New Arbor Sunday Messages

Every one of us faces tough situations in life. If we are following the Lord, why does he put us in these tough situations? This message explores several answers from Exodus 15:22-17:7

1 Kings 18:16-40 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.  17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” 18 “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals.  19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mo...

Exodus 15:1-21 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord,   for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver   he has hurled into the sea.     2 “The Lord is my strength and my defense;   he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him,   my father’s God, and I will exalt him.     3 The Lord is a warrior;   the Lord is his name.     4 Pharaoh...

Exodus 14:1-31 1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon.  3 Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’  4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for m...

Exodus 13:17-22 17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”  18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle. 19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him beca...

Exodus 13:1-16 1 The LORD said to Moses,  2 “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.” 3 Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the LORD brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast.  4 Today, in the...

Exodus 13:1-16 1 The LORD said to Moses,  2 “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.” 3 Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the LORD brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast.  4 Today, in the...

Exodus 12:42-51 42 Because the LORD kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come. 43 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover meal: No foreigner may eat it.  44 Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised him,  45 but a temporary resident or...

Psalm 82 A psalm of Asaph. 1 God presides in the great assembly;  he renders judgment among the “gods”: 2 “How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? 3 Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. 5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing. They wal...

Psalm 27 Of David. 1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. 3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. 4 One thing I ask from the Lord,...

1 Corinthians 12:27-31 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.  28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.  29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?  30 Do all have gifts of healing?...

Psalm 127 A song of ascents. Of Solomon. 1 Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. 2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep to those he loves. 3 Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.  4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are chi...

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand,...

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.  5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of w...

Acts 8:1b-24 8:1b: On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.  2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.  3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. 4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wh...

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.  5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of w...

Matthew 1:18-23 18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.  19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, a...

Acts 4:1-12 1 The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.  2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.  3 They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.  4 But many who heard th...

1 Corinthians 12 1 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.  2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.  3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 11:27-34 27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.  28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.  29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.  30 That is why many a...

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,  24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”  25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it,...

Joshua 2:1-24 1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. 2 The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.”  3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who c...

Acts 2:22-32 22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.  23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.  24 But God raised him from the dead,...

1 Corinthians 11:17-27 17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.  19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.  20 So then, when you come together, it is not th...