Growing up I heard my dad say numerous times that God spoke to him.  My first thought was, "I wonder what God's voice sounds like."  Is it deep and full of bass?  Does it rattle the windows like thunder?  Is it not only loud but accompanied with wind that knocks your hat off your head and blows your hair back?  Some people might scoff at the idea that God speaks to anyone, but I believe God speaks to all of us; we just might not realize it.  Maybe that voice is very apparent but sounds completely different from what we were expecting.  

 

On Sunday we are going to talk about The Magi (AKA: The Wise Men or The Three Kings).  Do you remember when God spoke to The Magi?  They practiced their faith by looking at the stars, as it was through this practice that God revealed to them that something incredible was happening and they were compelled to go check it out.  God spoke to them.  After traveling (maybe as many as 800 miles) God speaks to Herod and the people of Jerusalem through The Magi.  They ask where the king was to be been born and, after dusting off their old bible, they remember something about Jerusalem.  God spoke to Herod and all of Jerusalem through these foreigners.  After these two significant events, God finally spoke to The Magi in a more expected manner.  They were warned in a dream.  

 

God speaks to us all the time.  It just might happen in ways we don't expect.  God speaks to us through the eyes of a child who sees things that we miss because we are too busy with life.  God speaks to us through our families and trusted friends as we wrestle with difficult decisions.  God speaks to us through the strangers who serve us our drinks, care for us in hospitals, and chitchat with us in elevators.  Did you miss it?  God's voice might be full of bass and thunder, but it also might sound just like your spouse or your child.  God's voice might be accompanied with gale force winds, but it also might sound like the faint whisper of someone who has lived many years.  God's voice might even speak a different language.  God is speaking to us all the time.  The real question is, are we listening?

See you in church,

 

Chris 

pastorchris@epiphanysuwanee.org

Rabbi Harold Kushner once called it, "The most dangerous book in the Bible!" What else would you say about a book that begins with "Meaningless, meaningless. Everything is meaningless." Yet this is how the book of Ecclesiastes begins and it still speaks to us today. In a world that tells us we aren't significant unless we wear the right clothes, talk on the right phone, and drive the right car, are these the things that really lead to a full life? Isn't there more to life? Join us on Wednesdays at 7 for the next 5 weeks, as we walk through this short but powerful book. You won't want to miss it!