Four the next four weeks I want us to spend our study time taking a look at a section of the Prophet Isaiah. Isaiah was a prolific prophet in perilous times. He wrote 66 chapters that are filled with judgment, justice, love, and redemption. Throughout all 66 chapters, through the hard times as well as the seasons of peace and prosperity, there is a thread of hope. Some of the most vivid and awe-inspiring words of hope that have ever been produced are found in the pages of Isaiah. His brilliant and encouraging words are set against a backdrop of politically and spiritually unsettling and disastrous times.God moved upon Isaiah’s heart and he was able to write about God’s promises because he had his mind and heart fixed upon the sovereignty of Almighty God rather than the situations that the nation and the people found themselves enduring. It would pay us great dividends to study Isaiah through and through, but for the next four weeks we will fix our gaze upon seven little verses. The focus of our study will actually be four different titles that are given to the Promised One whom Isaiah saw as clearly as if He were already present.
Archive for November, 2003
The Gift of Christmas: Wonderful Counselor
Isaiah 9:1-7
Sunday, November 30th, 2003
Give Thanks
I Thessalonians 5:12-18
Sunday, November 23rd, 2003
A pale Indian wobbled down the gangplank from a lurching deck onto firm land. For the next three years, he and other Indian youths were taught English after being kidnapped from their native America. At first he found the new tongue awkward, but eventually he surprised himself: “My name is Squanto. I have come from America.” Squanto and the other youths were then sent back to America as expedition guides. But after returning to the home he loved, he was shortly seized again by Spanish slave traders. Amazingly, while on the auction block, a gentle monk bought him, fed and nourished him, and gave him back his freedom. Though Squanto knew no Spanish, he understood. This man of God’s love for Jesus had prompted him to buy Indian slaves and teach them the Christian faith. He began to love this Jesus, too. After returning to America once again, he found his entire family gone, killed by a strange sickness. His grief was overwhelming. A few months later, he saw more ships approaching the shores. They appeared friendly, and had women and children with them. Though the men were fearful when they saw Squanto, the minute he spoke to them in perfect English they were amazed and friendly. From that time, Squanto adopted these Pilgrims as his new family. He taught them how to survive in their new home. His knowledge was invaluable to them, and he shared it freely. They were thankful as they saw how the hand of God had provided Squanto’s help in establishing their new colony. When Squanto lay dying, he turned over in his mind the events of his strange life. It almost seemed that a plan had led him. The first time he was captured he learned English. The second time, he was freed by gentle Christians who taught him to trust in Jesus. And though his own people had died of sickness, God had sent him to a new people who built their colony where his old village once stood. He asked the governor of the colony to pray for him as he breathed his last breath. He died in November 1622, gone from the New World, but entering a heavenly one.
When Christ Can’t Help You
Galatians 5:1-12
Sunday, November 16th, 2003
When is Christ unable to help us? Could there ever be a time, a situation that might arise in our lives when Christ would be unable to help us? That sounds like a preposterous question. After all, we have been taught that Jesus is able, that He is capable of providing for us everything we lack? The Scriptures show us that Jesus is all that we lack, all that our souls yearn for, and all that is required of us by God. To the woman at the well, Jesus was the Water of Life. To the crowd who spoke about Moses giving their forefathers bread from Heaven, Jesus said, “I am the Bread of life.” To the woman who was caught in adultery, Jesus was the Forgiveness from sin that she so desperately needed. To the man with the demon possessed boy, Jesus was the Deliverer who restored to him his son. To the man who was born blind, Jesus was the Opener of blind eyes. To the thief on the cross, Jesus was Eternal Life. Scripture teaches us that Jesus is able, and willing, to help those who are in need.
Gifted To Give
1 Peter 4:10-11
Sunday, November 9th, 2003
Woven into the fabric of creation are some of God’s richest lessons. They are lessons that God desires to teach us and they are all around us…for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear.