abraham and sarah

What is that one thing that you pray for when going through a trial or dealing with a situation or person that just seems to test your limits?

PATIENCE!

It seems like everyone is in a hurry everywhere you look.

If you are like me, you want to have an answer or solution to any problem that may arise. And if you don’t, you want to find it as quickly as possible. How many times have you gone to YouTube to find a video to fix a problem with an appliance, vehicle or electronic device? Maybe you went to Google to search a question of how or why this problem is happening?

We are in a day and time now that everything is at a speed that we expect what we want to come in quick and timely manner. We are living in a fast food, microwave, and amazon time that if we don’t get it our way in 5 minutes, 30 minutes or next day delivery, we get frustrated that it isn’t here fast enough.

You may be going through a trial and you have prayed and it feels like God hasn’t answered your prayer. Maybe His answer was “Not at this Time, WAIT.”

Most of us, including myself  hate to hear that word, “WAIT”

Look at some of the saints in the Bible, like Abraham and Sarah; Joseph, Moses, David and Noah that had to wait years to see the fulfillment of God's promise given to them.

What does “be still” mean?

It means to stand respectfully motionless, halt, quiet, calm, tranquil, devoid of motion.

Waiting means to await, hope, be patient, look forward to and tarry.

God wants that for us in that when we wait in faith we are expressing our confidence in Him, even in those times of trial and uncertainty. Especially if we have a feeling of urgency.

Many times we want to rush and find a solution, which isn’t always a bad thing, but there are times that God wants us to stop and rest and put our faith and dependence on Him and know that He will provide and make a way, when all else seems hopeless.

God is wanting us to “Be Still” and listen to Him. Just as He told Elijah on the mountain. God wasn’t in the wind, the earthquake or fire, but in a still small voice. So many times we get caught up in our daily lives and activities that we don’t take the time to listen to what God has for us each and every day. Whether it is first thing in the morning or at night before you go to bed you need to take that time to stop and listen to what God is saying to You. We get caught up with things that become like static noise and can be so overpowering that we can’t focus or hear what God is wanting to show us. 

So take that time as you thank Him each day for what He has done or is doing in your life, even if is seems like you are going through that valley or wilderness and feels like there is no hope or help in sight; but that in those times God is taking you to a place to stop and rest and put you complete faith and trust in Him.

Scripture references:
Psalms 46:10
Psalms 40:1-3
Psalms 37:7,9,34
Psalms 27;14
Exodus 14:13
Isaiah 8:17
Isaiah 30:18
Isaiah 40:31
Matthew 11:28
James 1:2-4
James 5:7-8

Here is my paraphrase of 1 Peter 3:1-7

Advice to witnessing wives

1You unequally-yoked wives, be submitting yourselves to your own husbands so that even though they do not yet believe the Word, through your conduct without using a word, they may be won to faith in Christ, 2 when they observe your God-fearing, pure conduct

• 3not outward adorning or special coiffure, or the wearing of gold, jewelry and fine clothes 4but the inner adorning of the heart by your incorruptible meek and quiet spirit which is of great value before God
• 5for indeed this is how the holy women of old, who kept hoping in God, adorned themselves as they submitted themselves to their own husbands.

6Sarah, for example, trusted in God and submitted to Abraham her husband after the angel came. You are now her daughters by your well doing and your fearlessness of any disappointment.

Advice to witnessing husbands

7Likewise you unequally-yoked husbands, use good sense as you dwell with your unsaved wife while she is the weaker partner, treating her with dignity as a fellow human being, so that your prayers for her salvation might not be hindered.

Not all spouses are ready to receive Christ when their partner first comes to Christ. It can be a sad and distressing experience to find that the other spouse is not ready, is closed, or even hostile, to the good news about Jesus. It is hard for a new believer to realize that just because one of them now has and understands new life in Christ, that the other may not yet be ready to believe!

In verses 1-7, Peter tells these Christians how to get their message across, even if they find themselves prevented from speaking a single word! First he addresses Christian wives with unsaved husbands, and then he writes advice for Christian husbands with unsaved wives.

These spouses are for at least a time “unequally yoked.” These spouses are joined together in marriage but each one is not pulling their full weight in the spiritual realm. One is alive in Christ. The other, as yet, is not.

GO DEEPER: Please visit Tru316.com

Have you read the foundational research that makes all these studies possible? Please read The Book of Eden, Genesis 2-3 by Bruce C. E. Fleming (based on the research of Dr. Joy Fleming).

 The Tru316 Foundation (www.Tru316.com) is the home of The Eden Podcast with Bruce C. E. Fleming where we “true” the verse of Genesis 3:16. The Tru316 Message is that “God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way.” Once Genesis 3:16 is made clear the other passages on women and men become clear too. You are encouraged to access the episodes of Seasons 1-11 of The Eden Podcast for teaching on the seven key passages on women and men. Are you a reader? We invite you to get from Amazon the four books by Bruce C. E. Fleming in The Eden Book Series (Tru316.com/trubooks). Would you like to support the work of the Tru316 Foundation? You can become a Tru Partner here: www.Tru316.com/partner

Rachel Twigg's sermon for the Third Sunday after Pentecost, June 21, 2020, on Genesis 21:8-21.

This sermon was offered on yet another Sunday on which our community was unable to gather in the church building, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were just six of us present to lead the liturgy and provide the music, with a much larger congregation being gathered through Facebook Live. The full service is available as a video on our website.

Subscribe to the show wherever you listen to audio and recommend this episode to your friends. We invite you to rate us or write a review of what we are doing on Apple Podcasts. Reviews help others join the conversation.

* * *

This podcast is created at saint benedict’s table, a congregation of the Anglican Church of Canada in Winnipeg, where we’ve been making great audio since 2006. Listen to other recent episodes on our website and see our entire catalogue of some 500 shows on our hosting page.

Our Mission

To provide rich and stimulating audio resources to the wider church and engage topics and issues relevant to the concerns and questions of the larger culture in which we live.

Jamie Howison's sermon for the Second Sunday after Pentecost, June 14, 2020, on Genesis 18:1-15 & 21:1-7.

This sermon was offered on yet another Sunday on which our community was unable to gather in the church building, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were just seven of us present to lead the liturgy and provide the music, with a much larger congregation being gathered through Facebook Live. The full service is available as a video on our website.

Subscribe to the show wherever you listen to audio and recommend this episode to your friends. We invite you to rate us or write a review of what we are doing on Apple Podcasts. Reviews help others join the conversation.

* * *

This podcast is created at saint benedict’s table, a congregation of the Anglican Church of Canada in Winnipeg, where we’ve been making great audio since 2006. Listen to other recent episodes on our website and see our entire catalogue of some 500 shows on our hosting page.

Our Mission

To provide rich and stimulating audio resources to the wider church and engage topics and issues relevant to the concerns and questions of the larger culture in which we live.

In this episode, we finally arrive at the long awaited birth of Isaac; and we will learn about the incredible faith of Abraham when God put him through the greatest test of his lifetime. As always there will be many spiritual applications for us to learn along the way, and many other interesting details as well. Praying that you are blessed by this Bible teaching!

Pastor Jeff McLain begins our new series, Covenant & Kingdom. This series is about "finding the Father's Heart through the lens of Covenant and Kingdom, relationship and responsibility, the DNA of the Biblical Story." We will be looking at the macro view of the scriptures through the the double-helix of relationship and responsibility.

Sermon Outline:

Christophany

Hospitality

Three Measures

An Advocate for the Righteous


Saint Athanasius Church: https://www.saintathanasiusfc.com/

Saint Athanasius Church: https://www.saintathanasiusfc.com/