"my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence."
This verse tells of God's ever-present influence in the lives of His people, though not necessarily in worldly matters primarily, but in spiritual matters as well. David, the writer of these words, gives us a picture of God's grace, power, and love. God is more than able to provide for His people's material needs, and sees fit to bless many in that regard, but He is also ready, willing, and able to administer to a person's spiritual needs at any time. Thus, even in hard times, God has His people's salvation completely in hand- whether it be physical salvation from Earthly danger and distress, or spiritual salvation which is in place anyway.
In church today, the pastor continued in our church's study in the book of Romans, covering Romans 4. The one thing that he wanted us to walk away with was we cannot do anything for God to accept us. Rather, he said, God accepts us by faith alone. He drew allegories in between the covenant between Abraham and God and the covenant with God and the church. The only difference, said the pastor, is that Abraham was receiving a physical son (Isaac) while we the church are receiving a spiritual son, Christ, who is our redeemer. In the High School service, the youth pastor gave us a brief overview of the first half or so of Matthew before coming to Matthew 13, where he discussed Jesus' uses of parables. The youth pastor specifically went over the parable of the weeds, and its explanation and application to evangelism.
Well said, good overview of the service. Thanks!
ReplyDelete