One of the most prolific themes throughout Scripture is God’s care for the vulnerable.  In the Old Testament God commands the Israelites to, “not mistreat any widow or fatherless child” (Exodus 22:22).  In Job 34:28 God is described as a God who hears the cries of the poor and the afflicted.  And in Psalm 68:5 it says that God is the, “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows.”

This past weekend we dove into 1 Samuel 18 and looked at an often unappreciated and certainly under-talked-about topic: friendship.  As I sat in and prayed through this passage of Scripture all week - I was overwhelmed at the significance and vital importance of godly friendships.  I was struck at how much of a gift they are from God to his children.

Every week the hardest part of preparing to preach is not figuring out what to put in the sermon but trying to prayerfully discern what to take out of the sermon. After spending hours studying, reading, praying, and writing, there’s more content than I know what to do with. And let’s be honest…no one wants to listen to a two hour sermon.

One of my favourite passages in Scripture comes from the book of Joshua.  As God is leading the Isrealites towards the Promised Land - he parts the Jordan River and allows them to cross on dry land.  This is just one of dozens of mind-blowing miracles that the Lord has done (and will continue to do) for his promised people. As the Israelites reached the other side of what seemed like an impassable pathway towards a land flowing with milk and honey, God gave them a very unique instruction.

Paul says in Romans 1:22-23, “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”  Our hearts are, as the great theologian John Calvin said, idol factories.  We have traded the glory of our Creator for his created things.  In doing so we have made good things the best thing and turned things like our careers, bank accounts, friendships, spouse, kids into an idol.