The Lord of Providence; Luke 7:11-17

Delivered during the Sunday morning worship service, 07/10/2022. Shortly after healing the centurion's servant, Jesus takes a trip to the tiny hamlet of Nain, located in the Jezreel valley near the border of Samaria. The Providence of God was manifest as soon as Jesus arrived at the gates of the town because a funeral procession was coming out of the city. Even though we will keep the overall context of this story in mind, our focus for this message will be on just this Providential meeting. We will realize that none of this happened by accident, but that God Himself ordained and arranged this "divine appointment" by the power of His decretive will. After working our way through the text, we will discuss how important it is for Christians and the church to maintain a sense of God's Providence and thereby learn from the many lessons of history. Finally, we will use the Lord's Supper as a tangible example of how the sacraments and doctrines of the church are grounded and enriched by an understanding of history as revealed to us by Christ-- our Lord of Providence.