Sermons and Devotions

The God of Jacob - Our Fortress

The Psalmist presents us with these interesting words in Psalm 46, “The God of Jacob is our Fortress” (Ps 46: 11). Why does the Psalmist call the Lord “The God of Jacob"? Surely He was acquainted with all the heroes of the Old Testament. He must have known about Noah, Abraham and Moses. Why Jacob? Why, for that matter, did He speak of “Jacob” and not of “Israel", which was the name God gave him later on?

Noah, Abraham and Moses were men of heroic faith. Noah built the ark on sheer faith.
Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his own son at God’s command. As a man of great faith Moses faced he might of Pharaoh with courage and confidence. These were all men of outstanding faith.

Jacob also had faith. But he also had some outstanding weaknesses. He cheated his brother out of his birthright. He deceived his father. He fled from his home at an early age and traveled many miles to Haran. Along the way he camped out under the bright stars - alone and afraid - and God appeared to Him and promises to strengthen, protect and bless him. God would be his Fortress. And later God did take this weak man and made him strong, very strong. He made him into “Israel", the man who “prevailed with God". And a great nation came from his line and was named after him.

God is a Fortress for weak sinners. That includes all of us. What hope would there be for us, if God were only there for the people of heroic faith? Where would we be if God did not take weak people and make them strong? Who of us could stand before God, if He did not take us as we are and make us what we ought to be?

During this Lenten season we are thankful that Jesus became weak for us, that we might become strong in the Lord. We are thankful that He died for us, that we might live forever with Him. We who are weak with sin are thankful that God is our Fortress.

What Is Our Value?

After a battle in which he lost many soldiers, Napoleon wrote to this wife, “I had a battle today - a fine battle. I kiss you and ask you to kiss my son. I lost some men today, but no one of importance.” We may ask why Napoleon appeared so calloused about the death of his soldiers, but so solicitous about his son. Obviously his son was his own flesh and blood, while his soldiers were not. Another thing to point out is that he had had a hand in the creation of his son.

Likewise God has created us and thus we have value before God. Jesus once said, “So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Mt 10: 31). Jesus pointed out that even the sparrows have value before God and He cares for them. But we have even more value, because we are human beings with an immortal soul.

The original man and woman had a very special value. They were made in the image of God. Unfortunately, they lost that image when they fell into sin. But right there in the Garden of Eden God gave them hope of regaining their lost image. He promised to send a Savior from the offspring of the woman, someone who would redeem them from sin and open the door to heaven for them. That someone, of course, was Jesus Christ.
He had the highest value of all, as the perfect Son of God. Yet God gave Him up to be sacrificed on the altar of the cross, so that our sins might be atoned for.

We thank God for bringing us to saving faith in Christ Jesus through which we become children of God. That gives us very high value and a great future! We should appreciate our high value and give God glory and praise. We can do that in our worship of Him, which is especially appropriate now during this Lenten season. We can also praise Him in our prayers to Him, which should be regular. And we can glorify Him in our lives, especially as we witness to others that they too have value before God through Christ Jesus.

Don’t ever think you’re worthless or of no value to anyone. You have great value to God! You are a redeemed child of God. Thank and praise Him for that!

Ashes of Repentence

One day Jesus shocked His disciples by pulling them aside and saying, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life” (Mt 20: 17-19). Jesus gave a vivid forecast of His upcoming Passion.

We will now be going up to Jerusalem with Christ in spirit. Lent begins this week, a 61/2 day season where we focus on Christ’s sufferings and death and prepare for the celebration of His resurrection on Easter. Lent is a time for meditation and prayer, a time to spend a little extra time reading the Biblical accounts of Christ’s Passion and its impact on us. Lent is a time to worship at the foot of the cross and grasp the deep meaning of His sacrifice for our sins.

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday. In the earlier days of the Christian Church parishioners would show up at their church and have ashes sprinkled on them. Ashes were a symbol of mourning and in this case represented mourning over sins. Even today in some churches people have a little ash rubbed onto their forehead as a reminder of “the ashes of repentence". Lent is a time to repent of our sins. And we should have no problem doing that when we realize that it was our sins that helped cause Christ’s great sufferings.

In the midst of the somber sceneario of Lent we should have an incredible feeling of gratitude to our Savior for the great pains He went to in order to achieve our salvation.
In the midst of the ashes of repentence we should have a feeling of joy over the forgiveness of sins which Christ has earned for us. Lent should be a great time for spiritual renewal, as we grow ever closer to our Lord who loved us and gave Himself for us.

For most people in our “neck of the woods” winter is not their favorite time of the year. In fact, many flee winter for a week or two or even longer to find a warmer place – maybe in Florida, maybe in Arizona, maybe in Mexico or even some exotic island. Travel agencies tend to love the winter season, because they book a lot of trips out of the north country for what they call a “winter escape”.

I don’t really mind winter that much. Maybe it’s my Minnesota background. Maybe it’s because I like the 4 seasons. Maybe it’s because I enjoy some of the winter sports. But I must admit…I am happy to leave January behind. It always seems like a long month with its cold and snow. And this year was no exception. February is a better month. It’s the shortest month of the year. When it’s over, we know that spring is not too far away. And February may bring snow, but not the bitter cold. But what I like best about February is that it is the beginning of Lent (with a few exceptions when we have a late Easter). Lent is a great time of the year!

Lent is actually an old Anglo-Saxon word for “spring”. It is a period of preparation for Easter. It is a season of 40 days, not counting Sundays, and begins with Ash Wednesday. This comes from the 40 days of fasting in the wilderness by which Jesus prepared for His ministry. Likewise today many people may fast or give something up for Lent as part of their observance.

Lent is sometimes called “The Passion Season”, because during Lent we ponder upon the Passion History of Jesus Christ. Some of you may have seen the movie “The Passion of the Christ”, which debuted one year ago and drew huge crowds to the theatres. The movie graphically portrays the sufferings of Christ, which were horrendous. As we meditate upon the depth of Christ’s sufferings, and realize that it was all for us and for our sins, we are led to appreciate that with a spirit of thankfulness.

We also are led to repent of our sins. That is one of the features of Lent. “The season of Lent is a time to repent”, as the saying goes. It is also a time for meditation and prayer. Included in this mailing is a Lenten calendar, which lists suggested daily Bible readings for Lent. It also describes our weekly Soup Suppers and Lenten Meditations,
which can be enjoyed every Wednesday evening during Lent. This year our Meditations will feature “Lenten Examples for Imitation”. There is much we can learn from some of the main “players” in the Lenten drama.

Take advantage of this Lenten season to grow in your spiritual life. Lent is a great time of the year!