This is the final sermon in our Minor Prophets series, and the final sermon that will be preached by Pastor Tyler at Tricity Chinese Christian Church before he pursues further education at seminary.Today we will be looking at the context and background of Malachi, how the author of Malachi points toward Jesus, how the whole Book of the Twelve points toward Jesus, and how the whole Old Testament points toward Jesus. Join us as we discover Jesus in the final book of the Christian Old Testament, and explore the issues Malachi covers, like intermarriage, racism, unpunished evil, God hating Edom, and more.

Discovering Jesus

Minor Prophets (Part 11): It's All About Jesus

We are approaching the end of the Minor prophets! Today we look at two of the more unique books, Haggai and Zechariah, two prophets active during the return from exile. Haggai and Zechariah both believed that reestablishing the monarchy through Zerubbabel was the best and only way to realize the utopian vision of Jerusalem becoming the centre of the world and the Kingdom of God coming to earth. However, as we&apos;ll see, this was not to be.When we dig into the background and context of Zechariah, and do some reading in  between the lines, it becomes clear that things did not pan out like the two prophets had hoped or predicted. So what happened? And what relevance do some failed prophecies in the Hebrew Bible have for us today?

Minor Prophets (Part 10): Zerubbabel Vs. Yahweh

This week we are jumping into the shortest of all the Minor Prophets: Obadiah. Obadiah has some very, very strong things to say about the kingdom of Edom, even though, as we&apos;ll see, Edom has not done anything particularly egregious when compared with the other nations. And yet, Obadiah, along with a couple other prophets and psalmists, have a special place in their heart for lobbing angry epithets at Edom.Why is that?Today we find out what was going on behind the scenes to cause such an attitude toward Edom, and why Obadiah is actually supposed to be a book of great encouragement to those who might feel as though God has abandoned them.

Minor Prophets (Part 9): When God Abandons You

This week we take a look at one of the last prophets to speak before the Babylonian exile, and whose name has garnered much controversy: Habakkuk.We will learn how to say his name properly, and more importantly, how history and biblical criticism work together to shed light on the beautiful gospel message that lies in the prophetic book.

Minor Prophets (Part 8): Joint Justice

This week we are turning our Bibles to the prophet Zephaniah, and we are turning our gaze toward one of the most difficult themes in all the prophetic books: the violence of God.Despite many denials to the contrary, the violence of the Old Testament God really is at odds with the self-sacrificing, enemy-loving Christ of the New Testament. Today we explore why that is, and why Yahweh sometimes looks more like a Canaanite warrior god (or Kratos from God of War) than he does Jesus.We&apos;ll learn just why it is so important to read the Bible as a unified story, not as disconnected books, and how books like Zephaniah, once we learn to read them well, communicate a beautiful message that ultimately looks to the cross of Christ.

Minor Prophets (Part 7): How God's Violence Points to His Love

This week we cover two books of the Bible! We are going to get into what exactly progressive revelation is, and how that helps us understand some of the anger in the prophetic books. Along the way we will see what Nahum and Jonah do and do not have in common, and how comparing the two books with the cross of Christ can help us learn how to pray for our enemies.

Minor Prophets (Part 6): How to Pray for Your Enemies

This Easter we explore exactly why Jesus had to be crucified, and why the resurrection matters. After all, if all we needed was a perfect sacrifice, isn&apos;t crucifixion a little over the top, and a little cruel? Wouldn&apos;t a nice, simple sacrificial ritual like in Leviticus have sufficed? Further, if all we needed was a perfect sacrifice, why the resurrection?There is much more going on in the Easter story than just Jesus offering his body as a perfect sacrifice, and it all starts in Deuteronomy.

You Can't Spell Easter Without Spelling Deuteronomy

This week we move south to the Kingdom of Judah, with the first Minor Prophet to preach from there: Micah. Micah is supremely concerned with the social injustices that occurred under the reigns of Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, and indicts primarily the elites, politicians, and pastors/priests of Judah. But, within the fair and exciting calls for social justice, there is also a message of hope: hope for forgiveness for any and all, that we might be restored to God.So if you have ever felt you didn&apos;t deserve God&apos;s forgiveness, or that you somehow need to earn it, or that God will not accept you back until you have proven how sorry you are and done proper penance, our hope is that Micah can bring you some comfort today.Additionally, Micah will also challenge us on where our cares lie, on whether or not we are taking advantage of God&apos;s forgiveness and failing to walk obediently in humility with God.

Minor Prophets (Part 5): Forgiveness is Free

Did you know that some parts of God&apos;s personality are stronger than others? This may come as a surprise (particularly for our Reformed friends), but the Bible is pretty clear that, when it comes to  God&apos;s wrath, anger, and punishment, these are his weaker attributes. Join us to learn exactly why that is and what it means for Hosea&apos;s audience, and us today.

Minor Prophets (Part 4): God's Lopsided Personality

For the ancient Israelites, Yahweh was just one of many gods, and it was difficult for them to understand why they should worship him and no other gods. And even for us today, it  may even seem a little narcissistic on Yahweh&apos;s part to jealously demand such loyalty and to punish infidelity so brutally as he threatens to do in the prophets.However, as we begin the book of Hosea, we will see that Yahweh actually has very good reason for acting this way, and if we just dig a little below the surface, we&apos;ll see that he is far more than just a jealous, narcissistic god. It turns out that worshiping other gods leads to far more and far worse than just "not worshiping Yahweh."

Minor Prophets (Part 3): God Doesn't Need You to Feed Him

In only two weeks we're finishing the prophet Amos! This week Amos will continue to call Israel to repentance, as well as brutally trash-talk another wayward prophet. But our main focus will be on what Amos feels the Israelites' key sin was: a failure to worship properly.According to Amos, behind Israel's sin of social injustice is a failure to worship the way God wants. What does it mean to worship God, then? And why does God require basically say, "Worship me, or else!" Isn't that a little bit manipulative or abusive?The answer to all these questions has something to do with understanding idol worship and how we, as Christians, in a strange way, are supposed to learn to worship from the example of idol worship in the ancient near east.

Minor Prophets (Part 2): Imitation Gods

We begin this year with a new series: The Minor Prophets.We will be starting with Amos, arguably the first of all the written prophets to preach, and his journey to Bethel, Israel, to condemn Jeroboam II and the elites for their abuse of the poor and oppressed.Amos has much to say about social justice, but for our purposes today, he also has much to say about how and why God uses punishment and discipline, how God can claim to love his people yet exact terrible curses on them, and how we as Christians ought to pray for God to discipline us if we want to remain useful to him.

Minor Prophets (Part 1): Prepare to Meet Your God

We have reached the final week of our series on the Parables! While we have not covered every single parable, we have covered enough to give us a general feel for what messages Jesus intended  his parables to convey and how to read them in their very Jewish context.This week we are going to look at the final three parables Jesus taught before he was betrayed and crucified. These particular parables were given specifically to his disciples as a warning against apostasy in the coming persecution they were going to experience. So if you've ever wondered what an evil servant, ten virgins, and a resentful man burying money  have in common, join us to learn the answer!

Short Stories by Jesus (Part 11): Multiplying Money

This week we take a look at another set of three parables. As Jesus nears the end of his life, his parables are becoming ever more explicit, and full of indictments on the current ruling class of priests and scribes, particularly on how they have oppressed and ignored the outcasts and rejects of society.However, as we&apos;ll see, simply being an outcast or reject does not give one automatic entry into the Kingdom. God still requires that we wear the right clothes to get in.

Short Stories by Jesus (Part 10): God Wears Gucci

The Gospel writers always have a reason for why they arrange their parables the way they do, and Luke is no different.Join us as we discover the common thread Luke detects between Jesus&apos; Parable of the Persistent Widow and the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, and why he places them right after Jesus&apos; "mini-apocalypse."*We apologize for the drop in audio quality.

Short Stories by Jesus (Part 9): Superior Riddles

Biweekly endeavours at discovering truth and its life application. These are sermons preached by Pastor Tyler Loewen at Tricity Chinese Christian Church (English Ministry) in Port Moody, BC, Canada.

hubhopper

Discovering Jesus

hubhopper