Humanity has accomplished much — medical breakthroughs, computer technology, even walking the moon! Yet for all our accomplishments, we are still utter failures. We may progress in science and technology, but spiritually we progress from bad to worse. Exhibit A: Jephthah and Israel. What should have been a celebration becomes a landscape filled with blood, sorrow, and death. Neither Jephthah, nor any of the judges, can ultimately save Israel from what truly plagues it—sin and separation from God. As we see in our passage, if true peace, blessings, and life are to come, they will have to come through a Savior greater than Jephthah.

Christ's Fellowship Church of Lawton is a Reformed Baptist Church in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention. https://cfclawton.org/

Most of us have a very narrow view of history, a history that begins when we are born and ends when we die. But history is not ultimately about us; history is ultimately about God and His purposes to save a people for Himself through the Messiah. Jephthah understood this profound truth, and in his dispute with the king of Ammon masterfully shows that all history is about the saving work of god and how all nations must submit to this reality. May we too listen to the words of Jephthah and humble ourselves before this sovereign God of history.

Christ's Fellowship Church of Lawton is a Reformed Baptist Church in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention. https://cfclawton.org/

Scripture promises that despite the sins of Israel, God will graciously send a Savior, but he will be a Savior who is rejected by the very people He came to save. Jephthah is not that savior. Jephthah is a human judge with serious flaws. But his story does point forward to Christ Jesus, the perfect Savior; the One despised and rejected by men, but who saves to the utmost all those who receive Him by faith.

Christ's Fellowship Church of Lawton is a Reformed Baptist Church in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention. https://cfclawton.org/

As we come to the middle of the book of Judges what we find is Israel is at the height of its rebellion against God, becoming just like the surrounding nations in their idolatry. But the good news for them, and for us, is that God is patient. Despite our persistent rebellion, God patiently restrains His wrath, allowing us time to repent. May we heed His Word and trust in Christ while there is still time.

Christ's Fellowship Church of Lawton is a Reformed Baptist Church in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention. https://cfclawton.org/

People often run through life day after day and week by week without ever giving a passing thought to the sovereignty of God over their life. It is all to common to plan our lives as if we will live forever and as if we are in control. James brings us back to reality by reminding us that our lives are as temporary as a mist in in the morning that is here one second and gone the next.

Christ's Fellowship Church of Lawton is a Reformed Baptist Church in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention. https://cfclawton.org/

Christmas time brings families together and everyone knows that at family get togethers the one thing you do not talk about, if you want a Merry Christmas, is Politics and Religion. Yet Isaiah prophesies 700 years before the birth of Christ that the God will bring illumination, redemption, joy, and an eternal pace to creation through the merging of politics and religion.

Christ's Fellowship Church of Lawton is a Reformed Baptist Church in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention. https://cfclawton.org/

The Christmas season is filled with distractions. People have a tendency to be so caught up in life that we miss the beauty of the true meaning of Christmas. This is a tragedy. If we miss the true meaning of Christmas, we miss the only thing that can truly satisfy.

Christ's Fellowship Church of Lawton is a Reformed Baptist Church in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention. https://cfclawton.org/

Family gatherings at Christmas can be a stressful and tense time for many. Why? Could it be that we are harboring bitter, unforgiving thoughts and emotions towards others? How then should Christians think about forgiveness, not just around the holidays, but every day of the year? Rather than holding grudges and retaliating against those who hurt us, Jesus teaches His disciples that those who have experienced God's magnificent grace in Christ ought to be quick to show grace and forgiveness to others.

Christ's Fellowship Church of Lawton is a Reformed Baptist Church in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention. https://cfclawton.org/

In this text, Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a King throwing a wedding party. Imagine getting a wedding invitation to the most exclusive royal wedding on the planet. Now imagine turning it down... This is what people do in this passage! It doesn't make sense. We are forced to ask ourselves: Have I responded appropriately to the invitation to the greatest of the great wedding feast that God is throwing for His Son?

Christ's Fellowship Church of Lawton is a Reformed Baptist Church in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention. https://cfclawton.org/