Millersport Covenant Church Sermon Podcasts Pastor Steve Bush and others

Luke 12:22-27 are Jesus' words, similar to those in His Sermon on the Mount: "And He said to His disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." (ESV) Ravens and lilies! God cares for them, feeds and clothes them, but cares for us more! Better yet, His provision for us includes far greater things--even eternal life in a Kingdom without end. And because entrance there is neither earned or deserved, it too has been provided and that through Jesus Christ our Lord. So in the meantime, concerning our simple needs as well as the exceedingly difficult trials of life, the question must be asked: Dare we TRUST HIM?! The answer to that question should come easy...

Proverbs 31:29-30 is an apt word for any Godly woman: "Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised." (NASB) Few in Scripture fit this description better than Hannah of the OT. One of two wives of a gentleman named Elkanah, Hannah was unable to bear children. That disappointment was exacerbated by the constant ridicule and verbal abuse of her husband's other wife, Peninnah. But a time came when the family went to Shiloh to worship and while there, Hannah went to the tabernacle and poured out her anguish to God. When Eli the priest saw her silent lips moving in fervent prayer, he scolded her for being drunk. But as he heard her reason for entreating God, Eli instead blessed her and Hannah went home rejoicing. God heard her cries! Hannah's promise to God was to dedicate her firstborn son to the Lord. And this she did. Firstborn Samuel was reared in God's house and became the last of the judges, a renowned a priest, a mighty prophet of God, and the one chosen to anoint Israel's first two kings. Without a retaliatory bone in her body, Hannah knew that bitterness could never give her a son but God certainly could. Her famous song in 1 Samuel 2:1-11 has been a hit for 3,000 years and counting. A millennium after Hannah came Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary's great hymn also topped the Biblical charts. Like an angelic duet, we can imagine these two wonderful mothers joining hands and singing together in the blissful realms of glory! And one day we can all join in their sweet refrains...

1 Peter 2:9-10 says: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, God’s own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people at all, but now you are God’s people; once you were unpitied, but now you are pitied and have received mercy." (AMPC) Not only pitied. Not only cleansed. Not only redeemed. Not only forgiven. But adopted--made royal heirs of the King of kings and likewise a holy nation and beloved family of priests. You may have never considered yourself as a priest but Peter's words indicate that's what God's children are. The Latin word for priest is pontifex. Translated, that means: Bridge-builder! Yes--we who are born anew in Christ are called to be royal bridge-builders. Christ, our High Priest, the Chief Pontifex, the Supreme Bridge-builder, has built a bridge from God to us. In turn, He allows us to eagerly participate and joyfully serve in His royal bridge-building to others whom He's calling to Himself. What a privilege! And what a joy!

Jeremiah 29:4-7 are the words of God's prophet to the people of Judah, exiled to Babylon: “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare." (ESV) The word, welfare in the text above is better translated, Shalom. Besides describing welfare and peace, Shalom includes wholeness, wellness, security, tranquility, prosperity, harmony, and rest. It's a word chock full of richness and Jesus, the Prince of Shalom, would have us pursue it and exude it in our everyday lives. His sacrifice on the cross, after all, purchased Shalom between us and God (cf Col.1:20). Quoting Psalm 34, Peter exhorts us: "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace (Shalom) and pursue it." (1 Peter 3:10-11, NIV) Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the peacemakers (the Shalom-makers) for they shall be called the children of God." Has a nice ring to it--doesn't it?!

Psalm 19 speaks to what theologians refer to as general revelation and special revelation as it describes what God has made and likewise authored. General Revelation refers to God's visible handiwork as seen in His creation, His Devine fingerprints upon all He's made--from galaxies and supernovas to molecular structures and nuclear physics. Special Revelation is God's direct communication with people, through dreams and visions, miracles, prophets, personal visitations, and especially through His written Word. While we can't look up at an eclipse or constellation and know that murder and adultery are sinful in God's eyes, His revealed Word leaves no doubt. Hebrews 1:1-4 speaks to God’s grandest reveal of all: "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So He became as much superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is superior to theirs." (NIV) So God's Epic Revelation is His very own Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Lord...

In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus peels back the veil of what happens when people die. Some believe His story to merely be a parable; others do not. But Jesus told it and we needn't second guess its validity. God's Word supersedes all our cultural beliefs, superstitions, and sensational tales--both for this life as well as the life to come. Jesus' story is about a poor beggar named Lazarus, hungry and afflicted with sores. It also features a man of great means, which upon his front gate the destitute Lazarus is laid. Then both men die. Lazarus goes to Paradise while the rich man is sent across the chasm to Hades. The story juxtaposes eternal agony with eternal ecstasy. It's cryptic beyond the pale! The Great News is that Jesus has made THE WAY for us to be with Him forever in Paradise. He not only died for our sins that would've sent us to hell, but rose from the dead to affirm His atoning sacrifice. Quoting David in Psalm 32, Paul writes in Romans 4:7-8: "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” (NIV) Yes indeed, those in Christ have been BLESSED beyond measure and that means BLESSED forevermore!