- Hymn # 400 Come, Thou Fount of every Blessing
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved
Hymn # 705 Marvelous Grace of our Loving Lord
Scripture: Micah 6:1-8
Hear what the Lord says:
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord,
and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the Lord has an indictment against his people,
and he will contend with Israel. 3 “O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I wearied you? Answer me!
4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”
6 “With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Sermon: He Has Shown You
Sermon Notes:
Intro - it is so easy to fall into the trap of feeling like we need to make up for our wrong-doing.
'I wish I could pay the fine so I could make it all better."
A court case here.????
God is calling the people to task. He asks them to present their case to him. And tells the people what he has done.
"Hear O Israel....hear what the Lord says"
He brings his complaint to the people.
The mountains are to stand as witnesses,.... having seen both sides of the issue.
God's indictment .... what have I done to you? What have I done that you are tired of me?
The people would bring sacrifices and would worship but it was for show only...they truly cared only for themselves
They didn't want God interfering in their lives outside of their religious duties.
God reminded them of what he has done for them.
- Brought out of Egypt
- Redeemed you from slavery
- Gave you good leaders
- Protected you from the curse of Balak
- Remember the trip from Shittim to Gilgal.
And so the people said
"With what shall I come to the Lord?"
- in other words they were asking what fine should they pay to make it all right again
- in fact they offer to pay huge amounts to God to "make it all right"
- they wanted to pay God off
-'to purchase their own forgiveness - they didn't really understand the point of sacrifice
This tendency continues today
People so often want to earn their forgiveness
I this no wonder that they were weary, this misunderstanding meant they would never cease having to make it right with God.
God has made it right for us through the death of his son Jesus. The fine has been paid.
All we need to do is trust in him.
He has prepared tasks in advance for us to do in Faith.
We don't earn anything in our relationship with God. He has done it all. All we need to do is live in faith.
Our actions are simply a result of God living with in us. It is our response to God.
"He has shown you oh man what is good. And what does the Lord require of you
- To act justly
- To love mercy
- To walk humbly with your God
Our action flows it us walking humbly with God. From that flows our mercy and our love.
- Hymn # 403 Not What my Hands Have Done
- Hymn # 681 I Will Sing of my Redeemer
- Hymn # 89–4 To the Great One in Three