A THOUGHT FROM YESTERDAY'S PASSAGE:
Losing your game. Scoring poorly on a test. Not getting invited to a party. These types of things bring disappointment into our lives because we had an expectation or a hope that wasn't the way things turned out. In this broken world, disappointment seems to come into our lives frequently. So what does God's Word teach us about how to deal with it?
As we study Exodus together, the disappointment of the Isralites is obvious. Moses and the people expected God to deliver them quickly. After all, He had just told Moses that he was the "I Am" -- the one who has always existed and who created all things. If there is a reason to hope for a quick and easy deliverance, having the Creator God of the universe on your side would certainly seem to be one! Yet, a quick and easy deliverance was not what God had in store. This left the Israelites bitter, looking to their own strength, looking to blame someone, and failing to remember God's actual Word. So what was the remedy? Well, the remedy for the Isralites is the same remedy for you and me today. When we find ourselves living with disappoitment, it is important to remember WHO God is and WHAT He has promised.
He is Almighty. He is faithful to his promises. And He has promised to make all things right.
All disappointments will be worked out for our good and the renewal of the whole world. God isn't about the business of making us happy right now, just like he wasn't about the business of making Israel's life easy in an instant. Rather, he was and is about the business of bringing ALL of his people INTO a renewed world where everything works like He intended and never breaks again.
We will have many disappointments in this life as it is, but to keep from being ruined by disappointment is to remember God's ultimate promises:
I will bring you out from your burdens. I will deliver you from slavery. I will redeem you. I will make you mine. I will be your God. I will bring you into the land. I will give it to you for an inheritance. I will, because I AM.
Father, in heaven, remind me every day that you are for me, but not only for me - for all your people. Help me to trust that you are working out all your purposes for all your people and the whole of your world that I might praise you when things go well and be patient when they do not.
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MEMORY CORNER
BIBLE VERSE: “Say therefore to the people of Israel, 'I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgement.'” Exodus 6:6
CHILDREN'S CATECHISM QUESTIONS:
#146 Q: What is hell?
A: Hell is an awful place, where unbelievers are separated from God to suffer for their sins.
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#147 Q: Will the bodies of all the dead be raised again?
A: Yes. At the last day some will be raised to everlasting life and others to everlasting death. |
HYMN OF THE MONTH:
"Immortal, Invisible" written by Walter Chalmers Smith
Click here to read the lyrics and listen to the accompaniment.
HYMN FOR THE SERMON SERIES:
"I Am The Lord, Your God"
based on Isaiah 43
Click here to read the lyrics and here to listen and practice singing.
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