1. THE RETURN OF THE KING A Study in the Book of Ruth

2. IS GOD IN CONTROL? Providence: God is continually and actively involved in the events of everyday life, in order to accomplish his purposes.

3. MANY FACES OF GOD’S PROVIDENCE The physical world Ruth 1:6 … for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. Colossians 1:17 [Christ] is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

4. MANY FACES OF GOD’S PROVIDENCE The physical world Psalm 104:14 You cause grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth.

5. MANY FACES OF GOD’S PROVIDENCE Human choice Ruth 4:14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer…”

6. MANY FACES OF GOD’S PROVIDENCE Laws, nations, and cultures Ruth 4:11-13 “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel,”… and the Lord gave her conception and she bore a son.

7. MANY FACES OF GOD’S PROVIDENCE Apparently random or coincidental events Ruth 2:3 …and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was part of the clan of Elimelech. Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast in the lap, but every decision is from the Lord.

8. COMMON REACTIONS TO PROVIDENCE Denial: “natural causes prove that God is not involved.” Science doesn't draw conclusions about supernatural explanations Do gods exist? Do supernatural entities intervene in human affairs? These questions may be important, but science won't help you answer them. Questions that deal with supernatural explanations are, by definition, beyond the realm of nature — and hence, also beyond the realm of what can be studied by science. http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/0_0_0/whatisscience_12

9. COMMON REACTIONS TO PROVIDENCE Obsession: “God is speaking to me through the circumstances of my life.” God’s providence is more readily discerned in retrospect than at the time. We should have modest expectations when it comes to figuring out what our infinite God is up to!

10. LIVING BY GOD’S PROVIDENCE We know… … God is at work in ALL things (Romans 8:28). … he is good, just, and loving (Romans 8:38-39). … his ultimate plan: the redemption of the world. … what our future will be: life forever that makes it ALL worthwhile (Romans 8:18).

11. THE RETURN OF THE KING A Study in the Book of Ruth