κήρυξον τὸν λόγον

[Introduction] If you’ve ever had to work, and work, and work, and work ... if you’ve ever been worn out from work, exhausted, spent, so tired you can’t think ... if you have ever felt like you can’t go on but you have to ... you know how refreshing it is, and what a relief it is, to finally rest. Rest ... It’s such a welcome word.  Rest ... kicking back to relax.  Rest ... No more pressure. No more tension. No more burden. No more pain. No more strain. No more sweating the small stuff. No more wrestling with simply strained nerves.  Rest ...  Where are we to find it?   The evangelist to the Hebrews gives us the answer today. He proclaims that ...  TRUE REST COMES IN THE WORD AND PROMISES OF GOD There are three kinds of rest being highlighted in our reading from Hebrews today.  First is the rest given to us in creation (vv 9-10). Second is the rest given in redemption (v 10). And finally, there is the rest that comes through sanctification (11-13)...

Friend, I am not being unjust to you. Did you not agree to a denarius with me? Take what is yours and go. I desire to give to this last [worker] as I also give to you. Is it not proper for me that I desire to do [what I want with the things] that are mine? Or [do you see only] evil because I am good? (vv 13-15) And there’s the point of our Gospel reading from Matthew 20 ... OUR GOD IS SO VERY GOOD. YHWH, the Great I AM, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in faithful, covenantal love (Ex 34:6). His work is perfect, and his ways are just (Dt 32:4). When we were dead in our sin and trespasses ... that is, useless, lazy, idle, good-for-nothings (vv 3, 6) ... he came to us (v 1), he found us (v 6), he called us and gathered us in his vineyard (vv 2,4,6). He put us to work doing the good things he prepared for us to do, and nurtured us. And, behold, he didn’t stop there. As we were wondering where our next meal ticket would come from, he had compassion on us. He came...

While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased. Listen [to the Word that belongs to] Him.’ (v 5) [Introduction] It’s hard to listen to Jesus, isn’t it?  The noise of the world surrounds us ... it overwhelms us. The noise of the world bombards us with daily responsibilities, societal expectations, news, opinion, and gossip. The buzzes and beeps of your phone vie for your attention. The busy pace of life makes it difficult to focus on the still small voice that Elijah heard on the mountain in 2 Kings 19. Our thoughts and anxieties can easily disrupt and destroy peace and steal the show. Amid all of it, there’s the constant noise that we should listen instead to our heart, our feelings, our thoughts. But today, we can see and hear God on the mountain. Listen , the voice from the cloud declares. Listen [to the Word that belongs to] him (v 5). Listen to what? List...

Since, therefore, the children [have a communion] of blood and flesh, He also [as a neighbor coming alongside] shared the same [blood and flesh] so that through death he would make ineffective the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and set free as many of those who, in fear of death, were liable to lifelong slavery. For surely, it is not the angels he takes hold of, but the offspring of Abraham he takes hold of. That’s why he was obligated to be like all of the brothers, so that he might become merciful and a faithful high priest before God for the purpose of making atonement for the sins of the people, for in him who suffered, having been tempted, he is able to help those being tempted. [Introduction] When we list the qualities of God, we normally speak of Him in BIG terms. We speak of God as being The All-Powerful One (Omnipotent) ... The All-Knowing One (Omniscient) ... The Always-Present One (Omnipresent). We speak of him as being Eternal, and Self-Existing, and I...