God in the Valley

Sermon on July 16, 2023 by Dr. Christin Wright-Taylor

“I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.” – Psalms 139: 7-8 (NLT)

Big Idea! God’s current of love always runs to the lowest place.

Three Questions

  • How is God able to be in the low places with us?

  • How does God’s love comfort us in the low places?

  • How can we tune our hearts to God’s current of love?

God’s current of love is able to run to the lowest place because Jesus has walked the lowest places before us.

God’s current of love is able to run to the lowest place because He has sent us the Holy Spirit.

“It is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the [paraclete] won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send the [paraclete] to you.” John 16:7 (NLT)

How does the Holy Spirit comfort us in the lowest places?

“The help from the Sanctuary that is the Holy Spirit will always come, but it may come in the form of comfort, perspective, hope, and strength to endure.” ~ Brian Zahnd

“Lucy whispered, ‘Aslan, Aslan, if ever you loved us at all, send us help now.’ The darkness did not grow any less, but she began to feel a little—a very, very little—better.”  Then, all of the sudden, a small beam of light entered the darkness and illumines the ship.  “Lucy looked along the beam” and at first saw something like a cross, then an airplane, then eventually she saw it as an albatross.  The great bird landed on the prow of the ship and then flew in front to guide them out of the darkness.  As it circled the ship, the albatross whispered to Lucy, “‘Courage, dear heart,’ and the voice, she felt sure, was Aslan’s.” – ~ C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

How can we tune our hearts to God’s current of love?

  1. Ask for help!

  2. Pay attention.

  3. Don’t be afraid to believe.

“You have hemmed me in – behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.” – Psalms 139:5 (NIV)

You can listen to the sermon on YouTube here.

Christin Taylor grew up a missionary kid living overseas. When she was 14, her parents retired from the mission field and moved to Central Indiana, where she went to Indiana Wesleyan University and met her Canadian husband, Dwayne. They immigrated to Ontario in 2015 with their two kids, Noelle and Nathan, and have lived here happily ever after. She has her Ph.D. in English Language and Literature and runs the Writing Centre at Laurier University. She and Dwayne have been at Westheights for the past year and are grateful for this community.

 

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