God made a promise to Abraham to bless all the families of the earth through him. God added to this promise when He promised king David (a descendant of Abraham) that his kingdom would last forever with a descendant of his on the throne. These promises, and many more, were fulfilled in Jesus, a descendant of Abraham, a member of David’s family, and the lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world.

In these three verses, there are three promises that give us hope. These were words of hope for Juda for their restoration from captivity. And looking beyond the near horizon to what is beyond these are words of hope for all the world that there is salvation in Jesus.

Thanksgiving and generosity are inseparable. One produces the other. Thanksgiving produces generosity. Generosity produces thanksgiving. And both thanksgiving and generosity bring glory to God.

The greater context of chapter 40 is a call to behold the glory of God (vs. 9) and know (vs. 21, 28) that God stands alone in His glory and power, and in Him alone is hope. Here is the whole sermon in one sentence: If you turn your attention to God, the problems of this world become small, but if you give your attention only to the problems of this world, they will overwhelm you. Through the prophet Isaiah, God is calling His people to look and see and behold His glory.

The biblical testimony of Esther is not a fairy tale. It is not a happy-ever-after story. This is a story of a subjected people being used without regard by the king according to his whims. Esther is not an autonomous actor. She is trying to survive in a hostile place. In this very broken and dark moment, we see both the ugliness of living in a broken world and the hope of God’s sovereignty to make a way for His redemptive work.

This past Sunday, my friend Freddie Smith preached for me thus there is not a new sermon for the podcast this week. So I am posting a sermon I preached in 2017 on the occasion of the recognition Sunday for our high school graduates. The sermon is from 2 Timothy 4 on the spiritual dangers we face today.

Of course, these concerns are not unique to our day. The spiritual dangers we face are not new to the modern area. These concerns are what prompted Paul to warn Timothy in this passage. In this sermon, I share two warnings and then encourage you to stand firm and keep the faith.

Our purpose is not to raise children that stay safe and never face difficulty. We are called to raise children who will obey the call of God even if that takes them into danger or away from our ability to protect and provide. We are called to entrust them into to care of the Lord.

Often on the 4th of July, to my children’s chagrin, I read the Declaration of Independence to the family. It is a fascinating document on so many levels but what always strikes me is the consequence that each signer understood they were taking on when they signed this document. Addressed to the king of Great Brittan they declared among other things “that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown.” Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton of Georgia, along with 53 others knew that with their signatures they were igniting a conflict that very well may cost them everything.

It is true that many of the founding fathers held religious views that were not faithful to the testimony of scripture. Many of them were deists and universalists but not all. However errant their theology was it is right to say that all livened in an error when even the most secular saw the world through a biblical worldview. This worldview gives understanding to the last line of the declaration. It reads:

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Today, it is common to hear people speak of the universe controlling their lives. G. K. Chesterton is credited with saying “When men stop believing in God they don't believe in nothing; they believe in anything.” The Bible does not teach that we are subject to the random whim of an impersonal universe. The Bible teaches that God created the world and is actively involved in the working out of His enteral will in the world and among His creation. This is the idea of divine providence – that is that God is for us.

Paul, in Romans 8:28, declares this amazing truth that God is actively working out all things for good for those called according to His purpose.

This is not the same parable as the parable of talents. Here Jesus is distinguishing between three types of people. The ten servants represent those who profess to serve Christ, but all who profess are true. So the three types of people represented in this parable are:

1. Faithful followers – these are represented by the servants who invest and earn a return with the nobleman’s money

2. False followers – these are represented by the servant that does nothing with the nobleman’s money

3. Enemies of Christ (unbelievers) – these are represented by those who oppose the nobleman’s rule

I am going to give the majority of my attention to the first two groups.

1. Be about the Father’s will

2. Faithfulness pleases God

3. Disobedience reveals falsehood

We are constantly comparing ourselves to others. At the gym, at work. online, and even at church. When we find ourselves among those who we judge as less than us, it makes us feel good. When we find ourselves among those who we judge as greater than us, it can make us ashamed or self-conscience. Jesus exposes the arrogance of our flesh in this parable and demonstrates the only way one can come and know the salvation of God.

What tempts you to give up? All of us have, at some point in our lives, been tempted to give up. Sometimes it happens in the context of sports. Sometimes it seems like you just cannot get a break. Other times it seems like your opponents are so far above you that you have no hope of being competitive. Sometimes it happens in the context of work.

Maybe you are struggling to keep up with the demands of your job. or maybe the stress of your job is overwhelming you. Sometimes the temptation to give up is even more heart-wrenching than normal difficulties. It could be that those in authority are not adjudicating righteousness. It could be that your boss is treating you unfairly. It could be that others are exploiting and taking unfair advantage of you. And all of this leads to the temptation to give up.

This temptation is present in our walk with the Lord as well. Many are tempted to give up and give in to the world's demands because of the hardships and sufferings that come with following Jesus.

In this parable, Jesus teaches us how we are to pray and not lose heart.

This parable is unsettling. And I believe the more we understand it, and the more we rightly identify with the characters in it, the more unsettling it will become. Jesus tells this story to teach major themes about eternity, heaven, and hell. This parable is intended to teach, warn, and to encourage the wayward to repent.

In these two parables Jesus tells the story of two lost items – a sheep and a coin. Everyone hearing this story can identify both with loosing something and the effort of looking intensely for a lost item.

Jesus uses this familiar experience of losing items and the joy of finding them to respond to the grumblings of the religious self-righteous who were complaining about Jesus spending time with and eating with sinners.
With these parables Jesus teaches two things that reveal the character and heart of God toward sinful man.