We're starting a new sermon series to kick off 2025! In the first sermon in the series, Pastor D explores the importance God places on human work as shown to us in the Garden of Eden narrative in the book of Genesis.

Even as our dark night experiences are emotionally straining, by his word Christ shows us that our weakness has an important theological purpose: to showcase his strength in our weakness. When we internalize this word from Christ, our souls are not only healed in our troubles, but we are brought to praise. Our lament is transformed into hymns of rejoicing.

If dark nights of sin and suffering are truly grace in disguise, how do we find hope in the midst of tremendous seasons of hardship that can feel unbearable and seem meaningless?

Sin is a subject that we often want to avoid. Ignoring it may be just as big of a problem as committing it. There is great danger in ignoring sin in our lives but there is unsurpassed joy to be found in repentance.

In response to our dark night experience, Christ does not simply promise to eradicate those difficulties, but instead invites us to himself to learn from him and acquire his character in an apprentice relationship. This is an invitation to discipleship, where we take on the humble character of Christ. 

Our difficult and challenging experiences are often referred to as a “dark night” when the effect of them leads to discouragement and places our faith at risk. Even though there is real spiritual peril in the dark night experience, we are usually led into them by God for our spiritual growth. So then, dark nights are actually grace in disguise, and God’s word exhorts us to rejoice in the spiritual benefit that difficulty produces in us.

God’s economy is not based on human effort but is instead entirely fueled by divine grace. In the provocative Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, Jesus shows God gracious generosity to those who need him and respond to his call to the kingdom. This is particularly encouraging for those who feel that God’s grace has passed them by. Jesus is clear that far from that, grace is for those who most don’t deserve it think they have missed it. Grace is sweetest when it surprises those who think there is no hope.

God’s vision for the church is grounded in his calling her to be a theological statement about his own glory and wisdom. Indeed, the power of the gospel is seen most keenly in the character of the church. Because of this grand purpose, Christ himself supplies his church with the resources to change the saints into servants with hearts like his so they can serve one another, helping the church to grow into unity and a greater experience of himself.

The Scriptures are the single most important literary resource for the Christian. Yet statistically, many seem to only experience the sacred words of God in an unmethodical way. In a world of constant devices gnawing at our spirit man/woman, we see that the greatest antidote is not based on a set of rules or practices but on how the scriptures help bolster the Christian into true human flourishing. This flourishing does not come without risk, tension, and even loss (at times). We see vividly in our text, “All Scripture is God Breathed,” which not only supports the authenticity of God's voice in history but also the power to speak authoritatively in such a way that you and I can experience true redemption both in this life and in the eschaton (end times).

Sacred spaces and practices, such as temples or churches, and the ways we serve God there, help us to both encounter and understand the distinctive holiness of God. Sacred spaces enable us to approach God properly, and more than that, as embodied human beings they provide us with concrete ways to experience and worship him.

2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us that the Lord relentlessly searches the earth to give His strength to those who are fully committed to Him. What does it look like to be one of those who the Lord will find to be whole-heartedly committed? The 41 year reign of King Asa recorded in 2 Chronicles 14-16 helps answer that question by providing helpful examples of both faithfulness and failure that are worth examining.