His Love Never Fails Us
We're all prone to messing up. After all, we're human. Yet even in our darkest times, God's love never fails us, and always welcomes us back.
“Even in our darkest times, God’s love never fails but welcomes us back.”
Scripture:
Lamentations 3:1-33
I am the man who has seen affliction
by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.
He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness rather than light;
indeed, he has turned his hand against me
again and again, all day long.He has made my skin and my flesh grow old
and has broken my bones.
He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness and hardship.
He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
he has weighed me down with chains.
Even when I call out or cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer.
He has barred my way with blocks of stone;
he has made my paths crooked.Like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion in hiding,
he dragged me from the path and mangled me
and left me without help.
He drew his bow
and made me the target for his arrows.He pierced my heart
with arrows from his quiver.
I became the laughingstock of all my people;
they mock me in song all day long.
He has filled me with bitter herbs
and given me gall to drink.He has broken my teeth with gravel;
he has trampled me in the dust.
I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
So I say, “My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.Let him sit alone in silence,
for the Lord has laid it on him.
Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.
Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
and let him be filled with disgrace.For no one is cast off
by the Lord forever.
Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.
For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to anyone.
Highlights:
• How does a person who’s filled with guilt, anger, and shame remember the tender mercies of God?
• We have to confess our bitterness.
• There are some choices that have and are ruining people’s lives and they stem from doubting that God truly does want what’s best for us.
• We can’t expect God’s blessing if we’re living in a way that ignores His will.
• We have to preach God’s truths to ourselves.
• Pain can be so consuming, that it starts to be the way we look at life in general, even God.
• Love isn’t simply what God does, it’s who God is.
• Being saved from the eternal consequences of our sin doesn’t exempt us from experiencing the momentary consequences of persistent sin.
• We have to receive correction.
• Sometimes our physical infirmities reveal sin that not only has a part in bringing about the illness, but has been keeping us from the heart of God.
• Exile is not the purpose of discipline, redemption is.
• Discipline is a chance to consider what God is trying to show us.
• Even in our darkest times, God’s love never fails but welcomes us back.
Recent Sermons:
Do you know what your passion is, and how God has designed you to share it? What are you willing to live and die for? Part of figuring out how God made us to personally share our passion, is by finding our place in the family of God. When that happens, we become the hands and feet of Jesus to a world desperately in need of His love.
Loving words and sentiments without loving acts to back it up are hollow. When you begin to love God, you automatically begin to love what he loves. . . people. And when you begin to love people, then you want to you serve them.
It's one thing to say you believe something. It's another to actually follow through on what you believe. The heroes of faith in the Bible weren't known for their profession of faith, but the deeds that came as a result of their faith. To truly love people, we must go beyond saying we love them...and actually act on it.
Have you ever walked around in the dark? It's not easy. You can't see where you're going or what obstacles might lie ahead. According to John, this is what it's like for us spiritually when we fail to love others. So, how do we turn on the lights?
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The cycle of sin, repentance, and forgiveness is a normal part of the faith journey. We're broken people that are prone to messing up and making bad decisions. But what if we messed up really bad? What if we’ve made choices that still haunt us to this day? Is there hope for repair?
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When it’s all over how do you think you will remember 2022? We can suspect what the coming year will bring, but if we've learned anything over the past few years, none of us really know what’s going to happen. In many ways, we have no control over what will happen in 2022. Yet, there are a few things we can take comfort in to ensure that 2022 will be a year to remember.
In "If I Were A Wise Man..." Doug Nearpass explores the story of the 3 wise men and what we can learn from them in our approach to worshipping Jesus.
Have you ever experienced times in your life where your plans just didn't work out the way you expected? You're not quite the person you’d hoped to be by now. Your career didn't excel in the way you wanted. You had dreams of being or doing more and yet God said, “No.” How do we navigate these instances when God shuts a door on the plans we've made?
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Everything in David’s life seemed to be coming together. He was instantly a national hero after defeating Goliath; his career was about to skyrocket as he's chosen by God to be the next king of Israel. He was an overnight sensation. Yet, not everyone was excited about all of David's success. Sound familiar? We live in a society fueled by envy, but like in David's life, nothing can derail God's plan for our lives when we pursue His heart.
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The Bible calls David, "a man after God's own heart." And yet, at times he was brutal, faithless, and a lousy father. He was an adulterer. He was a murderer. And still, "a man after God's own heart." Sometimes God chooses the most unsuspecting people to do His work in the world. So what is it that God is looking for in the people he chooses?
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