From Bitterness to Blessing Part 3

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28 June, 2020Pastor Mark SchultzThe Sweetness of Redemption

“Swipe right.” In the code language of dating apps, that means “I’m interested!” or “I approve”. It’s the preferred mode of putting yourself out there for many Australians wanting to look for a partner, a relationship, fulfilment in life. It requires vulnerability, an openness to the future and hopefulness rather than despair. There’s a whole lot of swiping right in Ruth 3 as we see the mood change, hopefulness return, and the willingness to be vulnerable in order to receive the greatest promise and blessing of all - Redemption; a new beginning and a new future. We’ll experience that same ‘Sweetness of Redemption” today!

#3 in series: The Sweetness of Redemption - From Bitterness to Blessing

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THEME VERSE

“But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives I will do it.” Ruth 3:13c

 

REMEMBER THIS WEEK

Jesus is willing to redeem, protect and clothe with righteousness all who are willing to lay their lives at his feet.


FAITH TALK

1. In your current circumstances, in what part of your life has God been teaching you to risk more?

Bible Reading

One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you, where you will be well provided for. Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.”

“I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered. So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.

When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down. In the middle of the night something startled the man; he turned—and there was a woman lying at his feet!

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer of our family.”

10 “The Lord bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. 11 And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character. 12 Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer of our family, there is another who is more closely related than I. 13 Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you. But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives I will do it. Lie here until morning.”

14 So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized; and he said, “No one must know that a woman came to the threshing floor.”

15 He also said, “Bring me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.” When she did so, he poured into it six measures of barley and placed the bundle on her. Then he[c] went back to town.

16 When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “How did it go, my daughter?”

Then she told her everything Boaz had done for her 17 and added, “He gave me these six measures of barley, saying, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”

18 Then Naomi said, “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.”

More from 'The Sweetness of Redemption'

From Bitterness to Blessing Part 4

5 July, 2020 Pastor Mat von Stanke

'There's a plan in everything, and I love it when a plan comes together.' So said Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith, a fictional television and movie character in the 'A Team'. Throughout the book of Ruth, a rescue mission has been underway, Lives were at risk. Names will be lost. But God was putting together a local rescue effort that would be crucial in his global rescue operation to save the world he loves. We'll explore that today as we conclude the story of Ruth and see God bring blessing from bitterness and fulfilment from emptiness; it's a story of loving kindness that is repeated in your life and then continues through you.

Click here for this week's bulletin.

Join the Chat group at 10.30am Sunday here

THEME VERSE:

“Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. Ruth 4:14a

REMEMBER THIS

It takes a child to renew a life, to open the future and join past and future together to make sense of the present. That child is Jesus and he alone can transform bitterness to blessing and emptiness to fulfilment in your life. He invites you to be part of his Kingdom plan coming together for the world, to reclaim and bring blessing to every lost, bitter and empty life.

FAITH TALK

1. How might God be using you to rescue and bring his redeeming grace to others?

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From Bitterness to Blessing Part 2

21 June, 2020 Pastor Mark Schultz

Filthy Rich & Homeless – it’s a televised social experiment where some wealthy people give up their luxury cars, expensive clothes and big safe secure mansions to live for 10 days among the homeless. While it opens eyes/hearts/wallets on behalf of the homeless among us; for the well-heeled “reality” participants, it’s a short-term gig. They eventually go back to where they came from…high-paying work, expansive lifestyles, filthy rich & privileged. But for Ruth & Naomi, there was no such luxury. Every day was a new risk. Every day was a struggle to find food, shelter, and safety. Every day their future was a wager between life and death. But every day was also a new opportunity in God’s grace. That’s what we’ll discover today – an extravagant kindness shown to us in the most desperate times that brings fullness from our desolation and blessing from our bitterness

#2 in series: The Sweetness of Redemption

Read this Week's Bulletin here

Join the Chat group at 10.30am Sunday here

THEME VERSE:

“Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” Ruth 2:10

REMEMBER THIS WEEK

Grace is restorative. Every act of grace in community, brings people to an awareness and experience of the blessing of God.

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From Bitterness to Blessing Part 1

14 June, 2020 Pastor Mark Schultz

Sometimes every hope is destroyed, every dream shattered and every plan is crushed. Sometimes life goes to ruin in an instant. Sometimes we walk away from the very blessings before us. But in those moments when you wonder if God has forgotten you or even intentionally stepped on your heart, God has not left you to crumble on your own. He is still holding you, leading you, working in you for his glory. In the very worst of times, we discover the mystery of God’s mercy at work to bring fullness from our desolation and blessing from our bitterness. We’ll explore that together and over the next 4 weeks as we experience the ‘Sweetness of Redemption’ from the book of Ruth as God leads us from Bitterness to Blessing.

Part 1 of series in the Book of Ruth: Sweetness of Redemption

Click here for this week's bulletin

Join the Chat group at 10.30am Sunday here

THEME VERSE:

Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Ruth 1:16

REMEMBER THIS WEEK

Even in the midst of dark, difficult, and chaotic times, God is with us; working behind the scenes in the lives of his people to bring redemption, blessing and joy.

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