The Joshua Victor Theory

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. The book of Job is a remarkable book that is like a magnificent mountain range of great peaks and valleys worthy of deep reflection and exploration. Job was tormented by horrible suffering, having lost all of his children in a single day, all of his servants were killed by raiders, and he lost all his flocks and herds. As if that were not enough, he was then inflicted with painful sores all over his body, from head to foot. The book as a whole answers Satan’s jeering question, of “Why do the righteous serve God?” and the closely related concern of “How can the righteous trust in God in the midst of suffering?” While Job is by no means a perfect example of a believer bearing up under their sufferings and still trusting in God—he is certainly one of the most remarkable examples in the Bible. And our Old Testament reading from Job 19 has everything to do with the reason why. If the book of Job is a complex mountai...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Does it get your attention today, that Jesus’ sermon to the crowds was about hating your family? No doubt, verse 26 leaves many of us scratching our heads, and wondering if this is the same Jesus who also says, “ You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:43-44). There Jesus urges us not to hate our enemies, but to love them and pray for them! So how can Jesus say here, in such blunt terms, Luke 14:26, “ If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple”? This is not a statement that can be easily ignored or brushed away, but no doubt Jesus meant to get our full attention! The reading ends, in verse 35, “ He who has ears to hear, let him hea...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Welcome again to all our preschool families, and we’re glad to worship God with you today! The Bible lesson for our message comes from Jesus’ teaching in Matthew chapter 5. We’ve been reading through sections of this for the last several weeks, and they all come out of Jesus’ great “Sermon on the Mount.” In the section from last week and this week, Jesus is reviewing the Law of Moses and responding to popular opinions of it. So Jesus says several times, “You have heard that it was said…” and then either quotes and Old Testament law and/or a version of what people in His day thought it meant. Last week He was teaching on the commandments against murder, adultery, and lying, and showed how God’s Law is not only concerned with what we do on the outside, but also with the thoughts and intentions of our heart. Rather than “lowering the bar” and “opening loopholes” in the Law to make it easi...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Our message today comes from the Gospel reading, Luke 14. It would be hard for us to ignore the obvious importance of this passage to our congregation’s own building program and the plans that we have laid ahead for a potential new church and school campus. Jesus advises that if one is planning a major undertaking, like building a tower or some other major project, they should first count the cost and be sure that they will be able to complete it. Make sure that the necessary resources are available and that they have the strength to carry the project through to completion. Today we’ll consider what Jesus taught about counting the cost. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. One could look at our campaign to build the new campus in Waikapu as simply a business matter, like any other company or business planning an expansion. Get the right workers on the...