Series
Rev. Jerry Hamstra
The Book of Esther
The Book of Esther
Sermons
Rev. Jerry Hamstra
Introduction to Acts
Introduction to Acts

History of Salvation

Elijah Repairs the Altar of the LORD

Read: 1 Kings 18:1-2, 17-24, 30-32a
Text: Verses 30-32a

“You see, idols will take over our lives if we let them. Remember for us, we are talking about things like money and pleasure and comfort when we are talking about idols. Idols are things that take the place of God in our lives – often they are things that are good in themselves, but they become idols if they become God-substitutes. The broken-down altar teaches us that if we are not fighting against idolatry in our lives, the idols will take over – they will squeeze out the worship of God.”
— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

God Has Not Rejected Israel

Read: Romans 11

“So if we take the long view of the history of God’s plan for the salvation of the world, we have a long period of time when the Jews are set apart in order to be a blessing to the rest of the world and we have a long period of time in which many of the Gentiles are saved to make the Jews jealous and this this will one day result in the Jews coming to salvation in Christ in a big way so that Paul can say, “And in this way all Israel will be saved….””
— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

A Summary of the Joseph Story

“Now this idea of God overriding evil and bringing good out of evil is a very important theme in the Bible. In God’s plan for the salvation of the world he is going to do that again and again. He uses evil in many ways to bring good as he did with Joseph and his brothers. The most important instance of this idea is the death of Jesus. Those who killed Jesus meant evil. The death of Jesus was a monstrous injustice. And yet it was also part of God’s plan for the salvation of his people and the renewal of the whole creation.”
— Rev. Jerry Hamstra