Life Lessons

Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. (1 Corinthians 10:11)

For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)

A few months ago, our church watched the new Angel studios David movie together, and it inspired me to start a sermon series based on the life of David. David had an incredibly interesting life, from shepherd boy to secret prince-in-waiting, from musician-therapist to unlikely champion, from up-and-coming captain in King Saul's army to outlawed bandit fleeing from King Saul's wrath--and all of this before he even became king!

I'm enjoying the sermon series; if you're interested, we've now come to the last chapter of 1 Samuel and the first chapter of 2 Samuel, where King Saul and his whole family are killed, and David (somewhat surprisingly) mourns, honors, and avenges them. This Sunday I'll be preaching on the great song that David wrote to lament the passing of a whole generation of Israel's great champions, rulers, and warriors; the refrain of the song is a phrase that has made its way into everyday English, How have the mighty fallen!

To preach through this set of stories is to believe that God's grace worked through the life of figures like David, and through the Israelites who wrote his history. It's to believe that the complicated life of a single man can serve as an example and a warning for all of us. It's to believe that somehow, the same God who raised up David and walked with him in his ups and downs, is the same God who sent Jesus to us as the culmination of the ages--the final step in a generations-long journey of learning what God is like.

And all of this makes me wonder--are our lives, too, full of lessons, full of examples and warnings, full of encouragement and hope?

As we follow God, our lives become informed by everyone who walked that path before us. As we follow God, our lives become lessons for everyone who will walk that path after us.

As we follow God, our lives become informed by everyone who walked that path before us. As we follow God, our lives become lessons for everyone who will walk that path after us.

Join us in learning life lessons, from Scripture and from one another. Our Sunday worship is at 10 a.m., our Wednesday evening Bible study is at 6 p.m., and our Sunday School is at 9 a.m. (but this week, June 12, we'll have our monthly breakfast at 9 a.m. instead!).

--Jonathan