1. notice  I have removed from this presentation any pictures that may still be under copyright.  As far as I know all the pictures that remain are in the public domain.  If you find a copyright picture, please let me know, and I will remove it. Thank you.

3.  Stare at the fuzzy jungle and lake picture in the next slide.  If you look closely, you will see a giraffe …

5.  Like that surprising picture, life at first sight often seems bleak, fuzzy, formless and dull until – suddenly! – we are …

6. Startled by God ! a study by Ken Chant

7. text “When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like people who dream. Then our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues shouted with joy!” (Psalm 126:1-2)

8. startled by God’s promise  In 1754 Horace Walpole wrote a letter to a friend… and coined the word “serendipity” …  How often when reading the Bible...

9.  But there will be no serendipities for people who leave the Book unopened!  Hence the admonition of the psalmist (1:2-3) …

10. “Those people are truly happy who delight in the law of the Lord, and who think about his word every day. They are like trees that stand on the banks of a sparkling river. They will never be unfruitful. No matter the season, they flourish; their leaves never wither; everything they do, prospers !”

11.  Notice two things about those who are rich in the Word of God – 1.They are fruitful in CHARACTER 2.They prosper in LIVING

12. startled by God’s silence  You must often have wondered why the Lord remains so silent in heaven.  Why does he not show himself? Why does he not speak out!

13. 1.Silent in mercy – leaving room for repentance.  He is no less willing to forgive than he requires of us (Luke 17:3-4) …

14. "If someone wrongs you, then try to correct him. If he repents, then you must forgive him. Even if he harms you seven times in one day and comes back to you seven times and says, ‘I’m sorry I hurt you,’ you must still forgive him."

15.  What a wonderful promise!  As often as I ask, I am pardoned!  What a severe demand!  Yet if we do not forgive, neither can God (Mark 11:26).

16. 2.Silent in grace – placing faith on trial.  “Our lives should be directed by faith, not by what we can see” (2 Cor 5:7)

17. 3.Silent in judgment – because his glory can be seen in nature  “God's invisible qualities (his eternal power and his divine nature) can be plainly seen in what he has made, so that people are left without any excuse.” (Romans 1:20)

18.  Here indeed is a mark of Christ-like grace – “How happy are those who have not yet seen, but who still believe!” (John 20:29)

19. startled by God’s power  God’s failure to act has often perplexed his servants.  Isaiah 64:1-2 – “Oh, that you would tear the heavens apart and come down … and make your name known among your enemies!”

20.  But that is not God’s usual way; rather he prefers – 1.To speak with a still small voice. 2.To achieve his purpose without display.

21. startled by God’s grace My Lord has garments so wondrous fine, And myrrh their texture fills; Its fragrance reached to this heart of mine, With joy my being thrills. His life had also its sorrows sore, For aloes had a part; And when I think of the cross he bore, My eyes with teardrops start.

22. Out of the ivory palaces, into a world of woe, Only his great, eternal love made my Saviour go. -- Henry Barraclough (1915) “Ivory Palace” Roses

23.  Here indeed is a wonder to leave us speechless with astonishment!  What could he possibly have seen in any of us to warrant such love?

24. “That God should consider his fallen creature, man, and instead of sweeping him away with the besom of destruction, should himself undertake to be man’s Redeemer, and to pay his ransom, is marvellous beyond telling. It is a miracle of grace indeed, that Jesus should forsake the thrones and royalties above, to suffer ignominiously below for you. Let your soul lose itself in wonder!” (C. H. Spurgeon)

25.  Yet that wonder is surpassed by one that is even more marvellous!  That we should have joy in this life is incredible – yet we are offered more! …

26. “You will be moved at the same time to glorious hope. If Jesus has done such marvellous things on your behalf, you will feel that heaven itself is not too great for your expectation. Who can be astonished at anything, when he has once been astonished at the manger and the cross? What is there wonderful left after one has seen the Saviour?” (C. H. Spurgeon)

27. In garments glorious he will come, To open wide the door; And I shall enter my heavenly home, To dwell forevermore. Out of the ivory palaces, into a world of woe; Only his great, eternal love made my Saviour go.

28.  Let us never lose the wonder of all that the Father’s love has wrought for us.  It is indeed good, every day of your life, to be startled from time to time by remembering …

29. HHHHis amazing grace! HHHHis glorious salvation! HHHHis magnificent prize!