Sermons from 2023 (Page 14)
How Long?
I guess most of God’s sons and daughters have at some point cried out, as Habakkuk did, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?” It could be some personal calamity–a child’s rebellious ways, the sickness of someone we love–or perhaps more of a national or universal one–economic uncertainty or declining interest in spiritual things in the society surrounding us. Habakkuk’s words are pretty strong; in fact, Hebrew scholars suggest that our English translations…
Loving the World
“Don’t love the world,” John writes in the passage above, but in another place he tells us that “God so loved the world . . .” So God loves the world, but we’re not supposed to? You already know the solution to this “contradiction” . . . the words “world” and “love” are used in different senses, and we’ve got to be careful that we understand their nuances. Tomorrow we’ll explore them a bit, focusing more on the “loving the world” part…