{"id":3628,"date":"2024-01-29T14:07:42","date_gmt":"2024-01-29T14:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.firstpresvaldosta.org\/?p=3628"},"modified":"2024-01-29T14:07:42","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T14:07:42","slug":"3628","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.firstpresvaldosta.org\/index.php\/2024\/01\/29\/3628\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhen It’s Guessing Time\u201d<\/span>
\nJanuary 28th, 2024<\/span>
\nRev. Sid Leak<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In one of the\u00a0Peanuts\u00a0<\/em>cartoons that appeared in 1973<\/span>
\nPeppermint Patty is seated at her desk at school.<\/span>
\nShe\u2019s obviously taking a test because she picks her paper up and says:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is some test!<\/span>
\nWho was Cyril Fox?<\/span>
\nDiscuss briefly the Bronze Age.<\/span>
\nWho were the Beaker people?<\/span>
\nWho was CassevellAUnus?<\/span>
\nWho was Cunobelin?<\/span>
\nWhat were the Causewayed Camps?<\/span><\/p>\n

She looks at the test paper quietly a moment<\/span>
\nShe puts it down on her desk.<\/span>
\nThen she cries out in the fourth frame:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIT\u2019S GUESSING TIME!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When you and I look out on the church and the world today<\/span>
\nwe can make a good case for it being \u201cguessing time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Church historian Martin Marty of the University of Chicago has said<\/span>
\nwe have gone from a society<\/span>
\nwhere all the props supported the church<\/span>
\nto a society where few if any props support the church.<\/span><\/p>\n

Contemporary society lives in the present moment.<\/span>
\nThere is the general conviction that whatever exists is unsatisfactory<\/span>
\nOnly the new, the future will be better.<\/span><\/p>\n

The electronic devices on which we depend<\/span>
\nhave not given us more time from work<\/span>
\nThey have simply increased the pace of work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Secularism has come to dominate the media and education in general<\/span>
\nOver 20 years ago, fifty percent of persons in the media<\/span>
\ndenied any religious affiliation.<\/span>
\nOnly twenty percent said they were Protestant.<\/span>
\nOnly eight percent admitted they worshipped regularly.<\/span><\/p>\n

With all this going on, is there any way we can have confidence in God?<\/span>
\nThe Bible answers a definitive \u201cyes!\u201d<\/span>
\nAnd we can look no farther than the Book of Books, the Psalms<\/span>
\nto give us two reasons, that ,<\/span>
\ndespite everything going on today<\/span>
\nwe can have hope and confidence in God.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first evidence we have are:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. THE WORKS OF GOD<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Psalm 111 describes God\u2019s works as great (v. 2)<\/span><\/p>\n

    They are full of honor and majesty (v. 3)<\/span><\/p>\n

    They are so wonderful that people do not forget them (v.4)<\/span><\/p>\n

    Specifically God provides these things for his people<\/span><\/p>\n

    He provides food (v. 5)<\/span><\/p>\n

    He has given his people the possessions of their<\/span>
    \nneighbors (v. 6)<\/span><\/p>\n

    He has put his people in a covenant relationship (v. 9)<\/span><\/p>\n

    God appeared to Abraham and promised him a heritage, offspring,<\/span>
    \nwhen he was considered to be too old.<\/span>
    \nAbraham asked for a sign of encouragement.<\/span>
    \nAs a result, Abraham initiated this little ceremony<\/span>
    \nHe cut some animals in half, then lay down to sleep.<\/span>
    \nHe dreamed he saw a flaming torch pass between the pieces.<\/span>
    \nThis was a sign that God would be faithful<\/span>
    \nGod would keep the covenant<\/span>
    \nAnd if anything was broken, God would take the cost on himself.<\/span>
    \nSo we can have confidence in God because of the works of God, first.<\/span>
    \nAnd, second, we can have confidence is God because of<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. THE BEING OF GOD<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Verse 9 says:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \u201cHe sent redemption to his people.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

      You and I have confidence in God<\/span>
      \nnot only on account of what God has done<\/span>
      \nbut also on account of who God\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0in Jesus Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Before his first miracle in the Capernaum synagogue<\/span>
      \nthe Bible tells us Jesus:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \u201c…taught as one with authority, not as the scribes.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

      Jesus teaching was self-authenticating.<\/span>
      \nHe didn\u2019t need anything to prop it up.<\/span>
      \nHe needed no external support.<\/span><\/p>\n

      But he did more than teach.<\/span>
      \nHe confronted and defeated the powers of darkness<\/span>
      \nAt his command, the evil spirits left without hesitation!<\/span><\/p>\n

      But Jesus dominion did not end there.<\/span>
      \nHe triumphed over evil when he cast out demons.<\/span>
      \nHe triumphed over sin when he successfully resisted every form of temptation<\/span>
      \n\u2026 when he risked being for other people who needed forgiveness & help<\/span>
      \nBut he also triumphed over the last enemy death, when on the third day,<\/span>
      \nGod raised him over the worst that sin could do<\/span>
      \nThe worst that evil could do<\/span>
      \nThe worst that death itself could do.<\/span>
      \nAnd in this resurrection is the promise of yours and mine!<\/span><\/p>\n

      The great reformed theologian Karl Barth once said<\/span><\/p>\n

      \u201cThe man who fears death is close to the truth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

      This is why Christ engaged in open combat<\/span>
      \nwith all forms of sickness, evil, and even death itself.<\/span>
      \nHe did not want to die.<\/span>
      \nEven on the cross he prayed:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \u201cMy God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

      But even though death has broken loose in life,<\/span>
      \nChrist will not allow it to run its course forever.<\/span>
      \nIn the gospel of Mark it says in the 13th chapter<\/span><\/p>\n

      \u201cHe will send out his angels and gather his elect\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span>
      \nfrom the ends of earth to the ends of heaven.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

      Bo Scarbrough was a running back<\/span>
      \nwho played football for the Dallas Cowboys<\/span>
      \nand for Coach Nick Saban at the University of Alabama<\/span>
      \nWhen he was at Alabama, Bo, Coach Saban, Jeff Allen and Cedric Burns<\/span>
      \nwere coming back down I 59 to Tuscaloosa<\/span>
      \nfrom a golf tournament in Birmingham.<\/span>
      \nJeff was the director of sports medicine,<\/span>
      \nCedric was the athletic relations coordinator.<\/span>
      \nHe had worked for the University in the athletic department since 1979 when he was Coach Bear Bryant\u2019s personal assistant.<\/span>
      \nCedric was driving.<\/span>
      \nNow back then, they were constantly working on that Interstate.<\/span>
      \nTHey hit a 50 mile an hour speed limit but Cedric kept on going fast.<\/span>
      \nTo hear Bo tell, he was from the hood.\u00a0 He liked that stuff \u2026 speeding and all<\/span>
      \nSo they kept going fast.<\/span>
      \nBut Jeff got nervous and said, \u201cCed, slow down.\u201d<\/span>
      \nHe didn\u2019t.\u00a0 He kept going.<\/span>
      \nNext thing you know, they sped past the police parked in the median<\/span>
      \nBo said they were going about 90<\/span>
      \nNow all this time, Coach Saban was on the phone.<\/span>
      \nSure enough, the police car pulled out behind them.<\/span>
      \nJeff was like, \u201cCed, aren\u2019t you gonna\u2019 stop?\u201d<\/span>
      \nCedric kept driving!<\/span>
      \nThat\u2019s when Coach Saban got off the phone, turned around to the back seat and said:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \u201cJeff, we\u2019re not stopping!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

      So they kept on going.<\/span>
      \nAnd the police backed off!\u00a0 As Bo remembers it, all they said was:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \u201cStop driving recklessly!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

      WHen it comes to trusting God,\u00a0 we don\u2019t need to back off.<\/span>
      \nWe don\u2019t need to slow down.<\/span>
      \nWe can have confidence in God on the basis of who God is<\/span>
      \nin Jesus Christ who died and rose again for us.<\/span><\/p>\n

      And by this confidence, in God, not in ourselves,<\/span>
      \nwe can witness to the church and to the world<\/span>
      \nthat God\u2019s grace is the last word in every situation.<\/span>
      \nWhether it\u2019s an event in life that overwhelms us<\/span>
      \nor a natural event that threatens to destroy us,<\/span>
      \nthis grace is not a human disposition that as John Leith says<\/span>
      \nenables us to face everything that happens<\/span>
      \nwith stoic discipline.<\/span>
      \nGrace, instead, is a personal, gracious activity of God<\/span>
      \nwhich opens up new possibilities<\/span>
      \nand grants hope beyond every defeat.<\/span><\/p>\n

      So may we live and sing with the Psalmist:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \u201cI will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart<\/em><\/strong><\/span>
      \nin the assembly of the upright, in the great congregation.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

      *Cover Art by Stushie Art, used with subscription<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      \u201cWhen It’s Guessing Time\u201d January 28th, 2024 Rev. Sid Leak In one of the\u00a0Peanuts\u00a0cartoons that appeared in 1973 Peppermint Patty is seated at her desk at school. She\u2019s obviously taking a test because she picks her paper up and says: \u201cThis is some test! Who was Cyril Fox? Discuss briefly the Bronze Age. Who were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n- First Presbyterian Church Valdosta<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.firstpresvaldosta.org\/index.php\/2024\/01\/29\/3628\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When It's Guessing Time\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cWhen It’s Guessing Time\u201d January 28th, 2024 Rev. Sid Leak In one of the\u00a0Peanuts\u00a0cartoons that appeared in 1973 Peppermint Patty is seated at her desk at school. 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