A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. On this day when your hearts are filled with both grief and joy, we are certainly reminded of the truth that life in this world is temporary. Isaiah writes, “ All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:6b-8). The psalmist prays, “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!” (Psalm 39:4–5). We even incorporate the temporary into our language. We say that Gerrit passed away last Sunday. And even though Gerrit lived to be 83 years old in this passing world, we know that is really such a brief time when compared with eternity. As we gather t...

Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota photo by Robert Moeller, Jr. Click here to listen to this sermon. “Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’ Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and His arm rules for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. He will tend His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms; He will carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young” (Isaiah 40:9–11). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! What do you do when you have good news? You tell everyone you can. And this text is full of good news. The best news ever! It’s full of Gospel and promise and hope! The kind of good news that makes you want to climb a high mountain and shout at the top of your lungs so that everyone hears. Of course, this ...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! It’s called “the rule of threes”—how long a human being can go without the basics of life. A man can go three weeks without food. Three days without water. And three minutes without oxygen. But I submit to you that there’s one more basic of life even more vital: Man cannot go three seconds without God. The people of Israel have about run out of God. In the first 39 chapters of his book, Isaiah has repeatedly warned them that because of their idolatry and apostasy, the Lord is sending judgment upon them, first in the form of the Assyrian army, then through Babylon. Beginning with chapter 40, we read about dramatic changes for God’s people. Because of God’s intervention in history, God’s peo...