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

Our Lord’s Meekness and the Christian Life

“Jesus’ death on the cross highlights how much our Lord humbled himself. The reason for that is, it is impossible for God to die. How could God die? He is the source of all being! He sustains the life of all creatures! He himself is the life! Death is the product of sin but God is eternal and not subject to death. Nevertheless, God the Son in his human nature died on the cross for the penalty of our sin! Through his death on the cross, our Lord Jesus Christ perfectly and completely emptied himself. This glorious truth is the humility, which our Lord taught and exemplified through His life.”
— Mr. David Chi

The Meaning of the Fourth Commandment (3) A Memorial and a Sign

“This is one of God’s great purposes in creation and in the history of salvation – that people might come to know that he is the Lord of all and that they might give him the glory that is his due. And so, for his people, he gave them a day where work was off-limits and common activities were off-limits so that they might remember and contemplate where they had been before God had rescued them, but also that they might remember and adoringly ponder the awesome power and glory of their God revealed in their rescue.”
— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

Joy in Everyday Life

Read: Ecclesiastes 9:1-12
Text: verses 7-10

“There is a big difference between having questions and doubts and outright unbelief. Unbelief is a settled rejection of God – either a denial that God even exists or a settled pattern of living as if he does not exist. Doubt is not a rejection of God. It is struggling with questions about God and his way with us or with the world. God is still very much in the picture and with God still very much in the picture there is still hope – even if it is not unambiguous hope.”
— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

The Dark Night of the Soul

“This passage shows us that life can be very hard for the people of God. Sometimes it is easy and pleasant. But sometimes it is very hard. It can be hard for various reasons. But there will be times in our lives when we may have trouble believing a lot of what God says to us in his word about working everything together for good and being a just and a loving and a compassionate God. So that is one thing that this passage shows us. This is the word of God and the word of God is showing us that sometimes the people of God have a very hard time reconciling what the Bible says about God and what their experience of life or their observation of life seems to be saying about God. We can sometimes experience the dark night of the soul where we question God and his ways with us or with the world in general and see life as pointless and not worth living.”
— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

The Meaning of the Fourth Commandment (2) Work, Rest and God

“God did not rest because he was tired. He rested because “not working” is also worthwhile and valuable. He not only stopped working, he declared the state of not-working on the seventh day to be holy. We might say that he set the seventh day apart for himself. He set the example of taking pleasure in what he had created. He paused to enjoy “not working” and taking pleasure in his own glory as that was reflected in the creation. And, no doubt, part of his pleasure on that first seventh day was receiving the worship of the people whom he had created to serve and worship him.”
— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

The Meaning of the Fourth Commandment (1) Holy Time, Blessing and Rest

“God gives us a lot of freedom, but he also has a lot to say about how we must live our lives. And one of the areas where God tells us how to live our lives is the overall structure of how we use our time. He tells us to work for six days and to rest every seventh day. This is not an option. We do not have freedom when it comes to this structure. This is a decision that God makes for us. This is God asserting his authority as far as the use of time is concerned. And by submitting to God’s authority over time we are confessing that God is the Lord of our time. He is our creator. He owns us. He gives us time. He has the right to tell us what to do with the time that he gives us. By keeping the Fourth Commandment we are submitting to the lordship of God over our time.”
— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

Faith Amid the Enigmas of Life

“This is the temptation that comes with the things about life in this world that do not seem to fit with a good God who is sovereign over everything that happens in the world. In our text passage, the author of Ecclesiastes is struggling with the fact that so often the wicked do not get what they deserve and the righteous often get what the wicked deserve. The question that raises is, “What kind of God allows that to happen?” and “How can I trust God if he says that those who serve him are blessed and those who defy him our cursed, when that does not seem to be the way it works out in real life?””
— Rev. Jerry Hamstra