The 200's
A Snowy 2nd Sunday in Advent 2018 Greetings!
Pastor Josh & Sister Kristina 9 Dec 2018
In the early days of the church, Advent was a time of prayer, fasting & confession. Today, Advent is more a time of preparation & expectation of the coming of the Lord. Did you know the second advent candle has 3 different themes? Faith--to indicate the faith it took for Mary & Joseph to deal with the unexpected pregnancy & the trip to Bethlehem; Peace--for the peace promised to all mankind through the coming of the Savior; & the Bethlehem Candle pointing to the Savior's birth in a manger. He is coming again. Prepare!
Video 1
Covenant Bible Fellowship
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You can hear the entire book read to you by clicking on the title banner.
We closed the last book with a victory dance for Esther and her people, and now open the door on a tale filled with "Why?" and "What did I or my family do wrongly?" From a view into the ancient courts of the Persian King-over-kings to a view into the courts of the true King-Of-Kings, we see the evil and machinations of the enemy of all who are righteous as he slithers before God's throne room and accuses Job. God is not capricious, but uses His faithful servant to put the adversary in his place with a complete and total "smackdown" as Job, acting almost as a foreshadowing of our Suffering Savior, begins a journey of hurt, loss, deep examination, and finally overcoming faith.
This website page, Job: Faithful Bible Hero Despite Unimaginable Suffering, from The Thought Company might help put things into perspective and give you another way to understand the purposes and life of Job-->
The Sequence of the Book of Job
by Wayne D. Turner
From BibleTrack Copyright 2004-2008
How Job's situation came about 1:1-2:13
Job speaks 3:1-26
Eliphaz speaks 4:1-5:27
Job speaks 6:1-7:21
Bildad speaks 8:1-22
Job speaks 9:1-10:22
Zophar speaks 11:1-20
Job speaks 12:1-14:22
Eliphaz speaks 15:1-35
Job speaks 16:1-17:16
Bildad speaks 18:1-21
Job speaks 19:1-29
Zophar speaks 20:1-29
Job speaks 21:1-34
Eliphaz speaks 22:1-30
Job speaks 23:1-24:25
Bildad speaks 25:1-6
Job speaks 26:1-31:40
Elihu speaks 32:1-37:24
God and Job speak 38:1-42:6
God speaks to Job's counselors 42:7-9
Job is restored 42:10-17
Thoughts on Job, chapters 29-31... We all have expectations that often impact if not actually guide our emotions... witness Job's response in chapters 29-31. He tells of his hopes and dreams, of what he did before the calamity, of how his heart and deeds were to help the fatherless, the poor, the stranger, and fight for those abused and misused. In all that he admits to an expectation of things continuing as he became elderly with the hope and respect he offered others being returned to him, but it hasn't quite worked out that way. His is a plaintive voice crying "I don't understand. Where have I gone wrong?" He pleads with God to help him understand. He describes himself with honesty and actually proves he is the man God said he was in Job 1:1 ~ "whole-hearted and upright, and one that feared God and shunned evil." Jewish Publication Society Old Testament.
And yet calamities come. His one mistake is seeing the Almighty as his accuser. No, that position belongs to Satan.
We must remember that sometimes bad things happen to ignorant, silly, wrong, or evil people as a consequence of the choices they make. It is logical to expect the wrong choices to lead to harmful situations... But bad things can happen to "good" people, too. Job is our witness of that. The one entity Job did not look for to assign a reason for his pain was the enemy of our souls. Satan was given boundaries by God and allowed this somewhat free reign over his comfortable life. Yes, God is in charge, so Job's life was spared, but all else was allowed to set the stage for the final act. Satan will not win, period.
Like Job, we may not understand the unexpected evil, darkness, shattered dreams, and the twists and turns that come into our lives, but knowing that we belong to the King of Heaven and that we are part of an army of His making to shatter the strength of the enemy of our souls may just help us to hang on when things do not turn out the way we want them to be.... God has a plan, a purpose, and a season for all things. We either trust Him to use us well or we give up and turn our backs on Him, thereby giving the enemy a stronghold against the Lord. Choose you this day whom YOU will serve...even when it hurts... Elder Vanessa Justice, January 11, 2019