Outline: I. Introduction: The importance of listening to God's voice A. Importance of focusing on the right things B. Personal reflections on distractions II. Amos's prophecy against Judah A. Despising God's law B. Embracing lies III. Amos's prophecy against Israel A. Social injustices B. Sexual immorality C. Misuse of pledges and drunkenness IV. Conclusion: The need to cherish God's word as supreme
Do you sometimes feel you are preaching to a people who are under a leadership like those in Amos' day? In Amos 2:6, WHO sells the righteous for money and WHO sells the needy for sandals? The needy? The righteous? Do the needy sell the righteous for money and the righteous sell the needy for sandals? I don't think so. Sometimes the congregation is at the mercy of its leaders. Maybe in Amos's day he was facing the equivalent of our deep state? How many sins do we have to deal with that are the result of our leaders allowing them to come to our front door? 27:28 ...the northern Kingdom's first king, King Jeroboam and he started setting up idols in the land per to slow them down from going down to Jerusalem to worship and so the resulting consequences of a people who departed from God's word is now there's lots of evil in the land and there's lots of injustices happening in the land. Amen to that. The leaders of Israel led the people into the sin of this and into the sin of that, just like our leaders today lead people into this sin and that sin. They don't lead us into all the possible sins, but they do bring a lot of sin to our streets and door. The congregation is not always the one at fault. What did Amos say to these leaders? What are pastors saying to these leaders or is their message solely directed at the "needy" and the "righteous"? While it might be safer for the preacher to avoid poking the eye of the leaders it becomes excessively burdensome to the rest. Echoes of Amos: The Unseen Impact of Jewish Power and Liberalism on Christian America America is a vast land with many different people, yet among them, the Jewish community stands out. Though Jews make up only 2% of our population, their presence in power is both striking and unsettling and apparently exempt from DEI which they, more than any other people, promote. Some with their feet in two lands, hold dual citizenship! The words of Amos, spoken to Jews long ago, seem to hover over us now, as if God's warnings are eternal and unchanging and fall upon any people who set up the same conditions as they. Might Amos' message also be for those who come out of the 2% to lead us, especially as they hold such strong liberal views as the 2020 Pew Research Center indicates? Their influence has made life harder for Christians here. Soon we will have no seminaries to train others to send to the lost. The Word of God is being silenced as it had been unheard in Amos's day - by the same kind of people. Imagine how American our country would look without the liberalism of this minority saturating our institutions for the past 100 years. Do they welcome Christ? Not at all, but why would they when "their nation" is filled with Christians like us who continue to support them and protect them, instead of warn them, from the kind of wrath Amos described for such sins? Picture Jesus, calling out the Pharisees, in hope of saving His people from God's wrath coming upon His nation. And consider Amos, addressing the leaders of his day, hoping to save his people from God's wrath coming upon his nation. Surely, it’s not too far-fetched to imagine a Christian pastor speaking to these blind guides who seem intent on leading us all into a pit. Lord, bless this pastor with wisdom for such a day as ours.
Outline:
I. Introduction: The importance of listening to God's voice
A. Importance of focusing on the right things
B. Personal reflections on distractions
II. Amos's prophecy against Judah
A. Despising God's law
B. Embracing lies
III. Amos's prophecy against Israel
A. Social injustices
B. Sexual immorality
C. Misuse of pledges and drunkenness
IV. Conclusion: The need to cherish God's word as supreme
Do you sometimes feel you are preaching to a people who are under a leadership like those in Amos' day? In Amos 2:6, WHO sells the righteous for money and WHO sells the needy for sandals? The needy? The righteous? Do the needy sell the righteous for money and the righteous sell the needy for sandals? I don't think so. Sometimes the congregation is at the mercy of its leaders. Maybe in Amos's day he was facing the equivalent of our deep state? How many sins do we have to deal with that are the result of our leaders allowing them to come to our front door?
27:28 ...the northern Kingdom's first king, King Jeroboam and he started setting up idols in the land per to slow them down from going down to Jerusalem to worship and so the resulting consequences of a people who departed from God's word is now there's lots of evil in the land and there's lots of injustices happening in the land.
Amen to that. The leaders of Israel led the people into the sin of this and into the sin of that, just like our leaders today lead people into this sin and that sin. They don't lead us into all the possible sins, but they do bring a lot of sin to our streets and door. The congregation is not always the one at fault.
What did Amos say to these leaders? What are pastors saying to these leaders or is their message solely directed at the "needy" and the "righteous"? While it might be safer for the preacher to avoid poking the eye of the leaders it becomes excessively burdensome to the rest.
Echoes of Amos: The Unseen Impact of Jewish Power and Liberalism on Christian America
America is a vast land with many different people, yet among them, the Jewish community stands out. Though Jews make up only 2% of our population, their presence in power is both striking and unsettling and apparently exempt from DEI which they, more than any other people, promote. Some with their feet in two lands, hold dual citizenship! The words of Amos, spoken to Jews long ago, seem to hover over us now, as if God's warnings are eternal and unchanging and fall upon any people who set up the same conditions as they. Might Amos' message also be for those who come out of the 2% to lead us, especially as they hold such strong liberal views as the 2020 Pew Research Center indicates? Their influence has made life harder for Christians here. Soon we will have no seminaries to train others to send to the lost. The Word of God is being silenced as it had been unheard in Amos's day - by the same kind of people.
Imagine how American our country would look without the liberalism of this minority saturating our institutions for the past 100 years. Do they welcome Christ? Not at all, but why would they when "their nation" is filled with Christians like us who continue to support them and protect them, instead of warn them, from the kind of wrath Amos described for such sins?
Picture Jesus, calling out the Pharisees, in hope of saving His people from God's wrath coming upon His nation. And consider Amos, addressing the leaders of his day, hoping to save his people from God's wrath coming upon his nation. Surely, it’s not too far-fetched to imagine a Christian pastor speaking to these blind guides who seem intent on leading us all into a pit.
Lord, bless this pastor with wisdom for such a day as ours.