How do we observe Lent and get our spiritual house not only in order but also renewed and enlivened? We look at the idea of first fruits as a key component in shaping a focus on God, God's promises, and God's blessings.
Although God's people are in narrative context still in the desert wilderness, not in the Promised Land, this selection teaches God's people about God's expectations when that happens.
Within this passage, we hear the Jewish "creedal statement," My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt .... (Dt. 26:5) It declares the heritage of the people of God, a landless people whose ancestor faithfully followed the promise of God who, as the story unfolds, has provided everything for God's people. The people take no credit for what has happened, but acknowledge God as the source of all goodness and blessing, of salvation and new life.
There is a certain spirituality at the center of this which informs everything else the faithful need to address to get the spiritual lives in order, and to discover the promise of God awaiting them. Check out the sermon video below as we seek to clear aside the trash and connect to what really matters.
Although God's people are in narrative context still in the desert wilderness, not in the Promised Land, this selection teaches God's people about God's expectations when that happens.
Within this passage, we hear the Jewish "creedal statement," My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt .... (Dt. 26:5) It declares the heritage of the people of God, a landless people whose ancestor faithfully followed the promise of God who, as the story unfolds, has provided everything for God's people. The people take no credit for what has happened, but acknowledge God as the source of all goodness and blessing, of salvation and new life.
There is a certain spirituality at the center of this which informs everything else the faithful need to address to get the spiritual lives in order, and to discover the promise of God awaiting them. Check out the sermon video below as we seek to clear aside the trash and connect to what really matters.
| 03-10-19-sermon.mp3 |
| 03-10-19-ff-answers.pdf |
| 03-10-19-first_fruits_faith.pdf |