Tuesday, September 30, 2014

God Loves Us

I'm a fan of a lot of things. Football, Seahawks more specifically, taking naps, Pumpkin Spice Lattes, a good pair of socks, roller coasters, date night with the wife, the sound of my girls laughing.

There is one thing I'm not a fan of. Being wrong. And believe me, there have been many times. The first thought that goes through my mind when someone tells me I'm wrong is, 'Nope. Nope. Nope. You're wrong!!' But it's true-nobody likes being wrong. This is what makes church very difficult. There is a tricky balance of talking about what we need to change in our lives.
We started going through the Book of Malachi this past Sunday at church. It's hard. We only got through 5 verses-but the water's about to get HOT! There will be a lot of sin talk on the horizon. But the message from the LORD to Israel through Malachi starts in an amazing, and if you're a Bible believing lover of Christ, predictable way. God loves us. The LORD says, 'I'm about to lay it down, but before I do I want you to know something very important-I love you.'

So how do I know God loves you and me? Jesus. Ok-wait. Thanks for the Sunday School answer-extra doughnut for you. Unfortunately, many people are cynical about God’s love, using political and economic progress as a measure of success. Simply meaning if we see strife in our nation, if we see strife around the globe-God doesn't love. At the time Malachi presented this message to Israel the government was corrupt, the economy was poor, and even those within the church were skeptical. Before Malachi they had heard and read the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah and some of them had not been fulfilled (yet). Thus, the Israelites assumed God had stopped loving them. They were wrong. This is where it gets tough-Malachi will tell God's chosen people-you're wrong. And I can tell by all the sin in your life! God loves all people because he made them.

So Malachi reminded these people, 'I have loved you!' Through Jacob will come the Messiah-the Savior of the entire world. God is telling us and reminding us today that, 'I have loved you!' Your savior has come in Jesus Christ! And he is not dead-he's alive!!

I'm a big fan of that.

-PC
pastorcory@rescuesumner.org
www.rescuesumner.org

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