We all have our coping mechanisms, and so did Ahaz. When Ahaz ruled Judah, he faced a threat from surrounding kings. God sent Isaiah to tell him that he didn’t need to fear, only to trust. Ahaz chose to trust in something other than God. We face the same choice and the same outcomes.
Sometimes we give out of guilt. Sometimes we give to tilt the divine scales in our favor. For a follower of Jesus, the motivation to give should be completely different. In this sermon, Pastor Adam Mabry explores the surprising and unexpected reason that Christians are called to live generous lives. To learn more about our Big Give offering visit aletheia.org/biggive
At the end of Isaiah 59, God promises to put the Spirit that’s on Isaiah into a generation of his people. Isaiah lived by the Spirit in his day, so what does it look like to live by the Spirit in our day. In this sermon, we look at questions we should ask of a prophetic, Spirit-empowered generation.
The Israelites were in geographical exile, but all humanity is in spiritual exile. We try to deal with our exile through life hacking and technique, but God has a better answer—the Servant. The Servant is the true answer to our exile, and in this sermon, we explore what the Servant does to end our exile.
From chapter 40 onward, Isaiah’s message is addressed to God’s people after the exile. But God wasn’t done with his people. God’s discipline was carried out in love, and his message to the exiles is one of comfort. In this sermon, Pastor Adam Mabry shows one of God’s major promises to his people—his presence.
Every now and then, a story is inserted into the poetry of Isaiah that acts like evidence for the message. This week’s story is about King Hezekiah. He faced odds that were totally against him, but it turns out chance and odds don’t apply to those who are called to trust God.
A “woe” in the Bible is an expression of dissatisfaction, anger, and sadness from God. In Isaiah 28, God’s woe is directed at the leaders of Judah who have chosen to trust political alliances rather than God. God’s woe against them shows us just how fragile and damaging self-reliance is, as well as what God has done to offer us something better.
Priests were an important part of keeping holiness going for Israel, but they were flawed. Whether or not we realize it, we treat certain people like priests, but any priest we trust is flawed…except Jesus.
How do we measure holiness? Many people think that morality is the measure of holiness. That’s certainly part of it, but Paul describes a holy life as one that pleases God. He also describes where we get the power to live that kind of life.
How can a holy God be around an unholy people? In the Bible, when unholy people get around the presence of a holy God, they die… unless there’s atonement. In this sermon, we explore what the atonement sacrifices from the Old Testament point to, and what it means for how people approach God.
Understanding the holiness of God helps us to see our unholiness and how only God can make us holy. God is not so holy that he wants nothing to do with us. But he is so holy he wants everything to do with us.
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