Over the past 5 weeks, our sermons have explored the Bible’s Wisdom Literature – Job, Proverbs, Psalms, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes. In these books, some well-known and some rarely read, we have gained wisdom for our lives today. In case your summer travels caused you to miss a week or two, here is a quick summary with links to the audio:
Job: In our suffering we naturally want answers. God doesn’t give those to Job or to us.But the questions of God prove more satisfying than the solutions of humans. Encounter with God is better than explanations.
Proverbs: Wisdom is the ability to make good decisions. We develop that ability by fearing the Lord, studying Scripture, and learning from life circumstances.
Psalms: How honest are we in prayer, really? The Psalms model for us how to be completely honest with God, even to the point of accusing him and venting our hate for others. Yet Jesus “sings a new psalm” of forgiving those who’ve hurt us.
Song of Songs: What is romantic love? Correcting both the culture and the church, Song of Songs teaches us that love is good, love is powerful, and love is non-ultimate.
Ecclesiastes: In Ecclesiastes, we see a call to move away from chasing God’s good gifts towards receiving these gifts with gratitude and a sense of mystery.
Now I look forward to a 4-part sermon series I’ve playfully dubbed “The Outergram: how we at Savior can serve our world.” I’m praying that God will give us a bigger picture of the many ways we can love and be present to people around us. The sermons will cover the following topics:
Live Our Vocations (July 27): Mother Linda kicks off the series by helping us see our daily work as participating in God’s work in the world.
Create Cultures of Compassion (August 3): Our politics and social media and too often, families and workplaces, have shrill arguments, putdowns, abuse. As Christians, we help to create a counterculture of compassion. I will talk about how.
Engage Globally (August 10): Longtime Savior missionaries Kim and Collin Sanford will be visiting from France and will answer: “Since most of us live and work near Wheaton, how can we be involved with the work of God around the world?”
Pray for and Seek Justice (August 17): What does it take to speak out on behalf of those being treated unfairly—refugees, African-Americans, poor people, and more?
Kevin Miller was editor and vice-president at Christianity Today for 26 years and then associate rector at Church of the Resurrection for 5 years. He has been the rector at Savior since January 2017, and is also the co-founder of PreachingToday.com and CTPastors.com.