Service November 13, 2022 – Shoebox Sunday

Bible Verses for Sunday Service November 6, 2022

Isaiah 45:22

Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.

Psalms 92:1-2

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night

Announcements:

Today we dedicated 42 gift boxes for the Samaritan’s Purse Christmas Child Project. Children somewhere in the world receive them, and enjoy the gifts, including learning about Jesus. Our Awana children put these boxes together, along with the Awana helpers. Let’s pray that God uses these boxes to bring these children into His Kingdom.

If you want to contribute to the cost of shipping the boxes please do so. You can designate your gift by wring “Operation Christmas Child” on the check or envelope.

Our church will celebrate Thanksgiving with a meal after church on November 20. We will all enjoy the blessings of food and fellowship then give thanks to the Lord through song and testimonies. Please let your family and friends know and invite them to join us. Be sure to sign up if you plan on coming, and for what dish you are bringing. Lastly, if you would like to provide a musical special, please let Pastor know.

Pastor Jim also thanked the congregation for the financial gift for 35th anniversary in entering ministry, and for the encouragement, prayers and support over last 19 years.

Special:

We watched a video from Samaritan’s Purse showing how a school for the deaf in Namibia received a shipment, how much the children enjoyed the boxes, and how they learned about Jesus from them, His love for them:

You can read more about this particular school and the children at Samaritan’s Purse Website.

Sermon:

Pastor continued in the prophet Isaiah to provide God’s word on the issue of doubt. Due to long time the Jews had spent in captivity, they started to doubt God. In Isaiah 40:27-31, Isaiah described these doubts and addressed them by providing God’s word on how the Jews should think about their time in captivity. Pastor drew out the lessons that are applicable to us today if we have doubts.

Pastor addressed these doubts with two points. The first is that we must recognize God. We do this by being guided by God’s word, not our feelings. We need to hold on to the truth of God’s person, how he is eternal, everlasting, and never changes. Although we are in Isaiah, other passages in the Bible echo these truths. Romans 8:39 reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of God, and of course John 3:16 speaks to God’s love for us. Besides recognizing the person of God, we need to continue to focus on the truth of God’s power. Isaiah put it vividly by comparing God to a person. In contrast to us, God doesn’t need sleep, and doesn’t get tired.

For his second point, Pastor asked us to consider the resources available to us from our God. We sometimes consider that we are weak in ourselves, and the Bible shows us that this is the exact attitude of heart that God requires and rewards. Think of Solomon in 1 Kings 3:7 asking God for wisdom and being given it by God. Similarly, the Lord helped Gideon deal with the Midianites in Judges 6:12. And perhaps most famously, Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that he asked for help from the Lord to increase his personal power, but the Lord reminded him that he is perfected by weakness in that gives God space to move and show His power, which of course glorifies Him. But, in considering these resources, we must not become impatient for the Lord rewards those who wait on him. That was ultimately God’s word to the Jews through Isaiah.

In closing Pastor encouraged us to take the vivid language of Isaiah, we should fly, run and walk, mount up like eagles and live on the promises of God and not our poor experiences here in our temporary home, the World.

Accessing the Service, Bulletin and Sermon Outline:

Here are the pages from the bulletin, click on the images below to see them full size:

If you would like to have the sermon outline, you can download it here, a pdf file.

If you would like a link to this service you can find it here. Perhaps you would like to share it with your friends. You could also share that link on social media, if you use any of the providers. We use Rumble, a safe alternative to Google’s YouTube.

Lastly, if you would like to see all the services, you can find them here.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *