This week was part four of our series “Wisdom For Life” in Proverbs.

We were blessed to have a guest preacher Drew Dyck, who taught us about the importance of self-control in a Christian’s life from Proverbs 25.

Self control isn’t about the self, its about loving God and others. It’s about surrender, choosing to do things God’s way—following God’s wisdom, not your own. Self control has a protective effect and is foundational to the development of other character traits. Self control also must be cultivated in community, with other believers who will help you to live the Christian life well.

We continue going through assorted Proverbs in our series, “Wisdom For Life.”

This week we were in Proverbs 9 learning about the importance of making decisions. Will we accept God’s wisdom and simply listen to Lady Wisdom or seek our own way as a scoffer and follow the Woman Folly and suffer the consequences. Solomon tells us the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, which is in stark contrast to the scoffer who ignores God’s wisdom. Let us be people who pray and seek the Lord to direct our heart toward wisdom and in Christ find all the treasures of wisdom from His word.

We come to part two in our summer series in the Proverbs titled, “Wisdom For Life.” This week we were in Proverbs 4 learning about the responsibility each of us has to guard our heart using the resources God has given us. God gives wisdom from the Bible, made effectual by the Holy Spirit so every one of us can be vigilant to guard our heart from evil and stay on the path of faith and finish the race.

With this sermon we begin a new summer series in the Proverbs titled, “Wisdom For Life.”

This week we were in Proverbs 6 learning about the importance of work. This Scripture highlights the contrast between the sluggard and the ant. Laziness is a trap to which we all can be susceptible, especially in a society that sees work as only a necessary evil. While our identity is found in Christ, Christ transforms our heart and gives us the desire to engage the world through our work. We are commanded to put forth our best efforts and our work should flow out from our gratefulness to God as we seek to glorify him.

This sermon brings us to the end of our series through the book of Habakkuk called "Yet I Will Rejoice."

This week we see that the pursuit of joy in and of itself isn’t bad, but the where and how can be. This text provides a contrast between the way of ruin and the way of rejoicing. Habakkuk’s transformation is complete when he declares he will rejoice in the LORD, despite the ruins. This should cause us to ask where we seek our joy and remember to place our faith in God’s unbreakable faithfulness even in the midst of life’s ruins—knowing God has joy in bringing us to a place of joy which can only be found in Him.

This week we completed part six of our series through the book of Habakkuk called "Yet I Will Rejoice."

This week we saw the transformation of the prophet Habakkuk who now recognizes that God is to be feared and trusted. He trusts in God, knowing God will do what is right and good, according to His own timing, will, and plan. Like Habakkuk, we are invited to trust in who God is, who God has been, and who God promises to be. This is living the life of faith with our eyes not on ourselves or our circumstances, but rather focusing on God who alone can save.

This is part five of our series through the book of Habakkuk called "Yet I Will Rejoice."

We learn this week that God’s faithfulness is tied to his Divine judgment which is announced here in this text. God is giving Habakkuk and us a pattern, showing the way he will bring justice into the world by exposing idols and ensuring judgment. God uses five poetic messages of condemnation that are built around the idols of people, both the Babylonian idols and our own idols. God ends with hope by telling us his great glory is throughout the whole world which should leave us to face our idols and let God be the God who he really is—the one who will one day bring judgment and make things right again through the Lord Jesus.

This week brings us to part four of our series through the book of Habakkuk called "Yet I Will Rejoice."

This text begins with some of the most grace-filled words in the Bible, “the Lord answered me.” God aims to give hope to Habakkuk and to Judah through a vision that is plain, permanent, and to be proclaimed so that hope can once again blossom in Judah. The Lord goes on to contrast righteous and unrighteous people and how differently they live. For the unrighteous person their pride and greed will never sustain them in their hopelessness. The righteous person lives by faith in the Living God that points through to the Lord Jesus and his work on the cross—eternal life that comes through faith in Christ. This faith is the Lord’s assurance that gives us hope, even in the midst of confusion, hardship, and loss.

This week brings us to part three of our series through the book of Habakkuk called "Yet I Will Rejoice."

In this text, Habakkuk starts by remembering that what God does flows from who God is, that His reign extends over all. He then moves into confusion because God is not doing what he expects God to do—even charging God with wrongdoing. This ends with a confrontation with God where Habakkuk waits to hear from God, even expecting God’s rebuke. Ultimately, we learn from this text that God sometimes shatters our expectations of Him and sometimes shatters us so he can piece everything back together again and thus exceed our expectations of who God is—that He alone can handle the world’s injustice and our confusion.

We come to part two of our series through the book of Habakkuk called "Yet I Will Rejoice."

In this text Habakkuk complains about God’s apparent tolerance of injustice because he only sees the world through his own limited perspective. God then corrects Habakkuk’s thinking and presumptions. Similarly, God uses our complaints to expose and correct our presumptions about God which will help us walk with God through a wicked world. Our complaints and laments should always push us toward God, not away from God.