“If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.”
2 Chronicles 15:2
Long ago in Israel things were bad, really bad. Why? Because, God’s people tried to live without the true God. It’s ironic that a nation called out by God and formed by God could forget God; but that’s exactly what they did! And what was the result? Disaster!
But what do you think brought that about? First, God said that it was because they had forgotten the one true God. It’s not that God had abandoned them, it’s that they had lost sight of God. They wanted a God they could control rather than a God who called them to follow.
Second, it was because the Israelites were without teaching priests. Again, the problem wasn't a lack of priests, but a lack of priests engaged in teaching rightly. The priests of Israel had stopped speaking of grace and truth, and they traded genuine worship for a social club. The result was that the temple was no longer the epicenter of life and conscience in the culture, calling people to take God seriously.
And, third, the Israelites were without law. Specifically, they’d lost an accurate view of, and a proper respect for, God's law as expressed in His Word. They’d turned their eyes away from the true God, closed their ears to the truth, and turned their backs on God's law.
Does that sound familiar? Well this week as we continue in our sermon series called, “For Thine Is the Kingdom,” we'll be exploring how we are called to re-engage our faith and our culture, and doing it through the speaking of truth filled with grace. As always, I look forward to being together with you this weekend.
2 Chronicles 15:2
Long ago in Israel things were bad, really bad. Why? Because, God’s people tried to live without the true God. It’s ironic that a nation called out by God and formed by God could forget God; but that’s exactly what they did! And what was the result? Disaster!
But what do you think brought that about? First, God said that it was because they had forgotten the one true God. It’s not that God had abandoned them, it’s that they had lost sight of God. They wanted a God they could control rather than a God who called them to follow.
Second, it was because the Israelites were without teaching priests. Again, the problem wasn't a lack of priests, but a lack of priests engaged in teaching rightly. The priests of Israel had stopped speaking of grace and truth, and they traded genuine worship for a social club. The result was that the temple was no longer the epicenter of life and conscience in the culture, calling people to take God seriously.
And, third, the Israelites were without law. Specifically, they’d lost an accurate view of, and a proper respect for, God's law as expressed in His Word. They’d turned their eyes away from the true God, closed their ears to the truth, and turned their backs on God's law.
Does that sound familiar? Well this week as we continue in our sermon series called, “For Thine Is the Kingdom,” we'll be exploring how we are called to re-engage our faith and our culture, and doing it through the speaking of truth filled with grace. As always, I look forward to being together with you this weekend.
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