Sermon Video: Finding a Wife for Isaac - The Faith of Rebekah, Genesis 24:28-61

 

After God's providential choice of Rebekah to be Isaac's future wife is revealed to Abraham's servant through his faithful prayer in the first half of chapter 24, the narrative shifts its focus to the potential bride herself and her brother Laban.  They now need to be convinced to also follow God's leading.

After hearing the whole tale from Abraham's servant, Laban steps aside by embracing God's choice of Rebekah.  But then something happens, a delay is requested, and the pivotal moment rests with Rebekah: Will she choose to go this day to a new land to marry a man she has only heard a report about, or not?

Rebekah chooses to live by faith, puts her trust in the LORD, and thus becomes a part of Abraham's larger covenantal story.

Sermon Video: Finding a Wife for Isaac - the Faith of Eliezer, Genesis 24:1-27

 

The unnamed servant of Genesis 24 (we will assume him to be the same servant as in Genesis 15, Eliezer, for simplicity's sake) plays a key role in the transition of the covenantal promises of God to Abraham to the next generation of Isaac.  It is Eliezer's faith that the LORD chooses to use to guide him to the selection of Rebekah as Isaac's wife.  He steps out in faith by praying for guidance, God delivers it.  

This serves as a powerful reminder to us that God's will is unfolding around us each day, we are called to participate in it by faith.

Sermon Video: The Supporting Cast at Advent: The Shepherds - Luke 2:8-9,15-17

 

On that blessed Christmas morn, as the newborn baby Jesus lay in the manger and Mary and Joseph marvel at what has happened in their lives, the angelic host appears to the shepherds in the surrounding hills and proclaims the birth of the Messiah. The angels get a lot of attention, and rightly so, but what about the shepherds? What were they thinking that night? God chose these ordinary men to be the first witnesses, and the first evangelists who would share the Good News. A reminder to us that God still works through ordinary people like you and me.

Sermon Video: The Supporting Cast at Advent: Anna - Luke 2:36-38

 

After Simeon's bold prophecy about who and what this child will be, Luke follows up with the shorter story of Anna, focused not on her words but her noteworthy life up until this moment. As a prophet, and a widow of over 60 years whose entire life has been spent here at the Temple worshiping for decades, Anna commands respect. She would have been known to the priest, Levites, and Jerusalem residents as a constant presence in this sacred space. So, when she speaks up to also confirm that this is the Lord's Christ, people will listen.

Sermon Video: The Supporting Cast at Advent: Simeon - Luke 2:25-35

 

After the shepherds and the angels had paid their visit on the day of Jesus' birth, Luke offers a look at two individuals led by the Holy Spirit who play an unexpected visit to Jesus when Mary and Joseph bring him for the first time to the Temple in Jerusalem. The first of these two is a "righteous and devout" man named Simeon. To him was given an incredible gift by the Holy Spirit: certainty that the Messiah would arrive in his lifetime. In the end, Simeon was in the right place at the right time to meet the baby Jesus because he had been a willing servant of the Lord, a reminder to us of how much God can use those who humbly seek him.