This past Sunday our church community began a new sermon series in the book of Hosea. This blog is an attempt to bring more thoughtful meditation on the Hosea passages we study together on Sunday and more intentional application of these passages. My hope is that this will further encourage and help our community to run the race the Lord Jesus has set before us hard and well (hence the name of this blog!)
I'm pretty new at this blog thing so I'm not sure if this will all work but I figure it's worth a try to see how it goes.
So, here are some further questions and additional thoughts from this past Sunday's sermon, titled "The Story of Hosea: Love, Betrayal and Redemption," based off of Hosea 1:1-3:5.
1. The theme of love is at the heart of the book of Hosea. How would you define love? Based off the passage, how would you describe how God loves his people?
2. See 2 Kings 17:7-18 for a detailed description of how Israel abandoned God. We could say that they actually become more religious, but in the sense that they began serving many different "gods" instead of the one true God.
In what ways do we today give love and service to other "gods" (ex. the god of consumerism, the god of individualism, the god of religious legalism, the god of pride)? How does our worship of these gods enslave us rather than free us?
3. Consider this quote by Ray Ortlund Jr from his book, "God's Unfaithful Wife": "The gospel reveals that, as we look into the universe, ultimate reality is not cold, dark, blank space; ultimate reality is romance. There is a God above with love in his eyes for us and infinite joy to offer us, and he has set himself upon winning our hearts for himself alone."
What's the significance of knowing that ultimate reality is a story of God's "romancing" of his people as opposed to thinking that ultimate reality is just "cold, dark, blank space"? How can we better embrace and embody this divine love in our community?
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