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The Books of Kings and Chronicles mirror the downward spiral of God’s people that we saw in the book of Judges. Can a nation be too far gone? Can the repentance of some account for centuries of evil? How far is too far? Let’s look at three kings who faced the end.

The Great Exchange… slavery for freedom, oppression for peace, sin for righteousness! Isaiah prophesied the coming King who would bring our victory through His defeat. Can victory really be found in surrender? Does the Jesus of our expectations match the Prophesied Messianic King? Join us Sunday to see why Jesus didn’t fit the expectations of the people.

This Sunday our text is 2Kings 17, describing the fall and exile of the northern kingdom of Israel by the judgment of God on their sins. We are also a northern nation that has largely forgotten God and forsaken His laws. Canada is still a great country and we surely have much to be thankful for, but we are in a similar position to Israel in the 8th-century bc. What is the greatest threat facing ou...

The prophet Hosea’s life story is provided by God as a sort of living parable. His life circumstances; his failed marriage and broken family, serve as an illustration of the failure and unfaithfulness of God’s people, but also then of the great unfailing love, grace and forgiveness of God. He pursues us in our waywardness, finds us in our sin, and forgives and restores us to Himself even though we...

The story of the prophet Jonah reveals the heartbeat of God for rebellious people, both those within the nation of Israel, who had received His law and promises and also those who had not heard of Him and were engaged in idolatry and great evil. God pursues the hearts of people from all tribes, tongues, and nations, and He delights to use His people—His sinful, rebellious, yet redeemed people—to d...

We are not all Elijahs or Elishas, But all Christians have a calling upon our lives and the equipping of the Spirit. And though we may not be prophets or 'sons of prophets', the mantle of the prophets does fall upon us all in a very real sense as we stand in the prophetic tradition.

God’s power isn’t contingent on a person, place or thing. There’s power in perspective, whether in a palace or collecting sticks at the gate.

David’s son, Solomon, rightly asked for wisdom as a gift from God in order to govern the people and to help them shine like a light to the nations. For all his wisdom, Solomon still made foolish choices, and this points to our need for a greater Wisdom: Jesus, the very Word of God made flesh for us.

The biblical book of Ecclesiastes talks about Solomon's search for the meaning of life. It is a diagnostic identifying our eternal hunger that we all strive to satisfy with temporal things. Solomon starts by calling out our pursuit as "meaningless". So what if the meaning of life is not to be found in any "thing"? What if our search is not for something, concept, or idea? What if the meaning of al...

If God were to suddenly appear to you and say, "Ask Me for whatever you want", what would you ask Him for? Because that's basically what happened to Solomon. Do you know what he asked for? And do you know why? And do you know what God gave him? There are some important lessons to be learned here; lessons for the heart.

The collection that is The Book of Psalms is a beautiful section of the Bible. The Psalms are poems & songs of praise & prayer representing the devotional life of God’s Old Testament people. Seventy-three of the psalms have David’s name on them and The Lord is My Shepherd (Psalm 23) is most likely the best known and most loved of them all. Some say it is the most popular chapter of the entire Old...

We seem to marvel at David and how wonderful he was. David was known as a giant slayer, a gracious man, and a merciful ruler. He also plays a key role in the narrative leading up to Jesus’ birth. Jesus is consistently called ‘son of David’ in the New Testament. David was a man that chased after God’s own heart. But no matter how great the man was, in the account of David and Bathsheba, we discover...

Not only did he have a funny name, but when Mephibosheth was just five-years-old an incident left him permanently disabled. That fateful day would define Mephibosheth’s life; that is until another event changed his life forever. The former kept him hiding away in fear, shame and misery. The latter secured him a place of honour and equality in the family of the king. As a child, Mephibosheth inheri...

The story of David finally becoming king of Israel has all the feel of a literary classic crowning moment. God has brought the nation of Israel all the way to the promised land and the lowly shepherd boy all the way to the throne of the nation. God has enabled David to lead the people to victory over all their enemies culminating in the possession of the beautiful fortress city of Jerusalem. David...

David was a great warrior, not to mention a talented musician, and king Saul loved him right away. Scripture says Saul ‘loved him greatly’. But that was before Saul heard the women singing David’s praise. That’s when everything changed. Saul’s ego rose up and his personal insecurities and jealousy took over. “What more can he have but the kingdom?” From that day on, Saul tried repeatedly to kill D...

This week we look at David’s life as an adolescent chosen by God to lead Israel. What made David different from his brothers that God would direct Samuel to anoint him king? Was it only to impact David’s own life so that he would be glorified? Or was it that God might be glorified through David? David loved God and pursued Him all his days. Because of that, David knew where his strength came from....

Steadfast leadership is difficult. It can be hard to know the right decisions to make. In Christ, we are all called to lead people somewhere in our lives, and we are going to experience times of difficulty, and moments for critical decision making. Our response to those experiences can reveal where our heart truly belongs. God can, and does work through our lives, and the lives of the people aroun...

And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “the glory is gone from Israel.” The glory days are all gone, because the glory is gone. These are the worst of times. The news of the battle being lost and the two priests, Hophni and Phinehas being slain, along with the news of the loss of the Ark of the Covenant all converges to create this picture of utter disaster of the rock-bottom sort. These aren’t...

As the story of Ruth is a beacon of hope in the dark days of the Judges, so the story of Hannah is a bright light against the dark backdrop of 1Samuel. It’s a story of two families. It’s a story of a nation. It’s a story of great privilege, responsibility, and loss. It’s a story of salvation. It’s a story of an old man with little left but regret and a young boy given by God to the nation and call...

The very first line of the story of Ruth locates it in the days of the Judges; men and women like Deborah and Gideon and Samson. So, we might expect the story to be similar? It’s not! The narrative of Judges is a litany of depravity; the downward spiral of people trying to live outside the boundaries of a good life. It’s dark. But the story of Ruth is like a great light shining out of the same nig...

Samson is well known as the strong man of Old Testament Israel. Commentators tend to look at his life and bemoan that if only he had been obedient to God, what might have he accomplished! But is that all God wants us to learn from Samson? Can't that be said for us all? What can we learn about the mysterious ways of the God of Samson?

As we continue our journey through the book of Judges we find that the Israelites were once again under God’s discipline because they had done what was evil in the Lord’s sight. This time, God used King Jabin of Canaan, along with his commander, Sisera, to oppress His people. But once again we will see the pattern unfold of the people crying out for relief and God providing a deliverer, although t...

The story of Gideon is a story of renown. A young man beating out wheat in his father’s winepress. It’s difficult, hot and dirty work made ten times harder because you’re confined to the depressions of the earth (winepresses), away from the beautiful Mediterranean breeze sweeping the open threshing floor, but not away from the blazing Mediterranean sun beating down on you. All because those Midian...

A good start doesn’t always mean a good end. Israel started out strong, but compromise led them down a slippery slope time after time. The effects were always harder on the next generation. What are we doing today to ensure the faith of tomorrow’s generation? Is compromise leading us to where we wouldn’t want to end up?

Peter & The Resurrection by Faith Baptist Church