Wilderness Wanderings

"Do not move your neighbor's boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess" (Deuteronomy 19:14). I have been working chapter by chapter through the book of Deuteronomy, each day picking a verse or two to reflect on. Some of you may have scratched your head when you heard/read my choice for today. But give me a momen...

Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. (2 John 9)   There are always more interesting spiritualities to pursue than Christianity.  Better marketed materials, more influential influencers, more catchy songs, more immersive rituals, more directive applications.  Over these past years,...

"When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead" (Deuteronomy 18:9-11). Moses' farewell serm...

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21).   What do you treasure most in life?  Where is your heart most deep...

"Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to him" (Deuteronomy 17:1). Let us stay with the theme of giving offerings to God which was already explored last week. In our church services, we take up offerings which are also called collections. This name change is rooted in the New Testament collections taken up for the poo...

An extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text is Revelation 3:20-5:14 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:  immanuelmi...

"Your Majesty, Araunah gives all this to the king." Araunah also said to him, "May the Lord your God accept you."  But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." (2 Samuel 24:23-24a)   Hearing the devotion on Deuteronomy yesterday, I had to think of this passage from 2 Samuel.  This phrase of David...

"No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed: Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you" (Deuteronomy 16:16-17). As I grew up, every Saturday evening my dad would line up little piles of coins on his desk. Each Sunday morning, his children would stop by his office and pick one up. Most Sunday mornings there was a quarter for the first offering (...

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." … He began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:18-19, 21)   Is our faith and generosity just a spiri...

"At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. Give generously to [the poor] and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land. Remember tha...

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 C...

A special, extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text is Revelation 1:12-20 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:  imma...

"Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year" (Deuteronomy 14:22). It may surprise some of you that I have never preached on this text, nor have I written any devotionals on it. And for good reasons. Since I choose to go through Deuteronomy, I need to break my own tradition. The first half won't do for Wilderness Wanderings because it is all about clean and unclean food;...

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  … I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:1,2,5)   A number of big-name Christian leaders have recently fa...

"It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him" (Deuteronomy 13:4). Moses is guilty of repeating himself. But maybe that was a good thing for Israel and is a good thing for us. Israel had already shown that she would quit quickly pursue other gods. Are we any different? So, Moses continues to hammer home the warning...

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped. (Revelation 5:13-14).   The book of Revelation is a Revelation from and about Jesus Christ. ...

You must not worship the Lord your God the way those nations worship their gods" (Deuteronomy 12:4). Our text requires us to stop and ponder. It's the kind of instruction which needs quiet reflection. Here's why. Israel was coming out of Egypt and going into the promised land. For 400 years they had watched the Egyptians worship their gods. Now they were going into new territory where the gods wer...

A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text is Revelation 1 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:  immanuelministries.ca DIVE I...

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (Matthew 7:24)   Jesus' sermon on the mount rhymes with much of Deuteronomy and the Old Testament law.  Matthew's point in writing this sermon down for us was to cast Jesus as the new Moses and offer continuity between Jesus and Israel's history.  Jesus says as much in t...

See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse --" (Deuteronomy 11:26). Let's get back to Deuteronomy. The Bible does not speak with politically correct language and so, without some reflection and context our text is easily misunderstood. Mind you, Christians should be considerate with their language and make every effort not to cause offense. So, what does God mean when he says to Isr...

Trust in the Lord with all your heart     and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him,     and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)   Entering into this Fall season with schools starting back up, an election on, and the Delta variant afoot—along with however many other things may be going on in your life—these words from Proverbs might seem quaint.  "Trust...

Always be joyful because you belong to the Lord. I will say it again. Be joyful! Let everyone know how gentle you are. The Lord is coming soon. Don't worry about anything. No matter what happens, tell God about everything. Ask and pray and give thanks to him. Then God's peace will watch over your hearts and your minds. He will do this because you belong to Christ Jesus. God's peace can never be co...

A special, extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text is Romans 12:14-21 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:  immanue...

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus… (Philippians 2:3-5)   In the unregulated wild west of the internet, mob and vigilante justice is an increasing reality.  Sometimes aspec...

After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, "The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness" (Deuteronomy 9:4). Here is another chapter in which Moses worries about Israel's propensity to abandon God. Much of the chapter is taken up by his recapping the events surrounding the fiasco of the Golden Calf. Moses was up on th...