The Sanctuary Fellowship Podcast

The book of Isaiah is full of some of the most wonderful and well-known Sctiptures in the whole Bible. Passages from this book are quoted more than 80 times in the New Testament and Jesus used verses from Isaiah to announce his ministry. The book tells us about salvation, grace, God’s love, God’s plans and sovereignty, and so many more fantastic truths about God. But do we need more info, even if its encouraging? Do we need to know more about God, even if its astounding? Isaiah offers us more than info, it offers a glimpse into the life of a man who’s core was shaken, who’s world was rocked, and who’s love for God was shaped by smoke, angles, and trembling foundations. We need the real God to step into our world and shape us like that so we can worship him at all times, in all ways!

There are many times in Scripture that we are encourage to remember God, his works, his ways. While we tend to wander from God and forget his ways, we often go through seasons of life when God seems far off and distant, like he’s forgotten us somewhere in a dusty bin of half-completed projects. We want to remind God that we are here, that we want him in our lives, that we need his power and presence in our lives. When we get to this point of desperately crying out for him, he again reminds us of our need for forgiveness and how our sin and rebellion can hinder his work in our lives and can lead us into the very things that cause us pain. We must yearn for God and call out on a daily basis for him to tear open the heavens and to come down into our lives!

Most of us struggle with issues regarding our memory. Whether its a momentary lapse or a long-term struggle with remembering key items in life, remembering the right things at the right times can mean the difference between success and failure. As our life experiences are littered with painful events that can dominate our memories, God wants us to remember the right things so we can face the difficult times with faith and joy and life. God gives us loyal love and grace and he is close to us at all times! Will you remember to remember the right things?

Mother’s Day is kind of a big deal- and that might be an understatement! It is celebrated by billions of people all over the world and billions of dollars are spent on moms on Mother’s Day weekend. As Christians, we have to retain a proper perspective on this important day- honoring our moms while being thankful to God above all. To help us know how to rightly love our moms and show respect to God, Isaiah uses the imagery of a mother as life giver, sustainer, comforter, nurturer, and more. Through our moms we get a clearer picture of who God is and what he does- and gain more amazing insights into both!

Teaching is a noble undertaking and is especially prized in the Bible and throughout Biblical history. Those who teach are held to a higher level of accountability by God and have a massive list of responsibilities on their plate as they serve to shape and mold impressionable minds and hearts. In the Church, we are all teachers and we must remember that more than any lesson or information that we could pass on, we ourselves are the lesson. We are passing on values and seeking to equip people to be the most effective image of Christ that they could possibly be. Christ was the Master Teacher and the best example of holistic character and spiritual teacher that could ever be imitated. So let’s look our Master and be teachers who pass on much more than math, english, or thinking skills- let’s impart wisdom, character, and tools to deal with life in a Godly manner, no matter where our students are or what they do.

We often think that we bring a lot to the table in our relationships with God, like he got a great deal the day I came into the Kingdom. We spend a lot of time, energy and resources building up a case for ourselves, trying to prove to God or anyone who will listen that we are worthy, that we can bargain for what we want most in life. And we spend a lot of time looking for satisfaction in life, thinking that if we just have that thing or that person or that job, we’ll be happy and satisfied. God made us to be satisfied and he wants us to be satisfied! That’s why he says, “Come to me.” He offers everything we would ever need for satisfaction to us for free and offers it to us in abundance. And he simplifies it for us by saying, “Just come to me."

Ash Wednesday was about the fact that God promised to save us from our sinful nature. Good Friday was about learning to see God’s faithfulness even when we have to wait and it seems like his promises have been broken. Easter morning is about the resurrection of Christ and how that event insures us that God keeps all of his promises to us. The Spring of 2014 has been one of reflecting on God, his wonderful and mysterious ways, and that he can be trusted in all things and at all times. Even though we are unfaithful and we waste our time worrying about the Lord’s power and intentions, he proves himself faithful. And we can walk in a world of disappointment and loss and pain knowing that he will faithfully walk with us and empower us everyday for as long as it takes, whatever may come. God ALWAYS keeps his promises!

We have all gone through some disappointing times in life. Some have been relatively minor, but some have been major and they have challenged our basic understandings of life, God and faith. All disappointment should cause us to evaluate our motives and expectations, to question who and what we are hoping in and why we have placed our hope in that. As we experience life’s disappointments, we want to grow in our faith and be wiser in our faith with a deepening confidence in God’s love for us. When Christ arrived in Jerusalem on the week he would die, his arrival was the occasion for much celebration and much anxiety for different groups of people. His timing and method of arrival was disappointing to almost everyone, but he remained on course for his purposes. What will we do when we are disappointed, especially when that disappointment extends to our relationship with God?

The events on the cross and at the resurrection 2000 years ago have forever changed our destinies. We know with a certain confidence that when our bodies die, those who have by faith believed in Christ will spend eternity with him. But what about now? What does the cross have to do with our lives now, before we die, in all of the years that we have left to live on earth? As God has shown throughout history, his mission is to enable people to have a relationship with him. He has spoken plainly about himself and has sent the message of hope and life to us through various people and means, primarily in Jesus and the cross. And now, he has given us his mission and invited us to tell others how to have a relationship with God! His purpose of relationship has been fulfilled in us so that it can be fulfilled through us!

We live in a culture that is fascinated with death and life. Maybe more specifically, there’s a preoccupation with how to beat death, how to live forever, how to come back from death, etc. Of course, even within Christianity these are huge themes; the person that we follow and that he have dedicated our lives to claims to have come back from the dead. So much of the New Testament contains language to describe who we are as we follow Christ- dead, alive, living forever, dying; it even uses the word “crucified” to describe us. What does all of this mean? How do we reconcile words and ideas that seem so far apart and so incompatible? The Bible says that we are dead and yet we live- there’s a fullness of life that comes from being crucified with Christ!