Sermons

Surrounded by bad news, even frightening news, we will not be afraid. We know the good news—and the news gets better: Jesus is coming back! Our Lord tells us what to do when we hear bad news:

We cannot deny human giftedness, but we also cannot ignore human need. God created us to be in relationship with Him. We are dependent on God. Like a newborn baby needs a loving mother and father, we need God. And our ultimate problem is that we’ve been confined in this lie that we don’t.

It can be. If we take personal delight as we watch someone else suffer, that’s pretty awful, and I can’t see Jesus being happy with that. If we hold on to old grudges year after year—even justified ones!—and refuse to even think about letting them go under any circumstances, it’s a pretty safe bet we’re doing wrong.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. What happens when your non-Christian friends find out that you follow Jesus? Do they look confused? Do they ever ask you how you can believe that stuff?

It was a serious question. I had to come up with an answer then and there. And there was no answer, at least none that would keep me out of trouble. Because the true answer was always the same: “Because I’m a sinner. Because I wanted to. Because sometimes I do bad things, and this was one of them.”

We are justified by God’s grace through faith. We are clothed in Jesus’ righteousness; His perfect life covers our sinful lives. “O LORD, who shall sojourn in Your tent?” We will dwell with God and for all eternity we will praise Him for doing the impossible:

John was more than just Jesus’ cousin; He was the fore-runner God sent to get things ready for Jesus’ own work. He was a prophet, the greatest of them all according to Jesus. And now He was dead. No wonder Jesus withdrew to Galilee, out of Herod’s reach!

We do it too, don’t we? A really good preacher, a favorite pastor, a youth leader who knows how to connect with the kids—or, on a larger scale, a favorite Christian singer or writer.

Isaiah stops describing the light and starts describing its effects on the country, on the people. They are growing in number, happy and celebrating. Their burdens have been lifted.