Loyalty in the face of oppression

Opening & Intro

Talk about Shara’s position - the whole story

Conversation with Jason

9 months of prayer

The out of the blue message from Jeremy

Me saying no but wanting to hear Shara out.

Hearing very clearly from God that this is what the right thing was.

Unanimously voting her in on a trial basis to be revisited

INcreasing the budget to keep her on trusting that we can do it financially.

Applying to the grant

Getting the grant

Covering all the things...

Now if I went with my initial gut response…it would have been a no.

We see now that God had a plan and He brought us through this.

So often we tend to speak for God instead of stopping to hear him speak. Which is what we have done since the fall of mankind.

But here’s the point we are going to look at today.

Main Point

God’s Love is absolute. Agape has no limits.

Explain Agape

Why Does it Matter

We need to know that God loves us no matter what.

Scripture

Hosea 12:2–14 NIV

The Lord has a charge to bring against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds. In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; as a man he struggled with God. He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there— the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is his name! But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always. The merchant uses dishonest scales and loves to defraud. Ephraim boasts, “I am very rich; I have become wealthy. With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin.” “I have been the Lord your God ever since you came out of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, as in the days of your appointed festivals. I spoke to the prophets, gave them many visions and told parables through them.” Is Gilead wicked? Its people are worthless! Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Their altars will be like piles of stones on a plowed field. Jacob fled to the country of Aram; Israel served to get a wife, and to pay for her he tended sheep. The Lord used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt, by a prophet he cared for him. But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger; his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed and will repay him for his contempt.

Hosea sets the pratices that he spoke of earlier in our series in their historical perspective. He is giving examples from the life of Jacob as explainations of the beviour of both Israel and Judah.

But in this example the negative actions can also be seen as positive in 2 ways:

Jacob battles with his brother and God multiple times but eventually repents to both

God puts up with Jacob and still extends him grace.

A reminder to us that we might but fighting with God about something but He can take it. His love is always available.

Hosea 14:1–8 NIV

Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount warhorses. We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.” “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. People will dwell again in his shade; they will flourish like the grain, they will blossom like the vine— Israel’s fame will be like the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him. I am like a flourishing juniper; your fruitfulness comes from me.”

This reads almost like a prayer of repentance.

We need to realize when we have been unfaithful.

When we do we need to pray this prayer.

Application

The Book of Hosea is the telling of A righteous man who is married to an unfaithful prostitute.

He forgives her adulterous ways so long as she repents.

We need to repent. God is waiting for us to turn away from what ever is holding us back.

When we struggle with Sin. I mean reallys truggle we start by saying...

It’s not that bad

I will just go this far

I can stop

I don’t need to stop

I am an adult I can do this if I want

I feel guilty every time I do it.

I want to stop but I can’t

Please God help me. I want to repent.

We don’t always know right away that what we are doing is wrong.

Look at Abraham.

Genesis 16:1–4 NIV

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.

It made sense to them. Look at what it says.

Let’s take a look at the Israelites when they fashioned a golden calf in the desert. They were only out of Egypt for roughtly 3 months at this point and Moses was gone for 40 days. So it took them exactly 3 months before turning from God.

Exodus 32:1 NIV

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

You see we justify our actions. We want to find an esier and better way to do things but sometimes we have to wait on God’s timing. Somtimes we have to take aleap of faith.

Like our story from the beginning of the message today.

Other times we need to recognize that we are lost on our own and accept help.

Lost husband...

Closing

Are you Epraim?

IS there something you need to repent of?

it is as simple as a prayer and understanding the depth of God’s Love.

He wants to see you succeed.

Pray, listen and respond.