Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

This sermon was preached on 25/11/2012 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, ‘How long   will you go limping between two different opinions?   If the   Lord   is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.’ The prophet Elijah is known for many events in his life. He was a devoted servant of the Lord. Even his name is a combination of two divine titles and it means Yahweh is my God. This incident when he confronted the prophets of Baal is one of the best-known incidents in which he was involved. The times in which he lived The background to the incident reveals certain features of the times. First, we can see that it was a time of divine judgement, and the judgement was seen in the famine and lack of rain that the country was enduring. This form of deprivation shows the immense power of God and his hatred of evil. He never willingly afflicts his creatures, but sometimes their sins so offend him that he responds with severe judgement. ...

This sermon was preached on 18/11/2012 It is interesting at times to read lists of names. The Bible provides several lists for us. Perhaps Hebrews 11 comes to mind, with its list of the men and women of faith. Maybe we have thought of Romans 16 where Paul provides a list of individuals to whom he wanted to send greetings (at the very least, the list tells us of people whom Paul valued very highly). And here in 2 Samuel 23, as the author draws near the close of this book, he suddenly mentions a list of individuals whose deeds he wants remembered (of course, the author I have in mind is God and he is telling us about these people). As we can see, in this section of 2 Samuel the author is highlighting some of the notable deeds performed by David’s mighty men or his leading warriors. What a story each of them could tell as they did exploits for their king! Some of them, as we read, fought alone against overwhelming odds. At least one remained loyal to David despite David practisi...