“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”
--C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
"Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come."
--Hebrews 13:13-14
Dear Grace Family,
Lewis’ quote from Mere Christianity points to an inner discontent every human heart senses from time to time. In the silence of reflection, or in the fleeting realizations amidst a hurried state, there is a beckoning towards something peaceful, meaningful and full.
We simply desire more than we presently experience, and our hearts hear the call:
There is more.
Prior to a systematic understanding of doctrine or a vast lexicon of theology and spirituality, every person knows “the call” and either reaches out to embrace the whisper beyond our lived experience or resists the call, burying it under the weight of our obligations, ambitions and immediate desires.
The choice to respond to the call was common also to the people we find in the Bible. From the very beginning, this “call and response” is seen when God calls out the Void and it responds in obedience—yielding every created thing by His powerful commands. We then see promises offered to Humanity in the Garden and our First Parents are given an opportunity to embrace these promises or to doubt them.
Moreover, the call/ response or promise/faith dynamic plays itself out for generations until it seems like all of Humanity has scattered turned their back on God.
It is then that we are presented with Abraham and Sarah; two people with that same common yearning, who hear that same call before there was a full systematic understanding of doctrine or a robust lexicon for who this “YHWH” is—and they embrace His will for their lives. They and their children are invited to embrace the One who calls order from chaos, fruitfulness out of barrenness, dreams in midst of heartbreak, and life out of certain death.
Our next series focuses on the call/response, promise/faith themes in Genesis 12-50, beginning with Abraham and ending with Joseph—and all passages pointing to a redemptive reality we know intimately in Christ, but only in whispers and shadows in the original texts. In these Scriptures, we get to likewise heed the Voice of the One who calls us out of our comforts—out of all that we know—to a life of faith and obedience. “For here we have no enduring City, but we seek the city that is to come (Hebrews 13:14).”
Journey with us!
This Sunday: Genesis 11:27-12:5
The Call, The Promise
Here is the Order of Worship and the Children’s Order of Worship.
Blessings to you,
Pastor Jason