He was a devoted friend to Jonathan and a faithful worshiper of God. That does not mean that Abraham and Moses and Noah weren’t real people. We come to Church and we hear Jesus telling us that eternal life is ours for the asking, and maybe He gets our attention, but still the message is unclear. One day, he was called to full and urgent attention as a voice boomed from his speaker phone: "This is an important message. He danced before the Ark of the Covenant, can’t you just see him? We wanted them to have books and to feel beloved, and I think they did, but they also caught onto the fact that the belover. for as often as you speak of him, you shake your head. Last spring about ten or so of us had the great privilege of going over to Menchaca Elementary School on the day when the first graders got to come to the library to pick out their books. Let me use the scripture to demonstrate how great is God’s love for His people. Moses, Pt. The child is under no obligation to the stranger. He calls us the apple of His eye – There is nothing so tender or as delicate as the eye. No other creature is created in His image, C.    Perhaps He loves us because we cost Him so much, 1. Pardon proves we are His children. I’m going to try to encapsulate it or maybe just hit the high points – and low points – for our focus today. That doesn’t mean His nature has changed. "God, why don't you ever answer me?" Let me use the scripture to demonstrate how great is God’s love for His people. Julia E. Bland. 1. Parental love is unconditional and unceasing, 2. 1. (Guess what – people who want to keep their giving secret are not embarrassed that they might be giving too much.) But David did live, and conveniently we can locate him right around the year 1000 BCE. God knows when you’ve let people down and let God down and let yourself down, but God always, every hour of every day holds you close, looks at you so closely and so intently that you can’t help seeing yourself reflected in God’s eye. 5 of 15 THE APPLE OF GOD’S EYE (EX 14:1-31) In a survey of 4-8 year olds, kids share their views on love: “Love is that first feeling you feel before all the bad stuff gets in the way.” “When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. Sermon: The Apple of God's Eye Proper 26 A October 30, 2011 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 51:1-10 St. Alban’s, Austin His job was to make pick-ups of legal documents from law offices and deliver them to various court agencies. Lewis once said, "If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. Something that had nothing to do with them getting books. you can fold it creatively to look like more. Create in me a clean heart, David prays. But Saul proved not to be up to the task, so God sent Samuel to find another king. Moses, Pt. He loves God so much he wants to build him a permanent home, a temple, but God says, slow down, David, take your time, tend to the business at hand, and David does. Jesus defined eternal life in present terms. Quite a few of them wrote about this in their thank you letters. Whereupon the man looked heavenward and exclaimed, "God, I can't hear you. Lifting the scrolls of the Torah overhead and carried away. We’re hitting the ground running here. The Apple Of God's Eye. I was the apple of my Nonnie’s eye. David’s story is long and convoluted. was he found among thieves? Don’t go to church in October. His love is amazing considering our nature and disobedience, 2. If I could lay out on the table every adjective that could truthfully be said about me it would be a very mixed bag. Hearing the voice, a woman nearby looked heavenward and said, "God, why don't you ever answer me?" 1. The Church will face difficult days ahead. No more high places and pesky idols. S. Conway . To be the apple of God’s eye! On the subject of [...], To read the complete sermon, enter a subscription. While on his rounds, he often received additional instructions on a cell phone he carried tucked inside his shirt pocket. One by one the strapping big brothers are presented but none of them is God’s chosen. What would it feel like to have a clean heart? David’s life is full of ups and downs, but all in all he is known as a good king, the one whose claim to fame is that he united all the twelve tribes of Israel into one nation, and declared that all worship of God is to take place in Jerusalem. Bible > Sermons > Jeremiah 48:27. I’m guessing not so much. The Subject of both testaments is the same, the difference is in the relationship of the writer. deserves to suffer less than they who have presumed to punish him. But something happened that we hadn’t anticipated. After the dark and bloody era of the Judges God relented to the appeals of his people for a king, and the prophet Samuel anointed Saul. They saw that we big people were probably having the best time of everyone there, and they wanted in on it. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and open that heart to do your will, to share with the world from the blessings you have given me because that is the best way I can love you back. was he found among thieves? for since you spoke of him, you skipped for joy. -1 Perhaps He loves us because we are His greatest work, 1. for since you spoke of him, you skipped for joy. A father may chasten his son, but will be very wroth if he sees another man so dealing with him. If we could truly internalize this, how would it affect our work for justice, for economic equality, for peace? Home Â» Sunday Sermons Â» Preview sermons on "John 17:3", Sermon Week Seventh Sunday of Easter Cycle A, Tired of just puttering around the house, a New York City man, just a few short months into his retirement, took on part-time work as a messenger. He was a warrior – if you know one story about David it is undoubtedly the one about Goliath – and he was a gifted musician and poet, the author of many of the psalms. Should a person that did not know God read first the Old and then the New Testament he would probably assume they were written about two entirely different Gods. We’d spend the whole weekend gluing sequins and rhinestones and pearls onto every random piece of plastic that wasn’t already covered with sequins and rhinestones and pearls. I.                    God’s Esteem Of His People. “YOU ARE THE APPLE OF GOD’S EYE” Zechariah 2:8 For thus says the Lord of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye. Men will try to hide and will beg for death, 2. were scrubbed out of me. 5 of 15 THE APPLE OF GOD’S EYE (EX 14:1-31) In a survey of 4-8 year olds, kids share their views on love: “Love is that first feeling you feel before all the bad stuff gets in the way.” “When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. To look at one another and know that each of us is the apple of God’s eye, the God of the living and not the dead. More about that later. A. No, God’s chosen is the little boy so irrelevant to any honor that he is out in the field with the sheep while the search for the new king is being held. Where do I need to go?" That wasn’t the lesson we set out to teach them. He calls us the apple of His eye – There is nothing so tender or as delicate as the eye. Good Morning! At once, the voice came back on the speaker saying, "you have been dispatched to the Office of the High Commissioner at the International Court of Justice." But, if we really put our minds to it, if we give it our full and urgent attention, if we really want an answer -- we cannot help but hear the voice of the the Son of the Most High telling us that eternal life is to be with God. His loyalty to His people is unquestioned, unending and unsurpassed. He begs God, “Create in me a clean heart.” That is a good prayer, one we could well pray every day. But is that really where you want to put your energy? Bought with the blood of His only begotten Son, 2. I imagine it would feel like all the cheapness, pettiness, meanness, stubbornness, laziness, and greediness. was he found among thieves? That was a lot of books! We were glad that they were excited about the books, and they told us who they would be reading to over the summer, their baby brother, their grandfather, the family dog. Tell them you gave electronically and the computer ate your contribution. And she read me Alice in Wonderland. Blessings on your story journey, Jane Anne ©Jane Anne Ferguson, 2019 and beyond. Most would rather take any injury in order to protect their sight. God has always loved His people; otherwise, He would have abandoned them and selected another long ago. She loved me like nobody’s business. The Persecutor’s Danger. D.    Personally, I think He loves us so much because we are His kids! His love is that of a jealous parent, II. God loved David like that. Rush to the office of..." At that moment, a giant city garbage truck rumbled by, drowning out the rest of the instruction. It is extremely urgent that you make a pick-up immediately. Subscribers, please log-in. © Copyrights 2020. Most would rather take any injury in order to protect their sight. WEB: For wasn't Israel a derision to you? I read a tongue-in-cheek blog this week by a clergyperson to his flock in which he spelled out twelve ways to get out of pledging. They had excellent manners as they chose books about vampires, (very cuddly looking vampires), sharks, Strawberry Shortcake, Amelia Bedelia, and Clifford the Big Red Dog. God knows each and every one of those adjectives that you’d like to sweep off the table. was he found among thieves? And she had a room full of crafts. They caught onto the fact that the real joy is for the giver, not the receiver, and that here were a bunch of old people who didn’t know them and they were having fun giving books to little children whose names they didn’t know. Tell the rector that you are morally opposed to pledging. I spent the night with her a lot, and whenever I came over she always had fresh-squeezed orange juice and 7-Up and amazing cole slaw. I think that’s what it would feel like to have a clean heart. All the things that six and seven year olds like. In the apple of her eye. I learned this week what it means to be the apple of someone’s eye. Where do I go to pick it up? If you want to read a summary of David’s story I commend to you the account on Wikipedia. So filled with the belovedness of God that it overflowed and there was nothing to do but dance it? The Apple Of God's Eyes sermon, keyed on the Gospel of John 17:3 by the editors of Sunday Sermons preaching resources -- serving the preaching community since 1970. For was not Israel a derision unto thee? What’s more, a believer can read both testaments and see God’s loving nature plain as day! The psalm we read this morning is his lament over the great evil he had done. For was not Israel a derision to you? And belovedness overflows into belovingness as he loves his friend Jonathan and his wife Bathsheba and his sons Absolom and Solomon and so many people whose names we do not know. For those of you who are new, we raised money so that every first grader, all 115 of them, got to go to a special Scholastic book fair just for first graders to pick out 12 new books of their very own to read over the summer so that they would not lose their reading skills before second grade. To be the person that God knows I can be because that is the person I am in God’s eyes. God will utterly destroy those that come against us, 2. I’m guessing you could be very creative and come up with more than twelve. When you put a dollar in the plate. These wise, observant, sensitive children saw something in us. A. The reality is that you are the apple of His eye. She would hold me close and look into my face as if it were the most beautiful face she had ever seen and when she did, and I looked back into her eyes, there I was, reflected as clear as day in the dark pupil of her eye. The lost will be tormented by their own memories of lost opportunity.