Keeping Love Alive
Deuteronomy 27-34
Dying on Third Base
November 6, 2022 • Pastor Mark Johnson • Deuteronomy 34
I enjoy watching a bit of baseball, especially during the playoffs. “Dying on third base” is a word picture for great disappointment. It aptly describes the end of Moses’ life, which provides us with powerful lessons for leadership and life.
Heart Song
October 23, 2022 • Pastor Mark Johnson • Deuteronomy 32
Aren’t you thankful that God designed music to lodge in our heads and hearts? He inspired Moses, as he neared death, to leave a haunting song that would warn and instruct present and future generations of God’s people regarding their covenant God and their responsibility to be true to Him.
Preparing For Change
October 16, 2022 • Pastor Mark Johnson • Deuteronomy 31
All earthly leaders are temporary. As Charles Wesley stated, “God buries his workers, but carries on His work.” Moses saw a generation in the wilderness. In Psalm 90, he lamented some of that sorrow. In Deuteronomy, he poured out his heart to the new generation, calling them to love God and be loyal to His covenant. In Dt. 31, it was his time to pass from the scene and he prepared the people for that transition.
Hope
October 9, 2022 • Pastor Mark Johnson • Deuteronomy 30
In Deuteronomy 29, Moses called Israel to renew their commitment to keep God’s Covenant, but told them they wouldn’t have a heart to keep it since God hadn’t given them such a heart (29:4). How would this fit together? Dt. 29:29 comforts our confusion and then, Dt. 30 gives HOPE in God and His ultimate plan and mercy. How can wayward hearts be changed?
Prone to Wander
October 2, 2022 • Pastor Mark Johnson • Deuteronomy 29
“When people stop believing in God, they do not believe in nothing. They believe in anything” (G. K. Chesterton). Moses had presented the Covenant, with the blessings and curses to the new generation. Then, he called on them to renew their commitment to it (29:1). But, it wouldn’t be easy…
Blessed or Cursed?
September 25, 2022 • Pastor Mark Johnson • Deuteronomy 28
Ancient Near Eastern Treaty form included blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. God used them as motivation to their relationship. The blessings meant they would enjoy life in the land. The curses would progressively undo the good life in the land, ending with exile and return to Egypt as slaves and even worse, as no one would buy (28:68). All of this prepares the way for our need of the Savior.
Keeping Love Alive
September 18, 2022 • Pastor Mark Johnson • Deuteronomy 27
Welcome back to Deuteronomy! Previously, we studied Dt. 1-11, The Love of Your Life and Dt. 12-26, Love’s Loyalty. Now that Dt. has defined the relationship (DTR), Moses instructed Covenant Renewal which provided the means to perpetuate the relationship, to keep love for God alive and make it real. How can we keep our love for God alive?