Can you imagine being asked by God to do something that seemed just a bit too much? I don’t know, something like selling everything you owned and giving to the poor. Or maybe leaving your native land and serving God in a foreign place. What if you were Isaiah, and God told you to walk around naked for three years!? (Isa. 20:1-4) Or, what if you were Ezekiel, and God told you to lay on your left side for 13 months or so – only to tell you to lay on your right side for 40 days after that, not to mention the special diet God will have you on! (Ez. 4) Or, imagine if you’re Hosea’s mom. Your son comes home and says to you, “Guess what Mom? I’m getting married!” Think of the pride you’d have knowing your son was marrying into a fine Jewish family, with a good background, and wonderful history…until he tells you that God told him to marry a prostitute.
In Hosea’s story and prophecy, we see a picture of a relationship that is torn apart by sin. It’s a picture of a man who is faithful, even when his wife isn’t. It’s a picture of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God. And I believe that there are many parallels in the book of Hosea to life in America today.
The Israelites had taken to worshiping a false god. This was their “spiritual prostitution.” They had melded the worship of Yahweh with that of Baal, saying that they were one and the same. Baal was the “god” of rain and fertility. The Israelites fell into the practices of their neighbors and abandoned God as the giver of prosperity (grain, wine, oil). They sought those blessings bestowed by Baal…and they worshiped Baal like the pagans around them did.
Now, if you read the book of Hosea, you’ll see some of this coming to light as God’s case against Israel is laid out in the later chapters. But a few things stuck out to me in my latest reading of the book. “Fertility” could be seen as “prosperity,” and we have a group of people who forgot the Giver of all good gifts in order to gain more for themselves. It was materialism. And I know that we don’t ever suffer from materialistic thought…or do we? Or is our problem more of a consumerist attitude?
Another item that stands out in this study is the way sin is portrayed. It isn’t just a “mistake” or something to be winked at. Sin is seen and portrayed as adultery in the eyes of God. Hosea understood this first-hand, but could also understand that God still loved the ones who had betrayed Him. There were consequences that were laid out for the nation of Israel in the book of Hosea, but there was also hope. There was hope for another, better day. A day of rejoicing. Oh, what a day that will be!
The book of Hosea is a great study, and it’s not too late to join us in this study as we see how God’s story is still relevant for us today!
But be careful. In the study of God’s Word, one could expect to be asked to change…into the likeness of God’s Son, Jesus. Are you up for the challenge?
Hope to see you there!
Pastor Kyle
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Godspeed!
Hebrews 6:10 says, “For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.”
Endings and beginnings are sometimes difficult. We’re coming upon one of those difficult ones. Now, I don’t want to sound morbid, or foreboding at all, but there is something in me that is feeling a loss. This is one of the most difficult articles I’ve written.
June and Mary have let us know that they will not retire as our organist and pianist at the end of this month. It is the closing of an era. It’s not that they’ll no longer be in worship with us, but it will be different. For a long time, worshipers at Avoca have been able to look up and know that one or both of these ladies would be ministering to and with them. They have been here through thick and thin, through good and bad, through leadership changes, and family changes, and physical changes…they were serving. They were offering themselves to God, to be used by God as God saw fit.
Much honor is due them. We are not a group of people who like to laud each other. It’s too embarrassing. There’s too much pride involved. We don’t want to cause anyone embarrassment, but there are times when saying “thank you” doesn’t seem enough. And yet, “thank you” is what we’re able to do, isn’t it?
For a job well done, for a life of surrender, for your offering each week, we say “THANKS!” June and Mary. You have been and are a blessing to us. And we pray that you will continue to be a blessing in the future.
June took up the organ because it was a need in the church. She learned because the pastor asked her to play. Mary began as our worship and choir leader, and took up the piano when the need arose. They have gifts from God…and they use them – “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). Over the course of this next month, would you, as those who have been blessed by these gifted saints, say “thanks” in one way or another? Take the time. Say the words.
Mary Leahy, well done. June Luse, well done. You have served this congregation well, you have shown your love of Christ and His church to all gathered together on these Sundays. “I thank my God every time I remember you, always praying with joy for all of you. I thank God for the help you gave me while I preached the Good News—help you gave from the first day you believed until now. God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again.” (Phil. 1:3-6)
We love you. I love you.
Pastor Kyle
Endings and beginnings are sometimes difficult. We’re coming upon one of those difficult ones. Now, I don’t want to sound morbid, or foreboding at all, but there is something in me that is feeling a loss. This is one of the most difficult articles I’ve written.
June and Mary have let us know that they will not retire as our organist and pianist at the end of this month. It is the closing of an era. It’s not that they’ll no longer be in worship with us, but it will be different. For a long time, worshipers at Avoca have been able to look up and know that one or both of these ladies would be ministering to and with them. They have been here through thick and thin, through good and bad, through leadership changes, and family changes, and physical changes…they were serving. They were offering themselves to God, to be used by God as God saw fit.
Much honor is due them. We are not a group of people who like to laud each other. It’s too embarrassing. There’s too much pride involved. We don’t want to cause anyone embarrassment, but there are times when saying “thank you” doesn’t seem enough. And yet, “thank you” is what we’re able to do, isn’t it?
For a job well done, for a life of surrender, for your offering each week, we say “THANKS!” June and Mary. You have been and are a blessing to us. And we pray that you will continue to be a blessing in the future.
June took up the organ because it was a need in the church. She learned because the pastor asked her to play. Mary began as our worship and choir leader, and took up the piano when the need arose. They have gifts from God…and they use them – “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). Over the course of this next month, would you, as those who have been blessed by these gifted saints, say “thanks” in one way or another? Take the time. Say the words.
Mary Leahy, well done. June Luse, well done. You have served this congregation well, you have shown your love of Christ and His church to all gathered together on these Sundays. “I thank my God every time I remember you, always praying with joy for all of you. I thank God for the help you gave me while I preached the Good News—help you gave from the first day you believed until now. God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again.” (Phil. 1:3-6)
We love you. I love you.
Pastor Kyle
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