Our text comes from Genesis 2:15,

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

and Ephesians 2:10,

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Well, its another Monday. Rumor has it that many of us do not like Mondays. We do not like the return to the grind of work. The weekend is relief, Monday is back to it. Yet, it was not meant to be this way. Created in the image of God, each of us was created to be productive. This does not refer only to paid labour. We were each created to contribute to the well being of creation and the flourishing of other humans.

Our text from Ephesians is often understood to mean some sort of 'spiritual' work, different from the regular stuff of life. But what if it includes the original creational mandate of contributing to the thriving of creation? Having been made new in Christ, we are able to become the people God created us to be. Can we believe that in our daily activities we are doing the 'good works' which God prepared for us to do? What if we embrace the tasks of today as offerings to God, as "our true and proper worship"?

I invite you to join me in prayer, offering the regular activities of this week to God:

Lord Jesus, we bring before you our labours and their fruit – the work of our hands.

We confess that often, we take pride in our work, doing what we can to draw attention to ourselves and to our own abilities. Our work becomes a means of self-validation, of propping up our self-image and our sense of personal value.

Today, we ask that you re-orient the direction of our praise – lifting our eyes to our heavenly Father, who brings forth every good and perfect gift. Holy Spirit, enable us to do our work as activity that brings glory to our God. Help us to find our value in being his image bearers rather than in what we produce.

Take the works our hands, both big and small, using them for your kingdom purposes. May they honour you, bless other people, and direct the attention of co-workers to you and not to us.

Thank you that you join us by your Spirit in our work. Thank you that because of your grace, our labour is never in vain. Continue to teach us how to be workers in your Kingdom; ever mindful of the rhythms of grace that you kindly invite us into.

We pray these things in the name Jesus who is worthy of our work. Amen.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

Wherever God takes you today, may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.

A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Colossians 1:15-23. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection!

To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

Dive In Questions

1. What image of the resurrection did this sermon begin with?
2. What does it mean that Jesus is the beginning, the firstborn, the firstfruits?
3. Does this encourage you in your Christian life?
4. What does it mean that the church is Christ's gathered community?
5. Why must the church also understand herself as a sent community?

Our text is Deuteronomy 6:12:

"Do not forget the LORD."

Have you ever wondered why the book of Deuteronomy is so long? Why did Moses give such a long sermon to Israel as they were about to enter the promised land? Forty years wandering in the desert; they can smell the aromas of new land; they want to cross over; they want to finish the trip; to settle down; to build houses; to have homes. But Moses holds up a stop sign saying "Now, listen to me." The kids know its lecture time.

Why? Moses sees that the land of Canaan is an enormous temptation. The affluence of the land will create a crisis in covenant faith. The new land will produce so well that Israel will think they can manage on their own. They will be tempted into thinking, "We don't really need the Lord God". Prosperity will breed amnesia. He warns against this, "be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery" (6:12) and "make sure you don't become so full of yourself and your things that you forget" YOUR God (8:14 MSG).

Moses wanted the Israelites to remember where they came from, the system of unbearable pressure in which they had to meet impossible brick production schedules. If they forget the God who freed them from Egypt, they are likely to create their own pressure system. Without remembering this history, they will become materialistic, believing that the goal of life is to acquire and acquire and acquire. A system of acquisition pits neighbour against neighbour.

In Deuteronomy, Israel is warned to "Watch out!" or the land in its productivity will transform them into producers and consumers and will destroy the fabric of the covenantal neighborhood. The market of acquisition regards the land as property and possession to be bought and sold and traded and used.

Israel is not to view the land this way. For her, the land is a birthright and an inheritance, one's own property is part of the larger inheritance of the whole people of God. If the land is possession, then we live with the pressure to acquire more. If the land is inheritance, then we live to enhance the neighborhood and the extended family so that all members may enjoy the good produce of the land.

The economy was not to become a rat race in which people were exhausted from coercive goals; it was, rather, a covenantal enterprise for the sake of the whole community. In Deuteronomy, Moses exhorts Israel to reject the acquisitive culture of its neighbors for the sake of this covenantal alternative.

How were they to remember? Simple. Keep Sabbath, which is remembering who they were and where they came from. We live in a very different time and place. Yet, the temptation is the same: to join the rat race. The way out of the rat race is the same: Sabbath, remembering that we belong to God through the redemptive suffering of Jesus Christ. What will you do this weekend?

As you journey on, here Jesus' invitation:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29).

"The king rejoices in your strength, Lord. How great is his joy in the victories you give! You have granted him the desire of his heart, and not withheld the request of his lips" (Psalm 21:1, 2).

Psalm 21 is a song of victory. It is not difficult to imagine the people of Israel singing these words as David returned victorious from battle. The day is perfect for Israel: king and people are following the Lord and rejoicing in his blessings of victory.

Notice how the victory clearly belongs to God. It was asked for by the king; it was a desire of his heart. But the song recognizes that only God is responsible for the defeat of the enemy. The psalm exudes trust and confidence in God.

Notice also that the enemies haven't got a chance. The singers are totally convinced God is stronger than all his enemies, and thus, the enemies of God's people, our enemies. While they wither away, the king's days are lengthened, even, for ever and ever (4).

Of course, David did not live forever. Peter says at Pentecost that David's tomb is there for all to see. Like in Psalm 16, we understand that this phrase refers to the promise that David will have a descendent on Israel's throne forever.

But this means the psalm is about more than David coming home victorious from battle. It holds notes that will become the resounding chorus of Easter and Ascension. This victory of Israel's enemies is only a small foretaste, an appetizer, if you will, of Christ's victory over his enemies on the cross. It hints at Paul's conclusion in Colossians 2, "Having disarmed the powers and authorities, [Jesus] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross" (15). As such, the psalm gives content for our praises in the days of Easter and Ascension.

It is reasonable to think that this psalm sustained Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem and the cross. Perhaps he meditated on these very words as he was delivered into the hands of sinful men. Even as he bore the sins of the world on the tree, he trusted in the steadfast love of God to raise him up in power three days later.

After passing through death on behalf of his brothers, Jesus was met with rich blessings, greeted by throngs of worshipping angels, crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death (Hebrews 2:9). This is a psalm for a vindicated Messiah.

Can we hear the ascended and exalted Christ praising his Father on the other side of the empty tomb? Can we hear, as Jesus sat down at the Father's right hand, the angels praising God, "The king rejoices in your strength, Lord. How great is his joy in the victories you give!"

There is more here for us. We can have confidence today that our enemies will not overwhelm us because Christ has prayed for us. His hearts desire is that all those whom the Father had given to him may be with him where he is, to see him in his glory (cf. John 17:24). God will give his Son his heart's desire and will not withhold the request of his lips. Our future is guaranteed.

Paul affirms this in his letter to the Ephesians writing, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ" (1:3). And later, "And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus" (2:6-7).

We cannot imagine the joy that awaits us when God's redemption is complete. Psalm 21 whets our appetite and invites us to live in expectation of what awaits us, and while we wait, to sing God's praise.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing; at the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

Our text comes from 1 Timothy 6:6:

But godliness with contentment is great gain.

Gahazi's is a sad story. As Elisha's servant, he watched as Elisha refused payment for the healing of Naaman. Gahazi thought this was rubbish. He slipped out the back door to follow Naaman. Interrupting the commander's journey home, he lied about his purposes and came away with a sizable payment, which he hid. But of course, Elisha was wise to him. As punishment, Gahazi was inflicted with Naaman's leprosy.

Gahazi lived with and served God's primary prophet in Israel. He knew the miracles that both Elijah and Elisha had performed. Surely, he knew that to provide adequately for his prophets was no big deal for the God of Israel. Provision he had aplenty. Access to God he had at his fingertips. Yet he wanted more. He was not content.

Paul warns us about this, "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs" (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

Instead, pursue this, "Godliness with contentment is great gain." There's a quiet strength in these words — a kind of wisdom that cuts against the grain. We are surrounded by messages that tell us gain comes from getting — more possessions, more comfort, more status. But Paul says, true gain does not come from adding more.

This is not a contentment that shrugs its shoulders and settles for less. It's a deep sufficiency — a settled peace that flows from knowing that Christ is enough. We don't find contentment by ignoring the world's goodness, but by knowing where our ultimate treasure lies.

This contentment isn't natural. We must learn it as Paul did, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." That learning often comes through loss, through the stripping away of the things we thought we needed. And in those moments, we discover that we can lose everything and still have Christ — and therefore still have everything that matters.

Godliness with contentment — that's not a small thing. It's freedom. Freedom from envy. Freedom from anxiety. Freedom from the restless drive to prove ourselves. It is the life of one who has found their joy in God Himself.

So, what does this look like for us? It changes the reasons for paid employment. It changes the way we purchase things. As you go about your activities this week, keep an eye on your heart. Pay attention to the moments when discontentment rises.

In Christ, we already possess the greatest treasure — and when we have Him, we can learn contentment, knowing that nothing more can make us truly rich.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

Wherever God takes you today, may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.

Our text is Exodus 34:21:

Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.

In the shadows of Mount Sinai, Israel made a choice defining her values as a nation. She chose to trust the God who created heaven and earth and to trust the reliability of the creation. The people also chose to shun the anxiety that comes from a lack of confidence in the goodness of the creator and the goodness of creation. They chose to follow the God who rests.

But that choice was difficult to maintain. The covenant is confirmed in Exodus 24, but by Exodus 32, Moses has been on the mountain for 40 days. They are not convinced he will return, and God seems extremely distant. As such, they return to anxiety. What do they do in their anxiety? They make their own god, of course, just like we do.

Their god was made of gold. Our gods are less tangible: money, production, consumerism, entertainment, knowledge, psychology, sports, even religious rituals. They assumed that they could somehow purchase security. Don't we do the same. Trusting our own resources to solve our problems.

When Moses returns, he smashes the stones with the commandments into dust. The covenant lies dissolved at the foot of the mountain. God is rightfully angry, but Moses intervenes, and God does something astonishing: he forgives. He says, "I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you" (Exodus 34:10).

Then he gives them new commandments, similar but different than the ten. These include this, "Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest" (34:21). Growing up in the agricultural sector, I remember the pressure to work in spring and fall when crops needed to be sown and harvested. There is always work to do. The pressure to produce rarely subsides.

It's not easy to let go of our anxiety that production depends on us. This command to rest concerns the human work of exercising "dominion" over the earth to cause it to produce. Sabbath interrupts the productive, food-producing creation system in which we must participate. It's an invitation to trust the land—creation and its creator—enough to rest, even in the busy agricultural seasons of sowing and reaping.

Our lives should conform to the rhythms of creation, work and rest in appropriate amounts. When we are in sync with that, we train our bodies away from the anxiety production causes in us. Resting teaches our bodies to trust in God; our minds and our souls will catch up if we live the rhythm.

As you journey on, go with this blessing:

Go to Jesus and he will give you rest and an easy yoke (Matthew 11:30). May the presence of God go with you and give you rest (Exodus 33:14).

This archive edition is upon request from a listener. What follows is the original audio track from August 29, 2024.

Our text comes from Philippians 3:

"He will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body" (Philippians 3:21).

The gospel story sounds too good to be true. It is the story of sheep rescued from a dark and fearful wilderness by the strong arms of a fierce shepherd. It's the story of children released from prison, of demons unmasked. It is the story of fearful disciples in a storm-tossed boat; the storm stilled by the command of their Master. It is the story of sick people healed, of blind people seeing. It is the story of dead people coming to life. It is the story of the God-man.

It is the story of God who is captured, sentenced, and crucified by His own people. His friends weep and his enemies laugh. And all because of a snake. The gospel is a story about a snake who experienced the thrill of evil victory. "I have won," he hissed. "God lays in the grave." But as the sun rose over the horizon chasing the darkness from the garden, the guards ran with it, and the unexpected happened. The story turned. There was one more chapter to be written. The Shepherd came out of the tomb; God was alive. Heaven and earth shouted for joy; the angels danced, and the Father smiled as His Son went off to find His friends. And the snake; he lay in the dust; his head crushed; his tail quivering as life left him.

It is a story that we are part of. That Sunday morning, many years ago is our story. The resurrection is part of our Christian faith, its cornerstone. As we read the resurrection story our hearts are stabbed with joy. We dance with the angels as good triumphs over evil. We are glad, our faith is not in vain, Christ arose.

But…

This life and this present world are subject to sin. We seldom think of sin as vanity, but it is. Life is vanity when it has no meaning. If we do not know the meaning of life, why live? why do anything at all? Most people don't like that question because it is too deep; it gets too close to the answer that life is not worth living; that there is no purpose to it. This is the haunting refrain of the book of Ecclesiastes.

Vanity means emptiness, fluff, a fistful of wind, a pocketful of nothing. It means to pay the mortgage for all your working days and then to die. It means working hard and running fast and getting nowhere. Vanity is a political speech that means exactly nothing. Vanity is the hope that tomorrow will be different, that there is gold at the end of the rainbow; vanity is wisdom and folly, hard work and laziness, laughter, seriousness, and everything, because everything leads nowhere.

In this life, we struggle against this sin. We fight against sin in our own lives. We struggle against sin in the world. We push against greed, and we bite our tongues to keep from lying. We stand up for the oppressed and give money to the poor. We seek to elect politicians who strive for justice. When our eyes fill with longing for another's toys, we turn away.

But so often it feels like it's all in vain. The world does not get any better. And we, well, we don't seem too either. We cry out with Paul, "What a wretched person I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death, to vanity?" But because of the resurrection we can also answer with him, "Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25).

The resurrection gives us something to hope for in the future. While we struggle against sin today, we know that tomorrow sin will be gone. While our bodies are weak today, we know someday they will be strong. The gospel is our story. We too will be changed. Christ will transform our lowly bodies. They will no longer be subject to disease or age or sin or vanity. Christ will transform our characters to be like his. We will have no more inclination for lying. Our eyes won't covet our neighbour's stuff.

As surely as Christ opened the eyes of the blind and stilled the storms, he will transform us. There is hope for us. Thanks be to God.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May your day end with rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you. May you rest in his provision as he brings night, and then new dawn.

Our text comes from Deuteronomy 25:15-16:

You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.

A few years ago, I spent some time in Brazil. A Christian businessman told me that when he took a client out for lunch, the restaurant normally offered to make the receipt out for double what he paid, so that his tax exemption would be doubled. He always declined. However, he admitted that the temptation was always present to go along with the system. To have integrity, to be honest, took effort.

Throughout history, dishonesty in the buying and selling of goods has been common practice. To promote fairness, we have developed standard weights--an international prototype kilogram made of nine-tenths platinum and one-tenth iridium is locked under 3 glass jars in Paris.

This need for honesty in business dealings extends beyond ancient scales. It applies to any area where numbers can be manipulated, such as taxes, online transactions, timesheets, donations, and even our personal relationships. For this purpose, accounting and financial rules have been enacted into law. Auditing firms analyze financial records to detect misuse of funds. But laws are subject to interpretation and manipulation.

As Christians, we seek to do everything to the glory of the Lord (1 Corinthians 10:31). This means, like my Brazilian acquaintance, we put effort into honesty in all our dealing, including financial ones. We do this because God himself is profoundly honest with us. He is just and true and we seek to be like him.

Sometimes, God includes a comment that a law offers long life in the land. This does not mean that every individual will live to a ripe old age. Rather, it suggests that the keeping of this law means a society can flourish for many generations. By insisting on fair practices, the community is protected from exploitation. A society where people can trust each other can thrive economically and socially.

When a society runs on dishonesty, it is always the weak and poor who suffer the most. Dishonesty deteriorates a society into strong people exploiting the weak. And God will stand up for them, dismantling unjust nations.

We should reflect on how to apply this principle in our live. Do we have accurate "weights" in our daily life, such as being truthful about our timecards, finances, or online sales? How can we advocate for fairness in a world where the powerful can easily take advantage of the weak?

Honesty in our business dealings demonstrates our faith that the LORD will sustain us both monetarily and physically.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

Wherever God takes you today, may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.