Come Sojourn with Us
This is where you will find sermons and updates for our church. Our mission is to preach expository sermons focusing on the gospel of Christ. We are a church that is tied to the reformed tradition and seeks to submit to the scriptures so we walk in the Lord’s wisdom rather than our own.
We would love to have you join us on our Christian sojourn if you are in the Belgrade, MT area. If you are not in area then join us by listening to our bi weekly free sermon podcast.
Stay informed by following us on Facebook, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or through our RSS feed. We would love for you to join us for worship every Sunday at 10 am and 6 pm. If you cannot join us in person then tune into our YouTube livestream.
Our Lord says that you are the light of the world. This almost implies that we are call attention to our good works and the good things that we do. This would mean that Christ is commanding us to be self righteous and to engage in a piety competition. Are we really supposed to parade around our good works? Why would Christ warn us about the outward pious acts of the pharisees? How does being the light of the world humble us and exalt our God?
There is no doubt that Christ is the standard of wisdom. He is the embodiment of wisdom and so we would expect his followers to embrace him. We find that not only do the pharisees question Christ’s credibility, but so do John’s disciples. What basis do they have to question them? Did Christ do something wrong or are they out of line?
Job is one who has suffered, but he is not someone that we would say is a champion. He is a man who continually rests in his righteousness while wondering how God can make such a righteous man suffer. We can chuckle and Job, judge Job, and point out Job’s problems. However, we still have not asked the deeper question: why is this book in our canon? What can Job’s suffering and self righteous speech teach us about our Christian walk, our bent, and our failure to see the gospel?
The book of Job is moving to a conclusion. Job has silences the counselors to the point where they will no longer argue or speak against him. Job is now entering into his legal proceedings with the Lord. Job wants all the understand why Job is shocked and appalled that such a thing has happened to him. Why is Job so shocked? What right does Job have to claim that the Lord should not bring such suffering and hardship against this man?
We can imagine the frustration that Job feels in the midst of this trial. His counselors accuse him of sinning, he has been told to repent, and Job has no idea what sinful thing he has done to deserve this trial. None of the counselors consider that maybe Job’s problem is not directly his sin, but his righteousness. Job is brought to a breaking point to make explicit that he is really righteous and he wants to appeal to God. So, when can our righteousness become a problem? Or is our righteousness never a problem?
Job’s friends came together with the purpose to rally around him and encourage him. Eliphaz has not done a great job of helping Job as Eliphaz implied that Job deserved this suffering. Now, it is time for the second counselor to try. Will Bildad encourage Job? Is there something we can glean from Bildad as he tries to encourage Job?
It is easy to judge the younger brother and to let him live with the consequences of his actions. It might be touching to think that the father still hosts the banquet for the younger brother. You can almost have a sentimental feeling that the father is a really good father. The parable hits home when the father explains to the older brother why this banquet is so significant. It also hits home when the father has to pursue the lost son. Which son is really the lost son in this parable? What is the significance of the father going out to meet with each of the sons?
Humanity has a funny way of conducting justice. We want justice, and want to see things done correctly. The reason why this is funny is because we want other people to do the right thing while missing our particular infractions. This is the crux of Christ’s question: is it better to heal or destroy? In other words if you are going to do an infraction would you want this to be done erring on the side of grace or contradicting justice?
We know that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. If we are consistent it would seem that it is better to go through life being wise rather than being a fool. So, why does the preacher warn us not to make ourselves too wise? Is he contradicting the wisdom tradition or is he communicating something that is essential for us to remember as we pursue wisdom?
We are a bible believing church in the Belgrade, MT. We are a Reformed Protestant church who desire to build one another up in love as we sojourn under the sun.
