Why the Old Testament is Essential for Understanding Jesus

[00:04:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
We have the blessing of the chance to start us off this morning with a prelude.
[00:04:08] So I invite you to settle in, to reflect.
[00:04:12] These words are on page 139 in the hymnal.
[00:04:14] If you want to reflect on the words or just close your eyes and listen.

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Thank you for watching!
[00:05:40] Let us pray.
[00:06:42] and more.

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
[00:07:40] Welcome to worship!
[00:07:42] What a great way to get into worship, right?
[00:07:45] My name is Toni Ruth Smith.
[00:07:47] My husband Wes and I are the senior co-pastors here, and we're delighted that you are here with us today.
[00:07:51] Welcome to those of you who are worshiping with us online.
[00:07:54] We're glad to have you in worship this morning.
[00:07:56] If you are a guest with us, we're so glad you're here.
[00:08:00] In the pew in front of you, there's a little card that says Connection, and we'd love to make a connection with you.
[00:08:05] And if you want to, you can drop that in the offering plate after worship, or on the way out of church, on the left-hand side, Pastor Monica Humple will be here, and she would love a chance to greet you, help you find a way that you might get more connected into the life and ministry of our church.
[00:08:20] We are continuing our series.
[00:08:23] We've been in all fall asking your curious questions.
[00:08:26] And we have today and one more Sunday of doing your curious questions.
[00:08:30] And it's been so much fun.
[00:08:32] We hope that you all have really enjoyed that.
[00:08:34] And we will promise to do it again.
[00:08:37] But we've got to get to Advent because that's happening, y'all.
[00:08:40] I mean, Advent is here.
[00:08:43] And as I reminded them at 9.30, it's been Christmas at Hobby Lobby since July.
[00:08:49] So, at least we're just getting there after.
[00:08:53] We're going to have Thanksgiving and then we'll get to Christmas of it all.
[00:08:56] So, we are really excited to be answering the last of your curious questions.
[00:09:00] These are about the Bible.
[00:09:01] So, Wes answered last week some questions about how to read the Bible.
[00:09:06] Today I'm going to be talking about the Old Testament.
[00:09:08] So, we are really excited to be here doing that with you all today.
[00:09:13] So, I'm going to invite you to just take a deep breath in as we gather for worship.
[00:09:17] So, deep breath in.
[00:09:19] And breathe it out.
[00:09:22] Let's do that again.
[00:09:23] Deep breath in.
[00:09:23] Breathe it out.
[00:09:27] And let's be prepared for worship.

[00:09:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Will you stand for the call to worship?
[00:09:34] We stand before the Lord this day, the Lord of the burning bush and the cloud upon the mountain.
[00:09:45] We acknowledge the risen Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, the Master, recognized in the breaking of bread and amidst the dust of the Emmaus road.
[00:10:01] We acknowledge the Holy Spirit who enables us, seen in the descending dove, heard in the rushing wind and tongues of fire.
[00:10:16] even now in this time in this place come let us sing our praise our opening hymn all hail the power of jesus name 154 should be 154 not 155.

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
All hail the power of Jesus' name!
[00:11:00] Let angels prostrate fall!
[00:11:04] Bring forth the royal diadem!
[00:11:13] Lord of all, bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all.
[00:11:30] He chosen seed of Israel's race, He ransomed from the fall.
[00:11:40] Hail Him who saves you by His grace, And crown Him Lord of all.
[00:11:49] of all.
[00:11:53] Hail Him who saves you by His grace and crown Him Lord of all.
[00:12:06] Sinners whose love can
[00:12:14] Go spread your trophies at his feet and crown him Lord of all Go spread your trophies at his feet and crown him Lord of all
[00:12:43] Let every kindred, every tribe, on this terrestrial ball, to him all majesty ascribe and crown him.
[00:13:05] to him all majesty ascribe and crown him Lord of all crown him ye martyrs of your
[00:13:25] Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy,
[00:13:38] Lord of all, thanks to the stem of Jesse's rod and crown him Lord of all.
[00:14:03] O that with yonder sacred road we at his feet may fall, will join thy everlasting song and proud
[00:14:36] We'll join the everlasting song and crown Him low

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Join me now in reciting our faith through the words of the Apostles' Creed.
[00:14:59] I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.
[00:15:17] The third day he rose from the dead, he ascended into heaven,
[00:15:23] And sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
[00:15:27] From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
[00:15:31] I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
[00:15:44] Amen.

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever

[00:16:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
You may be seated.
[00:16:45] We're here to celebrate Veterans Day in a couple of days.
[00:16:49] We want to take just a moment to honor and show our appreciation for and to pray for those who serve and for our veterans.
[00:16:58] So if you are a veteran, I'm going to ask you please stand.
[00:17:19] You may be seated.
[00:17:21] Thank you so much for your service to our country.
[00:17:26] And now, friends, let us pray.
[00:17:30] Almighty and gracious God, Lord of hosts, we call out to you as the one who is sovereign over all of creation.
[00:17:39] And we pray today that you would watch over and protect our nation's military members and their families.
[00:17:47] sustain them and indeed sustain all of us with your everlasting arms and as they serve around the world we ask that you guard their families and loved ones back home provide those who serve with peace and surround them with love as they mourn the absence of their loved ones and as they long to return we pray the same for their families may they find hope and strength in you for the trials of each new day
[00:18:16] Be with the children of all who serve who endure the difficult burden of knowing their mom or dad is in harm's way for months on end.
[00:18:25] Guard their hearts and minds despite the loneliness and uncertainty of having a parent deployed.
[00:18:33] For each and every veteran who has served our country through the years, we thank you for their sacrifice.
[00:18:41] We pray that you would comfort those who struggle in life after war.
[00:18:46] Help us to honor and care for those who have given so much for us.
[00:18:52] And we pray that you would be with our nation's leaders as well, and all those who make decisions for our military.
[00:18:59] Give them wisdom and discernment in everything they do.
[00:19:06] Holy God, we long for the day when swords will be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.
[00:19:15] Help us every single day to remember that we follow the Prince of Peace.
[00:19:21] That we look for that day when your peace shall reign.
[00:19:25] God, when wars will cease.
[00:19:28] We long for your peace, for your shalom between nations in the world around us, in our communities, and in our own hearts.
[00:19:39] So God, as disciples of Jesus, as followers of the Prince of Peace,
[00:19:45] Help us to work for that peace, for your peace, wherever we are, so that we might point people to Jesus.
[00:19:58] We pray this morning that you would be with all those whom we love, who are hurting or struggling or suffering, body, mind, or spirit in any way.
[00:20:09] And God, through our lives as we live following you,
[00:20:15] May our lives bear witness to you, to your grace, and to your peace.
[00:20:21] We ask all of this in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[00:20:31] Thy kingdom come.
[00:20:33] Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen
[00:20:57] So friends, I'm going to have you stand and greet one another, sharing the peace of Christ, and share with each other what is your favorite Old Testament story?
[00:21:16] Story of Ehud and Judges.

[00:21:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Cards in my pocket.
[00:22:02] I want to share with you about the anthem that we are about to sing.
[00:22:06] The title is Witness.
[00:22:08] The words will be on the screen, but I want to give you a heads up so you'll catch what's happening.
[00:22:13] Pastor West just prayed, let us be a witness, and that's exactly what we're saying in this song.
[00:22:20] We're asking the question, who's going to be a witness for God?
[00:22:22] Who's going to be the witness?
[00:22:24] And then we're going to tell the story of Nicodemus, and we're going to tell the story of Samson.
[00:22:28] And it's pretty funny, in the middle, fun.
[00:22:30] And then you get down to the end, and the question is answered.
[00:22:35] Who is going to be the witness?
[00:22:36] Well, the witness is going to be us.
[00:22:38] So I hope that you'll enjoy this anthem this morning.

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Who'll be a witness for my Lord?
[00:22:57] Who'll be a witness for my Lord?

[00:23:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Who'll be a witness for my Lord?
[00:23:18] Who'll be a witness for my Lord?
[00:23:22] I'll be a witness for my Lord.
[00:23:27] Pharisees.
[00:23:42] His name was Nicodemus and he didn't believe.
[00:23:45] The same came to Christ by night, wanted to be taught out of human sight.
[00:23:47] Nicodemus was a man who desired to know how a man can live when he is old.
[00:23:48] Christ told Nicodemus as a friend, that you must be born again.
[00:23:59] He said, Marvel not, be wise, repent, believe, and be baptized.

[00:24:10] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Then you'll be a witness for my Lord.
[00:24:13] You'll be a witness for my Lord.
[00:24:15] You'll be a witness for my Lord.

[00:24:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
For my Lord, you read about Samson.
[00:24:23] From his birth he was the strongest man that ever lived on earth.
[00:24:32] Way back under in the ancient times, he killed ten thousand of the Philistines.
[00:24:38] Then old Samson ran a-wandering about.
[00:24:42] Samson's faith was never found out.
[00:24:46] Tell me where your strength lies, if you please.
[00:24:55] Well, Samson's wife, she's not so fair, Samson's fair.

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Cut off all my hair.
[00:25:04] Hurry up!
[00:25:05] In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

[00:25:19] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.

[00:25:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
There's another witness There's another witness There's another witness There's another witness There's another witness There's another witness Oh my Lord My soul is a witness

[00:26:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
The Word.
[00:26:17] Join with me in the prayer for illumination.
[00:26:21] God of all power, open our ears, our eyes, and our hearts with a spirit of wisdom and revelation.
[00:26:31] Help us to hear your voice, to see your ways, and to receive with joy your truth.
[00:26:39] In Jesus' name, amen.
[00:26:43] Our reading this morning comes from the Gospel of Luke chapter 24 verses 13 through 27.
[00:26:50] This happens on Easter Sunday, the day of resurrection.
[00:26:56] Hear now the word of the Lord.
[00:26:58] Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.
[00:27:09] While they were talking and discussing,
[00:27:11] Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
[00:27:18] And he said to them, What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?
[00:27:23] They stood still, looking sad.
[00:27:26] Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?
[00:27:37] He asked them, What things?
[00:27:39] They replied, The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.
[00:27:53] But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.
[00:27:57] Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place.
[00:28:03] Moreover, some women of our group astounded us.
[00:28:06] They were at the tomb early this morning.
[00:28:08] And when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.
[00:28:18] Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.
[00:28:27] Then he said to them, Oh, how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared.
[00:28:36] Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?
[00:28:43] Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself and all the scriptures.
[00:28:52] This is the word of God for all people.

[00:29:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Let us pray.
[00:29:12] O God, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of every heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer.
[00:29:21] Amen.
[00:29:23] So we continue with our little series here, asking questions.
[00:29:28] And I'm going to remind us all the ground rules.
[00:29:30] Two more times to remember the ground rules, but I hope that you're going to write these on your heart and they're going to impact how you engage in conversation, not only with the Scripture, but with other people across your life.
[00:29:42] So our rules are, number one, we're going to engage with humility.
[00:29:45] We're going to know that we don't know everything, and it's okay that we don't know everything.
[00:29:49] We're going to stay grounded in the scripture, not too hard to do because we're actually talking about the scripture.
[00:29:55] But we're going to really look at what the scripture actually says.
[00:29:57] And then we're going to wrestle, as Wes would say, wrestle, while trusting, knowing that God really loves a good wrestle.
[00:30:06] And so we're especially going to be talking about that last one a little bit today.
[00:30:10] So let's all just take a deep breath in and breathe it out.
[00:30:19] So I'm going to start by giving you a little confession, a little pastoral confession.
[00:30:24] I did not read, really, in any real way at all, nor understand anything about the Old Testament until I went to seminary.
[00:30:39] I mean, I was called by God and said yes, and I knew squat about the Old Testament.
[00:30:47] So, I need you to take a breath and give yourself, cut yourself a little slack if you don't know much about the Old Testament, because that's what I hear from people all the time, is they go, well, I don't know what that's about.
[00:30:55] Okay, it's okay.
[00:30:57] It's okay!
[00:30:58] Can we all agree that it's okay?
[00:31:00] It's okay.
[00:31:02] Before I went to seminary, the Old Testament was like this little collection of stories that I had sort of pulled together from my childhood going to VBS and Sunday school, right?
[00:31:11] So, Abraham and Noah, and like I knew about Samson, couldn't have told you where Samson was in the Bible.
[00:31:17] All I knew about him was he was strong and he got his hair cut off, right?
[00:31:21] And Joseph in his many-colored cloak, couldn't have told you who his mama or his daddy were?
[00:31:26] Daniel which I thought was like you know probably lived the same time as Moses no he did not right so that's how I had no idea about the order and their interaction of any of that before I went to seminary I didn't understand the scope of the story nor what it was trying to tell me or even why it was relevant like if I'm gonna follow Jesus don't I just need to know about Jesus like do I really need to read the Old Testament when I now I can tell you I'm
[00:31:56] All these years later, here's what I'll tell you that I know for sure.
[00:31:58] The majority of my most treasured texts, the scriptures that are written on my heart, that are my touchstones, almost all of them come from the Old Testament.
[00:32:10] Psalm 116.
[00:32:11] I was probably, I don't know, 15 years old.
[00:32:14] I remember sitting in my bed doing my devotion out of the upper room and I read Psalm 116.
[00:32:19] I love the Lord for he heard my voice.
[00:32:22] He heard my cry for mercy and I was just stopped dead in my tracks.
[00:32:27] What do you mean he heard my cry?
[00:32:29] My voice.
[00:32:36] Psalm, Isaiah chapter 43, I tell, where, where, Carrie's over there, Carrie and Wes know, I tell them all the time, when I, if God forbid it, knock on wood, something should happen to me.
[00:32:47] Isaiah 43, that's what you want, it's my touchstone scripture, it's what I want preached at my funeral.
[00:32:52] It says this, do not fear, for I have redeemed you.
[00:32:56] I have summoned you by name, you are mine.
[00:32:59] When you walk through the waters, I will be with you.
[00:33:02] The wind and the waves, they will not overcome you.
[00:33:03] When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.
[00:33:06] The flame will not set you ablaze, because I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, and I love you.
[00:33:16] Every time I have to have a hard conversation with one of you all,
[00:33:21] I pray Psalm 139.
[00:33:22] Search me, O God, and know my heart.
[00:33:24] Test me and know my anxious thoughts.
[00:33:26] See if there is any unclean way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
[00:33:30] I want to suggest that our conversations with each other would be a whole lot more honest if we would pray for God to show us any unclean way in us before we go out and tell somebody else what they need to do.
[00:33:43] Proverbs 3 is literally on the wall in our bedroom.
[00:33:47] Proverbs 3 is that famous text, trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not rely on your own insight, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.
[00:33:55] But it's on there because I like verse 3 more than verses 5 and 6.
[00:33:59] And verse 3 says this, let love and faithfulness never leave you, bind them around your neck and write them on the tablet of your heart.
[00:34:07] And then it says, trust in the Lord with all your heart.
[00:34:11] My favorite word in any foreign language is chesed.
[00:34:15] H-E-S-E-D. Chesed.
[00:34:18] It's a Hebrew word and it means steadfast, loving, kindness.
[00:34:22] What I have found is that knowing and understanding the Old Testament has enriched my walk with Jesus.
[00:34:29] And what it has taught me is about the chesed, the relentless, loving, kindness of our God.
[00:34:38] So, your question was this, what's the role of the Old Testament for Christians?
[00:34:42] In other words, why should you care?
[00:34:44] Why should you read it?
[00:34:45] Well, my first answer is this.
[00:34:47] I think you should read the Old Testament because more than the New Testament, it invites you to welcome the wrestle with God.
[00:34:57] If you're going to read the Old Testament, you're going to have to be okay with curiosity, questions, and unknown, and we can all stand to be better at all of those things.
[00:35:07] When we read the Bible, Wes told us last week that we all read it through different lenses.
[00:35:13] The big fancy Greek word for that is hermeneutics.
[00:35:16] It just means lenses.
[00:35:17] Everybody's got a lens through which they view the Scripture.
[00:35:22] And Wes told you, I will reiterate to you, the story of Mary on a donkey nine months pregnant just reads different when you've been pregnant.
[00:35:31] And you wonder to yourself how Mary did not kill Joseph on the way to Bethlehem.
[00:35:40] Because it sounds like she had the better deal on the donkey and I just don't know.
[00:35:47] Everybody has lenses.
[00:35:49] And as Christian people, when we read the Old Testament, we read it through the lens of the New, do we not?
[00:35:56] We're looking for Jesus.
[00:35:58] And so when we read text, we're reading it as Christian people, we're reading it looking for the good news of Jesus.
[00:36:05] And we are going to find that there, but that's not the only thing that's meant to be there.
[00:36:10] Let me give you an example.
[00:36:12] At Christmas, we will always, almost always, you will, if it's not read in church, you'll hear it from Isaiah chapter 7, the sign of Emmanuel.
[00:36:22] A virgin will conceive and bear a son and name him Emmanuel.
[00:36:27] Now in its original context, this passage was written by the prophet.
[00:36:32] The prophet was trying to make a promise to a scared king.
[00:36:37] His name was Ahaz.
[00:36:39] And Ahaz was in the middle of a pickle.
[00:36:41] And Ahaz was afraid and he was not trusting God.
[00:36:45] And so the prophet is trying to get him to trust God and to wait on God rather than taking matters into his own hands.
[00:36:52] And so he says, listen, I know this thing that you're scared of that's getting ready to happen.
[00:36:56] Let me just tell you.
[00:36:57] See that woman over there?
[00:36:58] She's going to have a baby.
[00:37:00] And when that baby's born, you're going to name him Emmanuel.
[00:37:03] It means God is with us.
[00:37:04] And before that child is old enough to eat honey and curds, is what it says, honey and curds.
[00:37:10] In other words, before he's, you know, maybe two or three, the thing that you're worried about is not going to be there anymore.
[00:37:15] So just have some faith, trust, and wait.
[00:37:18] That's the original context.
[00:37:20] And it had resonant meaning.
[00:37:22] Matthew took that very same passage, the Gospel writer Matthew, and said this is what God was doing in Mary and Jesus.
[00:37:29] Look, the virgin, meaning Mary, will conceive and bear a son and you will name him Immanuel, which means God is with us.
[00:37:36] And we believe Jesus is God with us.
[00:37:39] We read it and we say that's about the incarnation of Jesus.
[00:37:43] So which is right?
[00:37:44] Which is the right way to read it?
[00:37:46] Is it about Jesus or is it not about Jesus?
[00:37:50] Yes is the answer.
[00:37:52] Yes, it's about Jesus.
[00:37:53] No, it's not about Jesus.
[00:37:54] Yes, it means both of those things.
[00:37:57] As Christians studying the Old Testament, we are invited to do what the Israelites did and to just wrestle with the text.
[00:38:06] To wrestle with it through the eyes of the Gospel and to wrestle with it without the eyes of the Gospel.
[00:38:11] The Jewish approach to the Hebrew Bible
[00:38:14] which is what we would call the Old Testament but it's also known as the Hebrew Bible.
[00:38:18] The Jewish approach to the Hebrew Bible is less about rule following and more about asking questions.
[00:38:26] It's more about storytelling to gain insight based on a text.
[00:38:31] Old Testament scholar Dr. Stephen Chapman, a professor at Duke University says that the Hebrew people understood that it takes guts and I would add raw honesty to enter into conversation with God.
[00:38:46] And that's what people are doing all the time in the Old Testament, is entering into conversations with God.
[00:38:52] In the Psalms, down by the Jabbok River where Jacob wrestles with an angel, in the prophets who argue with God about not wanting to having to do stuff, Jeremiah says, Oh God, I am only a boy.
[00:39:07] Right?
[00:39:07] They argue with God about the things God wants them to do.
[00:39:09] Throughout the Old Testament we see people who are in relationship with God and that understand that that relationship with God is messy.
[00:39:18] It's complicated.
[00:39:19] It's real.
[00:39:20] It's authentic.
[00:39:21] It's lived in.
[00:39:22] And there are rules but the people push back against them and they ask questions and they state how they really feel.
[00:39:29] It's very different than the way that sometimes we as American evangelical Protestants will read the Bible and we'll say, well it's in the Bible, the Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it.
[00:39:41] As though the Bible is one thing and it can only mean one thing.
[00:39:44] As though we aren't all coming at it with some lenses on.
[00:39:49] We have a lot to learn from our Jewish brothers and sisters about the Old Testament and how to read the Bible and to wrestle with God with the hard stuff.
[00:39:58] Because if you read the Old Testament, there's a lot of hard stuff there.
[00:40:03] There's a lot of stuff in the Old Testament.
[00:40:05] There's a lot of violence in particular in the Old Testament that is very hard to clean up.
[00:40:11] And that's what we try to do.
[00:40:12] We want to like sanitize it, you know, and say it means something different than what it actually means.
[00:40:16] We like to clean it up.
[00:40:18] Instead of just saying it's okay for it to be challenging and hard to understand.
[00:40:23] Some things are just challenging and hard to understand.
[00:40:25] That's alright.
[00:40:26] There is violence in the Old Testament that it is very hard to wrap your mind around and that we don't like very much and so we want to kind of ignore it.
[00:40:34] But you know what there is in the New Testament?
[00:40:36] There's a whole lot of non-violence in the New Testament that we don't want to think about either because it challenges us.
[00:40:44] It's not a reason to give up or to ignore it, it's a reason to press in, to lean in.
[00:40:50] Dr. Chapman says this, There is a perennial temptation to make the Bible clearer than it is.
[00:40:58] We do that because it makes us feel better.
[00:41:02] But rabbis and the Jewish tradition, generally speaking, they enjoy, they take delight in all sorts of interpretation and mystery.
[00:41:11] And Chapman reminds us that that approach doesn't take away from the authority of the Bible, it just enhances it.
[00:41:18] He says that the Bible can speak into every language and to every people and in every time and in every season of our life.
[00:41:27] So what's the role of the Old Testament?
[00:41:29] Why should you read it?
[00:41:30] I believe you should read the Old Testament because it reveals the nature and the character of both humanity and God.
[00:41:37] It is impossible to read the Old Testament and not get very clearly that the Bible, that God takes sin very seriously and that sin has lots of really real consequences.
[00:41:51] One of the things that we get a clear sense of when we study the Old Testament
[00:41:57] is that sin is a real problem and it doesn't have an easy solution.
[00:42:04] God tries lots of ways to deal with God's people and the reality of sin.
[00:42:08] He tries flooding the earth.
[00:42:09] That doesn't work.
[00:42:10] He loves them too much.
[00:42:12] He goes to Abraham and he says, I'm going to make you a people.
[00:42:15] I'm going to make a people out of you known as the Israelites and I'm going to create this people that's going to be set apart and y'all are going to bear witness to the whole world about God's deep love.
[00:42:25] He says to Abram, the whole world's going to be blessed through you.
[00:42:29] So he tries to form this people and they end up in slavery in Egypt and they come out of slavery in Egypt and they wander in the wilderness and God sends Ten Commandments and he tells them, look, I want you to set up your tents this certain way.
[00:42:41] This is all in the Old Testament, friends.
[00:42:43] And a lot of it's in Deuteronomy, but it's also there in Leviticus.
[00:42:46] Anyway, he says, set up all your houses around the center temple because I want you to all be centered.
[00:42:52] All the doors of all your tents are going to open up and the first thing you're going to see in the morning is the temple, the tabernacle.
[00:42:57] And I'm going to form a people that is set apart for me.
[00:43:01] And what did the people do?
[00:43:03] They made a golden idol because God took too long.
[00:43:09] And then, you know, God says, I'm going to take you and I'm going to give you a land flowing with milk and honey.
[00:43:13] And they go across the Jordan River and they're in this land flowing with milk and honey.
[00:43:16] And guess what?
[00:43:17] The land flowing with milk and honey had people in it.
[00:43:21] And God says, okay, I want you to kill all the people.
[00:43:23] I don't even know.
[00:43:24] It's one of those things.
[00:43:25] I can't tell you what that means.
[00:43:27] I don't know what to do with it either.
[00:43:30] And God says, I'm still trying to make you a people that's set apart.
[00:43:33] And finally they go, listen, just give us a king.
[00:43:35] That'd make things easier.
[00:43:36] We'll be like all these other nations.
[00:43:37] And God says, you don't want a king.
[00:43:40] He'll take all your money.
[00:43:41] He'll conscript you.
[00:43:42] You'll have to fight in his wars.
[00:43:43] You really don't want a king.
[00:43:44] That's not what I wanted for you.
[00:43:45] And they say, no, no, no, we want a king.
[00:43:47] And so that's what they got.
[00:43:48] And then the better part of the Old Testament...
[00:43:50] Chronicles, Kings, Prophets, all that is Kings do good, and then they do bad.
[00:43:56] And then they do good, and then they do bad.
[00:43:58] They trusted God, they hedged their bets with other idols.
[00:44:01] They put their faith in Kings, they liked being like other nations, rather than being a people after God's own heart.
[00:44:07] And when you read it, you totally find yourself screaming at the pages, Why can't you just learn the lesson?
[00:44:14] It's like living with teenagers.
[00:44:16] Like, why can't you just learn the lesson?
[00:44:21] Why indeed?
[00:44:23] Because sin, friends, sin is real.
[00:44:26] And sin, it's sticky.
[00:44:28] And we get caught up in it.
[00:44:29] Later, Paul wrote to the Romans, in chapter 7 of the book of Romans, he says, The good we want to do we do not do.
[00:44:35] No, the bad we do not want to do.
[00:44:37] This we keep on doing.
[00:44:38] Who's going to rescue us from this body of sin and death?
[00:44:41] Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ.
[00:44:45] The New Testament answer to the predicament that the Old Testament makes so clear about sin is Jesus.
[00:44:52] We can't set ourselves free.
[00:44:55] We can't be faithful enough.
[00:44:56] We can't follow the rules enough.
[00:44:58] We can't sacrifice enough things.
[00:45:01] We can't worship and praise enough.
[00:45:03] We can't be good enough to get ourselves out of the pickle.
[00:45:06] We can't set ourselves free.
[00:45:08] The Old Testament makes it very clear.
[00:45:12] And when we read it faithfully, we find ourselves in it, and we find in it our need for a Savior.
[00:45:17] It points us to Jesus.
[00:45:20] So the Old Testament not only talks about the reality of our sin, it also talks about God's fierce anger at sin.
[00:45:27] But you know what the bigger story is?
[00:45:29] God's fierce anger is in there, but the bigger story is God's chesed.
[00:45:35] The bigger story is God's steadfast, loving kindness.
[00:45:39] This word, H-E-S-E-D, Chesed, it is the word that the Old Testament uses the most frequently, more than any other word, to describe how God feels about us.
[00:45:53] And it's not angry.
[00:45:55] And it's not tired.
[00:45:58] And it's not frustrated and it's not, I'm going to give up on them.
[00:46:02] It is steadfast, loving, kindness.
[00:46:05] It's a beautiful word.
[00:46:07] And in my favorite children's Bible, they say it like this, God's never stopping, never giving up, always and forever love.
[00:46:17] It is a life-changingly powerful thing, friends, to learn that when Psalm 139 tells us that God knit us together in our mother's womb, that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, that God knows every word before it ever comes across our tongue, and you know some of the things you've said, and God knew them before you said them.
[00:46:38] And He still chose to love you.
[00:46:42] He still chose to forgive you.
[00:46:45] He still comes to you with chesed, steadfast loving-kindness.
[00:46:49] Across the Old Testament, we learn that God's steadfast loving-kindness will offer warnings and second chances.
[00:46:56] It forgives egregious sins.
[00:46:59] I mean, friends, God forgave David after he raped a woman and killed her husband and broke every commandment that you could possibly imagine.
[00:47:13] And God still forgave him.
[00:47:17] that God's steadfast loving kindness not only exiles the people but it brings them back home in the hopes of transformation.
[00:47:25] And when none of that is enough, God's steadfast loving kindness promises a Savior who will be, Isaiah 49 verse 6, a light for the nations that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
[00:47:37] A servant who we know as Jesus who is the light of the world.
[00:47:44] So you should read the Old Testament.
[00:47:47] Because it points you to your need for your Savior.
[00:47:52] You should also read the Old Testament because Jesus read the Old Testament.
[00:47:56] He didn't call it the Old Testament.
[00:47:57] It was just the Bible.
[00:47:59] It was the Scripture.
[00:48:01] On the resurrection day, we read that story Wes just read to us.
[00:48:05] On resurrection day, Jesus met some believers on the road to Emmaus who were discussing the events of Friday and Saturday and Sunday.
[00:48:13] Jesus played dumb asking what they were asking about.
[00:48:16] He said, what are y'all talking about?
[00:48:17] And the disciples were incredulous as though they were the experts.
[00:48:21] Where have you been that you don't know?
[00:48:26] Do you not know the things that have taken place?
[00:48:28] They said.
[00:48:29] Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, that's how they understood him, a prophet, mighty in deeds and words before God and all the people, how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.
[00:48:41] But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.
[00:48:48] And if Jesus had been having this conversation with them, not on the road to Emmaus, but like on the road to Enochville, Jesus would have said, Oh, bless your heart.
[00:48:59] Oh bless your heart, how foolish you are.
[00:49:02] Slow of heart to believe all that, Jesus says, the prophets have declared.
[00:49:08] Was it not necessary for the Messiah, promised, the chosen one, promised in the Old Testament, should suffer these things then enter into glory.
[00:49:16] And then beginning with Moses and with the prophets, Jesus interpreted then the things about himself in all of the scriptures.
[00:49:27] Jesus uses what we call the Old Testament to explain what has happened with the resurrection.
[00:49:35] Luke doesn't tell us which specific scriptures Jesus uses.
[00:49:38] I think that's pretty intentional.
[00:49:40] The point is that all of it points to him and so you could imagine that Jesus pulled anything.
[00:49:45] He could have picked any text and it would have helped him to tell that story.
[00:49:49] I personally like to imagine that he talked about how God heard the cries of the Israelites in slavery in Egypt and God sent a rescuer and how on the Passover that these men had just celebrated with Jesus.
[00:50:02] On the Passover the blood of the Lamb was painted on the doorpost to protect them just like the blood of the cross is going to protect them now.
[00:50:10] I like to think that he pointed them to the prophet Isaiah and what we call the songs of the suffering servant.
[00:50:17] They say things like Isaiah 53, he was despised and rejected, a man, a man of suffering acquainted with infirmity.
[00:50:26] The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous and he shall bear their iniquities for he bore the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
[00:50:35] I even like to think that he threw in a little Jeremiah 31 I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel says the Lord it will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt a covenant that they broke though I was their husband I will put my law within them I will write it on their heart and I will be their God and they will be my people for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more
[00:51:06] But I could be wrong.
[00:51:08] Maybe he picked different scriptures.
[00:51:12] Maybe you could think of other ones that he might have chosen.
[00:51:16] That's, friends, it's the beauty of letting the Word of God dwell in you richly.
[00:51:21] It's the beauty of letting God's Word dwell in you.
[00:51:24] You see, the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, that was Jesus' scripture.
[00:51:30] And Jesus deeply valued that Hebrew Bible.
[00:51:33] He quotes it all the time.
[00:51:36] and as such it is worthy of our study and our attention and our wrestling and for certain we're going to be confounded and challenged and there will be questions and stories that we find it very hard to identify with but that's not a reason to think of it as old and outdated and without use for our faithful discipleship in fact we will likely find that our walks will be strengthened by the wrestle
[00:52:02] And by the questions, and by the beauty of finding ourselves and our salvation in its stories, in its hymns, in its prophetic truth, in its history, and in its prayers.
[00:52:15] From the cross, Jesus quoted from the Hebrew Bible, Psalm 22, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
[00:52:27] And when he said it, he was pointing not just to this feeling of being abandoned by God, which all of us feel from time to time, but he was pointing to the whole psalm, friends, a psalm that his Jewish followers would have known.
[00:52:41] How did they know it?
[00:52:42] Because they didn't remember all that 80s music that you and I, and Beatles songs that live rent-free in our heads, right?
[00:52:50] All those lyrics.
[00:52:51] They memorized Scripture.
[00:52:54] And it was all in there.
[00:52:55] So when Jesus started, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
[00:52:59] Those followers could go all the way to the end of that and they could remember this.
[00:53:02] To the Lord indeed, Psalm 22, 29, and 31.
[00:53:05] To the Lord indeed shall all who sleep in the earth bow down before him, shall bow down all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.
[00:53:16] Posterity will serve Him.
[00:53:18] Future generations will be told about the Lord, will proclaim His deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying, The Lord has done it.
[00:53:32] See, the story of the Bible, from Genesis all the way to Revelation,
[00:53:37] In the story of the Exodus, in the Promised Land, in the exile, in the birth, death, resurrection of Jesus, the spreading of the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth, that, friends, is a story of chesed, of steadfast, loving, kindness that never lets go of us.
[00:53:53] And in the Scriptures, we are reminded to remember our history and with every breath to say, that happened because the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever.
[00:54:06] I made it through that period of my life because the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever.
[00:54:11] I have been forgiven of my sins because the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever.
[00:54:16] I have received direction when I didn't know where I was going to go because the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever.
[00:54:23] I have had sight in the midst of my confusion because the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever.
[00:54:30] That's what the Psalmist tells us.
[00:54:32] And it's what we're called to sing about.
[00:54:36] From beginning to end, the Old Testament all the way through the New, it all whispers this truth.
[00:54:43] There is nothing that you can do, nowhere that you can go, that is so far that God's love cannot reach you.
[00:54:53] And that, friends, is the very best news of all.
[00:54:57] In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:55:00] Amen.
[00:55:02] In response to the Word, I want us to read Psalm 136 together.
[00:55:06] And you all, we're going to read it responsibly.
[00:55:08] And you all have one line.
[00:55:09] You all are going to do nothing.
[00:55:10] We don't even have to put the words up there we're going to.
[00:55:13] But here's your one line.
[00:55:15] For His steadfast love endures forever.
[00:55:17] Say it with me.
[00:55:18] For His steadfast love endures forever.
[00:55:21] So as I read it, I want you all to think about what I'm actually saying about each thing that the Bible says that this happened because God's steadfast love endures forever.
[00:55:30] Okay, so let's hear, let's read the word together.
[00:55:32] Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.
[00:55:35] For His steadfast love endures forever.
[00:55:38] Oh, give thanks to the God of gods.
[00:55:41] For His steadfast love endures forever O give thanks to the Lord of lords For His steadfast love endures forever Who alone does great wonders For His steadfast love endures forever Who by understanding made the heavens
[00:55:59] For His steadfast love endures forever Who spread out the earth on the waters For His steadfast love endures forever Who made the great lights For His steadfast love endures forever The sun to rule over the day For His steadfast love endures forever The moon and stars to rule over the night
[00:56:23] For his steadfast love endures forever Who struck the Egypt through their firstborn For his steadfast love endures forever And brought Israel out from among them For his steadfast love endures forever With a strong hand and an outstretched arm For his steadfast love endures forever Who divided the Red Sea in two For his steadfast love endures forever
[00:56:52] Who made Israel pass through the midst of it, for His steadfast love endures forever.
[00:56:59] And overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, for His steadfast love endures forever.
[00:57:06] Who led the people through the wilderness, for His steadfast love endures forever.
[00:57:13] Who made water flow from the rock, for His steadfast love endures forever.
[00:57:19] Who struck down great kings, for his steadfast love endures forever.
[00:57:25] Who killed famous kings, for his steadfast love endures forever.
[00:57:31] Who gave the land as a heritage, for his steadfast love endures forever.
[00:57:38] A heritage for his servant Israel, for his steadfast love endures forever.
[00:57:43] It is he who remembered us in our lowest state.
[00:57:47] Friends, whatever you're facing,
[00:58:12] Whatever hardship, whatever challenge, whatever questions, whatever wrestle, I hope that you will meet every one of those moments with this truth, God's steadfast loving kindness endures forever.
[00:58:23] Whatever I am facing, nothing can break God's steadfast loving kindness.
[00:58:29] Nothing.
[00:58:30] Romans says it this way, For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
[00:58:43] God's steadfast loving kindness for you, for you, endures forever.
[00:58:52] In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:58:55] Amen.

[00:59:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
To give our offering this morning, first I want to say thank you to you for your generosity last week for First Food Sunday.
[00:59:10] You gave 4,100 pounds of food.
[00:59:16] So thank you for your generosity.
[00:59:18] And I'm especially grateful today because the men won.
[00:59:28] But in reality, we all win when we share out of the abundance God has given to us, especially those who need assistance in this time.
[00:59:40] So we pray that you would keep continuing to give.
[00:59:44] There's an opportunity for you to give to ongoing
[00:59:49] Recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa specifically to support the Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf.
[00:59:57] We've had an ongoing relationship for years.
[01:00:01] Some of you may know it as the Jamaica Deaf Village and years ago we sent teams there to Jamaica and
[01:00:10] Kevin is beginning to rebuild a relationship with the Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf.
[01:00:16] They experienced extensive damage with Hurricane Melissa.
[01:00:22] If you would like to give to that recovery effort, you can do so online.
[01:00:27] There's a drop-down menu.
[01:00:29] Just click Relief Offerings slash UMCOR.
[01:00:33] or if you write a check you can put relief offering there but also giving to the church you can give scanning that QR code put your offering in the offering plate or send it into the church regardless of how you give we pray that that you would give out of a sense of deep gratitude and joy for all that God has always done for you

[01:01:03] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
The Gospel of the Apostles

[01:02:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

[01:03:04] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.
[01:03:18] .
[01:03:26] .
[01:03:45] .
[01:03:51] Praise to the Lord!

[01:04:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
The closing hymn is I Love to Tell the Story on page 156.

[01:05:03] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
There is no rain

[01:05:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
I love to tell the story Till we can live in glory To tell the old, old story Of Jesus and his love I love to tell the story
[01:06:01] And all the golden glimpses above our golden tree

[01:06:29] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
I tell it now to thee, I love to tell this story, it will be my thing in glory, to tell thee a

[01:06:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
I come to tell the story, this lesson to repeat.
[01:07:14] What seems as time might tell it, our wonderful history.
[01:07:30] I love to tell the story, it will be my living glory, to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love.
[01:08:00] I want it to grow soaring for those who know it best.

[01:08:18] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Seek covering and mercy to live it like the rest.

[01:09:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
We have a couple mission opportunities for you, and the first one is that we will be taking a team back to Acres of Hope in Uganda again this summer, and I will be on that trip and would love for any of you who are interested to come learn more about it and possibly join me this summer.
[01:09:23] It's in late June.
[01:09:25] So if you're interested, you can email Kevin, you can come find me after worship, or tell any staff member, and we'll get you the information.

[01:09:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
I could encourage you to do that.
[01:09:33] It's a great experience.
[01:09:35] It's time, friends, for Share Christmas.
[01:09:38] I can't believe it's already here.
[01:09:41] So if you don't know, Share Christmas, we adopt here at Williamson Chapel 300 children from the local community that we provide Christmas for.
[01:09:49] And we set up a Christmas store here in our church.
[01:09:52] And families can come and have the dignity of picking out what they want as opposed to somebody else picking it out for them.
[01:09:59] And that is a beautiful thing to offer to people.
[01:10:02] So, shared Christmas tags.
[01:10:04] You can pick these up in the fellowship hall.
[01:10:06] They'll be available this week and next week.
[01:10:11] And there's also a sign-up genius where you can pick up tags there.
[01:10:15] The tags that are downstairs are not the same tags that are on shared Christmas.
[01:10:20] They're not the same ones that are downstairs.
[01:10:22] So, there are a lot of gifts to be bought.
[01:10:24] We'll buy way more than 300 gifts.
[01:10:27] It's like at least double or triple that.
[01:10:30] Let's pray.
[01:10:42] Let's pray.
[01:10:53] To carry things out, help people carry their items out.
[01:10:57] That's on the 13th, and that volunteer sign-up should go out this week.
[01:11:01] So it's a great way for you to engage your community, and a great way to be the hands and feet of Jesus at Christmastime.
[01:11:06] Now, if normally you're one of those people that go, uh-huh, this stresses me out, I would not know where to buy, so I just usually grab the Kohl's gift card tags.
[01:11:14] For lots of reasons that I can't get into, we can't use the Kohl's thing this year, so we're doing Walmart gift cards instead, but we can get them cheaper than you all can get
[01:11:23] We can get them at a discount if we buy them in bulk.
[01:11:25] And so we're going to do that, but that means what you would normally do if you can give the money to Share Christmas, which you can do on the drop-down menu on the giving site, you can do that.
[01:11:36] And if that's what you normally do, you can do that still.
[01:11:38] We just need you to give it directly to us and we'll buy those Walmart gift cards because everybody also gets a Walmart gift card.
[01:11:44] It's pretty wonderful.
[01:11:45] Every kid gets two gifts and a Walmart gift card.
[01:11:47] And then the family gets a whole ham and a whole breakfast thing.
[01:11:52] Let's be mindful of our neighbors and how we can help.
[01:11:59] Is there anything else I'm supposed to tell you before I get in trouble with Kevin?
[01:12:02] No.
[01:12:03] Kevin's not here because Kevin's on a youth retreat.
[01:12:06] They're coming back right now.
[01:12:06] They've had 33 people on a youth retreat.
[01:12:10] Now, you're going to sit back down and everybody's going to be okay.

[01:12:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Everybody sit down.

[01:12:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
The choir is going to sing us out of here with a Gaelic blessing.
[01:12:21] And I pray that you will just let it settle over you.
[01:12:23] This song is called Deep Peace.
[01:12:26] Deep peace of the flowing rain to you.
[01:12:28] Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
[01:12:30] Isn't that what we're singing?
[01:12:31] Deep peace to you.
[01:12:33] And let it be just a gift of God to you today.
[01:12:35] I'm not going to be shaking hands.
[01:12:37] Nobody be offended.
[01:12:38] I've got to get down to McKendree United Methodist to do a charge conference from them.
[01:12:42] But Wes will happily shake your hand and tell you how much we all love you.
[01:12:46] So let's let the peace of God be with us.

[01:13:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
The peace of the quiet heard to you.

[01:13:51] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Give peace of the shining stars to you.

[01:15:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you.
[01:15:17] The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
[01:15:20] The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.

[01:15:23] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[01:15:26] Amen.
[01:15:31] ... ... ... ... ...