From the Pastor's Study
Photo by Jed Owen on Unsplash
The more modern the world gets, the more relevant passages like this are. I know it doesn’t seem that way at first reading, but if you follow along with me, I think you will see that this is a very interesting passage with a critical concept for us to grasp. That concept is regular times of celebration before the Lord. One of the challenges of modern life is a loss of the sense of time. I don’t mean we are all so busy now, I mean that we live as if we aren’t as bound to it anymore. Let me give an example. When our phones could get email, a little over 15 years ago, suddenly we could be working anywhere, anytime. The idea of “office hours” vanished and suddenly all of life could look the same. Any day could became Monday just in the time it takes for your phone to chime. This is just an extension of what has happened in the last 50 or so years when a lot of people’s work stopped being dependent on what time of the year it is. Farming is very dependent on the month of the year. Email works the same whether it is June or January, so many have lost the connection to the natural rhythms of the world. I came across a quote from Dr. Ross, my old Hebrew teacher, that sums up what I’m hoping to preach about today: “Only when worshippers begin to see how creation and redemption inform their use of time will they fully appreciate what it means to enter into the Lord’s rest and enjoy fellowship with the holy God, and with one another in Christ.” (Recalling the Hope of Glory, 240). I'm leaning on Ross a lot in what follows, so if it sounds good, it is probably him. In this section of Scripture, and in other places in the Old Testament, we see feasts or celebrations to God that correspond to certain seasons of the year, the creation. They were times that called for everyone to stop and remember the past, recognize the present, and rejoice for the future. Each one is filled with meaning not only when it comes to what is happening in the world, but even more so what is happening in redemption. Embrace the opportunity to celebrate, knowing that you always have reason to do so. Let’s do a little setup here, with a lot of thanks to Dr. Ross. The Jewish people had two kinds of calendars, one that was civil, and the other that was religious. The Civil New Year actually started in the Fall, while the religious one started in the spring. The religious calendar starts with Passover, whereas the Civil one starts on the Feast of Trumpets. It’ll make more sense as we go. The first one is the Passover. This is the one that we are the most familiar with, and it was actually three celebrations in one! The Passover was a single night in which the Jewish families would reenact the night that God delivered them from Egypt. They would eat the same meal their ancestors did, in the same way that they did, and would explain to the children as they went how God cared for them in the past. Right after that one was the feast of Unleavened Bread, which sounds fun until you realize how good yeast makes things taste. When you are used to full on bread, suddenly crackers for a week doesn’t sound all that appetizing. But after that was the feast of the first fruits, in other words a celebration of the first of the crops coming in, and as you can see here, a grain offering. You can imagine the joy that would be around as suddenly everyone can have bread again (see v 14) and the rejoicing that would have taken place having a successful harvest. Fifty days after that, everyone celebrates again with bread (made from the grain that just came in earlier) and with generosity to the poor. Having just rehearsed their exodus from Egypt and the fulfillment of God’s promise to bring them to a land on their own must have been so satisfying. This is where that reference that Ross made to creation and redemption fits so well here. They are not just having some recognition that the crops came in. It is that, but the meaning of the crops coming in is so much more in the moment. The only reason they have crops in this land in particular is because God brought them there. They aren’t just lucky people, they are a blessed people. God didn’t have to passover judgment on them. He judged the Egyptians but not them. There must have also been a sense of humbling here. Why should they be given such a gift? Why should they have this exclusive relationship with God in such a way? Notice also how along with this, there is an opportunity to be like God in providing for the poor. They didn’t harvest their wheat fields all the way to the edge or harvest what they may have dropped along the way, sucking up every last bit of profit. Instead, they left it there for the poor. From a legal sense, the poor aren’t owed that. Looking at things just from a creation standpoint, what you own is yours. But from a redemption standpoint, that field isn’t just a field. It is an opportunity to love your neighbor. Now that is the first third of the year. They would have had another harvest feast in the summer, but this passage mentions the back half of the year, think September/October timeframe. They followed a lunar calendar which gives flexibility to some dates. This began with a blast of the trumpet, signaling the start of a new year. And everyone would rest. Ten days after that would have been an extremely holy day. All of them were required to be days of rest, but this one is so serious about rest. God promises to destroy people who don’t rest there in verse 30. This was the day of atonement, a time where the high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies, the most sacred part of the temple/tabernacle where the presence of God was uniquely occupied. He would only go in here on this day of the year and had to be properly prepared to go inside lest he die on the spot. They actually used to tie a rope around the priest’s ankle just in case he did it wrong and was struck down. There would have been no other way to retrieve the body. All of this was done to ensure that the sins of the nation were covered. Of course, this would be something that would have to be repeated every year. Until of course, an ultimate sacrifice was given. Five days after that was the feast of booths, or tents. This would have been a time where you would have lived in tents for a week outside your houses to reenact the history of your ancestors wandering in the dessert. It would have been a time of great feasting and celebration and no work at all. But do you notice something here? Why did the ancestors live in tents for forty years? Does it take that long to walk from Egypt to Israel? No. It was because they rebelled against God. They were sinners. And having just had the sacrifice offered for the nation for this year’s sins, there wasn’t a whole lot of fingerpointing back to the previous generations. They all had just recognized their own sinfulness. Yet they could rejoice because forgiveness was given to them. So while they were remembering the past, they could recognize the present. They could see the goodness of God to them. And even if it had been a hard year, they could rejoice in how they as a people had been brought to this point. Now imagine what level of celebration that these feasts took on when they would hear from the prophets of a coming age of Messiah. The firstfruits weren’t just a glimpse into the harvest that they would eat in a few weeks, but in the age of Messiah, the food and wine would flow freely; there would be abundance more than could be imagined! Ross points out how often the terms harvest would be used to describe the judgment of God where His people would be gathered up and placed in the barn safely, but the wicked would be burned with fire. What must that have been like as they anticipated the day their oppressors would be cast off from them. Then think with the New Testament writers as Paul compares Jesus to the passover lamb. The blood on the doorposts was pointing to the blood on the cross. Judgment passing over! And it would pass over forever! The day of Atonement would have to be done year after year, yet Christ provides the ultimate sacrifice! And when He rises again, what does Paul liken it to? The firstfruits of the resurrection! Fifty days after the Passover was the feast of weeks when they brought the bread the grain harvested before made, and fifty days after Christ’s resurrection, the Holy Spirit descends and brings the results of Christ’s rising, the birth of the Church! Do you think this is the time now to stop celebrating? Christians have so much to celebrate around our tables. We have everything in the Jewish history to celebrate and everything in the New Testament to celebrate! Even if 2025 hasn’t been your year, and I know for many of you it hasn’t, Christ is still on the throne. He’s still brought you this far. Look how much He has taken you through, look how much He has brought our people, a people of every nation, tribe, color, and tongue—His people—through. This is why we don’t just look to creation to find our cues to celebrate. We look through the lens of redemption and what He is doing in it. Ross opened his chapter by pointing out that God made time and intends for us to use it well. He put us in it, not to mention entering it Himself, to do His work. And He has set aside times to remind us that He rules all time. This is why in addition to these festivals, there were monthly times of rest (the New Moon Festivals), weekly times of rest (the Sabbaths), and twice daily times of worship (morning and evening sacrifices). How are you using your Thanksgiving time? I love a Turkey-infused nap in front of the Dallas Cowboys losing as much as anyone. But are you taking some time to reflect not just on what God has done for you, but for the world in the sacrifice of His Son? What God will do in the end when all things are made new? I know we are presbyterians, but we should be the rowdiest bunch of people at a feast. We have so much to celebrate. We have been chosen not for anything good that we have done and are on our way to a blissful eternity feasting before the Creator, Savior, and Sustainer of the world! And if you say, “Look, I understand where you are coming from here, but have you seen the News? Aren’t you worried about the [insert current discourse/issue here]? Is this really the time to celebrate?” I say, yes. And do you know why? Because those people trying to knock over God’s table are going to lose. If you would like a slightly more aggressive Christian attitude to feasting, our celebration tells the world to take its best shot. God is going to dominate so hard He will go ahead and prepare a table in the very presence of our enemies. Eat in front of them. And then invite them to sit down. People are worried about young folks, particularly young men, who are so discouraged with the system that they just want to burn it down because they got locked out of it. Feasting is a better alternative. They got locked out of an American dream that for those who managed to get in tell us doesn’t make them happy anyway. Tell them not to burn down that which never really existed. Don’t find people to blame. Instead, sit down. God has this. Our people have been here before, and where we are going will be glorious. Maybe that will make the turkey taste a little better.
0 Comments
Photo by Maxime Amoudruz on Unsplash
Today, we look at the final passage in Genesis. It has been quite a journey. We’ve watched God create a world, see Adam ruin it, yet a promise of care in the very same chapter. We’ve watched the world flooded yet out of that a sign of the covenant written in the sky to this day. We’ve seen the rise and fall of Babel, divine blood oaths, and stairways to heaven. Yet we’ve also seen the humdrum waiting. Yet in each one of these chapters, we have been exposed to yet another demonstration of the sovereignty of God. It all wraps up here with yet another reminder of God’s sovereign control of the world. Though here, we have a unique application of that doctrine. It is one thing to flatly say, “God is in control.” That’s good and true, but has been said so often we begin to become overly familiar with it. This passage says, “Since God is in control, there is an obligation on your part: forgiveness.” We will see how this occurs in our passage and our main point: God’s sovereignty requires us not to seek revenge. God’s sovereignty requires us not to seek revenge. Verse 15 is a rational thought from Joseph’s brothers. After all Joseph kept asking about Jacob every time questioning came up, so he clearly cared about him. Obviously taking vengeance on the sons while dad was alive would have been a bad call (even Esau knew that), so they would be rightly worried that this would be the case here. While he did talk pleasantly with them after his identity was revealed, Joseph is quite good at the long game and can keep a charade going for some time! Verses 16-17. Here the brothers turn to the oldest family trick in the book, lying. Considering the close relationship that Jacob had with Joseph, this sort of thing would have undoubtably come up in their conversations, and this is something that if Jacob thought Joseph needed to hear, he would have said so. Notice how they say “your father” rather than “our.” Really pulling out everything to ensure their survival. This shows that when the chips are down, we show what kind of character we have. The sons obviously trusted in their ability to lie, which is neither necessary or particularly convincing. They don’t put the same trust in God that Joseph does, showing one final time in this book where trust should always be. Now, let’s notice Joseph’s response. It is radically God-centered. First, he states why he isn’t going to pursue retribution on them: it isn’t his place to do so. “Am I in the place of God?” The expected answer of course is “No, I’m not.” Therefore, it is not my place to be dealing out death and judgment. This seemingly anticipates the command in Deut. 32:35 where God says that vengeance is mine. He remains in his place. But he tells us why. Yes, vengeance is for God, and that would be enough, yet God has also done something with his suffering. Second, he doesn’t pursue vengeance because, ultimately, God has meant it for good. They meant it for evil. There is no sugar coating that. Yet despite their intentions, God’s intentions overrules theirs. And He did it for good. Now, we’ve watched that happen over and over and over again in the book of Genesis. There is no mistake that gets away from God. Even chapter 3, the Fall of man ultimately prepares the way for Jesus Christ. There is no mistake in Genesis, and there is no mistake today. God still works the same way, and it is brilliant. Sin is still sin. Evil intentions are still evil. Yet, God is able to take those actually evil things and intend them for good. That is a radical comfort for me because there is a surplus of evil in this world. It can be easy to look around and despair because there is so much pain around us and even pain within us. But do you notice that Joseph doesn’t speak about the good that it did for him? Yes, God’s plan included his rise to ruler of Egypt, his wife and kids, and eventually the reunion of him and his father. Yet Joseph’s focus is what the hardship did for other people. That is a next level perspective on personal suffering. It isn’t good just because it turned out well for me. My suffering was good because it resulted in the good of others. Joseph isn’t focused on the out come of what happened to him personally. He isn’t thinking that his suffering was worth it because he is ruler now. He is satisfied with God’s plan because of what it has meant of others. Others survived because he suffered. Now if that isn’t a picture of Jesus Christ, I don’t know what is. Can you have that perspective on your suffering? Can you be so caught up, so surrendered to God’s will that the suffering that you endure is worth it because someone else might benefit from it? That sounds bonkers. That sounds like one of those crazy people on the internet who seem to like suffering for its own sake. But Joseph isn’t the only one to have that mindset. One might get to ignore Joseph saying, “Well it is easy to have that perspective wrapped in royal robes with all the authority the ancient world can give!” Then lets look at Paul in 2 Timothy 2:8–10 “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” He is writing with this perspective as the chains rattle. He could have sat there feeling sorry for himself there in prison, instead he is discipling a pastor in his church plant. Now, because messages like this get misunderstood, let’s also say that Paul isn’t suffering for sufferings sake. He was trying to appeal to Ceaser so that he could get out of prison. He appealed to his Roman citizenship to escape flogging when he could. He prayed three times for his thorn in the flesh to be removed (2 Cor. 12:7-10). Paul isn’t looking for suffering but neither is he shying away from it in order that others may be brought to salvation. This isn’t a call to be a doormat. This isn’t a call to light yourself on fire to keep other people warm. Not taking care of yourself to make people pleased with you isn’t noble, it is just pride by a different name. That would be suffering we bring needlessly on ourselves. What Joseph is doing here is acknowledging his suffering that he couldn’t do anything about. Yet he doesn’t become bitter by it. He doesn’t calculate how he feels about his sufferings by looking only at the balance of his own life. He views it from another angle. What this passage teaches us is another way to view the hard things in life as meaningful, he asks, “How has this suffering been beneficial to others?” Now, Joseph has the advantage in that he can view the trial from the other end of it. This was much less clear when he was in prison. However, we have an even greater advantage because we have watched God do this over and over again. He is the same God who operates in the same way, so even when we cannot see the personal benefit of our suffering or the benefit of others from your suffering, you can rest knowing that God will work it for good. Now, the end draws near as Joseph, just like his father, gathers together his many children and tells them that he is about to die. He too has a word of hope and a command to bring his body out of Egypt. This final word is fulfilled in Ex. 13:19and ultimately burried in Josh. 24:32, remembering, of course, that Joshua is Ephraim’s descendant. The book of Genesis ends in the past, yet Moses is writing to the fulfillment of Genesis in the people in front of him. Imagine the sense of awe that comes to the people of Israel as such a history is read to them. They are living in the fulfillment of everything that Genesis promised. They became a great nation! They have Joseph’s embalmed body with them! They are on their way to the promised land. Even after Moses dies, Joshua gets to see this promised fulfilled as he buries Joseph’s body in the promised land. We ought to know what that feels like because we are living in that reality every day. We stand in nearly all the fulfillments of the Bible itself. We have more of God’s track record than any believer has had before. And it isn’t just the Bible that we have. We have seen God’s faithfulness to his people in Church history for the last 2,000 years. God is faithful to His promises and can do so even through sin. That is everything that you need to know in Genesis to set up the rest of the Bible, because that will be the theme over and over again through the rest of the Scriptures. Which means that the last lesson Genesis taught us applies. There will be those who will try to wrong you, and revenge isn’t permitted. That’s a hard concept to follow. Vengeance appeals to our sense of justice. We make people pay who cost us. That is as natural born as anything in our world. Toddlers know that. Yet it is not our place to dispense this. It is God’s. God is far wiser than us. He has far more power than we do, and likewise far more mercy. We cannot expect to do better than He will. Nor do we have to carry that burden to try. One writer said that “The noblest revenge is to forgive.” (Thomas Fuller). One commentator notices that this unity the brothers have here is in contrast to the first siblings. Cain killed Abel when given the chance, but here Joseph shows mercy (Matthews). The desire for revenge is hardwired into us all. It was the first temptation in the book of Genesis to be as God, but only here do we see a man resist that temptation. What about you? The desire for revenge doesn’t have to show up like it does in the movies for it to be revenge. It doesn’t have to be a murder plot. It can be as silly and mundane as the silent treatment. Not speaking is a denial of contact, pretending the person is dead. Revenge can be found in all kinds of petty behavior. “These people don’t appreciate my work, so I’m just going to let it all fall down.” All these things may make a point, but they miss the point: life isn’t about what we get out of it. It isn’t about making sure the scores are even. None of our revenge petty or otherwise is right or pleasing to the sight of God because it says that God isn’t in control, He isn’t concerned about justice, so I am going to have to get it my own way. Now, again this doesn’t mean being a door mat, but it does mean pursuing justice the right way not the revenge way. If you’re being abused, you go to proper authorities. The function of government is to dispense justice with God’s delegated authority (Romans 13). Appealing to proper authorities as spelled out by God is leaving vengeance in God’s hands. God gave the power of the sword to governing authorities to make evil doers scared. Seek justice properly, God’s way, not taking matters into your own hands. Now, I can hear the objections already. “There is no justice in the hands of the government!” And yes that is proof of a fallen world. Oftentimes justice cannot be obtained rightly, but that does not give you permission to commit injustice, either. Going around God’s authorities is not staying on the obedient path. When those miscarriages of justice happen, then that is when you leave it ultimately in the hands of God. No one gets away with anything for eternity. Additionally, no one does anything that thwarts the plan of God. And we can see that most plainly in the cross. God is in control. God is good. That is the message of Genesis. 
What do you want the end of your life to be like? Or to put it in a slightly more morbid way, how do you hope you will behave at your death? I know those sound like odd questions, but really of all things that we can prepare for in life, this is the one certain thing. Only the Christian has the answer for how to prepare oneself for such an event. Only the Christian can view death for what it is, a hated friend. What do I mean by that? How can one be a hated friend? Death is hated because it is a result of sin. The reason why we die is because of sin. Yet death can be a friend in its capacity to deliver us to heaven, something only Jesus could accomplish. Today we are going to look at two points today The Christian faces death with hope yet Christians rightly grieve death. Christians Face Death with Hope Let’s see how Jacob meets his end. He has just finished proclaiming blessings on his sons, which makes total sense. Jacob is finishing his task, and so now it is time for his sons to pick up the mantel and keep going. But what follows wouldn’t make a lot of sense to a world like ours that views death as the end of all hope. He has instructions for what to do with his body, very specific instructions at that. He does not want to be buried in Egypt, but rather where his fathers are buried in the land of Canaan. This doesn’t make much sense to our modern ears. Is not Joseph all but the pharaoh of Egypt at this point? Is not every member of Jacob’s family in Egypt? Did Joseph not save the entire known world from starvation? Surely that would mean that the family will be respected for all time! As we will see in a moment, all of Egypt it would seem mourns the loss of Jacob. According to one source that I read, they grieved for only two or three days less than they would the pharaoh of the land! This was no small, unimportant family. Why not assume that Egypt is the land of promise? Has not Canaan had a famine every time we turn around? Is it not currently full of other residents, some of whom are hostile? But Jacob insists with this act that the land of promise is Canaan. That defies all earthly reasoning and present circumstances. But Jacob has something more precious than all of that, the promise of God. If he isn’t going to be able to live in the land of promise, then he wants to be buried there, where his descendants will be. That is a man who understands that God’s promises are sure. As one writer put it, “Death does not put our relationship with God into the past tense.” - John Blanchard. Jacob isn’t saying, “It’s all over for me, just let me die.” No, he still has something he wants to ensure is done, his body will be resting in the land of promise. God still has something for Him. Death doesn’t stop the fulfillment of a promise. Even the fact that he has a place to be buried is evidence of God’s faithfulness. He promised that they would have a possession in the land, and so they have. Abraham, Isaac, Leah, and now Jacob will take their place God claimed for them. The text then simply says gathered up his feet, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people. That word “gathered” is in the passive tense. Jacob didn’t “pass” or “go.” He was gathered by God. It is a fitting end. The wrestler, the struggler, wrestles and struggles no more. He simply gathers up and is gathered gently into that good night. He isn’t terrified or looking at it with dread. He speaks of it matter of a factly, yet clearly viewing it as anything but the end. Is this your view of death? I’m not saying that we are hastening it along or looking forward to the process, but do you think about your death this way? Christ has died to purchase your hope in that process. If you don’t have that hope, why? Yes, the process isn’t enjoyable, but is your soul at rest knowing that your place in eternity is secure? If it isn’t, this might be a good time to consider why. Perhaps you feel distant from God at the moment and wonder about your salvation. Don’t stuff those thoughts away. God is there to answer those fears. Maybe you remember something horrible from your past and assume that there is little or no hope that God could accept you. You’ve grown somewhat numb to that fear all these years, but as those years drag on that fear gets deeper. It’s time to come to the cross. It is time to take Jesus at His faithful word when He says come to me, you who are weary and I will give you rest. Listen to His promise in John 6:37 “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” Come to Him, and keep coming to Him. Let each moment of doubt and fear be a reminder to you that there is a Savior Who is ready and willing to save scared sinners just like you. Now, maybe you’re on the other end of this spectrum and you aren’t bothered by death because, honestly, you don’t even think about it. If that is your camp, than it is probably because you are young and assume that death is really far away. One may come to the conclusion that thinking about your death at a young age is morbid and unhealthy. While I agree that we don’t need to think about it every minute, the Bible brings up numerous times that it is something that needs to be brought to mind regularly. Psalm 90:12 “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Or, Psalm 39:4–5 ““O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah” And who could forget James 4:14 “yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” And there are more! The point of this isn’t to be depressing but to be driving. It wakes us up to the reality that this world really isn’t our home. We won’t be here in this state forever. Your life was meant for more than just surviving to the next day. It was meant for more than getting a job, getting married, getting a house, getting kids, it was always about Jesus and what you can give for Him. That is what eternity is going to be. And those who learn to follow after Him find out that they are pursuing their own joy. It puts things into perspective. And not in a cheap, you-only-live-once so do what feels good kind of junk. No. It is a, your life is going so fast, so what are you doing that is going to last? This isn’t a call to panic. It’s a sobering call to being deliberate. To think rightly about your life, knowing that our time here on earth is limited, to gain the right perspective on how fleeting life is, letting that panic start to build in your chest and then look. Look to Jesus. Be reminded that He is building His kingdom, His church, and you can be a part of it. Then soberly, deliberately live out what He has called you to do, with the time that you have, in the place where you are right now. And if you live your life that way, you will be on your deathbed with hope. Not because you will have done everything you wanted, but because by then you will be close enough with Jesus to see that it was always Him anyway. And you just can’t wait to see what happens next. Christians Rightly Grieve Death Now, after all that, it may seem odd for me to then say that Christians rightly grieve death. You might think that I have laid out all that I’ve said so far to speak positively of death. It is true that Death is my friend insofar as it leads me to the presence of Christ. But we must never think that death in itself is a good thing. We cannot forget where death comes from and that is sin. That is worth morning. But even within that is hope. Joseph and his brothers follow Jacob’s instructions precisely and they burry him in the tomb that Abraham bought. The possession in the land has come down to the descendants. For us, who live on the other side of the cross, we have an even greater hope because we know about the resurrection (Matthews). When we bury someone, it isn’t because they will never need their body again, but precisely because they will! But in the meantime, we occupy a sinful world. It causes grief in our hearts. Death is not a part of God’s original design, and it isn’t in the future designs of God either. So we lament at the gravesides, just as Jesus did. We are not glib at funerals. We all must recognize the horrible effects of sin. Yet at the same time, we are not without hope of sin and death’s final defeat. The emotional range of the Christian at a funeral is astonishing. We can grieve like no other because we know that the sin that we give ourselves to time after time is the same thing that brings about death. Sin is not your friend. Yet at the same time we can see that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead has defeated death! It won’t be like this forever. So therefore we are able to be joyful in our pain knowing that every day we are getting closer to a world with no more death. That is how we are able to say with Paul that death has no sting. Don’t live each day as if it were your last; that sort of living is not sustainable. Instead live each day obediently to God’s word, and you will live a life that you will not regret at the end. As someone once said, no one repents of being a Christian on their deathbed. So be a Christian. Be an obedient Christian. And there you will find out only a life worth living, but a life worth rejoicing in. Such is the gift of Christ. He is not just a comfort in death, but is also the reason for living. What else or who else are you going to live for? What else or who else is going to survive beyond your death? Is it not him? And is it not those that you lied to Christ as well? And those things that you do for him? There is simply no other way to live your life that will extend into eternity, but he gives you that opportunity. Will you take it? If not, what else is going to last longer? |
AuthorThis is where our Pastor posts weekly sermon manuscripts and other writings. Archives
November 2025
Categories |
RSS Feed