Faithfulness of God

On New Year’s Day 2020, New South Wales and Victoria jumped north by 5.9 feet. No, you did not miss an earthquake. The change is being made to fix a 5.9 foot inaccuracy that has crept into the GPS coordinates, caused by Australia slowly drifting north. Australian GPS was last updated in 1994, and the entire country has moved nearly six feet since then.

Australia sits atop one of the fastest-moving tectonic plates in the world. It moves about 2.5 inches north-east every year. “That’s about the speed your hair or fingernails grow,” says NSW Surveyor General Narelle Underwood.

In the days of paper maps that tectonic drift did not pose a real problem. That meant Australia could get away with the slight inaccuracy that has crept in since the coordinates were last set in 1994. But paper maps have gone the way of the dinosaurs; we use GPS now. And GPS notices. That's because GPS satellites precisely locate you on the surface of the Earth. Effectively the coordinate you have from your GPS has already moved 5.9 feet.

Add in the inaccuracy of GPS itself – it is accurate to about 16 feet – and that explains why you can sometimes open Google Maps and discover yourself trapped inside a building or drowning in a lake.

The project is handy for the average person, but its real value is in the future. Driverless cars, for example, need precise GPS data to know which lane they are in, and driverless tractors need to be able to get right up to the fence line without plowing it down.

Possible Preaching Angle: Everything on earth changes, including the mighty continents. But for believers there are three crucial foundational things that will never change: God doesn't change, His Word doesn't change, and His promises do not change. These are settled forever in the heavens.

Kalina and Shane Pavlovsky planned a beautiful wedding reception at the Barn at Scappoose Creek, Oregon, but were met with disappointment when, out of the 40 guests who RSVP'd, only five showed up.

Kalina told a reporter, “It was a feeling I can’t even describe, having to hold my smile and walk through … the biggest punch that I’ve ever felt.” Of the 40 guests who’d originally responded in the affirmative, Kalina said she’d made direct contact with at least 25 who promised they would come.

The couple’s disappointing reception entrance was caught on video, so she posted it onto TikTok, where it was viewed over 12 million times with more than 20,000 comments. Kalina says she posted it during a lonely moment, but she was also motivated to show off the venue itself, which was tastefully decorated with white lights and draping sheer fabric. She said, “It was just so beautiful, I thought someone has to see it.”

Pavlovsky expressed her feelings about the moment in her TikTok video post. “It just makes me think, like, why? What did we do? Am I that bad of a person? What did my husband ever do to deserve any of this? Why couldn’t we matter enough for people to show up?”

Despite the disappointment, the couple made the best of the situation, but had to cancel planned events like dances and cutting the cake. Despite the hurt caused by the no-shows, Pavlovsky said she's also been touched by the outpouring of support from strangers who saw her story and felt empathy.

“My hope is that people understand how important it is to show up,” she concluded.

Possible Preaching Angle:

1) Faithfulness of God - Unlike some of our flakier friends, God does not ghost us when we need him most. On the contrary, God shows up when we need him most. 2) Promises – When we make a commitment we should keep it. If we have no intention of keeping the commitment, we should be honest to say so.

Imagine the thrill of opening your mailbox and finding a crisp, white envelope waiting for you. The anticipation builds as you tear it open, as you discover a check nestled inside. It's more than just a piece of paper; it's a tangible promise that money is waiting you when you cash it. The check might be from an employer, a tax refund, or an unexpected birthday gift from a grandparent.

While writing checks may be less popular than it used to be, 54% of Americans still wrote a check in the past year. In fact, according to a recent survey by GOBankingRates, 17% of Americans are still writing checks on a monthly basis — and 23% of Gen X Americans are still sending checks on a monthly basis. In 2021 the Federal Reserve reported $27.23 trillion in checks were written.

Now suppose in the busyness of life you forgot about the check or misplaced it, only to find it months later. You begin to wonder, is this thing still any good? If grandma had sent cash, there would be no question, since cash is always valuable. But, how long is a check good for? The check was a promise of cash, but is the promise still any good?

Most old checks aren't valid forever. A personal check is generally good for at least six months. If you don't deposit a check right away, you may not receive the money even if your bank agrees to accept the check. That's because the account the check was drawn on may have been closed or not have insufficient funds to back the check.

The bottom line is that cashing a check promptly ensures that you can access the funds without issues, such as the check bouncing or having it go stale.

Possible Preaching Angle:

This would make a good introduction to a sermon on the enduring promises of God which never go out of date, or cannot be redeemed because of insufficient funds or the account being closed. God will never refuse to honor his promises (Rom. 9:6-8, 2 Cor. 1:20). But it is a good idea to claim God’s promises promptly to begin enjoying his gift to you.

At the beginning of 2024 there was the launch of the world's largest cruise ship called The Icon of the Seas. CNBC called it the “Biggest, Baddest Ship on the Planet.” The cruise ship is five times the size of the Titanic and measures 1200 feet from the bow to the stern (That is more than three football fields) and weighs 250,800 metric tons!

The Icon of the Seas is a small floating city. There are a total of 20 decks, eight neighborhoods, seven swimming pools, six waterslides, forty bars and restaurants, an ice rink, and even a 55ft indoor waterfall!

‌How does a monster ship like the Icon stay afloat?

It has to do with weight distribution. “Cruise ships float because their mass is lower in relation to the volume of water they’re sailing on.” These differences in weight distribution keep these modern marvels buoyant.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Life can bring many challenges and we can feel like we are in danger of sinking. The big question is what or who is keeping you from sinking?

Rodney Holbrook no longer has to clean up his shed—he has a mouse to do that. Holbrook, a wildlife photographer and retired mailman, noticed that things were moving around in his Builth Wells, Wales, shed overnight. He set up a night vision camera and discovered that a mouse was picking up nuts, bolts, corks, and other items and putting them back into their box.

Holbrook dubbed the tiny housekeeper "Welsh Tidy Mouse," and said that "99 times out of 100," the mouse cleans up during the night. Holbrook said the mouse seems to have fun moving the objects. He doesn't even "bother to tidy up now, I leave things out of the box and they put it back in its place by the morning.”

Watch the adorable 1-minute video here.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Throughout the Bible, God uses a variety of animals to help his people in significant ways. The Scripture references are just a few examples of the many ways God used animals to help, guide, and protect those he cares for. Each story offers unique insights into God's character and relationship with his creation.

With Christmas and New Year celebrations behind us, the cold, dark days of January can really get us down. January 16th has been dubbed by experts as the “most depressing day of the year.” But where does the term come from, and what can you do to combat the blues?

The term Blue Monday was coined by psychologist Dr. Cliff Arnall, who worked out a formula to show how the third Monday in January is especially bad. It takes into account factors including the average time for New Year's resolutions to fail, the bad weather, debt, the time since Christmas, and motivational levels.

On average, 1 in 15 people become depressed in winter and suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). It is believed that the problem is related to the way that the body responds to light. The main theory suggests that a lack of sunlight may stop a part of the brain called the hypothalamus from working properly. This could impact the production of the hormone melatonin, which makes you feel sleepy. People with SAD produce it in higher levels than normal. The production of serotonin could also be affected, further impacting mood, appetite, sleep, and feelings of depression.

What can you do to feel better? Dr. Arnall said that people should embrace the opportunity to turn over a new leaf. “Whether it's embarking on a new career, meeting new friends, taking up a new hobby or booking a new adventure, January is a great time to make those big decisions.”

Although she served faithfully in the youth ministry of her church, Taya Smith's singing talent was largely unknown among her church congregation. Having been forced to take time off from her job during the holiday season, she delayed too long to buy a plane ticket to visit her family. Since flights had become too expensive by then, Taya was stuck in Sydney for the holiday week. After attending a church recording that Sunday night, she sang her heart out with the youth band on stage and was noticed by the producers for Hillsong music.

Two mornings later Taya received a message from producer, Mike Chislett, requesting her to come over to the studio to do some backing vocals for a new music project. Since she didn’t have a driver's license, she traveled on multiple buses and trains over two days, and then rode her skateboard from the train station to the recording studio (about one and a half hours each way).

While at the studio, she was asked to record a song titled “Oceans.” It was the fulfillment of a prayer she had prayed two weeks earlier, asking God for help to step out into the unknown.

When released, the song “Oceans (Where feet may fail),” spent 61 weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs Chart. Billboard termed it the #1 Christian song of the 2010's. The song talks about stepping out into the unknown and was based on the moment the Apostle Peter walked on water.

In an issue of CT magazine contributing editor Susan Wunderink writes:

When I was a swimming instructor, I spent a lot of time trying to get little kids to float. I would tell them to put their ears in the water and their belly buttons out of it, and I’d say, “When I count to two, you won’t feel my hands underneath you, but they’re there.” As soon as I’d say “two,” most of the children would frantically jerk their knees towards their chins and flail their arms, dropping their full weight into my hands. Almost all people float when they assume a posture of rest, but people who think they’ll sink don’t keep that posture for long.

Faith is about a posture of rest, too. Many of us are terrified by the life of faith, needing always to feel the support of steady jobs, steady relationships, and back-up plans. God, knowing that, signed us up for swim lessons. ... God intends to make a swimmer of (us), and he was teaching (us) to rely on him through what seems like a disaster.

When was the last time you needed to use your cell phone as a flashlight, perhaps to look for something in the garage, read a menu at a darkly lit restaurant, or find something in the backyard at night? Why did you need it? Your answer probably includes some expression of dark or darkness.

As a sinner living with other sinners in a fallen world, you encounter darkness every day. While you may experience Instagram-worthy, sunny day picnic lunches, the reality is that life is more of a midnight walk through the woods. On any given day, you probably encounter more darkness than you do truth. So, to move forward without danger and get to where you are meant to go, you need something to light your way.

No passage gets at this need and God's provision better than Psalm 119:105: "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

Dr. Eric McLaughlin is a missionary doctor in Burundi, one of the poorest nations on the planet. After years of watching one out of seven of his patients die, it is hard for him to hold onto hope. He tells the story of Odette, a young woman who was hospitalized with terrible kidney failure. Odette’s family pooled their money to send her to a kidney specialist in the city. Long-term dialysis was not an option, so Dr. McLaughlin wondered if the expense of such a trip would change anything for her.

Dr. McLaughlin writes, “I fear to hope sometimes. My recent weeks had been filled with tragedies like Odette’s. More than that, there had been several times when it seemed like someone was going to recover but then suddenly died. ‘Hope deferred makes the heart sick,’ says Proverbs 13:12. Exactly; my heart was sick.”

Amid his lament and doubt, his phone chimed. Dr. McLaughlin saw that the messages were from a friend named Onesphore, a former student and coworker. Now he works at a hospital in the city.

“Good morning doctor. I wanted to let you know that we have been caring for Odette. We have not been able to do much. But some fluids and careful observation have resulted in her kidneys returning almost to normal! We’re sending her home today. I just thought you would want to know. Praise God!”

Not only was Odette healed, but I heard the news from someone I had helped train for his current job. The good news arrived precisely when I was sitting there thinking about how afraid I was to hope. The idea that God was present was no longer theoretical; it was real and sudden. In a moment, the revealing of this whole story filled me with tearful joy, not a small amount of fear, and a renewed hope.

In an issue of CT magazine, author and college president Krish Kandiah writes:

One of my earliest memories is of holding my mother’s hand on my first day of school. I was so nervous as I entered the classroom that I wouldn’t let go. The warmth of her fingers reassured me as my heart pounded in my chest. When I felt scared and alone, she was my lifeline and my security.

I was reminded of that day a few years ago as I sat in a dark room, once again holding my mother’s hand. The silence was deafening as I strained to hear the muted words coming from the dehydrated mouth of a woman whose body had been ravaged by cancer. This time my mother held on to my hand, seeking reassurance from its warmth in her time of distress. The comforter had become the comforted.

Those were heartbreaking days. One moment I was praying for a miraculous recovery, the next for the end to come quickly. I was also haunted by God’s conspicuous absence. What I would have given during those long, languishing hours for his still, small voice of calm.

Turkish theologian Ziya Meral, writes: Where is God when millions of his children are being persecuted in the most brutal ways? Why does he keep silent in the middle of persecution but speak loudly in the middle of conferences with famous speakers and worship bands? I have prayed many times like Luther: “Bless us, Lord, even curse us! But don’t remain silent!”

Meral’s struggles eventually led him to consider Jesus’ own experience: “The greatest glory Jesus brought to God was not when he walked on the water or prayed for long hours, but when he cried in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and still continued to follow God’s will. (He did so) even though it meant isolation, darkness, and the silence of God. Thus, we know that when everything around us fails, when we are destroyed and abandoned, our tears … are the greatest worship songs we have ever sung.”

In an issue of CT magazine author Lily Burana writes how her depression brought her to the brink of suicide until God rescued her.

Lily had always been a gloomy person, even as a small child she suffered bouts of depression. She had been raised in a Christian home, but even so the darkness within kept deepening. She married and started working as a writer between dark spells that froze her into writer’s block for weeks at a time. But then a dangerously deep depressive spell gripped her.

I teetered on the brink of suicide. Even with the outward show of a full and happy life—husband, family, health, career—I felt desperate, alone, scarred, stained, and worthless. At my lowest low, I asked God for a sign. And God delivered, in the form of a bald eagle soaring across my sightline mere minutes after I’d requested that exact omen.

Lily cautiously returned to church and loved hearing about how God not only redeems us but emboldens us: Think of Hebrews 13:6 “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?’”

I would love to tell you that God reached down and whisked away my depression. But faith has only made living with it more manageable. It helps that I take my meds with something approaching religious fervor. But I can’t lay full credit for my wellbeing at the feet of Big Pharma, for nothing has helped me recover more than receiving God’s grace.

Depression is most often an invisible illness—people don’t know you have it unless you tell them. Through faith in Christ, I feel less alone, less ashamed, and less likely to conceal my suffering. Because I know it is heard and believed by God. I’m beholding things with a peace and depth I’ve never experienced before. And through Christ I am redeemed, the slate wiped clean.

On Tuesday, May 10, 2022, a passenger with no flight experience called Air Traffic Control in Fort Pierce, Florida airport and said, “I’ve got a serious situation here. My pilot has gone incoherent. I have no idea how to fly the airplane.”

Around noon an air traffic controller named Robert Morgan was outside the tower reading a book on a break when his co-worker yelled, “There’s a passenger flying a plane that’s not a pilot and the pilot is incapacitated so they said you need to help them try and land the plane.”

Morgan was the man for the job. In addition to his 20 years in tower control, he is also a flight instructor with around 1,200 hours under his belt.

Morgan told reporters, “I knew the plane was flying, I just knew I had to keep him calm, point him to the runway and tell him how to reduce the power so he could descend to land.” Then Morgan proceeded to walk the first-time pilot step-by-step through the landing procedure for the Cessna Grand Caravan. Morgan even ran out to the tarmac and joyfully embraced his student.

Morgan said, “It felt really good to help somebody and he told me that he couldn’t wait to get home and hug his pregnant wife.”

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Guidance; Mentoring - When disaster or crises arise, we need a wise mentor or guide to walk us through it. 2) Holy Spirit - The Holy Spirit is our flight controller who can guide us through the worst that life can throw at us (John 16:13; Rom. 8:14).

A tourist named Ivan was swimming in the ocean at Myti Beach in Greece when he was carried away by a series of powerful currents. Friends alerted the nearby coast guard, but they couldn’t find him, and he along with a friend were eventually declared to be lost at sea.

But 18 hours later, rescuers pulled Ivan out of the ocean, cold and shaken, but alive. That’s because shortly after his ocean ordeal began, he found an unexpected floatation device--a children’s ball. Just like Tom Hanks in the movie Cast Away, Ivan found himself clinging onto the ball for survival, except rather than a volleyball, it was a child-sized soccer ball.

Ivan’s recovery was covered extensively in Greek national media, and several newspapers carried the photo where he posed with his grateful father, the mayor of Kassandra, and the fateful ball. The ball in the photo caught the attention of a mom who recognized it as the toy her son lost at the beach 10 days prior. Not only had the sea currents pulled the ball over 80 miles before he was able to grab onto it, but Ivan testified that the ball was only half-inflated. In Ivan’s home region of north Macedonia, people are rightfully calling it a miracle.

Possible Preaching Angle:

1) Word of God - When our lives are at stake, we must hold on to God's Word, for in it is life and salvation; 2) Rescue - God can use the most unlikely things to rescue his people. He has used: A whale (Jonah 1:17), a raven (1 Kings 17:6), the jawbone of a donkey (Judges 15:15), and a handful of flour (1 Kings 17:12).

Ajanay Barnes and her roommate were craving ice cream one night, they used the grocery-shopping app Instacart to load up a basket at Walmart. They asked for strawberry shortcake ice cream. They received sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast rolls. After delivery, Instacart issued a refund. The breakfast rolls are uneaten in Ms. Barnes’s freezer. She said, “I was craving this one specific ice cream. I guess Walmart had other plans.”

Global supply chains are in turmoil and supermarket shelves are looking sparse. So, order packers are winging it. Roses swapped for bell peppers. A thermometer switched for mac and cheese. A rapid COVID test traded for Halls lozenges.

An Instacart spokeswoman said high demand and supply-chain issues have troubled many of its grocery partners. Instacart gives replacement recommendations, the spokeswoman said. Online shoppers have been left amused, puzzled, and annoyed. Rhett Mitter said, “As there’s been different supply-chain issues and shortages, you notice some weird, weird substitutions.”

Mr. Mitter said he needed horseradish to make a sauce for shrimp with his wife, Jenna. Despite ordering it from Whole Foods, the product wasn’t available. The substitute delivered? Beets. She said, “We joked about it. You can’t make cocktail sauce with Ketchup and beets.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Delivery services are making some off-the-wall substitutions. But God never substitutes inferior products in answer to our prayer requests and there is never any supply issues with God. “If his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? (Matt 7:7-11; Luke 11:11-13). If God does substitute it is for our good and “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Eph. 3:20).

Singer-song-writer Sandra McCracken writes in an issue of CT magazine:

I live in an old house. Along with the charms of age, this old house has some surprises. One of these is the angle of the top three stairs leading to the bedrooms. One stair is too short, while the next one is too deep. It was a creative renovation solution from a previous owner who finished the attic, but it takes some getting used to.

When I need to take the stairs at night, I’m careful to grasp both handrails. Before bed the other week, my husband was plotting how he might install some subtle lighting on those tricky stairs for safety. While I could have just learned to deal with our dark hallway and the jagged steps, I was moved by his consideration of such a small thing.

In a similar way, God’s light on our path is a demonstration of his loving consideration for us. The often-memorized John 3:16–19, “For God so loved the world …” goes on to say that “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ... Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light.” Before God broke in, we were in darkness. But he did not leave us in darkness. “He will not let your foot slip” (Ps. 121:3).

God’s marvelous light invites, illuminates, and sends us out (John 3:21; 1 Pet. 2:9). We, whom the Spirit lights, give light to each other and to the world, starting with the smallest things, like a light on the stairs.

In a recent issue of CT Magazine, Astronomer David Block tells how he learned that the same God who numbered the stars knew and loved him personally:

I grew up a Jewish boy in a South African gold-mining town known as Krugersdorp. I remember sitting in (synagogue), enthralled as our learned rabbi expounded how God was a personal God—he would speak to Moses, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to many others. Growing up, I often pondered how I fit into all this.

By the time I entered the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, I was deeply concerned that I had no assurance that God was indeed a personal God. I was confident that he was a historical God who had delivered our people from the hands of Pharaoh. But he seemed so far removed from the particulars of my life. Where was the personality and the vibrancy of a God who truly could speak to me?

I became friendly with Professor Lewis Hurst. He had a great interest in astronomy, and we would discuss the complexities of the cosmos for hours at a time. I remember attending a meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society graced by Stephen Hawking. The atmosphere there was intellectually stimulating, but inwardly I could tell that something, or someone, was missing. To be brutally honest, I did not know God.

Back in South Africa, my friendship with Professor Hurst grew, and I started sharing with him my thoughts and feelings about the cosmos. I said, “The universe is so beautiful, both visually and mathematically.” The idea of the universe being designed by a Master Artist continued to resonate with me, but I struggled to find evidence that this artist had any interest in knowing me personally.

I shared further doubts: “Are we,” as Shakespeare said in Macbeth, “just a fleeting shadow that appears and then disappears? What is our reason for living? What is the purpose of life? Is it possible to have a personal encounter with the creator of the cosmos?”

Hurst listened intently. He said, “There is an answer to all the questions you are asking. I am well aware that you come from an Orthodox Jewish family, but would you be willing to meet with a dear friend of mine, the Reverend John Spyker?”

My Jewish parents had taught me to seek answers wherever they might be found, so I consented to meet with this Christian minister. Taking the Bible in his hands, Spyker turned to Romans 9:33 where Paul affirms that Y’shua (Jesus) is a stumbling stone to the Jewish people but that those who freely choose to believe in him will never be ashamed.

By divine grace, suddenly everything became perfectly clear. Y’shua was the stumbling stone—my stumbling stone! Jesus had fulfilled all the messianic prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures (where the Messiah would be born, how he was to die, and much else besides). While most Jewish people today are still awaiting the Messiah’s coming, I knew I had found him and that all I had to do was respond to his free offer of grace.

Immediately, I asked Spyker to pray for me, which he did. And on that day, at the age of 22, I surrendered my heart and my reason to Christ Jesus. His Spirit spread through every cell of my being.

(Reflecting on my early days), I realize they had been infused by God’s grace. He had been planting spiritual seeds every time I gazed up into the heavens. And I still marvel that a God so majestic and powerful would know my name—and love me as intimately as his own begotten Son.

Michael Gerson, a former presidential speechwriter, delivered a sermon at Washington National Cathedral in which he talked about being hospitalized for depression:

Like nearly one in 10 Americans — and like many of you — I live with this insidious, chronic disease. Depression is a malfunction in the instrument we use to determine reality. The brain experiences a chemical imbalance and wraps a narrative around it. So, the lack of serotonin, in the mind’s alchemy, becomes something like, “Everybody hates me.” Over time, despair can grow inside you like a tumor.

But then you reach your breaking point — and do not break. With patience and the right medicine, the fog in your brain begins to thin. … Over time, you begin to see hints and glimmers of a larger world outside the prison of your sadness.

I think this medical condition works as a metaphor for the human condition. All of us — whatever our natural serotonin level — look around us and see plenty of reason for doubt, anger and sadness. A child dies, a woman is abused, a schoolyard becomes a killing field, a typhoon sweeps away the innocent. If we knew or felt the whole of human suffering, we would drown in despair.

The answer to the temptation of nihilism is not an argument — though philosophy can clear away a lot of intellectual foolishness. It is the experience of transcendence we cannot explain, or explain away … there is this difference for a Christian believer: At the end of all our striving and longing we find, not a force, but a face. ... God’s promise is somewhat different: That even when strength fails, there is perseverance. And even when perseverance fails, there is hope. And even when hope fails, there is love. And love never fails.