Wilderness Wanderings

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the cert...

An Advent Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text is Exodus 1 and 3:7-8a from the New International Version of the Bible.  Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it  here on YouTube .  Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC:  immanuelminis...

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. … Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" He said, "Go…"  (Isaiah 6:1, 8, 9a)   This is another text that has been rattling around in my head over the past few months.  I think because...

Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past (Deuteronomy 32:7). This will be my last devotion on Deuteronomy. There are a few chapters left, but next Monday, here on Wilderness Wanderings, we will begin an Advent series called, "Rejoice! the Lord has Come!" So, let's finish with Moses' farewell song to Israel, focussing on verse 7. Highschool history class may not be every one's c...

"I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. " (Matthew 10:16) I'm not quite sure why, but this phrase from Jesus has been rattling around in my head often these past few weeks.  He spoke it to his disciples who he was sending out on mission. As we ponder how to enter into our everyday world as those who don't just work, study, volunteer...

Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged" (Deute...

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today," so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. (Hebrews 3:12-14)   Last week Friday, we talked about th...

This podcast contains the scripture and sermon from our worship service at Immanuel. Before that a special presentation by Raul & Adrianna Herrera from Nicaragua. Our congregation supports them in their work with Resonate Global Missions. You can find a link to the whole service on our website (Immanuelministries.ca).   No Dive In Questions Today

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. (Deuteronomy 30:15-16. The whole book of Deuteronomy has been heading towards these verses. T...

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.   Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10)   We are chosen by God the King to be his priests.  That's not ju...

All the nations will ask: "Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?" And they will hear the answer, "It's because the people living there have broken the covenant of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 29:24-25). "A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." God established Israel as a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. This principle runs from the Old Testament into the New. Like...

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:12-13)   These verses come at the end of Paul's great chapter on love in 1 Corinthians 13, which means that we hardly read it seriously.  We pas...

"If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God…" (Deuteronomy 28:1-2). Since I made the rules for our journey through Deuteronomy, I also get to break them. We are staying with the same text as my last...

A special, extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text is Revelation 15 from the New International Version of the Bible.  Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it  here on YouTube .  Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC:  immanuelm...

His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. (Ephesians 2:15b-16) And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Chr...

"If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God…" (Deuteronomy 28:1-2). Today is Remembrance Day in Canada. I hope you will all take time to thank God for the freedom we have in this country and to pond...

"Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. " (Joshua 23:6)   As I listened in to our devotion from yesterday, two things came to mind.  The invitation to remember, and the invitation keep the balance between work and grace.  Both of these are themes that flow throughout the biblical narrative.  The wor...

Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: "Keep all these commands that I give you today. When you have crossed the Jordan into the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster. Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the...

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:15)   You may have heard in the news about COP26 these past few weeks.  It's a United Nations climate change summit that happens every year for the past 26 years.  As many nations in the world as can come together do come together to talk about climate change and the ways that they each, and toge...

A special, extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text is Revelation 15 from the New International Version of the Bible.  Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it  here on YouTube .  Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC:  immanuelm...

You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in obedience to him, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws—that you will listen to him. And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands (Deuteronomy 26:17-18). Aspects of God's covenant with Israel are woven throughou...

I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:3-6)   Yesterday I had opportunity to participate in the Reformed Church of America's Com...

"Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small. You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly" (Deuteronomy 25:13-16). Let me begin with t...

And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink a...

"When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands" (Deuteronomy 24:19) . This chapter of Deuteronomy is filled with miscellaneous laws, like soup made from leftovers in one's refrigerator. Without a unifying theme and rooted Israel...