PROOF: October 30

PROOF: October 30, 2022 (click on the date to watch on YouTube)
Pastor Nate Levering

Hello and happy Monday, church. Thank you for being here with me today on the blog as we recap the weekend. And what a weekend it was! From the Youth Ministry pumpkin hunt and drop, to Trunk or Treat and celebrating the miracle of salvation on Sunday, did you feel it? Did you see it? Jesus was everywhere. 

Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things. No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil. They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched. Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands. Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood.
They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways. The way of peace they do not know;
there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks along them will know peace. So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead. We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away. For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, inciting revolt and oppression, uttering lies our hearts have conceived. So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him,
and his own righteousness sustained him. He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due. From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along. “The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,” declares the Lord, “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord. (Isaiah 59)

And then He did. He redeemed us. The Redeemer did come and our sins have been forgiven. This is the ultimate miracle- salvation, eternal life in Christ because He chose to offer it to us by His death and resurrection. His sacrifice on our behalf because of His great love for us. It's because of this great love that we want to love others well. We want kids and youth and adults in our community to experience the love and FREEDOM that are in Jesus. It's why we gather and create fun activities on our campus with teams of volunteers- to love on those who come our way. To reach out and into their lives with generosity, joy and the truth of who we are because of what Jesus did. Let's not lose that, church. The social media feeds and pies in the face are because we live in the redemptive blood of Jesus Christ, considering it a miracle of the greatest love, and it is incredible to be able to pour that love onto others. So thank you for jumping in this weekend to experience God's miracle over your life.