Dear Friends,
I have to be honest. I’m a sucker for a bargain. I love a good deal. And when I see a good deal, I want to stock up.
Mary Ann and I were at Costco not long ago, going up and down all of the aisles in the freezer section, and I couldn’t believe what I saw near the back of one of the rows. Costco had the eight pound bag of Ore Ida Golden Tater Tots marked down to just $6.99. I love a good tater tot. And at Kroger, the two pound bag of Ore Ida Tots is $5.99. Here at Costco, I could pay one dollar more and walk home with eight pounds of Tater Tots!
That’s when I heard my wife, standing behind me, say “no.”
What we have here is a clash of values.
I love a bargain. Mary Ann prioritizes freezer space. She also knows that only one person at our house would be eating tater tots. And since the Ore Ida folks calculate a serving size as three ounces, the eight-pound bag comes to roughly 40 servings. For one person (like me, for example), that eight-pound bag would probably last a year or more. Even with sufficient freezer space available, my wife doesn’t want our freezer loaded up with a year’s supply of shredded potato treats (she said the same thing, by the way, about the five pound box of breaded mozzarella sticks which I also wanted to buy and which were also on sale).
So I’m looking at both the tater tots and the mozzarella sticks and thinking “what a deal! How can I turn this down?”
As you have probably already guessed, because I love my wife more than tater tots or mozzarella sticks, we came home with neither. We still have plenty of freezer space available. I wound up buying a two-pound bag of tater tots at Kroger, even though it killed me to be paying $2.00 a pound for the Kroger brand (they call them Tater Rounds) when the price at Costco was less an $1.00 for the brand name, high end tots!
My love for a bargain isn’t new. Years ago, Mary Ann told me we were out of plastic straws. The Kroger price for a box of plastic straws back then was $1.00 a box for 50 straws. But it just so happened that while I was shopping at Sam’s Club, I came across a deal I couldn’t resist – a box of 300 straws for only $9.99! I couldn’t understand why my wife was not as delighted about all the money I had just saved us!
I actually shared this story on the radio and we asked our listeners to vote for who was right, Mary Ann or me. We called it a straw poll.
What got me thinking about my propensity to want to stockpile tater tots and plastic straws was something I read this week in 2 Kings 25. In the closing paragraph in the last chapter of 2 Kings, we read about the King of Babylon had deciding to pardon the King of Judah, King Jehoiachin, who had been imprisoned by the previous Babylonian monarch. The new King, who was unfortunately named Evil-Merodach (not sure what his parents were thinking) decided he would deal kindly with Jehoiachin.
The writer of 2 Kings says “Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and he dined regularly in the presence of the king of Babylon for the rest of his life.”
Think about that. This is a gospel picture in 2 Kings. Through no goodness of his own, but only because the King of Babylon had chosen to show him favor, Jehoiachin was able to trade his prison clothes for a seat at the king’s dining table, where he ate for the rest of his life.
That’s the same thing God has done for each of His children – for you and me. He has released us from the prison we were in and seated us at His table with Him forever. We dine with Him and eat His food, not because of any goodness in ourselves, but because He is rich in mercy. Like Jehoiachin, we are shown favor we don’t deserve.
The final verse in 2 Kings 25 says that Jehoiachin was given a regular allowance by the king, “a portion for each day, for the rest of his life.”
A portion each day. Not for each week. Or each month. Jehoiachin had no surplus or savings. There was no eight pound bag of tater tots in the corner of the freezer. No surplus of drinking straws. He awakened each new day fully aware that he was at the mercy of the King to provide for him exactly what he would need that day.
Here’s what Charles Spurgeon sees for us in this final verse in 2 Kings. “Beloved Christian reader, in matters of grace, you need a daily supply. You have no store of strength. Day by day must you seek help from above.
“It is a very sweet assurance that a daily portion is provided for you… In Jesus all needful things are laid up for you. Enjoy your continual allowance. Never go hungry while the daily bread of grace is on the table of mercy.”
God delivers the grace we need when we need it. The perfect allotment at just the right time. We don’t need a storehouse of grace. God has one. The supply is endless. But He apportions it day by day. He gives us just what we need in the moment when it’s needed.
Here’s the thing about God’s daily provision of grace. It’s the ultimate bargain. It can’t be bought. It’s a free gift from a loving Father for His children.
There’s no way to stock up on grace. But there’s also no need to worry about having enough. He has for you and me the exact portion we will need, each day, for the rest of our lives.
It’s like having one serving of tater tots, in the freezer, whenever you need it. And when you go looking for another serving the next day, there it is.
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
(Lamentations 3:22–24)
I know many of you are praying regularly for Kelly Rackley and Jim Brown as they both are going through treatments for their cancer diagnoses.
I learned today that Kelly’s children and other family members have set an alarm on their phone to go off each day at 12:34 pm. They all pause at that moment to pray for her. And if they can, to sing along with the worship song Graves Into Gardens (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=177e1b156e&e=fbb0a4052b), which includes this chorus:
You turn mourning to dancing
You give beauty for ashes
You turn shame into glory
You're the only one who can
You turn graves into garden
You turn bones into armies
You turn seas into highways
You're the only one who can
If you’d like to set the timer on your phone to go off every day at 12:34, to pray for the Rackley’s and the Browns, I know they’d love to have you joining with them in prayer – even if it’s a quick one if that's what you have time for!
If you haven’t yet signed up to provide a meal for Derek and Elizabeth Gaines, here’s the link (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=843a2e1eb9&e=fbb0a4052b) for the Meal Train that has been established for them. They have some open dates in February.
If you haven’t clicked the link and added your name to the roster for the Men’s Breakfast happening this Saturday morning, now’s the time. Click here (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=3305a965df&e=fbb0a4052b) so we can know how many eggs to scramble!
Our spring Women’s Bible Study will start the first week in February. The study will take you through the book of Genesis, using Nancy Guthrie’s book The Promised One.
Details and registration are up and ready on our website. Click here (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=a3fc45936b&e=fbb0a4052b) for info.
Speaking of February, here’s the update on what else is coming up next month.
First, the NxtGen (twenty somethings) will meet at the Gurney’s on Saturday, February 1.
Our Redeemer Men’s Institute will reconvene on Thursday, February 6 to talk about what part we play in our sanctification.
We have a New Members Classes happening the first weekend in February.
This weekend, we’ll find out who’s playing in this year’s Super Bowl. But whoever it is, we know that the Super Bowl weekend will include two special annual events! First, our Saturday Night Super Bowling Event for anyone who loves watching the pins fall!
Mark your calendars now and click here (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=e201dc0f05&e=fbb0a4052b) to sign up to join the fun.
Then, the next day right after church, we’ll all bring a crock pot of soup or stew or chili and share a meal together in our annual Soup-er Bowl Sunday pot luck. You can start looking through your recipe files now to decide which soup you want to bring.
You may remember that last spring, we had a very special evening for couples – a date night event at Redeemer. We turned our worship center into a fine dining establishment for an evening. We served a dinner that included Filet Mignon. Our students were our servers. It was a fun night for couples.
In fact it was so much fun, we’re doing it again!
Friday night, February 21 at 6:00 pm. A date night for the two of you that you don’t want to miss!
It will be a night to reconnect as a couple, to be encouraged, and to have some fun.
$40 per couple includes dinner.
Childcare is available for children through 5th grade (When you register, indicate the name, age, and number of kids who need childcare. If you use our childcare, you will need to bring a packed dinner for them).
And speaking of registering – we have a limited number of seat available. We can only host 40 couples. So don’t wait to sign up. Decide now to do something special with your spouse on the Friday after Valentines Day. You can register by clicking here. (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=19f2fafe09&e=fbb0a4052b)
Here’s our New City Catechism questions for this week.
Question: How and why did God create us?
Answer: God created us male and female in his own image to know him, love him, live with him, and glorify him. And it is right that we who were created by God should live to his glory.
Here’s a link (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=b26f649604&e=fbb0a4052b) to a video where John Piper talks about this week’s question and answer.
(https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=75b215e3b2&e=fbb0a4052b)
And here’s the link (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=ef5715d698&e=fbb0a4052b) to the song based on this week’s and next week’s questions and answers
(https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=d9066b58f4&e=fbb0a4052b)
And once again this week, here’s a link (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=3d826527c3&e=fbb0a4052b) that will take you to a Spotify playlist of the songs we’ll be singing together this Sunday!
Here is our December financial report. Thanks again to all who gave generously at year end!
December General Fund Giving: $157,909
December Expenses: $61,082.61
Year to Date General Fund Giving: $562,115
Year to Date Expenses: $565,205
Year to Date Building Fund Giving $171,806
Balance on Hand on 10/31/24 $167,369
One of the age-old issues that troubles people as we think about God’s control over the events of life is what theologians call the problem of “theodicy” – the reality of the existence of evil in a world under God’s control. That’s the issue that the prophet Habakkuk addresses head on: How should we walk with God in the midst of tragedy or evil.
Bible commentator Raymond Calkins says “There is no Old Testament book that is able to do more for the burdened souls of men or to raise them to higher levels of hope and confidence than the brief prophecy of Habakkuk.” And this Sunday, Pastor Jeff Terrell from Ascend Church (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=f8c6851a42&e=fbb0a4052b) in Kansas City will help us see how we can find our hope and confidence in God even when we’re in a season of suffering.
See you in church.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Pastor Bob
