Month: December 2025

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“O God Our Help”

Psalm 90 is a psalm for a new year. It was written by Moses, presumably during the time the people of Israel were on their long 40-year march from Egypt to the Promised Land. It offers a perspective on the passage of time, the sweep of history from one generation to another. It says that God has been our help in the past and he will be our help in the future.

The English hymnwriter Isaac Watts wrote one of his finest hymns, “O God Our Help” as a paraphrase of this psalm. When Winston Churchill and President Franklin Roosevelt met during the second world war to establish the Atlantic Charter, they sang this hymn in a worship service. It was also sung at Churchill’s funeral.

Reading the psalm as a new year begins is a reminder that we are time-bound, but God is eternal. The psalm reminds us that God is holy and he must punish sin. It concludes with an affirmation of God’s unfailing love and the possibility of forgiveness.

The psalm speaks to us of time and eternity. It tells us to take a long view, to find our ultimate security, not in military or economic power, not in politicians, or the stock market, but in God himself. It reminds us of our weakness, and that the Lord is our strong shelter.

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place through all generations. . . . From everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn men back to dust, saying, ‘Return to dust, O sons of men.’ For a thousand years in your sight is like a day that has just gone by” (Psalm 90:1-4).

The longest life on earth is but a “watch in the night,” or like the brief flourishing of grass which withers. The highly accomplished musician and actress Barbra Streisand was quoted as saying, “Life here is so tentative and short, that I want to leave something behind as proof that I existed.”

Psalm 90 goes on to give the reason for the universality of death. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). The psalm employs an intense vocabulary of judgment. Moses is acutely aware that all people are sinners and God knows all about it. The people of Israel are dying in the wilderness every day because of their willful disobedience against God (Numbers 14:23-35). Sin has terrible consequences.

“We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence” (vv. 7-8). The Lord shines his spotlight into the dark corners of our lives. There are no secrets. He sees. He knows.

Thankfully, the psalm does not end with God’s furious anger against sin. There is hope for a new beginning. Moses prays, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (v. 12). Moses is not saying we should count the days until we die, but that we should make our days count for eternity. This is a prayer for wisdom.

This is a prayer that God will be compassionate and forgiving. “Relent, O Lord! . . . Have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days” (vv. 13-14).

As we turn away from sin in humble repentance, God turns to us in mercy. The Psalm is a preview of the gospel. As we trust in Jesus and his sacrifice for sin, God gives his gifts of forgiveness and favor. After the dark night of Good Friday, joy comes on Resurrection morning. When we put our faith in the Son of God, he becomes our place of safety.

“O God, our help in ages past, / our hope for years to come, / our shelter from the stormy blast, / and our eternal home.

“Time, like an ever-rolling stream /  bears all its sons away; / they fly forgotten as a dream / dies at the opening day.

“Under the shadow of thy throne / still may we dwell secure; / sufficient is thine arm alone, / and our defense is sure” (Isaac Watts, 1708).

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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Advent: Jesus Came to Give Us Life

A few years ago a U.S. company sold a toy product they called the “Invisible Jim” action figure. It was called that because all the purchaser got was packaging. There was nothing inside the box! “Lack of darting eyes” and “realistic fake hair,” “as not seen on TV,” and “camouflage suit sold separately” were some of the boasts made on the package. The company said they received no complaints about the empty boxes.

For some people life feels like a gag gift: emptiness wrapped up in disappointment. Charlie Brown, in a famous “Peanuts” cartoon said, “Yesterday, for one brief moment I was happy. But just when I thought I was winning in the game of life, there was flag thrown on the play and life dealt me a blow.”

There is good news for those for whom the Christmas season is less than joyful. Good news for the disappointed, for the frustrated, for the lonely, for those whose lives feel empty. Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

This is one of the “I have come” statements of Jesus. He tells us why he came to earth from heaven. When the Lord Jesus says he came to offer us real life “to the full,” he means life as it was meant to be, eternal life.

Candidly, Jesus is not promising a long life here on earth. Some people’s lives are cut short by tragedy or illness. He is not promising a life free of problems or pain. John 10:10 is not an expression of pious sentimentality.

Jesus is telling us that he came to give us a life that overflows. The life he gives is always more then we think it is. I wonder if he had a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face when he said this. He wants us to have life, real life, and he is the one to give it to us.

His words are echoed in two passages in Paul’s letters. The apostle wrote, “I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of Christ.” Then Paul goes on to affirm that Jesus is able “to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:17-21).

This is a description of a life that overflows. It is beyond comprehension. It opens a door to the promised glories of heaven. It is possible because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

Paul uses a similar vocabulary in a second text. “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. . . . But where sin increased, grace increased all the more (Romans 5:19-20). “Grace abounded,” it says. It is an “abundant provision of God’s grace.” Grace increased all the more” (Romans 5:15, 17, 20). God’s grace has overflowed to us in Jesus Christ.

This super-abundance of grace means that life overcomes death, grace overcomes guilt, righteousness overcomes condemnation, and God’s free gift overcomes our debt and obligation. The life that Jesus gives is always more than we could ask or imagine.

This ever-increasing surplus of life is his own life in us. You may have seen a plaque on a wall that says, “Only one life, / T’will soon be past. / Only what’s done for Christ will last.” Ray Stedman said it may be better to say, “Only what Christ does in me will last.”

Imagine a father going into a toy store to buy his child a Christmas present. He sees a new educational toy. It comes unassembled. No matter how the child tries to put the pieces together, it won’t fit. The toy is designed to teach the child how to deal with the frustrations of life. This illustrates the human predicament. A life without Christ is incomplete, a life of futility. It is what Carl Jung described as “a neurosis of emptiness.”

A famous NFL star was interviewed on ESPN. He had just signed a 60 million dollar contract. He was quoted as saying, “I don’t sleep any better at night. Three Super Bowl rings and I still think there must be something greater for me. There’s gotta be more than this. What’s the answer? I wish I knew!”

An interviewer asked shoppers at a California mall, “What are you celebrating this Christmas?” One person answered, “I’m not celebrating anything. I’m just trying to survive.” There is a better way. Jesus came for such people. He came to die for such people. He gave his life to give us life, a life that overflows with God’s grace.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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Advent: Jesus Came to Give Us Light

“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness” (John 12:46). 

We are approaching the season when the nights are the longest and the days are the shortest, the winter Solstice. It is the time when the sun is at its lowest point in its apparent path across the sky. In pre-Christian cultures of the Northern Hemisphere, it was the time for festivals of light, when ancient peoples lived in spiritual fear and sought for ways to drive away the darkness.

Some of these pagan Solstice traditions were later incorporated into celebrations of Christmas: traditions such as Yule logs, feasting, evergreens, and the giving and exchanging of gifts. Christmas lights are also a charming and beautiful way to brighten the atmosphere when the dark nights are long.

In thinking about why Jesus came, it is important to remember the theme of light. The gospel of John refers to this several times. Jesus is the light of the world. The general theme of darkness contrasted with light is mentioned repeatedly in John. Jesus describes himself as the light of God who brightens the way to eternal life.

I read about a cave explorer who got separated from his fellow cave crawlers. To make matters worse, he accidently dropped his light, losing it in a pool of water. He was suddenly enveloped in total darkness. Panic set in when he could not find his way out of the maze of rock and mud. He was helpless without light. He lost his sense of direction so he forced himself to sit still and await the return of his team. After what seemed like hours they returned and found him.

Just as light is the most important single tool for a cave explorer, so the light of God in Jesus Christ is our only way to escape spiritual darkness. Jesus said he was sent to our dark world as light. He reveals God to us. He said that to believe in him is to believe in God and to see him is to see God (John 12:44-45). We do not have to wonder or speculate about what God is like. When we look upon Jesus, we see God revealed. We can see the way to God and eternal life.

He said, “I am the light of the world. whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). He said, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness” (John 12:46). He said, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light” (John 12:35-36).

When you display Christmas lights on your house and hang them on the Christmas tree, when you light Advent candles, and observe a candlelight Christmas eve service, think of our Lord Jesus who said he had come as the light of the world.

Think of his words to us, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven”(Matthew 5:16). In England long ago, lighted lanterns were hung in church steeples at night, and others in the front of houses. The watchman going on his rounds would call out as darkness approached, “Hang out your lights!” This is the call of Christ to his disciples in this Advent season: let my light shine through you!

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

 

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Advent: Jesus Came to Save the Lost

I read the story of a pastor who went through a terrible moral failure. He wondered if he could ever be forgiven and restored. When feelings of shame and humiliation were at their peak, he went to worship, desperately seeking hope. He said he did not go to church then as a pastor or as a church leader. “I just went as someone sitting in the pew. I wanted someone who would assure me that there was a tomorrow, that there was grace available, that somehow I could regain my footing, and that one day I’d be a new person again.” He thought no one should ever have to leave a church worship service without hope for a new beginning.

This season of the year reminds us of the possibility of hope. Advent is the annual celebration of the coming of Jesus. We have the testimony from Jesus’ own lips about why he came into the world: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). That is the offer of hope for a new beginning. Permit me to highlight three words: “lost,” “seek,” and “save.”

Lost

Our Lord said this about a man named Zacchaeus who was wealthy and politically connected. But something was missing in his life that riches and power could not provide. He was spiritually needy and he knew it. He wanted hope for a new beginning.

That is why he wanted to see Jesus. He was curious, so curious that he set aside pretentions of dignity and climbed a tree to get a better look. His name, Zacchaeus, means “righteous one,” but he was anything but righteous. He was a tax collector who was ripping off his own people on behalf of the Roman government.

The New Testament uses the word “lost” to convey a warning, that God sees people in their natural state as spiritually ruined and separated from him by sin. This is true of unenlightened pagans living in the darkness of idolatry. It is also true of sophisticated, well-educated, well-to-do moderns who have never humbled themselves before their Creator. Was Zacchaeus starting to feel the spiritual desolation of being lost?

One of the traditional scripture readings for the second Sunday in Advent is 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish (be lost), but everyone to come to repentance.”

Seek

This represents our Lord’s activity to solve the greatest human problem. He sought Zacchaeus and he seeks people today. Luke 19:1-9 tells the story of how Jesus sought Zacchaeus. He looked at where he was, up in the tree. He spoke to him. He called him by name. He invited himself into Zacchaeus’ life. Jesus took the initiative in the relationship. He sought him urgently: “I must stay at your house today” (v. 5).

Zacchaeus responded by welcoming Jesus into his home. I think this means that he also was opening his heart to Jesus.

Do I need to remind you that just as Jesus saw and spoke to Zacchaeus, he sees you, knows you, and speaks to you through his word? He wants you to open your heart to him too. He offers you hope and a new beginning with him.

Save

Jesus said on this occasion, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham” (v. 9). Abraham is always remembered for his exemplary faith. Jesus was saying that like Abraham, Zacchaeus had saving faith.

R.C. Sproul wrote, “Zacchaeus told Jesus he was going to give one half of his goods to the poor and repay anyone he had cheated fourfold. Here we have a bold and dramatic confession of sin, act of repentance, and confession of faith.”

Zacchaeus did not receive salvation because he did this good deed. He did the good deed because he wanted to give evidence of having salvation. Restitution was the right thing to do.

Jesus said the reason he came was to seek and to save the lost. To be saved it is necessary to admit that you are lost without him, that your sins have come between you and God. Jesus died on the cross to take away your sins. He asks you to believe on him and receive the gift of salvation.

What better time than now? What better day than today? There is hope for a new beginning.

Pastor Randy Faulkner