A Wedding Homily

From Pastor Bob Pohler,
Fruitport Christian Reformed Church

Our text from God’s good and perfect word is Ephesians 5:22-33.

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.  In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.  For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”  This mystery is profound, and I am saying it refers to Christ and the church.  However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

This is God’s good word to us.

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Something Brewing…

Something’s brewing…!

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Advent Thoughts – Martha

There are some very specific reasons currently that have led me to not having the time to write at length as I typically do.  On the other hand, here is something I wrote for tomorrow’s service, the second week of Advent.

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The Music and the Weakness

So what’s the difference between a song like this:

And a song like this?

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Almost Atheist: Atheism and the Sovereignty of God

This is a deeply emotional question.

Where has everyone else gone in this family photo?

Think about this passage in Revelation 7 for a second:

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

(Revelation 7:13-17 ESV)

“God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”  What does that even mean?  Does it mean that there will be no more suffering, no more pain?  Does it mean that it will be the end of all sadness and that there will only be joy?

Or does the passage say something more nuanced, more difficult, and yet… more beautiful?  Does it mean that rather, God will comfort me in my grieving, yes, even the grieving that occurs standing before the throne?

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