Word of Salvation – Vol. 22 No. 28 – March 1976   Love Story   Sermon by Rev. John Vanderbom on Ruth 1:1-18 Scripture Reading: 1Corinthians 13 Psalter Hymnal: 33:1,2,3,7; 361; 284; 368   Congregation and friends, If you wish to call the story of Ruth a love-story, you have the right to do this.  The story of Ruth is indeed a lovely romance, and it closes with a very happy ending. Yet you must realize straightaway: it is much more than that! You know, in ordinary storybooks the love stories are all about a man and a woman.  But strangely...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 45 No. 33 – September 2000   Blessings That Flow From Faith   A Sermon by Rev. G. H. Milne on Ruth 2:1-12 Scripture Reading: Ruth 2:1-12   Beloved in the Lord, Introduction: In this beautiful love story, you will recall that Naomi who was an Israelite had previously emigrated with her husband and sons to the land of Moab.  There the sons had married women of that race.  Naomi's husband and her sons died leaving three widows.  One of the Moabite women went back to her family in Moab and the other, Ruth, decided to...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 46 No. 02 – January 2001   A Proposal of Marriage   Sermon by Rev. G. H. Milne on Ruth 3:1-10 Scripture Reading: Acts 2:36-47   Beloved people of God. In the previous chapter Ruth became aware that the man who had blessed her, enabling her to glean sufficient food for herself and her mother-in-law Naomi, was in fact their closest relative, a name which in Hebrew means kinsman-redeemer.  Ruth's two great problems were her lack of food and her widowhood.  As we can tell from these circumstances, the poor had to glean for their food. ...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 46 No. 06 – February 2001   Learning to Trust   Sermon by Rev. G. H. Milne on Ruth 3:10-18 Scripture Reading: Matthew 11:25-30   Beloved people of God. Introduction: In the first part of this chapter, Naomi's plan is put into action – a plan that endeavoured to increase Boaz's interest in Ruth and facilitate the redemption of the family land.  Ruth had exceeded her brief, as far as we know, and had unsubtly proposed marriage to Boaz.  Today we notice the wages that flow from virtue.  We notice a potential complication in Naomi's plan. ...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 44 No.17 – May 1999   Naomi's Faith in God Assailed, Tested & Blessed   Sermon, by Rev W.J. Bosker on Ruth 1:1-22 Scripture Reading: Job 2:1-10; Philippians 4:4-9; Ruth 4:13-17 Suggested Hymns: BoW 111A; 18A; 421; 358; 253; 331   Dearly loved Congregation, Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you appreciate a good love story?  In the book of Ruth we can see that God not only enjoys a good love story, He also writes a good love story!  From cover to cover the Bible is a love story; God's love for...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 44 No.25 – July 1999   Faith at Work in Naomi, Ruth & Boaz   Sermon by Rev W J Bosker on Ruth 3:1-18 Scripture Readings: Genesis 19:30-38; Leviticus 25:25-28 Suggested Hymns: BoW 104a:1,2,5,6; 429; 432; 27:1,3,6,10; 218; 528   Dear Congregation, Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ Last time we saw God's providence at work in the lives of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz.  As we follow the life of Naomi, we can see the transformation from bitterness to hope, and even joy.  How does this change come about?  By looking to God in...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 44 No.33 – September 1999   God's Grace Keeps Breaking Through   Sermon by Rev W J Bosker on Ruth 4:13-21 Scripture Readings: Genesis 38:1-30; 49:8-10 Suggested Hymns: BoW 180; 176; 435; 392; 404; 525   Dear Congregation, Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. Some families take great pride in having a well-documented family tree that goes back several hundred years.  We had a family in Canberra with such a family tree, and I'm sure someone here does too. It's great to have someone famous in your family pedigree.  It makes you feel proud...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 45 No.42 – November 2000   Relative Blessings   A Sermon by Rev G H Milne on Ruth 2:17-23 Scripture Reading: Romans 3:9-26   Beloved in the Lord, Last time we noticed how Boaz showed special interest in Ruth, this foreigner who had come to live with God's people and worship the God of Israel.  Remember how he had arranged that she would now glean among the sheaves and be ensured of plenty of grain to take home to Naomi.  Today the beautiful love story of Ruth continues and we will get a foretaste of blessing...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 45 No.38 – October 2000   Gleaning Among the Sheaves   A Sermon by Rev G H Milne on Ruth 2:11-16 Scripture Readings: Leviticus 19:9-10; Philippians 2:3-11   Beloved in the Lord, Introduction: Last time we noticed that Boaz had seen Ruth and had urged her to glean in his field.  Boaz has made her aware of his knowledge of her loyalty to her mother-in-law, Naomi.  He had also blessed her for her industry and her commitment to the God of Israel.  We are going to focus on the grace that we see in this picture...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 46 No.10 – March 2001   A Willing Redeemer   Sermon by Rev G H Milne on Ruth 4:1-10 Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:1-11   Beloved people of God. Introduction: Politicians are notorious for making promises and then failing to keep them.  They realise that the public gets disillusioned when these things happen, but they usually keep on making the promises, and we keep voting them in.  I say usually, because some political parties, realising the unpopularity of a government, know that all they have to do is to promise nothing and then they will be elected. ...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 46 No.14 – April 2001   Obed, the One Who Serves   Sermon by Rev G H Milne on Ruth 4:10-22 Scripture Reading: Matthew 1:1-6 & 18-25   Beloved people of God. Introduction: We come to the close of the book of Ruth, a book that traces the history of the family of Elimelech, immigrants to Moab in search of food at a time of famine in Bethlehem in Judah, in the house of bread.  Death stalks the land and claims the lives of three men, leaving three childless women.  One, Orpah returns to her people...

There is a Redeemer   Rev. Josh Hartog Text: Ruth 4:1-22     It’s probably one of the most asked questions in life, ‘Why?’ Why did God allow 22 people to die in the floods last week? Why did God allow thousands of homes to be destroyed? Why does God allow cyclones like the one hovering off the Queensland coast at the moment? Why does God allow a good bloke like James Polland, who used to be the youth worker at Launceston Reformed Church, plummet to his death in New Zealand earlier this week? Why don’t things turn out the way we...

Acts of Faith   Rev. Josh Hartog Text: Ruth 3:1-18    One of the most profound statements in all of Scripture is James 2:17, ‘17 …faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (Jam 2:17b)’ James implies that faith is more than just what you believe, rather faith is how your beliefs work themselves out in your behaviour.  For example, if you believe God is faithful then even when life gets messy you don’t despair. Faith in that situation means you trust God, which is seen in your behaviour, your confidence in God’s promises. Or let’s use James...

Pictures of Grace   Rev. Josh Hartog Text: Ruth 2:1-23    Seeing grace in action is something beautiful. I remember taking a toy off Zac because he kept throwing it his sisters. Of course he became really upset when to my surprise Bethany gave him her toy. She saw his pain, and even though he didn’t deserve it, in fact even though she was the target of his bad behaviour, she took something precious to her and gave it to him. That’s a picture of grace. Actually, it wasn’t all that intelligent, he threw it at her.   Last week we looked...

Finding Hope in the Mess of Life   Rev. Josh Hartog Text: Ruth 1:1-22    I don’t know about you, but sometimes, in fact quite regularly I’m struck by just how messed up our world is. You only have to watch the evening news and see the murders and the hatred and the anger and bitterness to see just how messed up our own country is, let alone what’s happening overseas.  And I used to think that it’s only out there in the secular world where people are so messed up, that is until I became a pastor. Now I know...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 45 No.30 – August 2000   Hidden Grace   A Sermon by Rev G H Milne on Ruth 1:1-18   Beloved in the Lord, Introduction: There are times in the life of the Church when God appears not to hear the cry of His people.  And there are the times when individuals can also testify to an experience of isolation and loneliness and the absence of God.  And yet with the eyes of faith, resting upon the testimony of the Word of God, we can say that while God's grace might be hidden from our eyes,...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 44 No.29 – August 1999   Kinsman-Redeemer to the Rescue   Sermon by Rev W J Bosker on Ruth 4:1-12 Scripture Readings: Leviticus 25:14-28; Deuteronomy 25:5-10 Suggested Hymns: BoW 272; 371:1,3,4,6; 214;                                     Rej 532; Bow 315; 72:1,5,6; 331   Dear Congregation, Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. Throughout the Book of Ruth we have seen God at work in and through the lives of ordinary people.  I've been finding it fascinating and encouraging.  When life seems at a dead end for Naomi and Ruth, God still works out His plans and purposes. There...

Word of Salvation – Vol.44 No.21 – June 1999   Providence and Characteristics of Godly People   Sermon by Rev W Bosker on Ruth 2:1-23 Scripture Readings: Deuteronomy 32:7-12; Psalm 91:1-4, 14-16 Suggested Hymns: BOW 182; 169; 430; 499:1-3, 5; 329   Dear Congregation, Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ Last time we saw that God is able to make roses out of a bed of thorns.  Naomi returned to Bethlehem poor, empty and bitter at her life's circumstances.  Yet faith was still alive in her because she held on to her faithful, promise-keeping God, and called Him "the...