The Fountainhead of the Lord’s Favor

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION

“What scares me is that I’m going to ultimately find out at the end of my life that I’m really not lovable, that I’m not worthy of being loved. That there’s something fundamentally wrong with me.”

~Demi Moore, American actress

“No work or love will flourish out of guilt, fear, or hollowness of heart…”

~Alan Watts (1915-1973), British philosopher and writer

“Social media makes people greatly overthink their sense of self because their image can be perfected for the people around them, behind closed doors”

~The Dartmouth (April 2017)

“The marker of those who understand the gospel of Jesus Christ is that, when they stumble and fall… they run to God and not from Him, because they clearly understand that their acceptance before God is not predicated upon their behavior but on the righteous life of Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death.”

~Matt Chandler, pastor and author

“Learn this lesson… not to come to Him because you are fit to come, but to come to Him because you are unfit to come. Your fitness is your unfitness. Your qualification is your lack of qualification.”

~C.H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), English pastor and author

“So secure is (King) Jesus in who He is – the Father’s beloved Son – that He is free to serve rather than tyrannize His subjects, and to deal gently rather than harshly with the lowest and the weakest of them….”

~Knox Chamberlain (1935-2012), pastor and professor

SERMON PASSAGE

Isaiah 61:1-4 (ESV)

1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.