Tag: Hope
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Hump Day Hymns: Come, Lord, and Tarry Not
Come, Lord and tarry not; Bring the long-looked-for day; O why these years of waiting here, These ages of delay? Come, for Thy saints still wait; Daily ascends their sigh: The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come”: Dost Thou not hear the cry? Come, for creation groans, Impatient of Thy stay, Worn out with these…
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Life on a State Highway
My sermon from this past Sunday. The text was Romans 5:1-5 Paul was spending three winter months in Corinth. He has already been around the Mediterranean world a couple of times on missionary journeys, telling people about the good news of Jesus, starting churches for these new followers of Jesus. During these journeys he would…
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The Future Hope to Live Now
Sermon from this past Sunday. The text was Revelation 21:1-10, 22-22:5 It was a difficult time for Christians. Nearly one hundred years after the birth of Jesus, a lot has changed. Christianity began as an off-shoot of Judaism, and many early Christians looked and acted a lot like Jews — because they were. However, as Paul and…
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Hump Day Hymns: O Thou from whom all goodness flows
O Thou from whom all goodness flows, I lift my heart to Thee; In all my sorrows, conflicts, woes, O Lord, remember me. When with a broken, contrite heart, I lift mine eyes to Thee; Thy name proclaim, Thyself impart, In love remember me. In sore temptations, when no way To shun the ill I…
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Hump Day Hymns: Father, whate’er of earthly bliss
Father, whate’er of earthly bliss Thy sov’reign hand denies, Accepted at Thy throne of grace, Let this petition rise. Give me a calm, a thankful heart From every murmur free; The blessings of Thy grace impart, And let me live to Thee. Let the sweet hope that Thou art mine My path of life attend;…
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Seeing with New Eyes
I wonder what Moses saw. After wandering with a rag tag group of refugees recently liberated from slavery, Moses stood atop a mountain and was given a view of the Promised Land, the land that God was giving to this people, the land which he spent so long looking for. But it was also a…
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A Fresh Start
The lure of a fresh start is ubiquitous. The idea that we are not tied to our past, that we are not destined to repeat the mistakes we had made, the idea that change and redemption is possible, and if only we could make a fresh start without our past following us, we could live…
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Living with what used to be
It was a large square brick building painted grey, about six stories high. It used to be some sort of a manufacturing company, at least that is what I gathered from the remnants of the painted sign on the facade. The days for productivity for this building are over, at least that is what I…
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When it All Comes Together
Half-way through my sermon, I saw about one third of the congregation sleeping, another third appeared to be present in body only (somewhere else in mind), and the final third appeared to be engaged. After the service, I was told that the bathroom was out of toilet paper. It was full before the service. This,…
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“…God is bigger than the bogeyman…”
For several hours I gazed at the glow from the streetlights which reflected onto the bedroom ceiling. As I listened to the heavy ticking of the second hand of the clock in the next room, I knew that I had to sleep because tomorrow was rapidly approaching. I was unable to calm my mind. I…
Matthew van Maastricht 