St Andrew's Messages

Public health journals are filled with studies demonstrating the importance of friendships for a person's well-being. A recent survey (The American Perspectives Survey) finds that Americans report having fewer close friendships than they once did, talking to their friends less often, and relying less on their friends for personal support. It's one thing for us to imagine why that is; it's something else for us to value friendship for what it is: a gift from God. Who gives the gift of friendship to you? To whom are you giving the gift of friendship? This weekend we begin a three-week series on friendship. Each week we'll ask the Spirit to teach us through biblical models of friendship and determine how we might put what we learn into effect in our lives. This week: You need a friend when you're depressed.

Our celebration of the Reformation this weekend is less about lauding Martin Luther and company and more about maintaining God's Word as is. We thank God for preserving his message of free salvation by grace through faith. The "re-" in "reformation" tells us that we are doing something again or going back to something. With God's Word, we never need anything new; we only need to go back to it and read it again and again.

When circumstances force you to rearrange your budget, you still only have so many dollars. When you take a stand in hopes of some kind of a reset, you are still only one person. Ultimately, you don’t have much control, and you’re usually going to be working with the same resources you had before. How much difference was there between what went into the ark and what came out of it? In some ways a lot, but in other ways very little. We find peace in the God who knew the flood was coming and had a plan for it.

Isn't it nice to have an opportunity to reset? This might come with a new house, new job, or new school. For Noah and his family, it came with a new world. After the flood, everything went through Noah. His family established the beginning of culture and civilization. God gave some rules for this reset. Read through them in the first part of Genesis 9. But even in our age, what better time than the present to commit to reestablishing ourselves as God-fearing people? Let's examine the abundant blessings of our lives and consider how we are responding to God's immeasurable grace.

Have you ever felt as though God had forgotten you? Maybe a relationship wasn't working out as you had planned. Maybe your health took a sudden turn for the worse. Maybe the job you thought you'd keep for a long time is going away. God, where are you? The opening words of Genesis 8 are not only written for you; they're written about you. We’re glad you’re here today and pray the Spirit blesses you through his Word

Do you stand by the microwave and tap your fingers? Is your finger ready on the horn if the car ahead of you doesn't move on green? Most of us aren't very patient. God is. Genesis 6 – 9 not only leads us to a deeper understanding of God's covenant of grace, but along the way we grow to appreciate his patience. We’re glad you’re with us today and pray that the Spirit blesses you with valuable lessons about ourselves and about God.

"Righteous" is a word that usually has either a theological connotation or "self-" in front of it. Genesis 6 describes Noah as righteous and blameless. Read the chapter and see his actions. He didn't say a word, but he acted. But these actions showed his righteousness; they didn't establish it. Like ours, Noah's righteousness was through God. Like Noah, our righteousness results in God-pleasing action.

The book of Genesis isn't just about what happened, it's also about what is happening. This weekend, we begin a fall series on the Covenant of Grace described in Genesis 6 – 9. Our day is more like Noah's than we realize. We have cars and power tools, but hearts haven't changed. God warned the people of Noah's day judgment was coming, and he warns people of our day. Just like God was incredibly patient then, he's patient now. Now is our time to live in his patience, walk with him, and finally enjoy the safety not of an ark, but of his grace by faith in Jesus Christ. We’re so glad you’re with us and invite you to let us know if there’s some way we might serve you.

Finishing a book of the Bible is a big deal. It's been God's source of truth and inspiration for us for all of 2024. We'll miss you, Romans. But not really. We still have and we still need the message of Jesus we find in Romans. It's not going anywhere, except going more deeply into our hearts as we read it again. We’re glad you are with us today for the closing words from Paul through the Holy Spirit. Next week, we begin a six-week study on God’s “covenant of grace.” Those are two church-y sounding words, but by the end of the series we pray they are words you treasure.

After Paul plumbed the depths of the knowledge of God for 15 chapters of Romans, he concluded by naming 29 church members and 6 groups of church members in the final chapter. Why? The Spirit wants us to know God's Word matters, and the Spirit wants us to know God's people matter. It's true, we don't know much about Tryphena and Tryphosa. But we know this: they're in the Bible. That's more than I can say about myself or anyone I know. Wouldn't it be embarrassing to get to heaven, meet Tryphena, and say, "I don't think I've ever heard of you." After today, you need not worry about that. You’ll be able to say, “Oh, I read your name in the Bible!” More than that, the Spirit works through the Word you’ll hear to get you there.