God's Zeal To Pardon + This Sunday

Good morning Immanuel. The wonder of God’s zeal to pardon us fuels our zeal to live for Him.

“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me” (Isaiah 6:6-8).

Photo by Mark Olsen on Unsplash

Many things can motivate our service to Jesus. Typical examples are guilt, a sense of duty, peer pressure, insecurity, or pity for others. Sometimes a few of these motivations work together to form a cocktail of reasons that fuel our service. The problem is that these forms of motivation rob us of the joy of the Lord, which is our strength. Trying to live the Christian life on the fuel of guilt is tiresome. Pity for others only gets us so far. Duty is not bad, but it’s not the deepest reality of service for Jesus. We all struggle with motivation and energy in the Christian life, which makes this section of Isaiah 6 so helpful. When the voice of the Lord calls out to inquire, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah eagerly responds, “Here I am! Send me.” Ok, so Isaiah is eager to serve. But what motivated him? Notice the encounter that proceeds his zeal— his guilt was taken away, and his sins were atoned for! Isaiah stood in the presence of the Lord and lived. He saw the glory of Jesus, and it was the glory of heavenly eagerness to cleanse and pardon!

The wonder of God’s zeal to pardon us fuels our zeal to live for him. We will never be so properly motivated to serve Jesus as when we are certain of His pardon for us. Let’s soak that in today, Immanuel. In Christ, your guilt is taken away, and your sins atoned for. Go in peace!

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August 20, 2023 - This Sunday at Immanuel

• Sunday Morning

  • SERMON - Join us this Sunday as we continue our sermon series, “The Good News in Three Dimensions.”

    • Catch up on last Sunday here!

• Seminars

  • 9 am: Studying the Bible Together, led by Tom Cox (meeting in the Cafe until August 27th)

  • 9 am: Student Seminar led by Vince Greenwald in the gymnasium (grades 5-12)

  • 10:45 am: Next Steps Class 3, led by Tony Shepherd in the Church Office

  • August 27th: The new Dr. Russell Moore Seminar will begin on August 27th in the cafe

• On the Horizon

  • TGC23 NATIONAL CONFERENCE

    • Thinking about attending the Gospel Coalition National Conference (September 25-27)? Immanuel folks are privy to a $20 registration discount using the code COUNCILCHURCH. Immanuel’s very own Barnabas Piper, Sam Allberry, and Ray Ortlund will be a part of the event lineup for TGC23. Register today and save!