Glimmers Of Hope

Grief is the price of love. If you've ever grieved deeply, you know how hard it is to avoid becoming bitter. Where does our hope come from? And will there ever be mercies along our journey? That's where we join our story about Naomi and Ruth.

Today we'll find four wonders, glimmers of hope, about how God leads us in mercies through the darkness. We learn that grief is only a chapter, while mercies are everywhere. From Chicago, welcome to another Moody Church Hour with Pastor Philip Miller. Stay with us for a time of worship and teaching as we continue a series on Mercies in the Shadows. We'll turn to Ruth chapter 2 and learn all about Glimmers of Hope.

Here now is Pastor Philip, along with worship leader Tim Stafford.

Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome to The Moody Church. I'm so glad you've joined us today, whether you're right here in the room or online or by radio. Thanks for being a part of The Moody Church family today. We are in the book of Ruth in the Old Testament, a story that has all kinds of discouragements and all kinds of frustrations. And yet, if we look for it, there's hope breaking through.

And today, we're going to look at all the hope that we have with our God who never abandons us. Would you pray with me as we begin? Let's pray. Father, we thank you that there is always hope. Because you are always for us.

We can trust you. In the midst of the darkest night or the deepest shadows, your hope is never erased, it is never gone. Help us to train our eyes on what you are doing. And we pray that you would draw up hope. in the depths of our soul today.

We pray this for Jesus' sake. Amen. I will sing for Christmas every day, every hour. He has been born. I will sing to thee for all the dangers, storms, and sails that He has brought me out.

He is my God, and I'll serve Him no matter what the test. Trust and never doubt, Jesus will surely bring you out. He never failed me yet. I will sing for Christmas every day, every hour. He gives me far and will see thanks to thee for all the dangerous ones and sins my father has brought me out.

He is my God and I'll serve him no matter what the test trust. Jesus will surely bring you out in ever failed. I know my God is able to deliver in times of storm and I know that he'll keep you safe from earthly harm one day when my fear is solely. At rest, I'm going home to be forever my blessed. Trust and never doubt.

Jesus will surely bring me about. King of the family end. I will sing of God's mercy every day, every hour, it has been far. I will sing thanks to thee for all the dangerous walls that stands at me. Has brought me up.

He is my God that I'll serve him. No matter what the test trust and every doubt, Jesus will surely bring you up in the fairy end. Didn't my God deliver Moses from King Pharaoh and didn't he cool the fiery furnace for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed. When I think of what my God can do, He delivered Daniel, and I know He can deliver you. I will see what has mercy every day, every night.

I will see every place indeed for all the dangerous toes of sinners that he will be my Lord and surround him. Surely bring him up in the will he has he never failed me, he never failed me in the mighty, mighty, mighty God. He ever ever ever taken falling. The valley of thee. I will fear noe, Lord, for thou art with me.

So that's With me forever. That's Oh He'll be with you forever. He'll be with you forever and ever. You can trust the Lord. You can walk again.

Tell me. He will never fail you on his never fail me. Because He's the mighty God. Oh, yes, he's the mighty God. Oh, you never fail, never fail.

Trust and never doubt. Jesus will surely bring you up. Never fail. We're reading together. Psalm 23.

You'll find it in your bulletin. Please join me on the bold print. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord.

Forever. Blessed is the man. Who walks in your favor? Love's all your word. And hides them like treasure In the dark.

Is pain of his desperate heart. They are alive, strong shore.

Sometimes I call out your name, I cannot find you. Look for your face, you are not there. My sorrows, Lord lead me to. Let me doubt you your side. Lord of eternity, Father of mercy, look on my face, Keeper of all the stars, Friend of the Lord is high, touch me and make me Lord.

You are my defender, who is against me. No one can trouble the heart if you are my strength. All I ask, all I desire, Lord of eternity, God of mercy, come to my trust of all the stars, red low. The Lord is far touch me and pay me Lord of eternity God on the sea love Slow deeper of all the stars And all the Lord is high Touch me and pay me Oh He hears you, he hears your prayer. There is strength within the sorrow, there is beauty in our tears, and you need us in our morning with a love that casts out fear.

You are working in. Are waiting you sanctify in us when beyond our understanding You're teaching us to trust. Your plans are still in prospect. You have not forgotten us. You're with us in the fire and the flood.

You're faithful forever, perfect in love. You are sovereign all over us. You are windsome unimagin who could understand your ways, reigning high above the heavens, reaching down in endless grace. You're the lifter of the lowly. Compassionate and kind you surrounded you up holy And your promises are mighty line Your plans are still to prosper You have not forgotten us You're with us in the fire and in the blood You're faithful forever Perfect in love You are sovereign all over us All your plans are still to prosper You have not forgotten us You're with us in the fire and in the blood You're faithful Forever perfect in love, you are sovereign all over us.

You're faithful forever, perfect in love, you are sovereign all over Amen, amen Jesus warming ever as I lay through the Once more, you have called me to this message, and I'll follow my Lord. Maybe assuring me, bring a blessing. May I rise all things available and that the end of my heart's destiny with your likeness may be reigned, Jesus, guide me. Through the test, keep my spirit safe and joy when the midnight meets the glory. Let me love you in the morning, surely bring a blessing may I rise on wings away and let the head of my hostess in your thirst with me wait.

Let the treasures of the tribal form within me as I call and let the end of this long passage let me leave them at your call who made this sherry mercy may arise on these of faith and let the end of my home. With your likeness, bring a blessing on wings of faith, and at the end of my heart's testing with your likeness, and at the end of my heart's testing with your likeness. Lord, in spite of all the things that might be pulling us back. The sin that is entangling us right now, help us to throw off all that. and run toward you.

To be conformed to the image of your Son, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. You know, to open your heart to love is risky business. It's very risky business. C.S.

Lewis writes in his book, The Ford Loves, there is no safe investment. To love it all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to be sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one. Not even to an animal.

Wrap it carefully around with hobbies and little luxuries. Avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe. in the casket or coffin of your selfishness, but in that casket. Safe.

Dark. motionless, airless. It will change. It will not be broken. It will become Unbreakable.

impenetrable. Irredeemable. The only place outside heaven Where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love. is hell. Wow.

See friends, grief is the price of love. to love deeply is to grieve deeply when love is bereft. And if you've ever grieved deeply, you will know how easy it is to start closing off. To start detaching, going numb, becoming hard and tough and trying to survive and getting jaded and cynical and even Bitter. In Naomi's own words, that's where she's at.

You'll remember in chapter 1 of Ruth, chapter 1, verse 20, Naomi came back into Bethlehem and said, Don't call me Naomi, her name means pleasant, call me Mara, bitter. From pleasant to bitter. She says, because the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. She says, I'm bitter and it's God's fault. She's lashing out.

It's raw and it's unfiltered. And we can feel, can't we, the mistrust, the pain. She feels betrayed by her God. How could you do this to me, God? How could you let my husband and sons die?

How could you leave me here to fend for myself? How can I ever trust you again? And yet As we saw in chapter one, she's coming home. She's coming back to Bethlehem. She's coming back into the land of the covenant.

She's coming back into the presence of God. And so, underneath all this bitterness, there's still some faith. A little tiny bit of trust, a fool's hope, a mustard seed of faith, and as it turns out, that will be just. Enough. We come to Ruth chapter 2 today, verses 17 to 23.

You'll remember last time we were together speaking about Ruth, you'll remember that Naomi's daughter-in-law, Ruth, went out into the fields to glean from the margins. There were rules in Israel in the old covenant that the farmers were not allowed to glean all the way to the outside of the field. They were to leave some of the grain standing. It was kind of a welfare system in those days. And the poor could come and glean from the margins of the fields.

And so Ruth heads out and she just happens to choose one of Boaz's fields, this character we're getting to know, but he's a really good man. And in kindness, he offers protection to her. He says, Come stay with my young women, work in my fields. I don't know how you'll be treated in other places, but here I know you'll be safe. He invites her to lunch.

He gives her roasted grain. She eats all that she wants and has leftovers. And then she is gleaning the rest of the field. And he says to his workers, he says, listen, let her come on and take stuff out of the middle of the field, out of my portion, out of the part of the field that belongs to me. Pull out extra grain from the stalks and give it to her.

This is extraordinary generosity and kindness. And now, Ruth is about to bring back the fruit of all of her labors of working in the fields that day, and she's going to bring it back and show Naomi what her day has been like. And she's gonna bring this barley, all these little seeds that she's threshed out, and she's gonna bring them home to Naomi. And there's something about this barley. That is going to trigger something in Naomi's soul.

The barley is a glimmer of hope, and her heart starts beating. Again. And if you've ever been through grief, And you want to know how to get back to life, how to get back to hope, how to get back. into the land of the living. Naomi's going to show us how today.

So let's grab our Bibles. We're going to be in Ruth chapter 2, verses 17 to 23. Before we jump in, would you bow your heads? Let's pray together. Father, we ask now that you would come by your Holy Spirit.

Help us to see our hearts, the way our grief operates. Help us to understand your mercies in the shadows, in the hard places of life, and help us to hope again. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.

Ruth chapter 2, beginning here in verse 17. As I read here, just follow along with me.

So she, this is Ruth, gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned, and she also brought out and gave her food, what food she had left over after being satisfied. Just pause there for a moment.

So just imagine here, Ruth walks in with a sack over her shoulder, this huge sack of barley grain, and Naomi looks up from whatever sort of depressed, bitter placement is she's sitting there, and Ruth plops the sack down, opens it up, and says, look at what I've got, right? She has an effa of barley, 22 liters. This is about two-thirds of a bushel, 30 pounds of grain here, two to three weeks worth of food for one person and about a half months of wages gathered here in one day, pretty good for a day's haul, right? And she opens it up. And Naomi's eyes get wide.

And she says, and not only that, and she opens up the roasted grain from lunch. I have more roasted grain. I'm already full. I got everything I need. Do you want some?

Taste it. And so, in light of all this bounty, now Naomi is going to respond here with wonderment in her voice. Verse 19, and her mother-in-law said to her, Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed is the man who took notice of you.

So Naomi knows Ruth has worked hard here, but this is more than just hard work. This is kindness.

Someone has been generous, extraordinarily, exceptionally kind to her. But who was it? Verse 19b, the second half here.

So she, Ruth, told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, The man's name with whom I work today. is Boaz. and they owe me said to her daughter-in-law, May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead. Naomi also said to her, This man is a close relative of ours, one of our Redeemers.

So when Ruth here mentions Boaz's name, she doesn't realize the significance of the connections here. But it's not lost on Naomi. She knows Boaz. He's in the family. He's of the clan of Elimelech.

And furthermore, he's a redeemer. The word is Goel. He's a goel. Remember, we talked about earlier, we talked about leveret marriage, this weird concept from ancient Near Eastern cultures that if a woman's husband died, it was the obligation of the brother of the deceased man to come and marry, if he was unmarried, to marry the widow of his deceased brother in order to father an heir in his brother's name who would inherit his property. and preserved the clan.

Now, if there was no brother around to provide this service, there were other relatives that could volunteer. They weren't obligated, but they could volunteer, no pressure, to do the task, to be a Goel. And Naomi is saying here, Boaz is not required to. But if he chose to If he wanted to. Boaz could rescue us.

And something here begins to stir in Naomi's heart.

Something that she scarce allowed herself to believe and hope in before, for the first time in forever, Naomi has a glimmer of hope, of life, of a future, of redemption. And you could feel her heart beating as she comes back and responds. But watch this: Ruth changes the subject. Verse 21 and Ruth the Moabite said, Beside He said to me, you shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.

Now here's what's interesting to me. That's not what Boaz said. If you go back and look at verse 8, you will see Boaz told Ruth, you keep close with my young women. You stay with the young women. I've told the young man not to touch you.

But Ruth here says he told me I could hang out with his young men. What's going on here?

Well Ruth's got her eyes on the boys here. That's what's going on. Ruth is sitting here going, Ruth has redemption in mind here, but of a very different kind. She's imagining one of these strapping young Jewish worker boys will cozy up to her when she's out in the field, and that will lead to one thing or another, and then she'll get married, and then she'll have a second chance at life and a future and all of this. But Naomi here admonishes her.

Look at verse 22. And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter, that you should go out with his young women. Lest in another field you'd be assaulted. Naomi gives Ruth the same counsel that Boaz gave to Ruth: stick close with the young women. There's protection in the numbers here, but Naomi is also pondering something.

What will happen here? Boaz is a good man. He is a generous man. He's been kind and just, and he's shown favor to Ruth. Could he be.

Even maybe more? Then all of this?

So verse 23, we get the conclusion.

So Ruth kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

So, for the next two months, as the harvests come in, this is Ruth's. Routine. She follows Naomi's advice. She gets up in the morning, she goes out to glean, she hangs around the young women, she breaks for lunch, probably eats with the group. She goes back and gleans some more, threshes it out in the evening and returns and brings the proceeds home to Naomi.

And over the next two months, As time slowly works on Naomi, something begins to happen in her heart as well. Remember in 1 Corinthians 13, verse 13, you have the three abiding marks of spiritual vitality. Faith, hope, and love. In Naomi, here, these three things are starting to come to life. Her faith is being kindled, she's beginning to trust in God again.

Her hope is rising. She's imagining life with a future. That's bright and may be very different than what she's faced. Her love is renewing here. You even see it in this initial maternal care of Ruth in her life.

Here watching out for her. The question though is what triggered this. To what do we owe this transformation? in Naomi's heart.

Well the answer is Barley. Barley. An abundance of barley. Ah. But barley isn't just barley, is it?

Barley's not barley. Barley is the tender little mercies of God in the shadows. that Naomi's experiencing, aren't they? That's what the barley is. This is a tender Gracious mercy that is sinking down into Naomi's heart, and she begins to wonder.

And there's four things I think Naomi starts to wonder here. Number one. What if this is not the end after all? What if this is not the end after Um I mean, it felt like the end when Elimelech died, didn't it? How could she possibly go on?

He was her rock. He was her best friend. He was her world.

Now he's gone. How can she keep going? And then when Mahlan and Killion died, of course, that felt like the end even more. No parent should have to bury their child. And her heart freezes in agony and pain, and it feels like the end, the bitter end of her life, is at hand.

But then Mercies in the shadows. First Ruth's loyal love when she won't quit and leave. And now Boaz's. Uncoerced. generosity just voluntarily given.

All of these unexplained coincidences of Ruth just ending up in Boaz's field, who happens to be a Goel. And Naomi begins to wonder: what if bitterness. is not the end. After all. And it reminds us, friends, what is true for all of us, and that is that whatever we face, this is a chapter.

This is a chapter. Grief will make it feel like it's the end. But mercy reminds us that there is much more to the story to be written. That this is a chapter, not a conclusion. It is a moment, not the end.

And in our pain and heartache and bitter sorrow, it is so very real, friends, but it is, listen to me, it is not free. Final. It does not define who we are. This too shall pass. A new day shall come.

The sun will rise and life will go. It's the first wonder, the second wonder that Naomi begins to ponder here. is what if these mercies are messages. What if these mercies Our messages. What if this just isn't barley?

What if Ruth's loyal love isn't just random? What if Boaz's kindness here isn't just coincidence? What if God Himself is messaging through these mercies into her life? What if, in all of these things, God is reaching out to her? What if He is pursuing her, calling her, softening and wooing and drawing her close?

What if God is not done with Naomi? You know, she abandoned God with Elimelech when they fled the land, when they went off into the land of Camosh and into a foreign place. They left the covenant protection of God. And Naomi might be thinking here, God's just done with me. But in this moment, she's beginning to dare to believe that there's more grace, more mercy, more kindness in God than she could ever have imagined.

And in all these little mercies, God is speaking to her. And friends, Mercies are. Everywhere. Not just for Naomi, but for us. There are times when God shouts.

When he splits the seas and the mountains tremble and glory breaks through. But most of the time God whispers. He's subtle. and discreet. and conspiring.

And in 10,000 little ways, he's weaving his mercies into the tapestry of our stories. And his mercies are new every day. Morning. And they're everywhere. They're everywhere.

In the laughter of a child. In dewdrops in the morning light. In the beat of hummingbird wings, In every breath, in every pulse, in every touch, and every melody. in the unexpected gifts that come our way. in the grateful smiles we see.

in the faithful friends. who stay with us. In His promises and in His Word, God's mercies are ever. everywhere. And friends, this world is so full of people.

Full of the mercies of God, we don't even hardly notice them. They're so Common that we take them for granted. Just like birds don't really notice the air and fish don't notice the water, we swim in the mercies of God and hardly see them. But Naomi's starting to see them, you see. Do you see them?

Do you hear them? Do you let them into your heart? The third wonder here. Naomi starts to wonder, what if there's shelter in the shadows? What if there's shelter in the shadows?

You know, Naomi has been living in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, hasn't she? But she's not alone. And Psalm 23, verse 4 says, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod, your staff, they comfort. Me. See, she's not alone.

Because there's another shadow. That is even more powerful. More real, deeper, and more abiding and lasting than the valley of the shadow of death. And it is the shadow of the Almighty. The shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 91 says this, verse 1. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Verse 4 says, He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge. This is a beautiful picture of a mother bird shielding her young underneath her wings, protecting them from harm, throwing her body in between them and whatever predator might be out there. This is the same imagery that Boaz used in blessing Ruth back in chapter 2, verse 12, when he said, The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.

Because in returning to the land for both Ruth and Naomi, the return to the land was a return to the covenant, to the protections of God Himself. And as Naomi hears this report of what has transpired in the field earlier that day, this wonder starts arising in her heart. What if? There is shelter in all of these shadows. What if there is mercy in all of these miseries?

What if there is providence in all of these pains? What if? The Lord is my God. Shepherd. What if his goodness and mercy are following me?

all the days of my life. including the valley. of the shadow. of death. What if God is nearer Then I could imagine.

What if I really allowed my soul? to dwell. in the shelter, in the shadow. of the Almighty God. What would happen?

And friends, this is true. This is the choice every single one of us. make in our grief because God is right here. With Uh God is right here with us. My favorite name For Jesus is Emmanuel, God.

With Uh Because in the valley in the fire. in the pain. when life gets tough. God draws Near. The whole triune God runs to us in our suffering and pain.

The Bible says that God is near to the brokenhearted. Jesus is foretold as being a man of sorrows, acquainted with much grief, and the Holy Spirit is described as one who groans with us in our sufferings. And so here we have God who shepherds us through the valley of the shadow of death and his shadow, friends, is more powerful, more real, more dense, deeper than the shadow of death in the valley. And if he is with us, If our good shepherd is with us. It will be okay.

I will fear no evil. for you are with me. Friends, isn't this the beauty of the incarnation? That Jesus saw us fearfully living in the valley of the shadow of death, and he came close, and this good shepherd came and laid down his life for the sheep. He threw himself between the predator and us, those he was protecting under the shadow of his wings.

He threw his life, his life in exchange for ours, so that we who have taken shelter under the wings of the Almighty might find refuge and protection and life in him. Is this not the beauty of the incarnation and the work of Jesus? Because friends, we live in the shadow. But Jesus has defeated the shadows. I will fear no evil, for you are with.

Me. The fourth. Wonder here. In Naomi's heart. is what if redemption is God's intention.

What if redemption is God's intention. What if redemption, this remote possibility that flitted into Naomi's mind as soon as she heard the name of Boaz? What if redemption is exactly what God is doing here? Exactly what God has in mind. What if God could bring beauty from these ashes?

What if God could bring light out of this darkness? What if he could bring hope out of this despair? What if he could bring resurrection out of this crucifixion? What if And I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we? Yeah.

But the takeaway is this. God's kindness. has just begun. God's kindness has just Begun. Friends, this is true of Naomi and it's true for us too.

That these light and momentary sufferings are preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. And if God, who did not spare his own son, but freely gave him up for us all, How will he not also, along with Jesus, graciously give us all? All things. For no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived. what it is that God has prepared for those who love him.

And friends, redemption. is always God's intention. Redemption is always God's. intention even now. No matter what you're facing, friends.

God is on the job. working for those who love him to bring redemption. to even what you are facing. It may not feel redeemable. But right now God is on the job.

He's redeeming it for his greater glory. and for our eternal joy. You say, I don't know if God can do that. Not with this, not with this mess, not with these circumstances.

Well, he did it with the absolute worst thing that ever happened. The absolute worst thing that ever happened in all of world history. was the scandal of what happened on the cross. on Friday. When Jesus died, An unjust Deaf.

It was pure evil. You say, surely this can't be redeemed. But God took Friday. Awful Friday. God awful Friday.

and turned it into what we now call Good. Friday, didn't he? that he took this horrible moment. and redeemed it. for the salvation.

of the world. And if God can do that with... Friday. He can do it with your Today. whatever it is you face.

Friends, there is a glimmer of hope here. We are being reminded of a glimmer of hope that no shadow in this life can touch. And it pierces through, doesn't it? In one of my favorite books in The Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien writes of Sam and Frodo who are among the slag heaps on the bottom slopes of Mount Doom near the end.

They have this impossible task of destroying the ring, and everything looks like it's going against them, and they're going to fail in their quest. And they are laying there amongst the slag heaps in despair. about ready to give up, just crawl roll over and die. And as they lay there, this is what Talking rights. They're peeping.

among the cloud rack above a dark tour high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart as he looked up out of the Forsaken land. and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the shadow was only a small and passing thing. There was light and high beauty forever beyond its reach.

Friends, the Apostle John writes of Jesus, the light has shone in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And so here's the challenge, friends. Won't you let the light of Christ pierce through into your heart? Through all the grief, through all the pain. Through all the hardness and bitterness, all the closed off and protectedness, will you let?

Christ's light shine in and kindle your faith. and raise up your hope. and renew your love. Because Friends. God has given us way more than barley.

Don't you know that? He's given us his son. and his kindness. has just Pecan. It's just begun.

Won't you let it in? Would you bow your heads? Let's pray together. Father, we hurt a lot down here. There's so much pain and grief.

And we can hardly bear it. It helps so much to know that you know how this feels. To know that Jesus is a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, that He has borne our our shame, our sorrows, our pain. That you too know what it's like to lose. the object of your greatest love in your son.

But you are grieving. Gone. And so, Father, in all of our pain and distress, we cry out to you. We pray that you would break through. Teach us to love again.

Teach us to hope where there seems to be no hope. Help us trust you when we've... can't find the way to trust you ourselves. Father, we pray in your mercy you would help us tell our hearts to beat again. to step into the light of grace.

And a new day. An open door. and light that the shadow can never touch. We thank you for Jesus. through whom all of this is available to us.

Help us to cling to your mercies. in these shadows. In Jesus' name. On today's Moody Church hour, we heard Pastor Philip Miller teaching on Glimmers of Hope, sermon number four in a series on Mercies in the Shadows. What do we do when we can look ahead and see God's way out for us, and yet God has us waiting?

Next time, we'll learn about three warnings against manipulating the timeline of God's grace. Two contemporaries, two gospels, two tombstones, one choice. Karl Marx and D. L. Moody, the contrast between these men could not be greater.

Marx and Moody is a book co-authored by Erwin Lutzer and Greg Quiggle, a book drawing a sharp distinction between two opposing worldviews. This book will be sent as our thank you for your gift of any amount to support The Moody Church Hour. Just call us at 1-800-215-5001. That's 1-800-215-5001. Online, go to MoodyChurchHour.com.

That's moodychurchhour.com. Or write to us at Moody Church Media, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Ask about Marks and Moody when you write or call. Join us next week for another Moody Church Hour with Pastor Philip Miller and the Congregation of Historic Moody Church in Chicago. This broadcast is a ministry of The Moody Church.