Sun. July 18, 2010 (J. Evan Kreider)

Evan Kreider spoke about Amos, a poor farmer who was called by God to be a prophet. After two years in the northern kingdom of Israel, he returned to his farm in the southern kingdom. The northern kingdom, under king Jeroboam, had become wealthy and was at a political and economic high point. King Jeroboam believed that worshiping God was all that God required. Using the image of a plumb line, Amos pointed out that things were out of kilter, that people trusted the king rather than God. Amos pointed out that true faith involves right living and creating a just society. Amos wanted economic justice. Amos saw morals becoming lax and money reaching only those who already had money. Amos did not like what he saw when church and state were closely aligned – this would cause trouble for the church. Amos’s words were not welcome and he was told to go home, but he said he was driven by God to do this prophetic thing. The response time discussion included comments about problems of prosperity, tithing was partially intended to support the poor, gambling expansion in BC, charitable giving, and the benefits of our government’s “social safety net.” [HN] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, July 18th, 2010 using your browser's preferred media player.