Dove Creek Bible Church's Podcast

In Chapter 5, the Lord said he would return like a lion to his lair until the nation of Israel repented. In Chapter 6, Israel is still unrepentant and we explore what genuine repentance would look like.

In Chapter 4, God began to lay out His case against the Northern Kingdom of Israel. In verses 1-7 of Chapter 5 God renders His verdict against the three guilty parties responsible for the decline of the Northern Kingdom. Who is most to blame for the present state of affairs in America? How did we get to where we are now? Are our political leaders to blame? Or are our religious leaders to blame? Or are we to blame for selecting and supporting our current political and religious leaders? Or are we all three of us to blame and who is at most blame?

Psalm 23 is one of the best-known and most loved passages In the Bible. David wrote it 3,000 years ago, but it's just as applicable today as it was then. The psalm uses the metaphor of a shepherd's care for his sheep to describe the wisdom, strength, and kindness of our God.

The first three chapters of Hosea describe the prophet's marriage to an unfaithful wife named Gomer and the three rebellious children born during their marriage. Hosea’s marriage and children serve as a living illustration of the Lord's relationship with Israel in its spiritual adultery and rebellion against Him. The remaining chapters (4-14) occur over a fifty-year period and contain discourses denouncing Israel's unfaithfulness, selfish ingratitude, and callous immorality. This morning we begin with the first discourse. In today's text, God makes His case against the Northern Kingdom.

Chapter 3 finds Hosea and Gomer separated because she has abandoned him. In abandoning Hosea, Gomer is no longer under Hosea’s protection and care. She is taken advantage of and one of her so-called lovers becomes her master and she becomes enslaved to him. When her usefulness to him has passed he decides to sell her in the slave market. Now if I were Hosea I would be thinking all of this serves Gomer right, but the Lord instructs Hosea to go find her and buy her out of the slave market. Consider this, if other folks thought Hosea a fool for just marrying such a woman, what do you suppose they would think about him buying her out of the slave market to restore her as his wife?

God wanted Hosea to warn the people of pending judgment but in an unusual way. God commands this young prophet to love and marry an unfaithful woman. Why? Hosea's relationships with his wife and the three children that follow become visual aids of the Lord's relationship with the nation of Israel which has been spiritually unfaithful.

In today's text, Jesus says there are only two gates, there are only two paths, there are only two trees, and there are only two fruits. When you choose your gate you have chosen your path, as well as your guide (the good tree or the bad tree), and thereby sealed your destiny but each of us must choose one or the other and there are consequences to the choice we make. Why is it always two choices? Why not three?

George Buttrick, the late professor of Christian Morals at Harvard, wrote that prayer often seems “like a spasm of words lost in cosmic indifference.” If my prayers go unanswered perhaps I didn’t use the correct formula or I wasn’t persistent enough or I didn’t pray with enough faith without any doubting. Is there a key out there somewhere that will open the lock to God’s blessings and all I have to do is find it? Some say the key to answered prayer is found in our text today.

Is there a difference between being discerning and being judgmental and if so, what is the difference? Is it possible to be discerning and still not come across as judgmental? Is there a difference between the types of judging Jesus condemns and the types of judging He encourages? In today's text, Jesus specifies the difference.

Are you stressing yourself out with worry over situations where you seem unable to find a solution or situations that are beyond your control? Is there some problem in your life that greets you every morning and will not release itself from the grip of your mind every night? Today Jesus says there is a better way to spend your time than worrying about things over which you have no control.

Is fasting a proper spiritual discipline? What does the New Testament say about fasting? Will fasting help a person to become more spiritual? Is fasting and praying better than simply praying? These and other questions are addressed in this sermon.

In today's text, all's well that ends well...but not as far as Jonah is concerned.

In today's text, the people of Nineveh repent and the Lord relents.

In Chapter 2, Jonah has been swallowed by the fish and what do you know? Suddenly he is all motivated to obey because the Lord has given him an attitude adjustment.

God calls Jonah a rebellious prophet to be a prophet to the wicked city of Nineveh, but Jonah rebels and flees across the sea in the opposite direction. When God sends a storm to stop Jonah, the prophet is thrown overboard where he is swallowed up whole by a large fish.

Are you ever confused about the finality of forgiveness? When you became a Christian did Christ forgive you of all of your sins meaning all the sins you would ever commit? Or did He only forgive you of all the sins you had committed up to the point when you became a Christian? When I was a kid it seemed like on some occasions I heard sermons about how all my sins were forgiven in Jesus Christ and on other occasions I was taught I was still in need of God’s forgiveness in some way. I found this confusing (we’re all my sins forgiven or not) and it sometimes resulted in insecurity about my standing before God and worries about God punishing me for unforgiven sins. Such insecurity cannot help but create an emotional distance from God.

The passage we get into today is commonly referred to as the Lord’s Prayer; however, this is not a prayer Jesus would have prayed. Why not? Well for one thing He would never need to ask to be forgiven His debts. This prayer is more accurately called a model prayer or a sample prayer. Jesus had just finished saying how not to pray and now He says, “Instead, pray in this way.” Again I want you to note the prayer is short and to the point and yet it touches upon the main things we are to address in our prayers. It begins with worship and adoration then transitions to petition and supplication. Note how the petitions begin with God’s concerns and will and not our own concerns and will. There are six separate petitions in this prayer and the first three of them address God’s concerns. The idea is His interests trump our interests.