Skip to main content

Advent Preaching at Harderwyk - Hebrews 1:1-4 - December 6, 2020

Resources For Second Sunday in Advent From Each Harderwyk Preacher

Pastor JB Wurland - Fusion Preacher

Abraham Heschel expands on the simple importance and lasting nature of words, the vessel that God used to reveal himself to his people.

Some people may wonder: why was the light of God given in the form of language? How is it conceivable that the divine should be contained in such brittle vessels as consonants and vowels? This question betrays the sin of our age: to treat lightly the ether which carries the light-waves of the spirit. What else in the world is as capable of bringing man and man together over the distances in space and in time? Of all things on earth words alone never die. They have so little matter and so much meaning… God took these Hebrew words and breathed into them of His power, and the words became a live wire charged with His spirit. To this very day they are hyphens between heaven and earth. What other medium could have been employed to convey the divine? Pictures enameled on the moon? Statues hewn out of the Rockies? Abraham Heschel (God in Search of Man) p. 244 - *quoted in Run with the Horses

 

A theme we will touch on during the message is how God’s judgment works for our good.  Eugene does a beautiful job helping us understand this here.

“Judgment is not the last word; it is never the last word.  Judgment is necessary because of centuries of hardheartedness; its proper work is to open our hearts to the reality beyond ourselves, to crack the carapace of self-sufficiency so that we can experience the inrushing grace of the healing, merciful, forgiving God.” Eugene Peterson (Run with the Horses) p.169

 

The message will end with the invitation to chose the truth over the lies of our age.  To choose the truth – to choose Jesus is to embrace a life with Him.  This is freely available to all of us – in fact we were created for it.  Love how Eugene words it here.

“Biblical faith, however, has always insisted that there are no special aptitudes for a life with God – no required level of intelligence or degree of morality, no particular spiritual experience.  The statement ‘I’m not the religious type’ is inadmissible.  There are no religious types.  There are only human being, every one created for a relationship with God that is personal and eternal.”  Eugene Peterson (Run with the Horses) p.133

Pastor Aaron VanderVeen - Watershed Preacher




Pastor Bill Lindner - Celebration Preacher




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"Colossians: The Glory & Mystery" at Harderwyk - Colossians 1:1-14 - April 24, 2022

Resources For "Enough" From Each Harderwyk Preacher I. New For This Week BibleProject Overview of Colossians - CLICK HERE for their helpful online video. An Early Copy of the Book of Colossians - CLICK HERE to learn some about "P46" - a papyrus copy of Paul's epistles from about one century after Paul would have first written it.  Note: No dating can be exact, and there is often debate about just when a book of the Bible was written, and then again over the age of any given manuscript that we possess, so none of this can be exact.   CLICK HERE for some actual photographs of P46 and the page where Colossians actually begins!  Also of note: Half of P46 is housed at the University of Michigan library.  Unfortunately for this sermon series, Colossians is in the half housed at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, Ireland.  Celebration Sermon Outline - CLICK HERE for this Sunday's Sermon Outline. II. From The Commentaries On This Passage From The Gospel ...

"Colossians: The Glory & Mystery" at Harderwyk - Colossians 1:15-23 May 1, 2022

Resources For "Enough" From Each Harderwyk Preacher  I. New For This Week BibleProject Overview of Colossians  -  CLICK HERE  for their helpful online video. All Four Rooms: Reading Colossians Through Paul's Eyes - CLICK HERE for a blog post by Pastor Bill about Paul's nuanced view of reality and how it affects our own ability to read Colossians with understanding. Celebration Sermon Outline - CLICK HERE for this Sunday's Sermon Outline. II. From  NT Wright in his commentary Colossians and Philemon: An Introduction and Commentary on Colossians 1:15-23 Jesus and God Paul, then, does not in this poem abandon the Jewish doctrines of monotheism and election. He redefines them. But what, in that case, is he asserting about Jesus, in particular when he calls him ‘the image of God’ (v. 15)? There has been considerable debate about this from the first Christian centuries up to the present, and the answer offered below is an attempt to hold together the strong points ...

"Colossians: The Glory & Mystery" at Harderwyk - Colossians 3:1-17 - May 22, 2022

Resources For "Enough" From Each Harderwyk Preacher I. New For This Week Ponder This: “An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, ‘If I have that, then I’ll feel my life has meaning, then I’ll know I have value, then I’ll feel significant and secure.’” - Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods  “If anything becomes more fundamental than God to your happiness, meaning in life, and identity, then it is an idol.” - Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods “Worry about your character, not your reputation. Because, your character is who you are, and your reputation is what people think you are.” - John Wooden Celebration Sermon Outline - CLICK HERE for this Sunday's Sermon Outline. II. Ongoing Resources 1) Spiritual Formation Resources Page - CLICK HERE - This is still a work in progress, but be a part as we look to build 2) Scotty Smith’s Heavenward Daily Prayers - CLICK HERE - to see the daily prayer blog of Scotty Smith.  You will see an option to have them delivered to...