I do!

A More Pleasant Kingdom

(Ruth 1, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 29, 2015)

(1-5) Three sad deaths

[1:1] In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. [2] The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. [3] But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. [4] These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, [5] and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

Naomi (pleasantness) went away to Moab with her husband, Elimelech (my God is king), and their two sons, Mahlon (sick) and Chilion (wasting away). They went there because of a famine “in the land” of Israel. While they were in Moab, the two boys married Orpah (gazelle) and Ruth (friendship). All three men died, leaving three widows, one an older woman, and the other two young women who would be expected to marry again and to have children. Naomi was grieving the loss of her husband and both of her sons. Very sad.

(6-18) Where you go, I will go
[6] Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the LORD had visited his people and given them food. [7] So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. [8] But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. [9] The LORD grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. [10] And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” [11] But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? [12] Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, [13] would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.” [14] Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
[15] And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” [16] But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. [17] Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” [18] And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

The three women set out on their journey together to Israel. The word had reached even the fields of Moab that the LORD, the God of Israel, “had visited His people and given them food.” Somewhere along that journey, Naomi had a difficult conversation with the two young girls. Was it really wise for them to go back to Naomi's hometown? Would it not be better for each of them to return to their own people in Moab and seek to marry again?

One of the girls finally agreed to go back to her family, but Ruth, the widow of Mahlon, insisted on staying with Naomi. In asserting her dedication of loyalty, Ruth used the language of marital commitment. First she clung (cleaved) to Naomi. Naomi's earlier hope for the young women was couched in the terms of God's steadfast love for His people: “May the LORD deal kindly ([hesed] be faithful according to His own covenant promises to His people) with you.” Now Ruth gave an eloquent promise of her own hesed love for this elderly woman in need. Ruth would follow Naomi in her travels. She would live where Naomi lived. She would be a part of the people of Judah and trust in Yahweh, the God of hesed love would be her God. Ruth would die and be buried in Naomi's land. This solemn commitment was sealed with an oath: “May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” Naomi finally agreed to Ruth's intentions. There was no way to dissuade her from her settled determination to love her mother-in-law for as long as they both lived.

(19-22) Naomi returns and Ruth is with her
[19] So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” [20] She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. [21] I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”
[22] So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

When Naomi returned home to Bethlehem (the same city of David that would be the birthplace of Jesus after the passage of over 1000 years), “the whole town was stirred because of them.” The women who had known Naomi more than a decade ago now saw that their companion of earlier years had changed. Her name was still “pleasantness,” but she had no pleasantness within her heart. Grief had taken its toll on Naomi. Now she called herself Mara (bitterness).

Naomi testified to the truth that her God was “the Almighty.” The Lord of all, who gives and who also takes away, “brought me back empty.” She felt God's judgment in her tragedy. The weight and proximity of her sadness had made the hesed covenant faithfulness of the Lord seem distant and fleeting. Yet the person that God would use to show his wonderful mercy was right next to her. The surprising gift of God to her, Ruth the Moabitess, perhaps seemed like a burden as a poor stranger to Bethlehem. Yet from Ruth would come the line of the best Kinsman-Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. The present blessing of Ruth, the near future of her marriage to Boaz, and the distant future of her most important progeny as King over the most pleasant kingdom imaginable, were all hidden from from her. All she saw was her emptiness and distress.

The Lord is with us in the bitterness of disappointment, but can we see Him? We need to have an eye for new beginnings sent by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to hear His promise of marriage to us in our distress. “I will be your Friend forever.” This is His Word to you: “You shall be My people, and I will be your God.” At the cost of His own life, Jesus has secured for us the fullness of God's own covenant faithfulness. In Him, God says, “I do!” to you.

Old Testament Reading—Malachi 1 – The Lord's Love for Israel and The Priests' Polluted Offerings

Gospel Reading—Luke 1:26-38 – Birth of Jesus Foretold

Joseph, Jehoshaphat, and Squanto

O Give Thanks to the Lord!

(Psalm 136, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 22, 2015)

(1-3) We thank You Lord for who You are, ...

[136:1] Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
[2] Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
[3] Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;

Someone mentioned to me recently that Thanksgiving has been completed swamped by the new American holiday called “Black Friday.” All of our cultural practices can easily be overshadowed by a spirit of retail commercialism. While the American celebration of Thanksgiving is not mandated by the Scriptures, it is not a practice that we should throw away. The only holy day that we have as New Testament Christians is Sunday, the weekly celebration of the beginning of the Age of Resurrection. But every culture has its own accepted practices which touch on values that may be both commendable and biblical.

As we celebrate the traditions that are a part of our American heritage, we should remember who is the author of every good gift. We are not thanking nothingness. Our thanks go to the great I-AM, the Lord. First, we join ancient Israel, who used the psalm at temple dedication, in thanking God for who He is. Our God is good, He is supreme as the “God of gods and the Lord of lords.”

(4-20) … and for what You have done, ...

[4] to him who alone does great wonders,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[5] to him who by understanding made the heavens,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[6] to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[7] to him who made the great lights,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[8] the sun to rule over the day,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[9] the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[10] to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[11] and brought Israel out from among them,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[12] with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[13] to him who divided the Red Sea in two,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[14] and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[15] but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[16] to him who led his people through the wilderness,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[17] to him who struck down great kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[18] and killed mighty kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[19] Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[20] and Og, king of Bashan,
for his steadfast love endures forever;

Second, we thank God for what He has done. He created the world. He also gave His people new life by bringing them out of slavery in Egypt. The Lord distinguished between Israel and their enemies. Israel passed through the Red Sea on dry land, but the Egyptians were overthrown by the waters of judgment. God killed mighty kings, but He led Israel through the wilderness.

(21-26) … and for how You take care of us.

[21] and gave their land as a heritage,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[22] a heritage to Israel his servant,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
[23] It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[24] and rescued us from our foes,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[25] he who gives food to all flesh,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
[26] Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

Third, we thank God not only for who He is and for what He has done. We thank Him for how He has taken care of His beloved elect—even us. He gave the land of Canaan to His chosen servants. He remembered them in their “low estate.” He preserved their lives.

This God of Israel fed not only the descendants of Jacob. “He gives food to all flesh.” If Israel had strong reasons to celebrate a time of Thanksgiving, the nations of the earth have even more in our day. We should give thanks to the God of heaven, for “to eternity is his covenant faithfulness” (literal). See Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20:21 for use in worship and warfare.

The people of the Old Testament heard about the steadfast love of God, but we have seen the fulfillment of this great covenant keeping love in the life and death of Jesus for us. To all who would receive Him, who believe in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God

We should embrace habits of thanksgiving by embracing what is good in all that has been given to us. Do not get swept away by the siren call of the commercial Babylon. Continue to remember the ultimate God of covenant faithfulness. His love endures forever. [Squanto as a “Joseph”]

Old Testament Reading—Genesis 3:14-15, 12:1-3

Gospel Reading—Luke 1:1-25 – Birth of John Foretold

Bones, Waiting for the Resurrection

The Story of Joseph's Bones

(Genesis 50:22-26, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 15, 2015)

(22-23) Joseph's long life and progeny

[22] So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father's house. Joseph lived 110 years. [23] And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph's own.

Joseph, his brothers, and their families remained in Egypt for many years. Joseph himself lived a good long life, and had the joy of seeing the beginning of the generations who would come after him in the tribes that bore the names of his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. What more can anyone ask for?

(24) Joseph's faith

[24] And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”

But Joseph did look for more. He delivered to the people of Israel, “his brothers” in the broader sense of the word, an oracle from God. Joseph was about to die, but the promises of God would continue. Just as God had promised Joseph's great grandfather Abraham, though Israel would be servants in a land that was not theirs, “afterward” they would “come out with great possessions.” (Genesis 15:14) They would return to the land that the Lord had promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. At the end of Genesis, Joseph reminds Israel that “God will visit you and bring you up out of this land.”

(25) Joseph's dying wish

[25] Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”

Joseph gave this prophetic Word as one who believed that he would somehow be a part of its fulfillment, despite his impending death. He would not be immediately buried in Canaan as his father had been, yet one day the descendants of Jacob would carry Joseph's bones out of Egypt. He would be there with them, in a sense, when they came home. Joseph made Israel swear to this just as his father had made him promise to bury his remains in the family burial plot in the Promised Land.

(26) Waiting on God

[26] So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

So what happened to Joseph's bones? For many years they simply remained in a coffin in Egypt. But then in Exodus13 we read:

[17] When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” [18] But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. [19] Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.” [20] And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. [21] And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. [22] The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

(Exodus 13:17-22 ESV)

Then some years later in Joshua 24 at the end of Joshua we read:

[32] As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.

(Joshua 24:32 ESV)

What did the bones of Joseph do for all those centuries? Wait. They waited for the Lord of redemption to send a deliverer to bring the people of God out of bondage. Even after the bones of Joseph were carried through the wilderness for so many years, they were still waiting. Waiting for a better redeemer than Moses and for a better promised land than Canaan.

What does it mean to wait for the Lord? It means that we receive His Word as perfectly true and act in accord with the absolute certainty that God never lies.

While we wait, some will be interested to find evidence from other fields of study or from the experiences of life that corroborate what we read in Scripture. For instance, many have noted similarities between the Joseph of Scripture and one Imhotep of Egypt. Such evidence will always be debated. As fascinating as these findings are, they are not essential for a life of waiting upon the Lord. Waiting starts with the faith that God is true. This faith is a gift of God as is the obedience that proceeds from faith. Such waiting produces fruit that cannot come from mountains of corroborating evidence.

What kind of fruit? Isaiah 40:31 tells us, “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.” Waiting for the Lord is associated with a courageous heart and with an assurance of ultimate victory. We are instructed that those who wait for the Lord “shall inherit the land.” (Psalm 37:9,34) They shall experience divine deliverance. (Proverbs 20:22) Do you want that?

We have come to the end of a very important book of the Bible, but we are clearly very far from the completion of God's purposes. Israel is in Egypt, expanding in numbers and waiting for redemption. Even at the end of the Torah there would still be a long way to go. Sometime after the end of the Old Testament, Jesus was born, lived, died, and rose again. He established the first kingdom that would never fail. It is our privilege to believe His Word, to wait for Him, obeying His precepts. We look for the promised day when everything that has breath will praise the Lord. Until then we work, we watch, and we wait as those who know that the Word of the Lord is true.

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 150:6
[6] Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!

Gospel Reading—Matthew 26:57-68 – Jesus before Caiaphas and the Council

Father, Son, Spirit - The Lord of Sovereign Love

Finding the Way from Fear to Faith

(Genesis 50:15-21, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 8, 2015)

(15) The Fact of Fear

[15] When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.”

Did Joseph's brothers have a reason to be afraid? The facts of what they had done to Joseph were troubling. They had betrayed their brother very badly, and they brought much unjust suffering into his life. Based on the truth of the events that had taken place, there can be no doubt that they had reason to fear. But had they forgotten one most important fact: the character and love of the one they were afraid of? Had they forgotten who Joseph was?

(16-17...) Fear Speaks

[16] So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: [17] ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.”

Fear can be a powerful motivator. In this case it caused them to send a message that appears suspicious. Was this actually the instruction of Jacob, or was this just fear talking? Joseph had carried the weight of their evil actions in his own sufferings for many years. Now they asked for his agreement to carry one more load upon his strong shoulders. Would he give up any plan that he might have to make them pay for the evil they had done? They admitted their sin before him. They even fulfilled his youthful prophetic dream again and gave themselves to him as servants. Would he now bear the burden of forgiveness?

[Watch out for ungodly fear. Fear leads to forgetfulness of what is most true and further leads to the forsaking of your most sacred commitments.]

(...17-21) Fear's Antidote

Joseph wept when they spoke to him. [18] His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” [19] But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? [20] As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. [21] So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Joseph turned away their fears with a good word from a true man of faith. He displayed character in humbling himself before God as he spoke to them. His message to them was true. God was sovereign even over their worst moment. Though they meant evil against their brother, “God meant it for good.” God had provided for many “that many people should be kept alive.” Joseph would follow the Father in heaven and “provide for you and your little ones.” He would stay at his post.

The apostle Peter gave a very similar message at a key moment in the history of the New Testament church. In explaining the love of Christ, the Son of God to those assembled at Pentecost in Acts 2, he spoke of the cross this way: “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” (Acts 2:22-24 ESV)

How can we follow in the way of faith and put off ungodly fear? We need to remember the character of the best Man of faith. The Lord Jesus knows how to lead fearful people by the hand and to take us to the place of faith. His provision for us and our loved ones is very real. He is worthy of our trust and our praise. By the Spirit of God countless numbers of sinful people have been made great, simply by being willing to keep on going in His true calling in their lives. They have seen the sovereign hand of the Almighty in their twisted pathways to the present, and said “Yes” to His call to persevere in costly obedience.

[Illustration: The life and death of Chuck Colson as presented by Eric Metaxas in his book, Seven Men.]

Notice from Colson's life:

Prayer Number One as a marine

Pride

Blind Loyalty

Dirty Tricks

Prayer Number Two on the side of the road

Hebrews 1 in prison

Romans 8 and the work of the Spirit of God

“Stay at your post” at his funeral

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 150:3-5
[3] Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
[4] Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
[5] Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

Gospel Reading—Matthew 26:47-56 – Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

Mourning a great loss

His Excellent Greatness

(Genesis 49:28-50:14, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 1, 2015)

[28] All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. [29] Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, [30] in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. [31] There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah—[32] the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” [33] When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

(49:28-33) Jacob was “gathered to his people.”

After giving the Lord's oracles to his sons, the Patriarch Jacob dies. Death is a very mysterious experience because what we have always known to be inseparable in a person we love, his body and his soul, are abruptly divided. Jacob's sons are left with the body of their father. The other part of Jacob has entered another place beyond the present earth. In the books of the Law this second event of soul transport is referred to as being “gathered to one's people.”

Jacob clearly cares about the disposition of both his body and his soul. He wants his body to be brought to the land of Canaan and respectfully treated alongside the remains of others who have gone before him. God also wants us to know about Jacob's soul. That is why we are told that after “he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last,” he was “gathered to his people.” This is clearly not about the burial of his body, since that matter is addressed over a significant number of days as discussed in the following verses at the beginning of Genesis 50. Something beyond the burial of his body happened immediately. Jacob was gathered to his people.

Jacob died, but he continued to exist in another realm where his loved ones also existed. We should take comfort from the way that God describes this event in these verses. We do not grieve as those who have no hope. We worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matthew 22:32).

[50:1] Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. [2] And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. [3] Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.
[4] And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, [5] ‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die: in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.” Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.’” [6] And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.” [7] So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, -and all the elders of the land of Egypt, [8] as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. [9] And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. [10] When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he made a mourning for his father seven days. [11] When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim; it is beyond the Jordan. [12] Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them, [13] for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. [14] After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

(50:1-14) His family mourned deeply Jacob's passing and buried his body with much respect and love in the Promised Land

We need to take notice of how many people mourned Jacob's passing, how long this mourning took, and how deeply they all mourned. Not only the sons, but many others paid their respects, including those who were important leaders among the Egyptians, “a very great company.” Their observances at this time were very inconvenient. This took many days and involved much travel. The custom of embalming allowed for a slow process involving seventy days of early mourning, travel, and then seven days of mourning at the grave before returning home to Egypt. Their grieving was very deep—“a very great and grievous lamentation,” not just by Jacob's immediate family, but “by the Egyptians.” The event was so large and so sad that the name of the location was changed to reflect this memorable time. When it was all done, Joseph and his brothers returned to Egypt, as they needed to. The descendants of Israel stayed there for centuries while they waited for the Lord's call to return to the Promised Land in order to take possession of it.

This great event may have been what it was because of the prominence of Joseph, but have you considered that each person made by God is prominent as what the Apostle Paul calls “God's offspring.” (Acts 17:29) There is no life that is second rate. Every life lost is worthy of our grief. It is an even more horrible sadness when it can be said of anyone as it was of one of Jacob's distant descendants, “he departed with no one's regret.” (2 Chronicles 21:20)

Modern people try to mourn as briefly as possible. Others get stuck in grief and can't find a way out. Our experience of grief should be governed by godly goals that are very much worth our investment of time and tears. We need to get the most out of our grieving. Seven key goals:

GRIEF 101

1. Admit/Accept the painful fact. – My loved one has gone. (John 11:15)
2. Mourn honestly, even when honesty is messy. – Jesus wept. (John 11:35)

GRIEF 201

1. Receive what is new. – Bring out of your treasure what is new and... (Matthew 13:52)
2. Remember and treasure the departed. – … what is old. (Matthew 13:52)

GRIEF 301

1. Hope in God and in His everlasting kingdom. – Set your minds on things that are above. (Colossians 3:1-4) Thus Jacob's desire for a better land (Hebrews 11:8-16)
2. Serve the Lord and your neighbors more richly, as a bigger and better person, because of the trial you have endured. – Comfort those in affliction. (2 Corinthians 1:4)

SENIOR PRACTICUM

• Live the life that God has put in front of you. – This is the way, walk in it. (Isaiah 30:21) [In the beginning of grief, it may be enough that you are still standing, but after a while that may lead to the doldrums of standing still. By the strength that He supplies, you need to take the next step in the life that God has graciously given to you.

Finally, while more fruitful mourning would be a wonderful achievement for the Lord's people, we have something much better than this because of the excellent greatness of the Son of God. Jesus did sanctify mourning and the grave for His followers, but His victory over death goes far beyond a respectful memorial service. He has secured for His people a far better home. (John 14:1-3)

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 150:2b – Praise him according to his excellent greatness!

Gospel Reading—Matthew 26:36-46 – Jesus prays in Gethsemane