Ruth:  The Search for a Redeemer

11/25/18 – 12/30/18

Naomi suffers a series of hard losses:  leaving her homeland due to famine; her husband dies; and then both her sons also die without leaving an heir.  Naomi decides to return to her homeland of Bethlehem and her daughter-in-law Ruth returns with her.  Going without much hope, these women needed a redeemer to be restored to their ancestral homeland.  For this Advent worship series, we are reflecting on how we are all also still searching for our redeemer, as we long for Jesus’ triumphal return.

Go You Go Home Again?

November 25, 2018

Beginning the series, “Ruth: The Search for a Redeemer,” Pastor Evan examines the first chapter of Ruth, which chronicles Naomi’s journey from Judah to Moab and then back to Judah, thus asking the question after such a journey, “Can You Go Home Again?”

Recognized Redeemer

December 2, 2018

Ruth went out to gather leftover grain that the harvesters missed, and in the process, she “just so happens” to find her way to the field of her redeemer Boaz, though she did not recognize who Boaz was to her. Ruth may have attributed her wonderful harvest to her hard work or good fortune, but really she benefited from the blessing of her redeemer.  So often we too may attribute the good in our lives to our own merit or luck, but are we failing to recognize our redeemer in our midst?

Midnight Confessions

December 23, 2018

As Christmas draws near and we remember our own need for a redeemer, we continue our study of the book of Ruth and Ruth’s need for a redeemer as well. In this most challenging chapter of Ruth, Pastor Evan delves into the lengths to which Ruth went in order to find her own redeemer and then draws comparisons to our search for a redeemer.

A Tale of Two Redeemers

December 30, 2018

Concluding the series on the book of Ruth, Pastor Evan examines a tale of two redeemers: Boaz, the real McCoy who selflessly sought to guide and protect Ruth, and So and So who wanted only what Ruth could give him (ie her land) but did not desire her. In our own search for a redeemer, we are reminded that we must be careful always to seek and align ourselves with our real redeemer, Jesus Christ, and not the counterfeit redeemers of the world.