The Instability of the Normal

Prayer Service

Thanksgiving and Praise

What are you worried about or Struggling with this week?

Salvation List

VBS

“The Instability of the Normal” Pg. 224

Psalm 46 “To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah”

? The psalm addresses one of faith’s deepest questions: where is God when genuine hardship strikes?1

Promises given in the context of duress and instability

Joshua- Moses death, leading 2-3 million into a hostile territory… = “I will never leave you nor forsake you”

Jeremiah 29:11-14 Isreal was in Babyon Exile for 70 years = “Plans for their welfare…. Future and hope… You will seek me and find me…”

Paul in prison in Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Jesus is preparing his disciples for his death = “in me you have peace,…. I have overcome the world….” John 16:33

We love that he is our refuge….in Ps.46:1 and other verses like…

Psalm 18:2 “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Proverbs 18:10 “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”

Nahum 1:7 “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.”

Hebrews 6:18 “so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.”

For over fifteen centuries, theologians have interpreted this confidence in two directions: toward the individual’s inner state or toward political reality.1 Augustine emphasized the believer’s internal transformation, arguing that divine refuge becomes available only when one abandons self-reliance and recognizes that no earthly refuge ultimately matters.

Last Days - 2 Timothy 3:1–5 “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”

Matthew 18:7 ““Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!”

His loveing kindness is revealed at all time Psalm 100:5 “For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”

God Can not be silenced….

Lets give up the search for perfect!!!

Perfect will come when He comes back….

Isaiah 65:17–25 ““For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.”

Peace in Tribulation John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.””

Testing and suffering is every christians Lot!! 1 Peter 1:6–7 “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

1 Peter 4:12–13 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”