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I used to loveee sermons. I still do. But there was a time in my life when I watched sermons for fun and I found it  fascinating how much men and few women I listened to devoted themselves to dig and study God's word which led them to be so excited to share the wonderous things they've seen.

Voddie was one of those for me. Following Keller and Piper, I think I've heard his sermons the most. And this was what I found unique about him, He could be screaming passionately or weeping through his sentences- his delivery and emotions never distracted you from what he was saying. He never wastes sentences or quotes. You actually miss a lot on your first listen. Forget taking notes while he preaches cause he doesn't really ramble. Thats actually true of Keller too. Every author or hymn they quote amidst their sermon is gold. And I think they both will remain relevant because their sermons focused on tracing the gospel throughout scriptures. It will be very rare to find a sermon (on any topic) where both of these men will end the sermon without articulating the gospel at some point.  I've been immensely helped by that.

I've been looking for an excuse to go back to those sermons that I loved and make myself deliberately busy by attempting to bring back those moments that I thoroughly enjoyed. I narrowed it down to 5 of his sermons that I absolutely love. Hope you guys will love it as well

1, Brokenness : Can't think of a better sermon on Psalms 51 (dead or alive)

2, Parable of the older Son (Another Keller-esque sermon that will rock you to your core.

3, The Rescuer:  ( I've shared the transcripts of similar sermon of his here (Minassae: Let that stuff go) a while ago but this is truly an exceptional gospel sermon preached from Genesis So many typologies and heart thrilling redemption story .)

4, The World, the Flesh, and the Devil (A non simplistic sobering sermon that will wake you up to the reality of the Christian life.)

Choosing the fifth sermon has been tough. Too many great contenders : Getting the Gospel right? , Why you can believe in the Bible?, Gospel Clarity, Forgiveness or even his sermon on Biblical womenhood... But I rememeber his sermons on 1 Corinthians 15 (on the resurrection).  He preached that section like an apologist and it was so helpful and edifying to grasp the argument Paul makes and all the great implications we can draw from that.

"You're never going to be the kind of Christian that just flows into spiritual disciplines — like prayer as a default position. Holiness is not a default position. You're always going to have to have a conscious will to obey." John MacArthur

ስሜታችሁ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ዋጋ አለው

ውደዱት፣ በአድናቆት በመንቀጥቀጥ ቁሙ፣ ተደሰቱ፣ ፈንድቁ፣ ሐሴት አድርጉ፣ ተስፋ አድርጉ፣ አመሥግኑት።

እነዚህ ከላይ የተጠቀሱት ሁሉ የግል ምስክርነቶች ባይሆኑም በመዝሙራት ውስጥ ስለ ስሜታችን የተሰጡ ብዙ ምስክርነቶች አሉ፦ “እግዚአብሔርን ወደድሁት” (መዝሙር 116፥1)፤ “በምድርም ከአንተ ሌላ የምሻው የለኝም” (መዝሙር 73፥25)፤ “ቃልህ ለምላሴ ምንኛ ጣፋጭ ነው!” (መዝሙር 119፥103)።

ከላይ የተጠቀሱት አንዳቸውም የተስፋ ቃል አይደሉም። በመዝሙር መጽሐፍ ውስጥ ግን ስለ ስሜቶቻችን የተገቡ ብዙ የተስፋ ቃሎች አሉ፦ “እርሱ የተጠማችውን ነፍስ አርክቷልና” (መዝሙር 107፥9)፤ “ድኾች ይህን ያያሉ፤ ደስም ይላቸዋል” (መዝሙር 69፥32)፤ “ጻድቃን በቀልን ባዩ ጊዜ ደስ ይላቸዋል” (መዝሙር 58፥10)።

ከላይ የተጠቀሱት አንዳቸውም ጸሎት ባይሆኑም በመዝሙር መጽሐፍ ስለ ስሜቶች የቀረቡ ብዙ ጸሎቶች አሉ፦

“ሐሤትንና ደስታን አሰማኝ፤ ያደቀቅሃቸው ዐጥንቶቼም ደስ ይበላቸው” (መዝሙር 51፥8)፤ “የባሪያህን ነፍስ ደስ አሰኛት፤” (መዝሙር 86፥4)፤ በዘመናችን ሁሉ ደስ እንዲለን፣ ሐሤትም እንድናደርግ፣ ምሕረትህን በማለዳ አጥግበን (መዝሙር 90፥14)።

የሚጠበቅብን ደስታ

ውደዱ፣ በአድናቆት በመንቀጥቀጥ ቁሙ፣ ተደሰቱ፣ ፈንድቁ፣ ሐሴት አድርጉ፣ ተስፋ አድርጉ፣ አመሥግኑ። እነዚህ ምስክርነቶች ወይም የተስፋ ቃሎች ወይም ጸሎቶች አይደሉም፤ ትእዛዛት ናቸው። በቀጥታ ለስሜት፤ በተለይም ደግሞ አዎንታዊ ለሆነ የደስታ ስሜቶች የተሰጡ ትእዛዛት ናቸው። ደግሞም በሰፊው ስላለ አጠቃላይ ደስታ ሳይሆን በእግዚአብሔር ላይ ስላለ ደስታ ያትታሉ። ሁሉም እግዚአብሔርን ስለ መውደድ፣ በእግዚአብሔር ተደንቆ ስለ መቆም፣ በእግዚአብሔር ስለ መፈንደቅ፣ በእግዚአብሔር ስለ መደሰት፣ በእግዚአብሔር ሐሴት ስለ ማድረግ፣ በእግዚአብሔር ተስፋ ስለ ማድረግና እግዚአብሔርን ስለ ማመሥገን በመናገር እነዚህን ነገሮች ለእግዚአብሔር እንድናደርጋቸው ያዙናል።

ተጨማሪ ለማንበብ...

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#Articles

አምላኬ ሆይ
ወደ አንተ ለመቅረብ ያልተገባኝ ብሆንም ሀጥያቴን በውል እረዳለሁ። ጥፋተኝነቴንም አልክድም። ዓመፃዬንም በመናዘዝ ከልቤ ምህረትህን እማጠናለው።

አለኝ የምለው ይህ እምነት የሚፈጥረው የማንፃት፣ የማክበርና የመስበር ተፅዕኖ ተሰምቶኝ በርህራሄ፣ በፍቅር እና ትህትና ልደግ። በአንተ እጅ ያለ ዕቃ መሆንን እንደ ትልቅ ክብርና መታደል በማየት ያለኝን አቅም ችሎቴ ሁሉ አሟጥጬ ለአገልግሎት የማገኘውን እድል ሁሉ በመጠቀም ልትጋ።

አንተ ለእኔ ሁሉን ነገር በጎ አድርገህልኛል። አልረሳኸኝም። ለይተህ አውቀኸኛል። በረከትህም ተትረፍርፎልኛል። መሻቶቼ ሁሉ አልተሟሉም። ነገርግን የምኞቴ ፍፃሜ መጥፊያዬ ወይ የጉዳት መንስኤዬ እንዳይሆን ፍቅርህ ከልክሎኛል።

መከራዎቼ ከሀጥያቴ ያንሳሉ። እነርሱም የተግሳፅ በትርህን በፍቅር ስቀበል ከእጅህ ይወድቃሉ።
ብዙ ጊዜ እንባዬን ታብሳለህ። የቆዛሚውን ልቤን ሰላም ትመልሳለህ። ለጥቅሜ ትቀጣኛለህ። ስራዎችህ ሁሉ ለእኔ ፍፁም እንከን አልባ ናቸውና፥ እወድስሀለው።

O God Though I am unallowed to approach thee, I am not unmindful of my sins, I do not deny my guilt, I confess my wickedness, and earnestly plead forgiveness.

May I with Moses choose affliction rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin. Help me to place myself always under thy guiding and guardian care, To take firmer hold of the sure covenant that binds me to thee, to feel more of the purifying, dignifying, softening influence of the religion I profess, to have more compassion, love, pity, courtesy, to deem it an honour to be employed by thee as an instrument in thy hands, ready to seize every opportunity of usefulness and willing to offer all my talents to thy service.

Thou hast done for me all things well
hast remembered distinguished indulged me. All my desires have not been gratified but thy love denied them to me when fulfilment of my wishes would have proved my ruin or injury.

My trials have been fewer than my sins and when I have kissed the rod it has fallen from thy hands. Thou hast often wiped away my tears restored peace to my mourning heart, chastened me for my profit  All thy work for me is perfect and I praise thee.

Prayer from Valley of Visions

You have made us for yourself,
and our heart is restless until it rests in you.

- Augustine of Hippo

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O for a closer walk with God, A calm and heavenly frame,
A light to shine upon the road, That leads me to the Lamb.

Where is the blessèdness I knew? When I first saw the Lord
Where is that soul-refreshing view? Of Jesus and His word!

Return, O holy Dove, return, sweet messenger of rest;
I hate the sins that made Thee mourn, and drove Thee from my breast.

What peaceful hours I once enjoyed! How sweet the memory still
But they have left an aching void, the world can never fill!

The dearest idol I have known, Whatever that idol be,
Help me tear if from Thy throne, And worship only Thee.

So shall my walk be close with God, Calm and serene my frame-
So purer light shall mark the road, That leads me to the Lamb.