like a mother's love

Good morning brothers and sisters,
Today's passage emphasizes that God's love is even deeper than we can imagine. Isaiah compares God's love to a mother's love to remind Israel that even in exile, they will never be forgotten. Isaiah didn't have this in mind when he wrote the passage, but reading this passage during holy week, I think about Jesus and his incredible love for us. One line keeps sticking in my mind; God says to God's people; "I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands..." I think about our Lord Jesus inscribing our names on his palms with the nails of the cross. Truly, God's love has no limit.

God bless,
Sam

Isaiah 49:13-17

¹³Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones. ¹⁴But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.” ¹⁵Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. ¹⁶See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. ¹⁷Your builders outdo your destroyers, and those who laid you waste go away from you.

like a mother's love

Good evening friends,
Isaiah gives us a touching image of God's love for God's people. Many Israelites felt like God had abandoned them. Isaiah lets the people know that there's no way God could ever forget God's people. That's a promise we can hold onto today as well. God loves us more than we can imagine; be not afraid.

God bless,
Sam

Isaiah 49:13-18

¹³Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the LORD has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones.

¹⁴But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me."
15Can a woman forget her nursing child,

or show no compassion for the child of her womb?
Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
¹⁶See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
¹⁷Your builders outdo your destroyers, and those who laid you waste go away from you.
¹⁸Lift up your eyes all around and see; they all gather, they come to you.
As I live, says the LORD, you shall put all of them on like an ornament, and like a bride you shall bind them on.

raised from the dead

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Our story of Elijah and the mother of Zarepheth continues this morning. Jesus refers to this story when he speaks in Nazareth early in his ministry. He makes the point that God often works through people who are unexpected, not even part of Israel. He uses this woman who lives in Zarepheth, which belongs to Sidon, not Israel, as an example. Perhaps not surprisingly, Jesus is almost killed for his message. The story itself is a weird healing story, but a powerful one too. God's healing power shows that the prophet speaks for God.

God bless,
Sam

1 Kings 17:17-24

¹⁷After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. ¹⁸She then said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!” ¹⁹But he said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰He cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?”

²¹Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” ²²The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. ²³Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” ²⁴So the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

out of the water

Good morning friends,
As you think ahead to Labor Day weekend, Robyn Fitzgerald has secured a block of tickets for Saturday's (September 3) Red Wings game for the church. It's always a fun night out together, so let Maria or Carl know if you're interested (I'll be away this week) or let me know next week. I hope a good sized group of us can go.

We read this as part of our Old Testament reading yesterday in worship. Moses' mother seeks a way out of Pharaoh's horrible, genocidal policies for her son. Ironically, it's Pharaoh's own daughter who ends up taking him in. I wonder if in the time Moses' mother nursed Moses for his adoptive mother she also taught him about Israel and God's story with them. We never know who God will use to bring light and hope into dark times. I pray we would be open to God's surprising grace each day.

blessings,
Sam

Exodus 2:1-10

1Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman.2The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. 3When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. 4His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.



5The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. 6When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him, “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said.



7Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”