Wilderness Wanderings

Today our text comes from Genesis 14:17-24. May God bless you as you hear his word.

After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying,

"Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand."

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself."

But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.' I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share."

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping, That awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep rest in his peace. May Almighty God bless, preserve, and keep us, this day and forevermore. Amen.

Today our text comes from Psalm 91.

May God bless you as you hear his word.

1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. 8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. 9 If you say, "The Lord is my refuge," and you make the Most High your dwelling, 10 no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. 14 "Because he loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation."

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping, That awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep rest in his peace. May Almighty God bless, preserve, and keep us, this day and forevermore. Amen.

Today our text comes from Mark 10:17-31.

May God bless you as you hear his word.

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.'"

"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."

Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"

The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?"

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."

Then Peter spoke up, "We have left everything to follow you!"

"Truly I tell you," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping, That awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep rest in his peace. May Almighty God bless, preserve, and keep us, this day and forevermore. Amen.

Our first reading is from Hebrews 4:1-11

May the Lord bless you as you receive his word.

God's promise of enjoying his rest still stands. So be careful that none of you fails to receive it. The good news was announced to our people of long ago. It has also been preached to us. The message they heard didn't have any value for them. That's because they didn't share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enjoy that rest. God said, "When I was angry, I made a promise. I said, 'They will never enjoy the rest I planned for them'" (Psalm 95:11).

Ever since God created the world, his works have been finished. Somewhere he spoke about the seventh day. He said, "On the seventh day God rested from all his works" (Genesis 2:2). In the part of Scripture I talked about earlier God spoke. He said, "They will never enjoy the rest I planned for them" (Psalm 95:11).

It is still true that some people will enjoy this rest. But those who had the good news announced to them earlier didn't go in. That's because they didn't obey. So God again chose a certain day. He named it Today. He did this when he spoke through David a long time later. Here is what was written in the Scripture already given.

"Listen to his voice today. If you hear it, don't be stubborn" (Psalm 95:7,8).

Suppose Joshua had given them rest. If he had, God would not have spoken later about another day. So there is still a Sabbath rest for God's people. God rested from his work. Those who enjoy God's rest also rest from their works. So let us make every effort to enjoy that rest. Then no one will die by disobeying as they did.

Our second reading is from Matthew 15:1-9

Some Pharisees and some teachers of the law came from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked, "Why don't your disciples obey what the elders teach? Your disciples don't wash their hands before they eat!"

Jesus replied, "And why don't you obey God's command? You would rather follow your own teachings! God said, 'Honor your father and mother' (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16). He also said, 'Anyone who asks for bad things to happen to their father or mother must be put to death' (Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9). But suppose people have something that might be used to help their parents. You allow them to say it is instead 'a gift set apart for God.' So, they do not need to honour their father or mother with their gift. You make the word of God useless in order to follow your own teachings. You pretenders! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you. He said,

"'These people honour me by what they say. But their hearts are far away from me. Their worship doesn't mean anything to me. They teach nothing but human rules'" (Isaiah 29:13).

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

As you journey on, go with his blessing:

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping, that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep rest in his peace. May Almighty God bless, preserve, and keep us, this day and forevermore. Amen.

Our first reading is from Hebrews 3:7-19

May the Lord bless you as you receive his word.

The Holy Spirit says, "Listen to his voice today. If you hear it, don't be stubborn. You were stubborn when you opposed me. You did that when you were tested in the desert.

There, your people of long ago tested me. Yet for 40 years they saw what I did. That is why I was angry with them. I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray. They have not known my ways.'

So, when I was angry, I made a promise. I said, 'They will never enjoy the rest I planned for them.' " (Psalm 95:7–11)

Brothers and sisters, make sure that none of you has a sinful heart. Do not let an unbelieving heart turn you away from the living God. But build one another up every day. Do it as long as there is still time. Then none of you will become stubborn. You won't be fooled by sin's tricks. We belong to Christ if we hold tightly to the faith we had at first. But we must hold it tightly until the end. It has just been said, "Listen to his voice today. If you hear it, don't be stubborn. You were stubborn when you opposed me." (Psalm 95:7,8)

Who were those who heard and refused to obey? Weren't they all the people Moses led out of Egypt? Who was God angry with for 40 years? Wasn't it with those who sinned? They died in the desert. God promised that those people would never enjoy the rest he planned for them. God gave his word when he made that promise. Didn't he make that promise to those who didn't obey? So, we see that they weren't able to enter. That's because they didn't believe.

Our second reading is from Psalm 90:12-17

Teach us to realize how short our lives are. Then our hearts will become wise.

Lord, please stop punishing us! How long will you keep it up? Be kind to us.

Satisfy us with your faithful love every morning. Then we can sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Make us glad for as many days as you have made us suffer.

Give us joy for as many years as we've had trouble.

Show us your mighty acts. Let our children see your glorious power.

May the Lord our God always be pleased with us. Lord, make what we do succeed. Please make what we do succeed.

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

As you journey on, go with his blessing:

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping, that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep rest in his peace. May Almighty God bless, preserve, and keep us, this day and forevermore. Amen.

Our first reading is from Psalm 55

May the Lord bless you as you receive his word.

God, listen to my prayer. Pay attention to my cry for help. Hear me and answer me. My thoughts upset me. I'm very troubled. I'm troubled by what my enemies say about me. I'm upset because they say they will harm me. They cause me all kinds of suffering. When they are angry, they attack me with their words. I feel great pain deep down inside me. The terrors of death have fallen on me. Fear and trembling have taken hold of me. Panic has overpowered me.

I said, "I wish I had wings like a dove! Then I would fly away and be at rest. I would escape to a place far away. I would stay out in the desert. I would hurry to my place of safety. It would be far away from the winds and storms I'm facing."

Lord, confuse the sinners and keep them from understanding one another. I see people destroying things and fighting in the city. Day and night they prowl around on top of its walls. The city is full of crime and trouble. Forces that destroy are at work inside it. Its streets are full of people who cheat others and take advantage of them.

If an enemy were making fun of me, I could stand it. If he were getting ready to oppose me, I could hide. But it's you, someone like myself. It's my companion, my close friend. We used to enjoy good friendship at the house of God. We used to walk together among those who came to worship.

Let death take my enemies by surprise. Let them be buried alive, because their hearts and homes are full of evil.

Our second reading is from 2 Corinthians 7:10-16

I give a command to those who are married. It is a direct command from the Lord, not from me. A wife must not leave her husband. But if she does, she must not get married again. Or she can go back to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

I also have something to say to everyone else. It is from me, not a direct command from the Lord. Suppose a brother has a wife who is not a believer. If she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And suppose a woman has a husband who is not a believer. If he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. The unbelieving husband has been made holy through his wife. The unbelieving wife has been made holy through her believing husband. If that were not the case, your children would not be pure and "clean." But as it is, they are holy.

But if the unbeliever leaves, let that person go. In that case, the believer does not have to stay married to the unbeliever. God wants us to live in peace. Wife, how do you know if you will save your husband? Husband, how do you know if you will save your wife?

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. As you journey on, go with his blessing:

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping, that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep rest in his peace. May Almighty God bless, preserve, and keep us, this day and forevermore. Amen.

Our first reading is from Psalm 112

May the Lord bless you as you receive his word.

Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who have respect for the Lord.

They find great delight when they obey God's commands.

Their children will be powerful in the land.

Because they are honest, their children will be blessed.

Their family will have wealth and riches.

They will always be blessed for doing what is right.

Even in the darkness light shines on honest people.

It shines on those who are kind and tender and godly.

Good things will come to those who are willing to lend freely.

Good things will come to those who are fair in everything they do.

Those who do what is right will always be secure.

They will be remembered forever.

They aren't afraid when bad news comes.

They stand firm because they trust in the Lord.

Their hearts are secure. They aren't afraid.

In the end they will see their enemies destroyed.

They have spread their gifts around to poor people.

Their good works continue forever.

They will be powerful and honoured.

Evil people will see it and be upset.

They will grind their teeth and become weaker and weaker.

What evil people long to do can't succeed.

Our second reading is from 2 Corinthians 7:1-9

Now I want to deal with the things you wrote me about. Some of you say, "It is good for a man not to sleep with a woman." But since sexual sin is happening, each man should sleep with his own wife. And each woman should sleep with her own husband. A husband should satisfy his wife's needs. And a wife should satisfy her husband's needs. The wife's body does not belong only to her. It also belongs to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong only to him. It also belongs to his wife. You shouldn't stop giving yourselves to each other. You might possibly do this when you both agree to it. And you should only agree to it to give yourselves time to pray. Then you should come together again. In that way, Satan will not tempt you when you can't control yourselves. I say those things to you as my advice, not as a command. I wish all of you were single like me. But you each have your own gift from God. One has this gift, and another has that one.

I speak now to those who are not married. I also speak to widows. It is good for you to stay single like me. But if you can't control yourselves, you should get married. It is better to get married than to burn with desire.

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. As you journey on, go with his blessing:

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping, that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep rest in his peace. May Almighty God bless, preserve, and keep us, this day and forevermore. Amen.

Our gospel reading for this week is from Mark 10:1-16

May the Lord bless you as you receive his word.

Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again, crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.

Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?"

"What did Moses command you?" he replied.

They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away."

"It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' 'For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' So, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate."

When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery."

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

As you journey on, go with his blessing:

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping, that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep rest in his peace. May Almighty God bless, preserve, and keep us, this day and forevermore. Amen.

A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text of Psalm 119:97-104; Mark 4:26-29. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection!

To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

DIVE IN

1. How has God spoken to you through his word?
2. What are you looking for in the Scriptures: information, comfort, understanding, guidance, a word from God, communion with God?
3. How would you characterize the way you tend to read? How has that influenced how you read the Bible?
4. Do you prepare for scripture reading so that you are ready to spend time with God? How have the scriptures brought you into the presence of God?
5. How would you characterize your ability to pay attention? How might the tendency to do everything quickly affect your ability to meditate?
6. Do you believe in the power of the Word? Then memorize one verse today.

Today our text comes from two places: Romans 8 and Galatians 3.

The theme of this week is an invitation to examine our lives and our assumptions to recognize how it is that someone comes to be "with" or "against" God.

May God bless you as you hear his word.

Romans 8:1-11 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Galatians 3:23-29 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping, That awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep rest in his peace. May Almighty God bless, preserve, and keep us, this day and forevermore. Amen.