True Fulfillment

In this message, Paster George Hinman discusses  two stories within Mark 6: the story of Herod's banquet, and Jesus feeding the 5,000. He then illustrates how the two stories inform us about different ways we might approach our encounters with God's sovereignty in our lives.

We often find ourselves in the halls of Herod, where everything is comfortable and we appear to have everything we need. However, the halls of Herod can be deceptive. While we are offered a relationship with God, we may find ourselves putting limits on God and operating from a relationship with fear, which interferes with our ability to trust God, and ultimately leads to disappointment. When we are in the halls of Herod, we must fast and deny ourselves, and follow God's will and plan for us.

On the other hand, when we follow God, rather than attempting to dictate our relationship, it may at first feel as though we are in what appears to be a deserted land. However, God responds to his followers with compassion, provides community, and provides delight and provision in what at first felt like a crisis. When we find ourselves in the wilderness with Jesus, we must remember to rejoice and remember our true identity, as ransomed and reconciled to Him.

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Prayer:

O Lord our God,

Grant us grace to desire You with our whole heart;

that so daring we may seek and find you;

and so finding may love you;

And so loving, may hate those sins from which you have delivered us;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

ANSELM 1106

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