A novel way to celebrate God's victories and create a storehouse on which to draw in times of low faith and discouragement. By Linda Cheng.

Dr. Hans Wilhelm preaches from Matthews 24 and 1 Timothy 4 to help us understand how current events relate to prophecies by Jesus regarding the end of times. Besides understanding what events must happen before the return of our Lord, we must also be cautious not to be misled by false teachers.

Menial Tasks from Jason Liang

A few weeks ago, while sheltered-in-place at home, I found myself sitting in the living room floor with my little daughter, Lexi, making girly charm bracelets together.  She had pleaded with me to help her.  As I sat there picking out pendants and trying to put one little metal ring into another, I thought to myself “man, what a waste of my time.”  I could be watching my shows on Netflix, playing video games on my Xbox, checking out Facebook, or even writing emails and talking to clients at work.”  It was taking time away from the things I want to do.  “What’s the point of these bracelets anyway?” I asked myself.  “She’s probably going to misplace it or break it in less than a day. And it is such a boring, menial job that I could probably just get my older daughter to help her with it.  I don’t need to do this.  It is so beneath me.”  As I sat there impatient and disgruntled, the Lord reminded me of something.  Jesus did not shy away from tasks that were beneath Him.  From washing the feet of His disciples to taking care of little children, Jesus showed us that there is no job that we are too big for.  Can you imagine the Lord of the universe kneeling before His disciples washing and cleaning their dirty, smelly feet?  If you haven’t heard of this, read John 13, verses 4-17. 

In addition, the Lord reminded me of the things my parents had done for me despite their reluctance at the time.  When I was a preschooler, I bugged my dad every evening to play chess with me. Despite being tired and uninterested because I was not a very good player, he still played with me.  I took forever making my moves and often made bad decisions so it was not much fun for him and definitely tested his patience.  My mom also spent time with me by teaching me how to cook while she was in the kitchen.  Because I was not very helpful and often got in the way, I could tell she didn’t really want to do it.  If I had to cut some meat, she would sometimes have to recut it because I cut the pieces too big.  Or if I had to wash some vegetables, she would have to rewash it because there would still be sand.  I can still hear her sighing in my head “Argh…”.  She probably thought it was a waste of her time.  But these activities with my parents paid dividends.  Eventually, I became the captain of my high-school chess team.  And the skills I learned in my mom’s kitchen, I still use today to cook for my family.  But what’s more important is that these things that I did with my parents became lasting memories.  The experiences never left me.  The relationship and bond that formed is something I still cherish today.  Had my dad not played chess with me but instead, went to watch TV, not only might I not have followed my passion for chess, but I might not have this connection with him.  For many years afterwards, I still talked to him about chess moves and strategies.  And had my mom not spent time with me in the kitchen, not only might I be useless in the kitchen today, but I might have also missed out on the relationship we built together through that experience.  Even today, I call my mom to ask for recipes and exchange cooking tips. 

So as I was sitting there making charm bracelets with my daughter, I realized what an important moment that was for me, and for my daughter.  After we finished the bracelet, my daughter wore it proudly showing it off to everyone and telling them “Daddy made it with me.”  When I heard that and saw her face beaming with joy, it melted my heart.  I think the Lord was showing me what I could have missed out on had I chosen to go watch TV or do something else.  The question I was asking about what else could I be doing instead of making a charm bracelet with my daughter, I should be asking when I’m watching TV, playing games, or checking my phone: “What could I be doing with my daughter instead of doing this?”  What am I missing out on? 

There are 2 challenges I have for you today.  The first is to look deep inside yourself to see if there are chores or work that you won’t do or don’t want to do because you think they are beneath you.  Maybe it is scrubbing the toilets, helping your child with an art project, or helping out in the nursery, and realize that the Lord stooped much lower to serve others.  What kind of servants would tell their master, I’m willing to this, but not that, or that, or that.  And once you have that list, look around at who could use your help in doing those things.  Turn off your phone, close the laptop, and try joining them.  Maybe join your spouse in washing dishes, help your kids with their hobby, or share your testimonies in podcasts.  You may be amazed by the experiences and relationships that come out from them.  Make lasting memories.  Don’t let all the technological distractions of today take them away from you.  Let’s pray:

Lord, I pray for whoever is listening.  I pray that you will reveal to them things in their lives that they have been reluctant to do because pride gets in the way.  Help us to look to you as an example.  Change our hearts so that we serve You and others first.  Lead us to opportunities, even menial tasks, that will allow us to show our love to others, and thereby, build lasting relationships and memories.  We pray all of these things in the name of your Son, Jesus.  Amen. 

1. God Knows and Understands Us (vv1-6, 17-18)

1. God Gives Us  Peace and Comfort 

Today I would like to share a Hebrew word with you. It’s the word “HESED”. This word appears 248 times in the OT, and it describes God’s steadfast, loving kindness to us based on the covenant through His Son Jesus Christ. It is a never-changing, fully committed love and kindness from God to an ever-changing, often forgetting and rebellious human race. God’s Hesed depends solely on His characters not ours. Can you imagine if God’s love for us depends on our characters? That means the Bible would only be three chapters long, because in Genesis chap 3, Adam&Eve disobeyed God and God would have judged them and rejected them right there and then. Or chap 4, when Cain murdered Abel, or chap 6, when God found the thoughts of human heart to be evil all the time. But throughout the whole Bible, God continues to love and deliver His people out of trouble, even when their characters fall so short of His standard. Didn’t God deliver Abraham when he lied to the Pharoah? Didn’t God provide food and bring the Israelites to the Promised Land even when they grumbled all the time? God ultimately proved His loving kindness to us by sacrificing what is the most precious to Him, His one and only Son Jesus. Jesus is God’s fullest expression of Hesed. When we have Jesus, we can be assured that God will never abandon us. Afterall, if God has already given us Jesus, why would He withhold lesser good things from us? Do you and I have that assurance of God’s Hesed in our life, no matter what circumstances we are in? No matter how messed up we are?

We are experiencing trials of many kinds right now. A worldwide pandemic, a nationwide unrest, and personal challenges. We may be feeling angry, fearful, hurt, unforgiving, isolated. But we must remember God’s Hesed to us. Just as God carried the Israelites through their trials, He will carry us through our trials, because of His never-changing, fully committed love and kindness. Hebrews 13:8 says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. That is who He is. All else may fail, but not God. We can count on Him. One commentary reads – Hesed means God includes our most painful losses in His unshakable promise to bring us lasting joy.

Where in our life do we need to empty out our own emotions and allow His loving kindness to fill us and carry us? When we do that, God’s Hesed turns the most horrible event into a redeeming hope. That is the power of the Cross. That is Hesed.

Feeling stressed out, anxious, and overwhelmed by everything going on in the world today? This week we take a look at Psalm 2, a royal psalm, which reminds us that despite everything going around us, God is still in control from his throne in heaven. Because of this, we should submit to Him and take refuge in Him.

Romans 8:28-30

• Many of us are frustrated with this seemingly never ending shelter in place. As the summer is coming near to the end, the pandemic is worse than it was in the beginning of the summer.  We can’t help but wonder what will happen for  the rest of the year.  There are many things we don’t know.  Will schools open for in-person instruction?  What will parents do if children don’t return to school?  When will churches reopen for in-person services?  Will the economy get worse?  Will there be another surge of the virus? 

• We think our problem is bad circumstances: nasty virus, or bad economy, political polarization, or unfair boss, bad spouse, or that my parents don’t understand me. We think if the virus goes away and we return to “the old normal”, then I’d be happy and my life will be good.  But is it so?  Have we forgotten all about problems and complaints we had before the pandemic?  If we examine life carefully, we’ll find what really affects our lives negatively is not necessarily our circumstances but our value system and character flaws such as our pride, our foolishness, selfishness, and unrepentant hearts.  We all want God to change our circumstances but God wants to use our circumstances to change us.  God uses hardships like the current pandemic to help us to develop perseverance and godly character, to strengthen our faith and for us to experience His faithfulness and His power in our weaknesses.  God never promised us better life circumstances but He promised us that He’ll use all things, especially things that we consider difficult and bad, to transform us so we can be more and more like Christ, to have His wisdom, His inner strength, peace, joy, love, patience, kindness, self-control, etc. 

Do you ever struggle reading God's Word?  There can be a million reasons, ranging from "it's not even on my radar" to "I don't know where to begin" to "it's boring" to "I cannot understand what I am reading."  If any (or even all) of these describe you, take comfort in knowing that you are not alone.  Take even greater comfort knowing that you do not have to remain stuck there.   This message will give us some different perspectives on God's Word and some practical tips on how to read it more meaningfully and effectively.

God Never Sleeps

My grandson was puzzling over the words on a bookmark, so I looked over his shoulder to see what it said.

God never sleeps or gets tired. He sees everything that happens to us.[i]

“Nanny,” he said, “that’s wrong. God does sleep. The Bible says he slept on the seventh day.”[ii]

“Does it say he slept?” I asked. “Let’s look it up.”

We discovered it actually says that God rested on the seventh day.

“What would it be like if God slept?” I asked him, and then pondered the question for myself. When I wake in the middle of the night, it is not a good time for me. My thoughts are at their gloomiest.

But God is there with me. He doesn’t sleep. He doesn’t keep business hours. He doesn’t take vacations.

Elijah ridiculed the prophets of Baal. “Perhaps your god is asleep!”[iii]

But our God doesn’t sleep.

In fact, God works in the night. It was in the middle of the night that he wrestled with Jacob. It was in the middle of the night that he called Samuel. In Psalm 16:7 the psalmist says:

            I bless the LORD who gives me counsel,

            In the night also my heart instructs me.

And it was in the middle of the night that the idea for this message came to me.

Perhaps we should also look at what it means that God rested. Genesis 2:3 says that God rested from all his work of creation. Creation was finished. There was no more o be done. But God was not idle. Creation is maintained by him too.

Perhaps the day of rest was given for our benefit.

God repeats the commandment to take a sabbath several times and each time the reasons given are slightly different. When Moses reiterates the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5:12-15 for the new generation just before they entered the Promised Land he says:

Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your manservant, or your maidservant…that your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you.

            This is a justice issue. The day of rest is not just for us but also for those who work for us. God goes on to say:

You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out thence with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.

The sabbath was a day to remember their release from slavery, and for us to remember that we are no longer slaves to sin.

            In Exodus 31:13 God tells the people that the sabbaths are a sign between him and them “that you may know that I, the LORD , sanctify you.” Not just salvation, but also sanctification.

Praise God that in his care for us he gives us a day to rest, and he also gives us his presence twenty-four hours a day. Our God never sleeps.

[i] See Psalm 121:3-4

[ii] Genesis 2:3

[iii] 1 Kings 18:27

Psalm 72 paints a poetic picture of the coming Messiah and his kingdom. It calls upon us to exercise both sanctified thinking and sanctified imagination as an act of faith as we glimpse, taste, and are transformed by its vision for the future.