Friends,
What a blessing this morning to be in worship! We had a mother and daughter to come forward and make professions of faith! God is so good!
This morning I began a sermon series on the book of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, and the last word from God before John the Baptist comes on the scene in the Gospels. This was a troubling time for the Israelites. They were back in the promised land, but not much was going as promised. They had little land, little power, many enemies, and no Messiah.
They were discouraged; and feelings of doubt, fear, and depression were setting in. How often do we focus too much on the negative things in our life at the expense of the many, many blessings that God provides for us? I liken this to horse races, where often they put blinders on horses so they can focus on nothing else than the race ahead. We, too, put blinders on, but too often they are to focus on the negative instead of looking at the world wide eyed and seeing all the many areas where God is blessing us.
God does not abandon us, but too often we abandon Him, as Esau did in Genesis and referenced here in Malachi. His love is everlasting and all sufficient. Are you trusting in that? Is your faith built on that solid rock?
Big Island Baptist Church was built and grew on the backs of so many faithful Christians who were committed to the work of God in our fellowship and our community. Now, we stand in their place, and God is calling us to stand up, and be the body of Christ that He has called us to be. How will you and I respond?
Download and listen to the sermon here: Blinders by Rev. Bryon LePere
Scriptures Referenced:
- Malachi 1:1-5
- Zechariah 9:1, 12:1
- Deuteronomy 7:8, Jeremiah 31:3, Psalm 136, John 3:16
- Matthew 6:25ff
- Deuteronomy 7:8-11
- Acts 15:5-11, Romans 1:16, 10:12
- Psalm 91:8-16
- Hebrews 12:1-2
