Wilderness Wanderings

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.  That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms… (Ephesians 1:18-21)...

The fishermen will groan and lament, all who cast hooks into the Nile; those who throw nets on the water will pine away. Those who work with combed flax will despair, the weavers of fine linen will lose hope. The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the wage earners will be sick at heart (Isaiah 19:8-10) . I imagine that few of you have heard any sermons on Isaiah 19, let alone devotions. My...

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has f...

But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope (1 Chronicles 29:14-15) . The television show Sesame Street has this song, "one of these is not like the...

See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. (Isaiah 43:19)   This past weekend a group of churches in Hamilton hosted their annual Conference.  Online.  Because everything is online these days.  This was the TrueCity Conference.  Many of you already know it, others of you perhaps not, but TrueCity is a ne...

A special, extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text is Mark 10:13-16, 35-45 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:  im...

A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield (17-20). Psalm 33 does not begin with hope. It begins with joy and ends with hope. In between the...

Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?   But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen...

But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish (18). Our text comes from the harp of David the shepherd boy, not composed while he was tending sheep, but already a star in Israel. His success was growing. Returning from battle the women of Israel met him singing, "David has killed tens of thousands." What does David do with his success? How does he respond when hi...

"…the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death." "Our lives for your lives!" the men assured he...

"Lord, I look to you to save me" (Genesis 49:18). Pastor Anthony discovered that the Hebrew word which we translate hope turns up in the Bible well before Ruth. You guessed it, it turns up here in our text. But you didn't hear it or read it, because the NIV translators use the phrase 'look to'. You'll just have to trust us on this. I discovered that many Biblical scholars don't like this verse muc...

A special, extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text is Mark 10:13-16, 35-45 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:  im...

"Look, I am coming soon!  … The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let the one who hears say, "Come!" Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. … He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:12a, 17, 20).   The first instance of hope in the Bible erupts out of hopelessness in Nao...

Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons—would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord's hand has turned against me!" (Ruth 1:12-13). As Pastor Anthony pointed out yester...

The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to [Jesus]. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "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." Then he rolled up the scroll, gave...

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you (Genesis 28:15). As promised, we return to this word of God to Jacob, a promise made to him as he fled from his brother's anger. In my devotion last Tuesday, I wondered how African slaves sold on the American auction block kept hope alive. I...

A special, extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text is John 6:25-59 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...

My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior an...

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you (Genesis 28:15). The Bible is full of promises: from God's promise to Adam and Eve to bring redemption all the way to Jesus promise that he is coming back. The Bible's narrative, one might say, is propelled forward by these promises. On Tues...

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebr...

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you (Genesis 28:15). The Christian faith is deeply rooted in the promises of God. As Hebrews 11 so famously puts it, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended fo...

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Corinthians 4:6-7)   School starts again today!  A ray of light in the darkness that says: this lockdown won't...

A special, extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text is 1Cointhians 11:17-34 from the New International Version of the Bible.  Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection or discussion! 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 Imm...

"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 15:5). We've been thinking about living in such a way that we finish well. Yesterday, Pastor Anthony reflected on one of the deepest promises of the Scriptures, "God is with us." Today, I want to reflect on a particular aspect of what it means that God is with u...

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." (Deuteronomy 31:8)   Pastor Michael has been speaking about the journey of life and faith this past while.  Starting well, finishing well, and navigating mid-life course corrections as Christ is formed in us.  All this talk of the journey has made me think of an...