Sermon Recap 4-15-12

Morning: The sermon, "Grief Clouded Providence," focused on Ruth 1:1-13. This passage reminds us that God is in control even in the bad times. We looked at four truths drawn from the text.

1. God's activity often goes unobserved. The first five verses set the stage for the unfolding drama of Ruth, but they never mention God.

2. God uses hardship to drive us to where we need to be. If Elimelech hadn't taken his family to Moab and if his son hadn't died childless, Noami would have never take Ruth back to Bethlehem. No Ruth, no David. No David, no Jesus.

3. God always works for his glory and the good of his people. He not only aided the Israelites by giving them food, he was working to bring about redemption for all of his people.

4. We need to make sure theology (biblical truth) shapes our emotions, and not the other way around.

What do we do with it?

Meditate on God's faithfulness.

Meditate on God's kindness.

Acknowledge and Rejoice in God's sovereignty over all things.

Evening: The message, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," focused on Acts 4: 23-31. In this passage, we see a prayer of the early church. The overarching theme is the sovereignty of God.

To speak of God's sovereignty is to speak of his dominion, authority, and power. God has the authority to rule everything. The pray shows us several reason to rest in God's sovereignty.

1. He is the Maker. God is the Creator of the heavens, the earth, and the sea and everything in them. As the Creator he has the right to rule over what he made.

2. He is the Forthteller. When God speaks about the future, he speaks about it with certainty. God doesn't predict the future. He reveals what will happen in the future.

3. He is the Preplanner. God has determined beforehand what will happen. He orchestrates circumstances in such a way that his good purposes come to pass and where tragedy is turned into glory and goodness.

4. God is the Empowerer. He not only sends us out to do his will. He equips us to do the work. Through the Holy Spirit, God has supernaturally empowered his people to do his will.

God has the whole world in his hands, and he will not let us go.