February Pastoral Letter

Greetings in the Name of the Lord!

We are now about a little past halfway in our study through the Book of Amos. If the Lord tarries we should finish Amos by the end of April. It has been quite a blessing to work through the words of the Prophet and I have learned much concerning God’s Love and Justice towards His people Israel. My hope is you also have been blessed by this study.

One of the main themes running through the book is that Israel had fallen past a state of pure revolution into a mode of thinking that better mirrored apathy more than just simple rebellion against God (Amos 5:13). There is a sense in which apathy can be worse than disobedience as apathy allows disobedience to prosper (Prov 18:9). Part of this was shown in how the Israelites approached worship. The Israelites were still going through the motions of honoring the outward parts of the worship of God, showing up for worship at Gilgal, Bethel, and Beersheba (places which of course God had not called them to worship, 1 Kings 12:25-33, Amos 5:21-22), yet they did not do so out of a sense of love toward God, but because there had set in a type of societal obligation in fulfilling the formal elements of Sabbath worship. Israel worshipped God because that is what they had always done and it was part of what they believed made them Israel. This mindset is of course not something the church left behind in ancient Israel (Matt 15:8-9, Rev. 3:14-16). There are many people today that attend church services for much the same reason. Whether it is to make mom happy or to be “seen” their motivation behind going to church on the Lord’s Day is not that much different from what Amos is speaking against in his prophecy. It is important as we move forward as a church in a national climate that is becoming more and more hostile to the truths of the Gospel and the teachings of Holy Scripture we take stock of ourselves (2 Peter 1:5-10) and guard our hearts (Prov. 4:23-27) so we may better understand why it is we come to worship (John 4:23, Heb. 10:19-25, 13:7-17) the Triune God, who is our Father, through Jesus Christ His Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit on the Day He has set aside for His worship (Ex. 20:8, Acts 20:7, 1 Cor 16:2, Rev. 1:10).

May God continue to Bless you as you continue to grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in His Grace and Mercy and Peace.

In God’s Love,

 

The Virgin of Israel Has Fallen

Sermon preached 2/13/2011 at Ellisville Presbyterian Church.

Download here.

Amos 5

A Lament for Israel

¹ Hear this word which I take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel:
² The virgin of Israel has fallen;
She will rise no more.
She lies forsaken on her land;
There is no one to raise her up.

³ For thus says the Lord GOD:

“ The city that goes out by a thousand
Shall have a hundred left,
And that which goes out by a hundred
Shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”

 

Prepare to Meet Thy God

“Prepare to Meet Thy God” (Audio Available at the Link)

Preached February 6, 2011 at Ellisville Presbyterian Church

Amos 4:1-13

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor,  Who crush the needy,  Who say to your husbands, “Bring wine, let us drink!”.  The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness:

“ Behold, the days shall come upon you when He will take you away with fishhooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. You will go out through broken walls, each one straight ahead of her,
And you will be cast into Harmon,”  Says the LORD.

“ Come to Bethel and transgress, at Gilgal multiply transgression; bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days. Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven,  proclaim and announce the freewill offerings; for this you love, you children of Israel!”
Says the Lord GOD.

“ Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities and lack of bread in all your places; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD. “ I also withheld rain from you, when there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city.
One part was rained upon, and where it did not rain the part withered. So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, but they were not satisfied; yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD.  “ I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased,
your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees, the locust devoured them; yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD.

“ I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt; your young men I killed with a sword,
along with your captive horses;  I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils;
Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD.  “ I overthrew some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning;
yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD. “ Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,

Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!” For behold, He who forms mountains, and creates the wind, who declares to man what his thought is, and makes the morning darkness, who treads the high places of the earth— The LORD God of hosts is His name.