ, we, too, are freed from captivity to sin and death and led through the wilderness of life by God's Word and Presence as we make our way to the Promised Land of the world to come. Join us as we make this journey to find true and lasting freedom.

Sermon Transcript

Well, today, we get to start a brand new sermon series on the book of Exodus in the OT called Journey to Freedom, which will run through March. But I’ve been working for months to prepare for this series, and I can’t wait to share this story with you. Exodus is an ancient story, something like 3,400 years old, and, as we’ll see, it’s a wild story. But really, Exodus is a story of liberation — of God working to rescue and redeem a people for himself, freeing them from slavery and leading them to the land he promised to the family of Abraham and Sarah (i.e., the Promised Land). Along the way are heroes and villains, cosmic battles between good and evil, folly and sin, and incredible grace, mercy, and love. It’s a story expertly told. But one of the things I want you to see throughout this whole series is that Exodus is a wonderful picture of the gospel and the Christian life. In Christ, we, too, are freed from captivity to sin and death and are led through the wilderness of life by God's Word and Presence as we make our way to the Promised Land of the world to come. This is our Exodus; this is our journey to freedom. Do you think there might be some valuable lessons we might learn about our journey from this first Exodus? Absolutely. But today, as we start this series, we’ll see what life had become for the Israelite people suffering in Egypt. And we’ll see a clear need for God to act/intervene/send a savior. The question is: Would the Lord be faithful to keep the promises he made? Is God faithful to save? If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Exodus 1:1.

Exodus 1:1-7 (NIV), “1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.” Exodus is the second book in the Bible and is the second of a five-part series known by two terms: the Pentateuch, which means five books in Greek, and the Torah, which means the Law in Hebrew. These five books, including Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, were written by Moses, the mighty prophet and leader of the Israelites during the time of the Exodus. Now, to say that these writings have been influential is a ridiculous understatement. No one, after Jesus Christ himself, has had a more significant impact on human history than Moses and his five books. Over half the world’s population considers his writing to be Holy Scripture. Exodus begins by picking up where the book of Genesis left off. Genesis begins with a collection of stories of creation. The creation of the heavens and the earth,

Making Room in the Church: Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Because of his heart for people, Jesus was willing to be interrupted by Bartimaeus, Zacchaeus, and so many others. They believed in him, and he offered healing and forgiveness and changed their life into a testimony to the goodness of God. Jesus still seeks the lost today. Therefore, we must make room for more people in our church. Recorded on Sep 15, 2024, on Luke 18:35-19:10 by Pastor David Parks.

Make Room is a three-part sermon series considering the need to make room 1) for more of God in our lives, 2) for more people in our lives, and 3) for more people in our church. Why? Because more people need good news! More people need the life and love, the freedom and forgiveness, and so much more that is only found in Christ. Our prayer is that in the coming years, many more people will experience the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Sermon Transcript

Well, today, we’re finishing up our mini sermon series called Make Room to talk about some of the Biblical foundations of our 2030 Vision. We said that this series and our 2030 Vision plan are the result of a process our elder board spent months on — listening, learning, praying, and talking together about who we are as a church, where God is bearing fruit, and where we believe God is leading us in the next 5-7 years. We also said that one of the things that became clear is that for this next season of life, we do not believe that God is leading us in a dramatically new direction. We don’t need to reinvent our mission, vision, or values. Instead, the phrase that kept coming up in this process was “make room.” So, for the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about our need to make room 1) for more of God in our lives, 2) for more people in our lives, and today, 3) for more people in our church. This is what our 2030 Vision is all about. But this vision isn’t something that might happen months or years from now. We’re actually starting to see parts of our 2030 Vision happening this month as we multiply our community groups, serving opportunities on our ministry teams, worship services, and more. Down the road, if it’s God’s will, we’ll see expansion in kid’s and student ministry, pastoral staffing, building facilities, and perhaps another church plant; who knows! But first, today, we need to count the cost. When Jesus invited men and women to follow him, he challenged them to count the cost. Would they still be willing to follow him even if they had to give up everything? Now, I’m not saying we might have to give up everything to accomplish our 2030 Vision. But the truth is that change can be painful/uncomfortable. Even change for the best can still be hard. All the things I just mentioned will make room for more, but they will also bring changes around here. So today, we’ll consider why we need to make room for more people in our church — why we need to go through the potential pain of change. Will we be willing to pay the cost? If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Luke 18:35. We’ll unpack this text as we go.

Luke 18:35–38 (NIV), “35 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. 38 He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The book of Luke was written by a man who most likely became a Christian through the ministry of the Apostle Paul. Luke was a physician who did a careful investigation into the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and then wrote a history of the early church. These works are both in the NT as the book of Luke and Acts. Luke was alive during the time of the Apostles and interviewed eyewitnesses who saw/heard/experienced the person and work of Jesus. Our account today has lots of potential witnesses. Luke writes that Jesus was approaching Jericho with a whole crowd of people.

Making Room for People: We were made to enjoy deep, healthy, long-term relationships. But this world is broken, and relationships can be just as much a source of pain as anything. What can we do? We should take a risk and make room for more people in our hearts, homes, and lives. Why? The unexpected answer is found...at the end of the world. Recorded on Sep 8, 2024, on 1 Peter 4:7-11 by Pastor David Parks.

Make Room is a three-part sermon series considering the need to make room 1) for more of God in our lives, 2) for more people in our lives, and 3) for more people in our church. Why? Because more people need good news! More people need the life and love, the freedom and forgiveness, and so much more that is only found in Christ. Our prayer is that in the coming years, many more people will experience the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Sermon Transcript

Well, today, we’re on part two of a quick, three-week sermon series called Make Room to talk about some of the Biblical foundations of our 2030 Vision. If you missed the start of this series last week, you can always go back and watch or listen to the podcast online or on the Church Center app. But as we said, the elder board spent months listening, learning, praying, and talking together about who we are as a church, where God is bearing fruit, and where we believe God is leading us in the next 5-7 years (leading up to 2030). Now, I don’t know about you, but it really feels like the start of a new chapter of life as a church, so this was a very timely process. But, one of the things that became clear is that we do not believe that God is leading us in a dramatically new direction. We don’t need to reinvent our mission, vision, or values. Instead, the phrase that kept coming up in this process was “make room.” We need to make room. We need to make room 1) for more of God in our lives, 2) for more people in our lives, and 3) for more people in our church. Making room is what our 2030 Vision is all about. Last week, we were warned against the trap of becoming lukewarm in our faith from Revelation 3 and were encouraged to let Jesus in. He’s standing at the door and is knocking because he wants to be let into every aspect of our lives. Today, we’re going to consider the need to make room for more people in our lives. Now, here’s something I’ve noticed over the years — it was especially obvious during the isolation/loneliness of Covid: People, in general (maybe this isn’t you!), are really bad at maintaining deep, healthy, long-term relationships. This is a huge struggle. One of my responsibilities as a pastor is to meet with people and offer Biblical counsel and spiritual direction as they navigate the difficult terrain of life. There are many different reasons why someone might want to meet. But far and away, the most common reason is because there’s some sort of conflict in a close, usually family-type of relationship. Maybe you can relate? Many can. But this kind of situation/conflict can be so painful and frustrating. And I get it: when you’ve experienced that kind of relational pain, I’m sure it is hard to put yourself out there again and invest in other close relationships, hoping they’ll be different. However, the solution is not to disappear into the woods, become a hermit, and never deal with people again. That would be disobedient to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ, which is to make disciples of all nations. And last time I checked, you can’t make disciples unless other people are involved. But neither is the solution to call Shoji Morimoto. I read about Mr. Morimoto a few years ago in an article from The Washington Post titled, Rent-a-stranger: This Japanese man makes a living showing up and doing nothing, (By Michelle Ye Hee Lee and Julia Mio Inuma, March 19, 2022). The article describes a man named Shoji Morimoto who makes a living by renting himself out to people who want a companion.

Making Room for God: What if Jesus wrote a letter to our church? In his letter to the church in the wealthy city of Laodicea, Jesus strongly warned about being lukewarm in their faith. These Christians were no different than the world around them. But this rebuke was coming from a place of love. "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock." Will they make room for him? Recorded on Sep 1, 2024, on Revelation 3:14-22 by Pastor David Parks.

Make Room is a three-part sermon series considering the need to make room 1) for more of God in our lives, 2) for more people in our lives, and 3) for more people in our church. Why? Because more people need good news! More people need the life and love, the freedom and forgiveness, and so much more that is only found in Christ. Our prayer is that in the coming years, many more people will experience the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Sermon Transcript

For the next three weeks, we’re doing something a little different in our preaching ministry. Normally, our sermon series are based on a book of the Bible (e.g., John or Ephesians or Ruth) or a larger section of Scripture (e.g., Sermon on the Mount). But today, we’re starting a three-week topical series called Make Room to talk about some of the Biblical foundations of our 2030 Vision. But fear not; after this short series, we’ll jump back into a more typical expository series on the book of Exodus (which I’m very excited about!). Now, if we had your email address, you got an email this past week sharing some of our thinking behind this 2030 Vision. But I’ll give you a little more context before we jump into our Scripture passage for today. All the way back in February, after considering whether or not we should try and buy our current building facility, the elder board started developing a long-term ministry plan. We realized that our ministry vision should really come before any questions about a building facility because a building is simply a big, expensive tool to use for the mission/vision of a church. In other words, a building serves the ministry, not the other way around. Plus, over the past year, we saw over 50% growth as a church, and, to be honest, we started to feel some growing pains. Some of our systems and structures that used to work just fine were no longer working as well. We realized that if we failed to pray or plan for the next season of ministry, we would struggle to shepherd people well and would be vulnerable to division or discouragement. So, as a board, we spent months listening to our leaders and the congregation and learning from other pastors and churches. We spent months praying together and talking about who we are as a church, where God is bearing fruit in our ministry, and where we believe God is leading us in the next 5-7 years. This process was very helpful in bringing clarity to what really does seem to be the start of a new season in the life of our church. One of the things that became clear was that we did not feel God was leading us in a dramatically new direction. We don’t need to reinvent ourselves or change our mission, vision, or values. Instead, the phrase that kept coming up was “make room.” We need to make room. But make room for what exactly? Well, as we continued to refine our vision, three areas for making room emerged. We need to make room 1) for more of God in our lives, 2) for more people in our lives, and 3) for more people in our church. Making room is what our 2030 Vision is all about. And this is what we’re going to be talking about today and for the next few weeks. So, we’ll start this mini-series by dropping into Revelation chapter 3, and we’re going to consider a very famous passage where Jesus says he’s standing at the door of our lives, and he’s knocking. He wants to come in, be with us, and have fellowship with us. If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Revelation 3:14.

Revelation 3:14 (NIV),

Ruth and Her Guardian-Redeemer (Ruth): In the stunning conclusion, Boaz legally becomes the guardian-redeemer, Boaz and Ruth get married, and a new baby provides redemption for Naomi. But the Lord was doing much more than providing a "happily ever after." As the ultimate Guardian-Redeemer, God was doing immeasurably more than anything they asked or imagined! Recorded on Aug 25, 2024, on Ruth 4:1-22 by Pastor David Parks.

This sermon is part of the series Ruth: The Love of a Redeemer. In the Bible, the book of Ruth tells the story of a family that experienced a series of bitter tragedies. But through loyalty, integrity, and faithful love (hesed), they find unexpected redemption, restoration, and hope. Our God is a redeemer.

Sermon Transcript

So, all month, we’ve been working through a series on the OT book of Ruth called The Love of a Redeemer. As we’ve seen, Ruth is all about facing the bitter tragedies of life by leaning on the hesed, or the steadfast loving-kindness of God, but also on the men and women in our lives who have the character and integrity to reflect this kind of redeeming love to us. The Bible, from cover to cover, is a redemption story. And sometimes, the people of the Bible, people like Ruth and Boaz, reflect the redemptive love that God ultimately gives through Jesus Christ, his son. I do hope this short series has been helpful to you. I’ve really enjoyed it personally. But today, in Act 4 of our play, we’ll see this inspiring story come to its conclusion. We’ll see that the covenant love (hesed) of Boaz would make the cost of redemption a joy, not a burden. But also, we'll see that the redeeming work that God was doing would have an impact far beyond the lives of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz. God was doing something so much greater than anyone could ever imagine! If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Ruth 4:1.But before we jump back in, let me give you a little context. So, last week, we saw that, at Naomi’s suggestion, Ruth got dressed up nice, put on some perfume, and went down to the threshing floor when Boaz and the others were winnowing the grain they had harvested. Ruth pulled off what seemed to be a sketchy plan to go to Boaz at night and let him know that she was interested in him as more than a friend, shall we say? But when Boaz woke up and realized Ruth was there, she boldly asked him if he would be willing to serve as her guardian-redeemer. Now, we’ll see more about what exactly she was asking of him today. But instead of taking advantage of Ruth there on the threshing floor, Boaz was blown away and responded with a blessing, telling her he would do everything she asked. But there was one potential problem: there was another who was a closer relative to Elimelek who, according to their custom, should have the first opportunity to be the guardian-redeemer ahead of Boaz. But Boaz would not rest until the matter was settled the very next day. Now, we have Act 4, scene 1.

Ruth 4:1–4 (NIV), “1 Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer he had mentioned came along. Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down. 2 Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, “Sit here,” and they did so. 3 Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek. 4 I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line.” “I will redeem it,” he said.” Uh oh. Ok! So Boaz went up from the threshing floor to the town gate. Now, I mentioned last week that Ruth clearly embodied the “wife of noble character” described in Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31:23 says of this kind of woman,

Ruth at the Threshing Floor (Ruth): Character matters. In this broken world, will you find yourself in a compromising situation from time to time? Absolutely. What will you do? Will you compromise yourself and follow the ways of the world? Or will you trust in the Lord and honor him with your life and the commitment of your character? Recorded on Aug 18, 2024, on Ruth 3:1-18 by Pastor David Parks.

This sermon is part of the series Ruth: The Love of a Redeemer. In the Bible, the book of Ruth tells the story of a family that experienced a series of bitter tragedies. But through loyalty, integrity, and faithful love (hesed), they find unexpected redemption, restoration, and hope. Our God is a redeemer.

Sermon Transcript

So, all month, we’re working through a series on the OT book of Ruth called The Love of a Redeemer. As we’ve seen so far, Ruth is all about facing the bitter tragedies of life by leaning on the hesed, or the steadfast loving-kindness of God, but also on the men and women in our lives who have the character and integrity to reflect this kind of redeeming love to us. As Justun said last week, the Bible, from cover to cover, is a redemption story. And sometimes, the people of the Bible reflect the redemptive love that God ultimately gave us through Jesus. Of course, very often, the people of the Bible (and perhaps other people in our lives today) do not reflect God’s love or godly character. But Ruth provides several good models for us to learn from. In Act 1, we saw Ruth, a foreign (Moabite) woman, model this hesed-style love to her mother-in-law, Naomi, after their husbands died. We saw this in Ruth’s incredible declaration of loyalty and commitment to Naomi and then in her willingness to leave her people and her gods and return to Bethlehem with Naomi to love and care for her. Last week, in Act 2, we saw Boaz model this hesed-style love for Ruth and Naomi. Boaz protected Ruth as she worked in his field and generously provided food for them. Today, in Act 3 of our play, we’ll see if this loyalty and kindness, this protection and provision, might become something more for Boaz and Ruth. But the lead characters of our play find themselves in a seemingly sketchy situation that is a real test of their integrity. How would they respond? Will they compromise themselves, following the ways of the world? Or will they trust in the Lord and honor him with their lives and the commitment of their character? If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Ruth 3:1. Act 3, scene 1.

Ruth 3:1–6 (NIV), “1 One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you, where you will be well provided for. 2 Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3 Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.” 5 “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered. 6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.” So, we’re not sure exactly how much time has passed here since Ruth and Naomi arrived from Moab. Chapter 1 ends with a transitional note from our narrator that they arrived in Bethlehem just as the barley harvest was starting. Then, Ruth providentially gleaned in the fields of Boaz during the harvest. Historically, the barley harvest would start in mid-May and would continue with the wheat harvest through the end of June. Now, here, perhaps sometime in July, the harvest was done, and the operation turned to winnow the grain on the threshing floor to separate the grain from the chaff. Bethlehem, which, as we said, meant “house of bread,” was filling back up. Now, harvest time was really hard work.

Ruth in the Fields of Boaz (Ruth): The Bible, from cover to cover, is a redemption story. Sometimes, the people of the Bible reflect the redemptive love that God ultimately gives through Jesus. How Boaz treated Ruth, a poor Moabite widow working in his fields, is a wonderful picture of the steadfast loving-kindness (hesed) of God. Recorded on Aug 11, 2024, on Ruth 2:1-23 by Justun Hart.

This sermon is part of the series Ruth: The Love of a Redeemer. In the Bible, the book of Ruth tells the story of a family that experienced a series of bitter tragedies. But through loyalty, integrity, and faithful love (hesed), they find unexpected redemption, restoration, and hope. Our God is a redeemer.

Ruth and Naomi (Ruth): When dealing with the tragedies of this broken world, it's hard not to let those bitter experiences define you. Due to a famine in Judah, Naomi's family moved to the foreign country of Moab. However, when Naomi's husband and both her sons died there, she decided to return home to Bethlehem. Unexpectedly, Ruth, one of Naomi's daughters-in-law, made the beautifully brave decision to commit her life to love and care for Naomi, even in her bitterness. In the end, the faithful, sacrificial love of Ruth points to the greater love of Jesus. Recorded on Aug 4, 2024, on Ruth 1:1-22 by Pastor David Parks.

This sermon is part of the series Ruth: The Love of a Redeemer. In the Bible, the book of Ruth tells the story of a family that experienced a series of bitter tragedies. But through loyalty, integrity, and faithful love (hesed), they find unexpected redemption, restoration, and hope. Our God is a redeemer.

Sermon Transcript

For the next month, we’ll be working through a series on the OT book of Ruth called The Love of a Redeemer. In the Bible, the book of Ruth tells the story of a family that experienced a series of bitter tragedies. But through loyalty, integrity, and faithful love, they find unexpected redemption, restoration, and hope. Now, this is an ancient story, well over 3,000 years old, and is an absolute masterwork of ancient literature. But because it’s so well-told, this ancient story is just as powerful for us today. Because how can we face the tragedies of this broken world? How can we remain faithful, find healing, and avoid becoming embittered or resentful when we experience a great loss? Can we ever recover our joy and peace after enduring real pain and suffering? The answer in the book of Ruth is found in the difficult-to-translate Hebrew word: hesed. But for now, if you have your Bible/app, please open it to Ruth 1:1. This is Act 1, scene 1 of our story.

Ruth 1:1–2 (NIV), “1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.” V. 1 places us in a certain period of history for ancient Israel. “…the days when the judges ruled” took place after the Exodus but before the time of the ancient kings of Israel — probably about 3,200 years ago. The book of Judges takes place during the same time as Ruth but paints a very bleak picture. However, Ruth reveals that not everyone was corrupt or faithless during this dark time. There were good men and women who were faithful to God and his word despite their difficult circumstances. But here, in the opening scene of our story, we’re introduced to a family from Bethlehem in Judah. There was a man named Elimelek, his wife, Naomi, and their two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, but there was a problem. There was a famine in the land. Now, ironically, Bethlehem means “house of food” or “house of bread” in the Hebrew language. Because of the famine, the house of bread was empty. So the man decided to move his family to live for a while (sojourn) in Moab. If we look at a map, we can see that Bethlehem was a small town about five miles south of the city of Jerusalem in the southern region of Canaan, known as Judah. Moab was the country to the east of the Dead Sea and had a violent history with Israel. They were not historically friendly. Now, if there was some disaster that happened in Wisconsin, we wouldn’t think anything of moving to another state to escape it, right? There would be no moral question about that move. But for ancient Israel, it was not necessarily a good thing for this family to move to Moab. According to the Mosaic Law, a famine in the Promised Land was God’s judgment against his people. Now,