Greetings Everyone
The Bible is a unified story which highlights certain events in the course of redemptive history which tell us what we need to know for our salvation. Peter tells us (2 Peter 1:21), that men were carried along by the Holy Spirit to tell the story. The book of Ruth highlights a redemptive story in a time where there was not much hope in the story of God’s people. I want to remind us all of the dire circumstances in which the story of Ruth unfolded.
In the sermon a couple of weeks ago I introduced the idea of the cycle in the book previous to Ruth, the book of Judges. God’s people are commanded to worship Him by obeying the law. God gave his people the law to remind them that they are to be holy, separate from the cultures around them, which reflect God’s Holiness. Also, the law was to protect them from acting in harmful ways with each other and the other tribes around them. The law also served as a reminder that they would need to depend on God to protect them and grant them mercy. But, much like us now, their hearts would wander to trust other gods in the form of idol worship. This story is repeated over and over to emphasize some truth that is deeply embedded in the human heart. Like the hymn writer wrote our hearts are…“Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.” (“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”)
What does that look like? We make good, bad, and neutral things into ultimate things, or idols. We love them more than God, we value them more than the gospel, we worship them more than Jesus. John Calvin once quipped, “The heart is a perpetual idol factory.” This is against God’s law, and our flourishing. How do you know if something is an idol? If you say, “God I will worship you but only if you do this, or don’t take away that, or give me this…”, whatever the case, that is your idol. When we encounter idols in our hearts, the only way to dislodge them is not by sheer determination, or taking them away. We have to replace them with the true and only God. We were made to worship, but to worship God alone.
The story of Ruth tells us that God’s mercy and grace works for us in spite of our idol worship. God does not give up on His people because of His covenantal loving kindness (Hessed in Hebrew). This Sunday we will see an example of this lovingkindness in the unfolding story of Ruth and Boaz, but we see the ultimate work in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Only in Christ are our hearts, riddled with idol worship, enabled by the Spirit to be revived to worship God. This is our good news, God saves sinners.
Week At A Glance
Sunday, October 20th
9:00 a.m. Adult Bible Study
10:00 a.m. Sunday Worship Service with Pastor Ben Melli
Monday, October 21st
5:30 p.m. Bell Choir
Tuesday, October 22nd
7:00 a.m. Men’s Bible Study and Breakfast
Wednesday, October 23rd
10:00 a.m. Ladies AM Bible Study (LAMBS)
2:45 p.m Youth Choir
7:00 p.m. Choir Practice
Thursday, October 17th
10:00 a.m. Bible Babes Bible Study
Youth Choir starts next Wednesday. Come be part of the fun! Ways you can help include baking cookies, supervising kids as they enter the building and eat their snack, and helping to clean up. Call the church office or text the word “cookies” to 406-400-9338. See the TWO flyers below for more details.
