I don't consider myself a very emotional person, but I was a watering pot yesterday.
It started with Pastor Ryan's sermon on Hosea which culminates in God's call to return to him in chapter 14. This chapter is very personal because it was the text of one of the first sermons I ever read by C.H. Spurgeon after my ex-husband walked out. I wept then as I prayed for him to return to God and to his family. So yesterday's sermon brought a flood of memories. But God's faithfulness to the unfaithful isn't only true of those who commit obvious "bad" sins. His faithfulness extends to all of us because who among us hasn't gone after other gods in our hearts? Yet God continues to draw us again and again with a love that does not let us go.
Then in the evening, a lay brother, Will Brown, spoke on Christ fulfilling the office of prophet, priest, and king using John 17 as the text. There were so many messianic expectations over the years, so many wrong ideas of who the messiah would be, but the reality culminated in Jesus going to the cross. Will stated that in this prayer that Jesus was consecrating himself as the high priest and the sacrifice. Wow. This hit home right on the heels of a sermon series on Leviticus. The day of once-for-all atonement was at hand. I had to keep dabbing my eyes because this is our God. The one we sinned against gave his life for us, and even now, Jesus continues to pray for us with prayers that never go unanswered.
It used to bother me when I would get moved to tears when praying or during sermons. So I would try to keep the quaver and the emotions under control. But sometimes tears are the appropriate response to the mercy and love of God. Perhaps in heaven, we will be whole in soul and body so we will be able to handle the indescribable joy of being with the Lord. But until then, I'm thankful for good tears now. Perhaps they allow me, in my present broken state, to feel and give expression to glorious things seen through a glass darkly.
It started with Pastor Ryan's sermon on Hosea which culminates in God's call to return to him in chapter 14. This chapter is very personal because it was the text of one of the first sermons I ever read by C.H. Spurgeon after my ex-husband walked out. I wept then as I prayed for him to return to God and to his family. So yesterday's sermon brought a flood of memories. But God's faithfulness to the unfaithful isn't only true of those who commit obvious "bad" sins. His faithfulness extends to all of us because who among us hasn't gone after other gods in our hearts? Yet God continues to draw us again and again with a love that does not let us go.
Then in the evening, a lay brother, Will Brown, spoke on Christ fulfilling the office of prophet, priest, and king using John 17 as the text. There were so many messianic expectations over the years, so many wrong ideas of who the messiah would be, but the reality culminated in Jesus going to the cross. Will stated that in this prayer that Jesus was consecrating himself as the high priest and the sacrifice. Wow. This hit home right on the heels of a sermon series on Leviticus. The day of once-for-all atonement was at hand. I had to keep dabbing my eyes because this is our God. The one we sinned against gave his life for us, and even now, Jesus continues to pray for us with prayers that never go unanswered.
It used to bother me when I would get moved to tears when praying or during sermons. So I would try to keep the quaver and the emotions under control. But sometimes tears are the appropriate response to the mercy and love of God. Perhaps in heaven, we will be whole in soul and body so we will be able to handle the indescribable joy of being with the Lord. But until then, I'm thankful for good tears now. Perhaps they allow me, in my present broken state, to feel and give expression to glorious things seen through a glass darkly.
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