Week 9 The Faith of a Foreign Woman

This week's lesson gives us a bit of a respite from the fast-paced and action-packed story of Israel that we have been following for several weeks now.  As we come to week nine, we come to the story of Ruth.  Set during the time period of the Judges, Ruth gives us a glimpse into the daily lives of the Israelites as they struggled to eke out an existence in the midst of national turmoil.

What strikes me immediately about the book of Ruth is that it made it into the canon at all.  Rather than it being a story of a great and powerful leader of Israel, the story is rather a domestic tale of a woman, her two daughters-in-law and their commitment to one another.  Naomi and her husband, rather than staying in the Land of Promise, choose to move to Moab... a rather despicable country probably still angry with Israel over their past humiliating defeat.  In Moab, not only does Naomi's husband die, but also her two sons... leaving her with only two daughters-in-law who are actually Moabites, not Israelites.  Naomi makes the difficult decision to leave and return to her home in Canaan, which may have been made rather easy since she would have had no way to support herself in Moab.   Rather than returning to their families, however, Ruth decides to return with her... thus she becomes a "foreign woman" living in the land of Israel.

The remarkable thing about Ruth is that this story really isn't even about her.  It's about God, even though He plays a relatively minor role in the narrative.  Through their family struggles, it is God who works through a man named Boaz to redeem Naomi's family.  Without giving away too much- in case you haven't read it yet- the redemption of this family becomes vitally important to the Story of God... as it is through Ruth that David is born.  David, of course, becomes not only the greatest King Israel ever had, but also a precursor to the Messiah.

It's all really intriguing and I'm looking forward to diving into this great story on Sunday!  Invite a friend to join us.

Week Eight "A Few Good Men... and Women"

Albert Einstein once said that insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."  If we use this definition, then the people of Israel look pretty crazy in this chapter of The Story.  In the time of the Judges the people of God went through the same cycle over and over again.  Each time they rebelled and turned away from God they would face the same results: a foreign army would invade and they would end up an oppressed, occupied, and broken nation.

You would think that after living through this cycle two or three times they would have caught on.  But this chapter of The Story makes clear that they did not learn from past experience.  Every time they ended up oppressed and abandoned, they were shocked!

As we read these Bible accounts, it would be easy to wag a finger at our ancestors of the faith.  But when we look into a mirror and examine our own lives, we just might see ourselves acting a lot like the people of Israel, wallowing in the same cycle of s
in month after month and year after year.

-- Randy Frazee  "Getting to the Heart of God's Story"

Week Seven: The Battle Begins!

I’ve always loved Mission: Impossible, the classic television series from the 1960’s NOT the horrendous modern remakes with Tom Cruise' picture stamped all over it.  No offense to the Maverick, but the Tom Cruise movies (five to date with another one on its way)  just don’t seem to capture the spirit of the original t.v. series, cheesy though it may be.  Call me old-fashioned.  Call me a purist.  But I just prefer the old one.  The original

series always started in the same way.  Jim Phelps, the leader of the Mission-Impossible-Force would enter into some obscure place and find hidden somewhere a tape player (dated, I know, ‘What’s a tape player?’)  Pushing play, Jim would then proceed to receive his mission for the next hour-long, action-filled episode.  Once the taped briefing concluded he would then hear, “Should you or any member of your IMF team be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.  This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.  Good luck, Jim.”  Then the theme music would play and the team was off!  What followed, of course, over the next hour (with commercial breaks intermittently breaking in with a word from their sponsor) was the IMF team then facing insurmountable odds, incredible difficulties and impossible enemies.  They would always come out on top, though, and usually achieved the so-called “impossible mission.”

As we come to chapter seven of The Story this week and the book of Joshua, we are privileged to overhear the Lord brief Joshua, Moses’ chosen successor, on his “impossible mission.”  Joshua 1:1-9.  He was to lead the people to finally take possession of the land that God had promised to their forefather, Abraham more than 650 years before!  First, they were a rag-tag bunch of homeless nomads who had spent the last forty years camping out in the desert of Sinai.  The four hundred years before that they had been slaves in Egypt!  No military training.  No high-powered artillery.  No nukes.  What’s more, their enemies were many and were quite intimidating.  Thirty eight years before they had been so intimidating that 8 out of the 10 spies sent into the land came back saying, “There’s no way!  It is impossible!”

But God had other plans.  He was bound and determined that Israel take possession of the land they had been promised.  Instead of promising to disavow him should anything go wrong, God promised to go with him every step of the way.  I am looking forward to the lesson on Sunday as we talk about the battles Joshua waged to receive what God wanted to give to him and to all of Israel… and especially at how God prepared them to do it.  In your reading of The Story, pay careful attention to how God prepared Israel for battle.

And join us Sunday for worship at 9am.  The Battle Begins!

Week 6: Wanderings... "Are we there yet?"

I suppose we've all been on those road trips with the family.  I remember them as a kid.  I've experienced them as a parent.  It always seems like a good idea at the time.  An amazing location everybody wants to visit... Disneyworld, the beach, Washington D.C., the Promised Land.  Who wouldn't want to go?  It sounds great.  The only problem is... well, getting there.

We pack everything we think we might need.  We load up our vehicles.  We fill the tank and we're off!  Two... four... six... eight hours in the car with those we love the most, our family.  What could go wrong?
"Stop touching me!  Mom, make him stop touching me.  He's touching me."
"Dad, so-n-so is on my side of the car."
"Are we there yet?"
"I've got to pee."
"How much farther?"
"I'm hungry!"
"Is that a Crackle Barrell?"  (this one is an inside joke for our family, sorry.)

And don't forget... "Don't make me come back there?"
This one always comes from the front seat after the back seat has evolved into complete and utter chaos.  It is usually followed by, "Because I'll pull this car over and come back there!" or "I'll turn this car around!  Don't believe me?  Just try it again, mister."  (Everybody knows dad isn't going to actually turn the car around... he's got too much invested by this point, right?  right?"

This week we come to this part of the story... the road trip.  We've read about Moses being sent to Egypt to rescue the children of Israel from slavery.  He did that.  We've read about the amazing act of God that brought them through the Red Sea and onto dry land.  That happened.  And last week we read the bit about him going up to meet God on Mount Sinai and receiving the Ten Commandments.  The unpacking of the Law can be an arduous and tedious process, not to mention it is easy to get lost in the complexities of it.  Hopefully, I made it accessible and practical in last week's lesson as I tried to get at the heart of the Law.  And now we are ready for the Promised Land!  A land flowing with milk and honey... a land promised to Israel since the days of Abraham... many, many years before.  The people of Israel are now ready... the only problem is getting there.

This week... the journey to the Promised Land... more aptly titled, "Wanderings."  There are many ups and downs in their journey.  There are unexpected detours and unexpected delays.  Such is always the case with long road trips.  In this instance, however, God is wanting to teach them something.  He wants to instruct them in how to be the nation He wants for them to be BEFORE they ever get to the land of promise.  And so the trip itself is filled with hard lessons and not-just-a-little discipline along the way.  They will learn... but they will learn the hard way... and those who begun the journey will have to be content to allow the next generation to enjoy the final destination, because they will not be allowed to enter in.  It will be a long, hard forty years.

The Christian life is a journey as well.  Our destination is set.  We are bound for the Promised Land, too, right?  Our ultimate destination goal is Heaven with God... and yet the journey is not to be disregarded.  It is the journey which will prepare us to enter in... when it is time.  Are we learning the lessons along the way?  Are we preparing ourselves for the final destination in the way we are walking day to day?  Good questions to ask ourselves as we read thru chapter six of The Story this week.

Thanks & have a blessed week.