The Open Word (Audio)

How bad do things have to get for you to turn towards God? Does your whole world have to fall apart? Well, as we continue our study in Joel, things have gotten pretty bad for Judah. The prophet was calling the people to repent as their nation was on the verge of destruction. Will you wait until your life is in shambles to repent of your ways and surrender to Christ? Or are you going to continue pretending that you have everything under control?

Sometimes it’s so easy to turn on the news and ask yourself, “What is this world coming to?” But as Christians we can know exactly what the world is coming to. We are living in what the Bible calls “The Last Days”, and it isn’t such a bright picture. The picture we get is one of increasing moral decay. People will be lovers of themselves rather than lovers of God. So, how are we as Christians to respond in these last days? That’s exactly what we’ll learn in our study of the book of Joel.

What does the word “Christian” mean? It’s thrown around so much that it really has lost its meaning. Christian has become a label which sometimes has very little thing to do with Christ at all. But the word “Christian” literally means “little Christ”. So is that something people would describe you as? Are you imitating Christ? Are trying to look and act like Him? As we finish our study in Amos, we see the importance of being a light to those around us so they can know what God truly is like.

What is man’s responsibility in the work of God? If God is sovereign does that mean that we really don’t have to do anything, we don’t have to concern ourselves with God’s kingdom? Absolutely not! We may not always understand the relationship between God’s sovereignty and our responsibility, but the Bible clearly teaches that we are to respond to who God is and to what He is doing. One way that we respond as Christians is through medium of prayer.

We don’t like the word “hate” in our society. We teach our children not to say it. As Christians we are to live a life of love, even to the point of loving our enemies. So what does the Bible say about “hate”? Well, as we look at the book of Amos today, we hear God saying that He “hates”. So what is it that God hates? God hates false hypocritical worship, proclaiming to love God with your lips and living a life that says otherwise. So, what does your worship look like?

What type of God do we serve? Is He loving, or is He just looking to destroy us? Well the cross proves to us just how loving our God truly is. Just because He’s loving doesn’t mean He won’t discipline His children when they’re doing wrong. God will use circumstances and consequences of our sin to discipline us but His intention is for that discipline to lead us back to Him. As we look at the nation of Israel, we will see that no matter what God did, they would not return to Him.

God has promised many great and awesome things. He has promised to be our Provider, our Peace, our Hope, our Protector. So if God has promised to be “all we need”, then why do we try to meet our needs in anyone or anything else? Not only is it foolish when we try to do this, but it’s disobedient. As we continue our study in Amos, we see that this is exactly what the nation of Israel is doing. Instead of putting their trust in the Almighty God they put their trust in lesser things.

Have you been ignoring what God has been saying to you? It may seem like there aren’t any consequences to ignoring God’s word but eventually the consequences will catch up to you. In our study today in the book of Amos, we learn that both Judah and Israel are having to learn the hard way that not listening to God results in destruction and bondage. God desires for us to have life so why would we ignore Him? Don’t learn the hard way. Repent and obey what He is telling you now.

What happens when a nation forsakes its heritage? Well, when it comes to the nation of Judah in the book of Amos the result is judgment. Even though Judah was privileged and given the law and the prophets, they were God’s special people, they still rejected what they were given. As we join Pastor David today, we will see the result of Judah’s rejection and the parallels that can be drawn to our own nation. What do we risk in this nation by rejecting our Christian heritage?

Does it ever look to you like those who are rewarded and do well in life are people living a life contrary to the word of God? Is God really blessing their disobedience to Him? As we join Pastor David today in the book of Amos, we see that many of the wicked nations around Judah were living in what seemed like prosperity. But just because God hadn’t brought judgment on their wickedness yet, didn’t mean He wasn’t going to. God will not be mocked. You will reap what you sow.