Sermons in Rosedale Network of Churches
Continuing a multi-year theme of hearing how God is at work in our churches, the 2025 Feature Beacon articles focus on preaching within Rosedale Network of Churches. Each article features a recent sermon by a Rosedale Network pastor. May we all be encouraged by the faithful teaching of God’s Word.
A man was walking through town and passed by a pawn shop. He peeked in the window and could hardly believe what he saw—sitting among dusty old trinkets and broken watches was a beautiful acoustic guitar. And it belonged to him! It had been stolen years before, and he had given up hope of ever finding it. Now there it was, sitting right in front of him, but with a price tag. Without hesitation, he walked in, pulled out his wallet, and bought back what was already his.
Even when we run, His love does not.
That’s what redemption looks like. It’s not simply rescue—it’s reclaiming something that rightfully belongs to you, at personal cost. And that’s exactly what happened in Hosea 3. God told Hosea to go after his wayward wife, Gomer; to find her, buy her back, and love her again. What a beautiful picture of God’s redeeming love! Even when we fail, His love does not. Even when we run, His love does not.
My mom tells the story from the early ’80s when she used leashes on her children. My dad was running the Columbus Marathon, and she took all of us to cheer him on. There were six of us, and she was afraid that one of us would get lost in the sea of people. There were tens of thousands of people. Despite several people telling her that leashes were for dogs, she was not about to let one of us get away from her.
This is similar to what the Lord has done with Israel. He made a covenant, and He was not about to break it, even when they did wrong. Just as a parent might use a harness on a rambunctious child at an amusement park or zoo, they can try to run away—they can try to jump into the gorilla enclosure—but they cannot get away! Even though Gomer cheated, God told Hosea to keep his wedding ring on: “The Lord said to me, ‘Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes” (Hos. 3:1 NIV).
Gomer is guilty of adultery, which was punishable by death. But she is not to be killed. She is to be given mercy. Not because she deserved it, but to illustrate God’s love for unfaithful Israel, who had turned to false gods and their raisin cakes (personally, I have started telling everyone I can about the benefits of dried grapes: it’s really just raisin awareness).
Raisin cakes were used as a part of pagan worship, and God says that His people are to worship Him only. But God’s love pursues even when we’ve walked away, like the story Jesus told about a shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to find the one lost sheep in Luke 15.
So, Hosea bought Gomer. He paid the equivalent of thirty pieces of silver, the going rate for a slave. You may remember that Judas betrayed Jesus for that same amount (Matt. 26:15).
Hosea’s story isn’t just a tale of heartbreak—it’s a glimpse into the heart of God, whose love paid the price to redeem us through the shed blood of Jesus. It is boundless love that refuses to give up, no matter the cost.
Photo credit: AI-generated
