Psalm 125:1-5 (and John 10:7-18) (ESV) - We live in a time of history that feels very uncertain. With all that has occurred in the last several years, it seems like anything could happen. What will save us? Where will our hope come from? Why should we have any real confidence for good things in the future? By contrast to the uncertainty that we grapple with in 2022, the passage that we have before us this Sunday is a confident one. The Psalmist looks at the Lord his God and says, “Here is where my confidence sits. This is why I have hope for the future. Because the Lord has established His people forever and planted them as He has planted Mt. Zion.” As we prepare to hear this word from the Lord, let us ask ourselves, “Who or what am I looking to for help and protection?” Psalm 125 will show us that there is one place the Church should be turning to, and He has established His people for all time.

Jeremiah 28:1-17 (ESV) - We live in a day when there are many people with many ideas on what we should believe and how we should live as a result of those beliefs. But much of the advice or teaching you hear from one person might contradict what you have heard from someone else. Some people are content with that and say, “There’s no such thing as truth.” But we Christians believe that absolute truth is not only real, but it is the basis of our faith and how we live our lives. But how can we tell whether this teaching or that is true, especially if it feels right or it’s popular? To put it another way, there are many prophets and teachers, all clamoring for our attention and belief; how can we tell the difference between a false prophet and a true one? And does it really make that big of a difference, whether we can tell the difference? According to the prophet Jeremiah, it makes an eternity of difference. What we believe and what we teach must be in line with what God has said, lest His judgment and wrath fall on the rebel who refuses His yoke.

Genesis 15:1-6 & Luke 2:22-38 (ESV) - On Saturday, we transition from one year to the next. Just like that, it’s January 1, and the new year has begun. In the busyness of the end of the holidays, it seems like Christmas is done and it’s time to shelve all the feelings and thoughts that it awakens in us. Even in the church, we risk going from praising the Lord for the baby Jesus one day to forgetting about His birth the next. This Sunday, we will read a passage from the Gospel of Luke that describes the infant Jesus being brought by His parents to the temple. When He arrived, several people realized who He was and what His coming meant. Even though Christmas 2021 is past, let’s remember that Jesus continues to have that same world-changing significance to us. In the Lord’s Christ, the Lord has given us light and comfort, and we will soon see why.

Ruth 4:13-22 (ESV) - What a time of year this is! On Dec. 25, people from all across the world join together to celebrate the birth of a single child, a redeemer sent by God to rescue His people! The announcements that accompanied that birth told all with ears to listen and hearts to understand that the arrival of Jesus in Bethlehem of Judah was something ordained by the Almighty that had world changing consequences for all. This Sunday, we will conclude our series of Christmas sermons on the book of Ruth, and we’ll learn about the birth of another boy in Bethlehem. Though he was born hundreds of years before the Lord Jesus, the birth of this child has much to teach us about what Jesus’ coming would mean. May our Lord help us to understand how these final verses in Ruth speak to us of our Savior.

NOTE: due to technical difficulties, Dec 12 sermon (Ruth part 3) is unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Ruth 3:1-18 (ESV) - With Christmas day drawing ever closer, and our attention becoming more and more focused on the day of our Lord’s birth, we are also coming to the climax of the book of Ruth. We’ve seen that Ruth and Naomi have been made helpless by their widowhood, and they have been unable to get themselves out of trouble. But we’ve seen the Lord’s hand on them throughout the book as well. We’ve seen their faith in the Lord honored by Him. We’ve seen the Lord lead Ruth to Boaz, a godly kind-hearted gentleman. And we’ve seen that because Boaz is a redeemer to Naomi’s family, he is able and willing to marry Ruth and provide a future to both women. But for this to come about, Boaz needed to secure the right to redeem Ruth, which is the focus of our sermon this week. As we see this story of redemption unfold, we will see that Boaz’s service to others is a reflection of the much greater, all-encompassing redemption. That is the redemption that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem to secure, the redemption that we will celebrate on Christmas Day.

Luke 1:39-56 & Ruth 2:1-23 (ESV) - When we come to Christmas time, we start thinking about gifts. The gifts that we will give to others and, if we are being honest, the gifts we will receive from them. But one gift stands above and before every other gift in heaven and on earth: the gift that the Lord God gave to the world by sending His son to be born as the savior of His people. We talk of that, we sloganize it, but do we really see the abundance of God’s gift to us in Jesus? Do we see how He has met our deepest needs through the Son of God? As we explore Ruth 2, we will see the generosity of the Lord reflected in the deeds of His servant Boaz. May the Lord help us to see the greater kindness that He showed to us in the first Christmas.

Ruth 1:1-22 (ESV) & Luke 1:26-38 (ESV) - It’s only four weeks until Christmas Day, when we celebrate the day of Jesus’ birth in the little town of Bethlehem of Judah. As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord, we will see how the steadfast love of the Lord blessed His people centuries before Jesus was born. On this Sunday, the first of Advent 2021, we will begin a short series on the book of Ruth, and see what the Lord did care for two helpless women in Bethlehem. As their story unfolds, we will see the depths of the Lord’s love for them and the faith they had that He would help them. And we will see how Jesus met their needs and meets our needs too, doing far more for us than we could ever ask.

Psalm 29:1-11 (ESV) - Thanksgiving is a good time to remember the good things that we have in our lives. As Christians, we also want to remember who gave us those good things. Scripture tells us that rain falls and sun shines according to the Lord’s command, and He is ultimately the giver of good gift that we humans have. And that makes Him worthy of praise and glory from us, His church. Psalm 29, our Scripture for this Sunday, wants us to praise that God and be in awe of His power. It paints a picture for us, describing the power of the Lord as a fearsome storm of limitless power. And yet, for all the fearful power of the Lord, the psalmist calls us to praise Him and worship Him, not run away. Why is this? Why is this God trustworthy and praiseworthy? As we prepare for Thanksgiving next Thursday, let us be reminded of the one who has done more than we could ask for. And let us be willing to see Him and worship Him as the Lord alone.

Jonah 3:10-4:11 (ESV) & Matt. 5:43-48 (ESV) - As we have explored Jesus’ teaching from the Sermon on the Mount, He’s shown us what the Law of God really calls us to do. Always we have seen that love for the Lord means going far beyond what our contemporaries are content to call righteousness, but we have also seen that our Father in Heaven has empowered His people to obey Him when they call upon Him for help. And if there’s an area of the Christian life where we need the Lord’s special help, it’s when He calls us to count our enemies as our neighbors and to love them. That is something so thoroughly against our human nature, it almost doesn’t make sense. Why would we love people who hate us? How are we supposed to love people who persecute us? As we prepare to hear the Lord speak through Matthew 5:43-48, let us pray that He would show us, His sons and daughters in Christ, to love others like He loves them and like He loves us.

Matthew 5:38-42 (ESV) - The passage we’ve come to this week is a difficult one. It’s difficult to understand and difficult to apply, and difficult to understand the appeal of. When Jesus calls His people to turn the other cheek when they are slapped, are we supposed to invite another blow? Are we forbidden from all forms of retaliation or seeking justice? Some people believe that this is what Jesus taught. But how would that work in a world where sin exists? Shouldn’t evil be punished? Shouldn’t I want my rights avenged? And if no one else is going to do it for me, why can’t I stand up for myself? As we read about “an eye for eye,” may the Lord help us understand His counsel for His people. And may He help us surrender our rights for the sake of His Kingdom and the good news of Jesus.