The Town

<p>In the days of the Judges, God visited a godly woman and gave her the son she'd been waiting for in her years of barrenness. Hannah serves as a picture of a weary rejoicer who worshiped before, during, and after her trial.</p>

<p>God's people have always been called to endure the trials of this life while simultaneously holding on to the promise of a future and ultimate restoration. God does not reckon time as we do, and so these future promises often seem so far removed from us that we wonder what difference they make at all. The Christian must remember that Jesus has brought his kingdom as the fulfillment of one of those promises. This kingdom is advancing and we are to not only be productive citizens in it, but we should be praying with eagerness for Jesus to consummate it.</p>

<p>The long-awaited redemption for Israel has finally come, but it has come at a cost. The blood of lambs has been spilled in their homes and they are now ushered out of the land in the night by their former masters. Israel must make the trek to Succoth with little provisions, accompanied by a soundtrack of despair as the Egyptians horror in the loss of their firstborn. But the redeeming God is a present God. He watches over his people as they move toward the fulfillment of the promise to bring them into a better place. He is the same God who watches and preserves his Church, as they too move from a foreign land toward home.</p>

<p>Jesus summarizes the entire Old Testament in these two commands: love God and love neighbor. This is an incredibly practical word that helps us understand the Law of God and our need of the Gospel.</p>

<p>The gospel change is the heart of the Christian. That heart change will overflow with external signs of health and vitality. It will produce singing, sustenance, and sending in believers and local churches.</p>

<p>Repentance requires more than a true zeal to be delivered from your circumstances, or even a passing knowledge about God and his <a href="http://power...it" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">power...it</a> requires a steadfast heart that is faithful to God's covenant. This can only come by being given a new heart (Ezek. 36:26-27). This new heart is able to receive God and all his benefits without contempt. Only then will we understand everything that God has done (and will do) for us; that he is sovereign and able, that we can quickly run to him in our time of need, that there are ongoing consequences to our sin that he wants us to learn from, and that our salvation is secured.</p>

<p>In this passage, God teaches us about the office of a prophet. A prophet must proclaim the word of God. Aaron plays the part of a prophet in front of Pharaoh and prepares us for the prophetic ministry of Jesus.</p>

<p>What do you do when redemption doesn't go the way you expected? Are you tempted to throw up your hands and say "This just isn't what I signed up for?" For Israel, and often for our own redemption, things got harder before they got easier. Redemption wasn't going like they thought it would. But in this trying time, we must remember that Jesus is enough; his redemption will come, albeit in his way, according to his Word, at his time, and for his own glory!</p>

<p>God had called Moses to be the deliverer of his people and he had promised that his Holy presence would go with him. But God doesn't stop there. Along the way, he prepares Moses, his brother Aaron, and the Israelites themselves for the work at hand. God is gracious in equipping the called. And he continues to do this in the church today through sanctification, corporate ordinances, Christian partnership, and opportunities to exercise our faith. The kingdom of God is advanced when his church embraces its role to move forward faithfully in all the means that God has appointed.</p>

<p>God's love for Israel is a covenantal love, which means that he will not only rescue them from their Egyptian bondage, but he will uphold his promise to bring them into "a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey." God works the same way today; he not alone declares us innocent through the work of Christ, but he adopts us as his own by that same work, by which we will ultimately enter into our promised rest. This means that we bear God's name and enjoy his presence, and it is through this relationship that Christians move in the world with confidence. There is one God, one covenant, and one people.</p>

<p>The Word of God speaks frequently to those who suffer. In the Exodus, God responds to his suffering people with a word of comfort as they cry out in lament. But the Scriptures also speak to those who are not suffering. It offers them a call to surround the hurting with the comfort that is made possible through Jesus.</p>

<p>Jesus sums up the Ten Commandments by giving us two Great Commandments, which is to love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. The parable of the Good Samaritan gives us Jesus' vision (indeed, his assumption) on what true neighborly love looks like. It is a full and complete service to those who are oppressed and downtrodden, and it is driven by our genuine compassion and concern for them. This, in turn, is made possible because of God's great mercy toward us. Thus, a serious church will extend mercy to its members and its community because it has received mercy.</p>

<p>A church that is serious about grace will be serious about Jesus. A church that is serious about Jesus will get serious about repentance for repentance is the reason Jesus came into this world. But what does true repentance look like. A church serious about repentance will get serious about salvation, sin and their Savior.</p>

<p>Reformation is the recovery of Biblical Truth. Revival is what happens to the church when God pours His Spirit out and renews and reinvigorates the hearts of His people. Reformation and Revival go hand in hand. There is never one without the other. The truth of the Gospel is what ignites the renewal in our hearts. Reformation and Revival have always come in dark hours. Our world is experiencing a dark hour in these recent years. The church is the only hope for our communities because we possess the Gospel of Jesus Christ - the only news that can bring real reconciliation and hope to our broken mess.</p>

<p>Like the nation of Israel, we stand at a "Jordan River." An opportunity for greatness! We have the chance to make Jesus look supremely valuable to a watching world. And in order to walk in the fullness of what the Lord has for us, we must forsake all other competing values for this sole purpose.</p>

<p>We all look forward to big days. But will the biggest day of days be like? When Jesus returns as he has promised what will happen and what can we expect? The big question is whether or not we are preparing for the Day of the Lord.</p>

<p>We sing the lyrics but we struggle with the truth - "no fear in death". The Bible tells us much about what will happen when we come close to the last moments we have on this Earth and in this lifetime. God has made certain and precious promises concerning our death that give us every reason to not fear those final moments.</p>

<p>We often use the Bible to learn how to live our lives. We want to know how to make better decisions and to honor God's plan for our life. In our journey of discipleship we must not lose the grand narrative of God's ultimate promise - to dwell with His people. What does that Bible tell us about the promise of heaven? Is it really possible to live a life that believes "to live is Christ and to die is gain"? If so, why?</p>

<p>We are on a collision course with the King and His Kingdom. We will either take our last breath in death before life everlasting or we will take one last breath on this earth before Jesus' sudden return. On that course, the path is treacherous with grief, hardship, and trials. Even the good things in life fade away, fall short and leave us feeling empty and longing for more. <br><br>But Jesus has traveled the path, overcome it's treachery, and now prepares the Kingdom for his brothers and sisters. The Scriptures give us a clear picture of what we can expect when we finally enter into the place that Jesus is preparing for us. Studying what God has promised us will equip us and encourage us as we travel the long road home.</p>

<p>The people of Israel endured many centuries of silence from God, as his prophetic word to them ceased. They also lost the blessing of their land, their temple, and their freedom. But God left his people with the promise of a future hope: that the Anointed One would come to bring salvation to Israel, and indeed to the whole world. In the meantime, the intermediate silence was deafening. The church also waits for the return of Christ, but the silence is different. God's voice is heard through his Word and Spirit, and we have been given the task of inviting sinners into his kingdom. We are to be a people oriented around the expectation of his imminent return, and that should change the way we live.</p>