Wilderness Wanderings

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)   Pastor Michael alluded to this text yesterday.  Israel was reminded through their wilderness journey that God was the one who sustained them and that seeking God and living out his commands was the best path to flourishing.  Together, these formed the essential quality of humility...

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. (Deuteronomy 8:2). Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do Christians suffer? These are questions that keep coming around. Many good Christians have written extensive books in an effort to answer...

"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified." (John 17:15-19)   Last Friday, Pastor Michael reminded us that we are...

A special, extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text is Romans 13:8-14 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:  immanuel...

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession (Deuteronomy 7:6). Today, let's talk about being holy. The way I phrased this is not helpful. This phrasing is a common misconception regarding holiness. Both outside the church and inside, holiness is considered as something th...

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:15-16)   I've been thinking a lot about what church might look like going forward into the future.  What wil...

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up (Deuteronomy 5:4-7). Imagine that you have never...

"…We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.  We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pa...

"The Lord our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them. But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer. For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and...

An extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text is Genesis 2:1-17 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:  immanuelministri...

But if an individual has ever listened to my words and decided not to keep them, I am not judging that person. Because I did not come to judge the world. No, I came to save the world. The person setting me aside and not welcoming my words, however, has a reality that is judging that individual: the Word that I have spoken will judge that person on the last day. You see, I have not spoken on my own...

And now, Israel, listen carefully to these decrees and regulations that I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you (Deuteronomy 4:1). What do we hear (or read) when we open the Bible? Hit pause for a moment so you can reflect on that question. What are the words in the Bible to you? What is t...

Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"  Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.  From now on, you do know him and have seen him." (John 14:5-7)   It's good to be back with you, even if it is just digitally for now.  Many of yo...

We completely destroyed them (Deuteronomy 3:6). There are parts of the Bible we would rather ignore. In fact, many of us would feel better if they just were not there. But there they are. Today's text is one of them. It comes in the context of Israel entering the Promised Land and conquering its current inhabitants. Our current context of serious reflection on the atrocities the European conqueror...

Today will be my final devotional with Wilderness Wanderings as we welcome Pastor Anthony back from his sabbatical.  Thank you for the opportunity to journey with you over these past four months.  I have been encouraged and uplifted by many of you. Today I am once again pulling from a student publication, this one that I wrote in January of this year. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for...

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...

The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything (Deuteronomy 2:7). Here is portrait of the mercy and grace of God. On the internet mercy is defined this way: compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's pow...

Over my last few devotionals I am going to be pulling from student publications that I wrote for the seminary during the winter term earlier this year.  Some bits have been changed or updated, but otherwise you're reading what the body of Calvin Seminary read a few months ago. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the...

Then I said to you, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place" (Deuteronomy 1:29-31). It used to be that on the first day of my...

When he had finished speaking, [Jesus] said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." (Luke 5:4) "Put out into deep water," Jesus instructed Peter.  Jesus wants us to go deeper with Him.  How can we go deeper with Jesus?  I want to suggest a few ways today. Go deep into the Word of God.  This is the roadmap for life that God has given to us. Other Christian traditions...

"Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing" (Isaiah 40:26) Its good to be back. I'm one of the co-pastors at Immanuel church here in Hamilton, ON. My colleague, Pastor Anthony has been away for some time on Sabbatical....

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me."   Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.    Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."  "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come...

"This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation." Exodus 3:15b As he hung on a cross in his last moments of life, the criminal knew that the man beside him was Jesus and had been unjustly crucified. In his pain and anguish, he didn't demand Jesus save his human life like the other criminal.  He knew he was guilty and deserved death. With much humilit...

Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter).  John 1:40-42 When An...

"A truthful witness gives honest testimony, but a false witness tells lies."  - Proverbs 12:17 Several years ago, a fellow Immanuel Church member presented a brief personal testimony during a service.  She told us that upon learning that she had cancer, her first thought was … wait! are you ready? because it wasn't 'Oh Lord, please take this away now'.  Her first thought was to pray "Lord, help me...