What difference does it make to know God is there? For sure, in the midst of trials, it's very reassuring to know He is there to help us in our time of need. But, what about other times? What difference does it make to know God is there in the everyday stuff of life? He's there just as much in the washing of dishes, the folding of clothes, the shoveling of snow, and in the standing in line at the checkout stand. Our focus on Sunday was on walking with God.

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This week we get to the heart of one of the most difficult questions for each one of our souls – can we truly be forgiven? The heart of the gospel is God’s pursuit of us, His people, and the work Christ did on the cross – in our place, for our sin. Yet, in Matthew 12:21-27, Jesus called out the religious leaders, the Pharisees, for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, for which there is no forgiveness. What does that mean?!?! How do we know if we have committed the unforgivable sin? What promises of God can we look to that will give us hope? We will work to dig into all of those questions and see that there is real hope for forgiveness and life.

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The end of Matthew 11 gives us the beautiful invitation from Jesus that we can come to him to find rest for our souls. As we turn to Matthew 12:1-21, we also continue with the theme of rest because our author turns our attention to a series of moments that happened on the Sabbath. Sabbath laws developed over time, and what Jesus encountered was well beyond anything found in God’s Law, but the thoughts of Rabbis in the Halakah, interpreting and expanding what it meant to observe the Sabbath properly. Those interpretations had cultivated a rigid posture to what Sabbath was all about. 

Jesus challenged those interpretations, though. In fact, he claimed to be “The Lord of the Sabbath” himself. On Sunday we will take time to see the history of Sabbath in the Old Testament, in Judaism, and throughout church history. We will see what true rest is offered to us by Jesus, and how that compares and contrasts with the concept of Sabbath and seek to understand more clearly what it is that God’s people are called to. 

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Flowing right out of the same context of John the Baptist asking Jesus if he really was the one he had waited and hoped for, Jesus continued teaching. The last two verses of Matthew 11 are one of the anchor points that I look to in what Jesus invites us into if we follow him. This Sunday is for all who feel weary and weighed down by life, sin, wickedness, and darkness both in our world and in our own hearts.

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Chapter 11 starts a new section in this Gospel that will show us the ways that Jesus’ ministry was questioned, doubted, and challenged. We expect that from some, but things take a surprising turn in our passage for Sunday as John the Baptist, Jesus’ own cousin, had doubts about him. So, this week is for all who wrestle with doubt, whether you have been around church your whole life, are new to faith, or you’re just exploring and asking questions. Is Jesus really HIM? Why should we trust Jesus? What about when God and God’s work doesn’t meet our expectations? 

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God has been at work within the human race throughout all of human history, at first, preparing people for the coming Messiah and then, teaching us how to have an interactive relationship with Him. There was a point in history when God had decided the world was ready for Jesus. That moment was announced by John the son of Zechariah the priest. From the time of Malachi, after 400 years of silence, the silence was finally broken.

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At our Christmas Eve service, Pastor Bill reminded us that Jesus’ coming is good news for all people.

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When the Old Testament prophets speak of the kingdom of the coming Messiah, they point to his throne established and upheld with justice and with righteousness. This week we come to the end of our advent series in the book of Malachi. The end of Malachi is the sentencing phase of a courtroom drama; it's about the final judgment of sin and the promise of restoration for those who repent. The final judgment of sin may not sound very Christmassy, but the arrival of the Christ child is the breaking of the dawn, the coming of light into the darkness. As Malachi puts it, "the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings." Feel free to read Malachi 3:13-4:6, and we will celebrate together on Sunday the joy that justice brings.

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We have already seen that Malachi confronted the complacency of God’s people and their leaders, the priests. It meets us right where we are because we, too, are waiting for the coming of Messiah, though in our case it’s for the return of Christ. In the meantime, the promises of God haven’t all come to fruition. It’s easy to feel like the things God asks us to do just aren’t “working” – at least not how we imagined things to go. Where is God in the waiting?  Malachi takes us into the court room in our passage for Sunday. The final three of the six disputations in the prophet’s writings provide the Indictment against the people and the Verdict. You’ll have to wait for next Sunday to get the Sentencing. 
As we encounter God’s Word this weekend, we will see the legal standard to which God holds us, the problem with performative religiosity, and the greatest plea bargain that has ever been offered.

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Last week, Pastor Bill kicked off the season of Advent with our first of four sermons in Malachi. Because Advent is an annual reminder of God’s presence in the darkness and waiting, Malachi is perfect for Advent. He is the last of the prophets that God spoke through before 400 years of silence. Nobody likes waiting! It's especially difficult to wait when you don't know how long it's going to take. At least in the check out line, you can see how many people are in front of you. Waiting without any end in sight creates a hopeless feeling of despair. Try writing that on your next Christmas card. The people in Malachi's time were tired of waiting on God, and they decided to take matters into their own hands. 

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