The account of Hosea and Gomer serves to teach us that God still has a plan for the nation of Israel, but it also serves a much more personal metaphor of redemption. In our time together, we consider the connection between the redemption of Gomer in Hosea 3, and our own redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ.

In Psalm 138 David expresses his confidence in the promises of God, giving him a hope for the future and compelling him to the heights of praise. May it do the same for us as we think on this blessed Psalm.

We come to the conclusion of the narrative surrounding Hosea and Gomer, where we find Hosea purchase his wife's redemption. God uses this act of sacrificial love as a prophetic promise of Israel's future. We connect those dots in our time together today.

To this point in Hosea, Jezreel has been primarily associated with the terrible day of judgment that would fall upon Israel through the Assyrian overthrow. In Hosea 2, however, God makes it clear that Jezreel will not always be associated with judgment: there is coming a day when Jezreel will be turned from sorrow into joy, and from scattering into regathering.

We often think of thanksgiving in terms of "what". This week we are going to think about gratitude, not in terms of "what" directly, but in terms of "why": why should we be thankful? We think though this in our time together.

Last time we were together we considered the sources of guilt and shame, and grace as the great solution. This week we consider next the outcomes of guilt and shame, and once again consider grace as the solution.

Guilt and shame are very common in the human experience, but for we who are born-again by faith in Christ, guilt and shame have no place in our lives. We talk about the sources of guilt and shame in this first of a two-part sermon on the topic of guilt and shame.

Hosea writes this week about the adultery of his wife Gomer through the perspective of a message unto his 3 children. Through this we learn several lessons, culminating in a call to remember the God from whom all blessings flow.

The story of Loammi is the story in three parts: the growth of Israel, the establishment of the church, and the future regathering of the nation. Through Loammi we learn about God's ability to bring sorrow, that He might bring greater joy on the other end.

Today we learn about the first interaction between Joseph and his brothers in nearly 15 years. Much happens at this reunion, but today we use its events to think about the life and choices of Reuben, to ask the question: what could have been, if Reuben had simply made better choices?