Sermon Notes & Slides 05.17.2015
5.17.2015
Sermon Notes
Arranged Marriage
Love Undeserved [A Study through the Book of Hosea] – Hosea 1
Pastor John Sloan
Introduction: A nation in the middle of relative financial prosperity suffers from complete spiritual depravity, and into the mix comes a preacher. A prophet named Hosea. But people aren’t eager to hear a message of impending doom when there’s plenty of food and drink to go around. Nevertheless, things would get progressively worse during Hosea’s decades of ministry. And God would use this man’s words to call a people to repentance; but even more powerfully, He would use this Hosea’s life and marriage as a picture of God’s unfailing love.
- Israel: A History
- An Oracle with an Overarching Message
Questions for Discussion & Discovery
1. After hearing a brief overview of Israel’s history, what are some words you would use to describe its patterns and proclivities? In what ways, if any, do these same words reflect your life, as well?
2. Why is it that financial prosperity often leads to spiritual decay?
3. What stands out to you about the names Hosea gave his children (at God’s instructions)?
4. What do verses 10-11 reveal about the character of God?
5. “Grace is immeasurably more powerful than judgment.” What does that statement mean?
6. In what ways are your relationships characterized by expectation, conditions, and condemnation? How will you make strides to grow in grace?
Sermon Slides
1. “The story of Hosea and Gomer is the second most powerful picture of God’s love in the Bible. Other than Christ’s death there is no greater picture of God’s love.” – Jud Wilhite
2. Israel: A History … 2091 B.C. God Appeared to Abram
3. Israel: A History … 1446 B.C. The Great Exodus
4. “And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.’” – Exodus 20:1-2
5. Israel: A History … 1406 B.C. Conquest of the Promised Land
6. “Give us a king to judge us like the other nations have.” 1 Sam. 8:5
7. Israel: A History … 1050 B.C. Saul is Appointed King of Israel
8. “If you will be a servant to this people today…and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.” – 1 Kings 12:7
9. Israel: A History … 931 B.C. The Kingdom is Divided
10. “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” – I Kings 12:28
11. Israel: A History … 750 B.C. Hosea Begins His Prophecy to Israel
12. Overarching Message … Love triumphs over judgment.
13. “Over against the sin of the people, Hosea exalts the covenant love of God. Hosea’s love for Gomer … with its long-suffering patience and acceptance of personal disgrace depicts the wonder of the divine love for sinners in the cross of Jesus Christ.” – Ray Beeley
14. “Most of the time, law is ingested by the child from his parents, and with the law, the resistance to that relationship in later life. If the child absorbs law along with ‘mother’s milk’ then the mother will lose the child. The child will end up running the other way. Alternatively, if grace is the mother’s milk, the child will return gladly. …” – Paul Zahl