Made Like Pure Gold
This Week’s Announcements and Events
Pastor and Becca are in quarantine for the next two weeks. If you need pastoral assistance, you may call Pastor on his cellphone or email him.
Christmas VBS will be on December 11 from 9 am to noon. It is open to children ages 3 to 12. We will end with a birthday party for Jesus. Registration is now open at www.trinitymountainhome.com/events.
Advent services not be held this week. Pastor will email out a video of the Advent sermon on Wednesday.
Prayer Requests for this Week:
Ted Johnson – health issues
Sarah Sauer – health issues
Mike Knicker – health issues
Evie Schroeder – Recovering from stroke
Amy Pauers
Dan Kelley – health issues
Mel Murray – Fractured Vertebrae
On Our Calendar this week
Saturday December 11
9 am – 12 pm – Christmas VBS
Sunday December 12
9:30 am – Worship
11 am – Sunday School
But who can endure the day when he comes? Who will remain standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, like launderers bleach! He will be seated like a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and like silver. They will belong to the Lord and bring him an offering in righteousness. (Malachi 3:2–3)
In Malachi’s day, many of the people of Jerusalem and Judah were wealthy. The land was prosperous and the people enjoyed in the wealth of their country. But their wealth had corrupted them. They would offer sacrifice to God and make offerings at the temple but their sacrifices were not as God had commanded. They brought the bulls and the sheep that they had no use for, the blind and the lame, the animals that had defects, that were worthless. And their offerings were given becasue they thought it would bring them ore money rather than given cheerfully to the Lord. Even the priests at the temple had used God’s house for their own gain.
And God sent Malachi to call his people back to him. Malachi chastised the people of Judah and warned the priests that God was unhappy with them. Among all of that, God also renews his promise to send his messiah. He warns them the messenger is coming soon. The Messiah would follow after, and the Lord would come to his temple.
But this promise, much like John the Baptist’s message was bitter sweet. Because of sin, no one is able to stand before God on his own. We have our idols that we turn to, whether it be our family or our money or any other thing in our life that distracts us from worshipping God with our whole heart. And we don’t always bring God our best. We worship him with grumpy attitudes. We go to church and do the exact opposite of what God tell us in his Word the minute we leave church.
But for God’s people, God promises to make them pure and clean. Just as bleach takes away the stains and a refiner’s fire purifies a metal, so the messiah makes us pure and clean. Through his death and ressurrection, he takes away our impurities. He takes away the stain of our sin. He washes over our pride, our greed, our idolatry, our heartless worship and gives us the ability to bring him our offerings of worship and time and other gifts in righteousness. Amen.
The song for today is “Purify My Heart” by Brian Doerksen