Presby-Musings

This week I am concluding the short sermon series that we have been working for the past few weeks---a series entitled "Ancient Stories."  And I am also wrapping up a two-part sermon on the book of Ruth . So, let's pick up where we left off last week...  We learned two things essentially in last week's sermon:  First, the main theme of the book of Ruth is chesed  or "faithfulness," and Second, that that step toward God (who is absolutely faithful) is a step in the right direction. This week we'll build on that foundation as we discover the following: Only the faithfulness of God can transform emptiness into hope. As we left Ruth in the first part of her story, she was basically homeless living with her mother-in-law in a foreign land with no prospects.  Her husband was dead, her father-in-law was dead---there were no men to provide for her safety and security.  I know this sounds jarring to our ears, but Ruth lived in a world where widows wer...

This week I'll be continuing the sermon series "Ancient Stories," which is taking our congregation through some of the great stories of the Old Testament .  Each of these studies has taken us deeper into the text than most of ever got when we heard about these stories in Sunday School---if you were a church-going sort of person back in the day.  So that's why we've labelled this series, "Sunday School Remixed."  I hope that like me you've learned something new each week of this series... Which brings us to the next story we'll be exploring: The Story of Ruth .  I can honestly say that aside from some youth talks back in my old youth ministry days, I have never preached a sermon from the Book of Ruth, so it's high time that I remedied that very series oversight. In fact, we're going to take our time with this story, and break it down into two parts.  The first part of this sermon will cover Ruth 1:1-22: You can click here to read the...