Hearing God’s Voice from His Word
James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
Take a moment and turn your attention to God. Tell God that you desire to trust and obey Him. Ask God to speak to you from His word.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 147:1-6
Hallelujah! How good it is to sing to our God,
for praise is pleasant and lovely.
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem;
he gathers Israel’s exiled people.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and bandages their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars;
he gives names to all of them.
5 Our Lord is great, vast in power;
his understanding is infinite.
6 The Lord helps the oppressed
but brings the wicked to the ground.
Read the Entire Psalm
Reflect on these three descriptions of God – He is great, vast in power, and infinite in understanding. Who can compare with Him? Give thanks that this great, powerful, and wise God has revealed Himself to you.
Scripture Reading
John 7:1-24 – New International Version
Jesus Goes to the Festival of Tabernacles
7 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. 2 But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
6 Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. 8 You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.
10 However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. 11 Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”
12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”
Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.
Jesus Teaches at the Festival
14 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”
16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
20 “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”
21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”
Having God’s Ear through Prayer
- Express thanks to God.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal sin to you.
- Confess your sin to Him and receive forgiveness.
(1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sin He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins.”) - Bring your personal requests to God.
(Psalm 62:8 “Pour out your heart before God”) - Pray for someone in your small group.
- Join with others from River and pray for Amelia as she serves overseas. Ask God to guide her, encourage her, and strengthen her for the work he has call her to do.
Living as God’s People by applying the Bible
Scripture Reflection from the Sermon
In Leviticus 23:1,2 we read, “The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.” What follows are commands to keep the weekly Sabbath as well as specific feasts and celebrations tied to historical events and annual harvests. In total there were seven of these mandated feasts and festivals. These include three pilgrimage feasts where able-bodied men were to travel to the temple in Jerusalem.
1. Passover, celebrated in March/April on our calendars. There were actually two feasts—Passover, followed by the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread—its purpose was to remember, for all time, God’s redemption of Israel from slavery in Egypt. It also pointed forward to Christ, the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world.
2. Feast of Weeks (also called Pentecost or Harvest Feast): This was to be a celebration 50 days (“penta” = 50) after Passover. It celebrated the first fruits of the wheat harvest. This pointed forward to the day of Pentecost when Christ would send the Holy Spirit and to the fact that Christ, Paul writes, is the First Fruits of those who will be raised from the dead.
3. Feast of Tabernacles (also called Feast of Booths, or shelters): This feast, in the fall, commemorated two events—the pilgrimage from Egypt to the Promised Land in Canaan and the fruitfulness of the Promised Land. It also points forward to Jesus, John wrote, “Tabernacled” among us. Jesus is God became man to save mankind.
Christians are not obligated to keep these festivals since Christ has fulfilled all that they pointed forward to. Paul wrote in Colossians 2:16,17 “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” Though we are not obligated to keep these events, we must be diligent to do what they intended to do. We must be grateful for God’s ongoing provision and for his gift of salvation in Jesus. Most of us don’t pay much attention to the cycles of harvest because we can purchase a variety food from the store year-round. We should, however, every time we eat food, give thanks to God for his provision. In addition, as we come to Christ in worship each Sunday and as we turn to him in our daily time in his word, we must choose to remember that Christ is the fulfillment of the promise of God through the ages. Marvel that what God long planned and promised has come to fruition in Jesus, because it truly is amazing.