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Sermons at The Good Shepherd Anglican Church

A Way in the Wilderness

·23 min·2 clips
God promises to make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert for his chosen people.
The episode is a sermon titled 'A Way in the Wilderness' based on Isaiah 43:16-21. It opens with a reading of the scripture, highlighting God's ability to create paths in impossible places like the sea and desert. The speaker discusses the recurring theme in biblical history where God transforms despair through mighty intervention. He references the Israelites' experience at the Red Sea, trapped by Egyptian chariots, and how God parted the waters to save them. The sermon transitions to Isaiah's prophecy, where God commands people to forget former things and perceive the new thing he is doing. This is linked to Israel's cycle of sin and idolatry, necessitating a new creation foretold in Christ. The speaker shares a personal story about struggling to split wood for winter until finding a repaired wood splitter, illustrating how human efforts fail without divine help. Paul's writings on sin and the law are cited to explain why old systems fail due to human sinfulness. The sermon identifies modern 'wild beasts' as the world, the flesh, and the devil, which threaten spiritual journeys. It emphasizes God's provision of water in the desert as a metaphor for spiritual sustenance through the gospel and sacraments like the Eucharist. The message concludes by connecting Isaiah's prophecy to Jesus, who offers living water and rest, especially during the Lenten season leading to Easter.

As heard by us

A repaired wood splitter helps turn Isaiah's wilderness promise into a grounded meditation on sin, salvation, and Christ's living water.

Isaiah's promise of a road through the wilderness becomes a grounded sermon about noticing God's new work when old effort has reached its limit.

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Why you'd press play

If your usual tools are failing, you may find a repaired wood splitter strangely persuasive theology.

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