News

Are Stephen and Amos saying that Israel didn’t really offer sacrifices to God in the wilderness, but actually worshipped idols instead? That is exactly what they are saying! To one degree or another, Israel failed to follow God wholeheartedly, and truthfully, so do we! Examining this text should cause us to assess and to bring our hearts into alignment with God.

My purpose this morning is not to agree or disagree, but to help us think about that question and what it means for us as a church. The flag is a symbol - we should consider what it symbolizes and that it may symbolize different things for different people. We also need to thing about how we as a church relate to civil authorities and to national identity. And lastly, but most importantly, does having a flag in the church mean that we worship the flag? Or does it somehow inspire our worship of God?

When it comes to these questions of mass atrocities we should not dismiss them - it is important that we remember! When we remember, it is OK to ask the question, Where was God? If you ask it honestly, you will discover that He was there; though not in the way that you might have looked for Him. And finally, when we are ready, it is helpful to ask, “what might this event look like from God’s perspective?”

This is God’s mission in a nutshell. God enters into relationship with people so that He can send them to go to other people. As the people who are in relationship with God enter into relationship with other people, they bring those people into relationship with God. That is how God is reaching the world- through people. God’s plan is to redeem and restore the world, but to do that we must reach the world by joining God on His mission.