Isaiah

God's Outstretched Arms - sermon June 19, 2022

God is waiting for us to return, to offer all that we need, even if we are not looking. Study of Isaiah 65:1-9, by Pastor Lars Hammar.

1I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,
to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, "Here I am, here I am,"
to a nation that did not call on my name.
2I held out my hands all day long
to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices;
3a people who provoke me
to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens
and offering incense on bricks;
4who sit inside tombs,
and spend the night in secret places;
who eat swine's flesh,
with broth of abominable things in their vessels;
5who say, "Keep to yourself,
do not come near me, for I am too holy for you."
These are a smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all day long.
6See, it is written before me:
I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will indeed repay into their laps
7their iniquities and their ancestors' iniquities together,
says the LORD;
because they offered incense on the mountains
and reviled me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
full payment for their actions.
8Thus says the LORD:
As the wine is found in the cluster,
and they say, "Do not destroy it,
for there is a blessing in it,"
so I will do for my servants' sake,
and not destroy them all.
9I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
and from Judah inheritors of my mountains;
my chosen shall inherit it,
and my servants shall settle there.

My Dignity Cannot Be Taken - sermon Palm Sunday

Being generous and loving means that sometimes you will be taken advantage of, and give to those who might not need it. But when they try to make fun of you for it, remember that your dignity does come from their opinion of you, but from being a child of God. By Pastor Lars Hammar.

Isaiah 50:4-9a

 4The Lord God has given me
  the tongue of a teacher,
 that I may know how to sustain
  the weary with a word.
 Morning by morning he wakens—
  wakens my ear
  to listen as those who are taught.
 5The Lord God has opened my ear,
  and I was not rebellious,
  I did not turn backward.
 6I gave my back to those who struck me,
  and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
 I did not hide my face
  from insult and spitting.

 7The Lord God helps me;
  therefore I have not been disgraced;
 therefore I have set my face like flint,
  and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
  8he who vindicates me is near.
 Who will contend with me?
  Let us stand up together.
 Who are my adversaries?
  Let them confront me.
 9aIt is the Lord God who helps me;
  who will declare me guilty?