In His Image

In His Image...
Gen.1:27
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

By His power...
Gen.2:7
7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

God's plan...
Gen.2:15-17

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 

16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 

17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." 

Gen.2:21-25

21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 

22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 

23 Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." 

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 

25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. 

Satan's temptation and Man's fall into sin...
Gen.3:1-13

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" 

2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 

3 but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 

4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 

5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 

7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 

8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 

9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" 

10 And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." 

11 He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 

12 The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." 

13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." 

God's sentence for rebellion...
Gen.3:14-19

14 The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." 

16 To the woman he said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." 

17 And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 

18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 

19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." 

So you ask "why does God allow bad things to happen"? Man's disobedience caused "bad things"! Man is held in bondage by Satan because of sin! We always try to figure out why, when we should ask God to have mercy and to forgive our disobedience! We like sheep have gone astray! Our good Shepherd, Christ has come to redeem all who are lost! The world no longer has any shame about sinful acts, instead we condone them!

How can man ignore such a great salvation? Death and destruction is what we deserve but Christ in His mercy took God's wrath. Wrath that belongs to you and me! Not even death could hold the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Praise Him! Christ is wholly God and wholly man!

Acts 2:24
24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

One man's obedience...

Romans 5:19

19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

Christian Faithfulness And Covenant Storytelling

Ps.78:1-8

1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! 

2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, 

3 things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. 

4 We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. 

5 He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, 

6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, 

7 so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; 

8 and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Sermon By Matt M, thank you so much, what a blessing!

A question looms over the unfolding narrative of the Old Testament:

How could Israel be so well loved and yet so wayward?

Is faithfulness to God even possible?

How can we and the generation after us pursue faithfulness to God in 2013?

We faithfully hear the story:

"Our fathers have told us".

Ps.78:1-3

There is a vital relationship between what we hear and our present/future faithfulness to God.

Faithfulness to God displays itself in an attitude of eagerness to hear, to retain, to remember, to respond to what is heard.

The call to "give ear" comes first because biblical faith doesn't begin with an open mouth. It begins with an open ear.

We faithfully tell the story:

"We will not hide them from their children".

Ps.78:3-8

Faithfulness to God is demonstrated not only by our being hearers but also heralds of the covenant story-the story of the rescuing power of God in Christ.

Multi-generational faithfulness is a community effort.

1 Cor.4:15

15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

1 Cor.15:3-4

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 

4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures

The heart of Paul's message was the story of the covenant with it's central character, Jesus Christ, and His central work: living a righteous life, dying a substitutionary death and rising from the dead so that any who turn from sin and trust Him alone become eternal objects of the mercy and blessing of God.

Judges 2:10

10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.

They faithfully tell the story:

"They arise and tell them to their children".

Ps.78:5-7

No hope without faith in Christ, have you told your children?

The Book Of Life Or The Lake Of Fire

Rev.20:11-15
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Words from Matthew Henry's commentary...

There is a book of remembrance both for good and bad: and the book of the sinner's conscience, though formerly secret, will then be opened. Every man will recollect all his past actions, though he had long forgotten many of them. Another book shall be opened, the book of the Scriptures, the rule of life; it represents the Lord's knowledge of his people, and his declaring their repentance, faith, and good works; showing the blessings of the new covenant. By their works men shall be justified or condemned; he will try their principles by their practices. Those justified and acquitted by the gospel, shall be justified and acquitted by the Judge, and shall enter into eternal life, having nothing more to fear from death, or hell, or wicked men; for these are all destroyed together. This is the second death; it is the final separation of sinners from God. Let it be our great concern to see whether our Bibles justify or condemn us now; for Christ will judge the secrets of all men according to the gospel.

Are you standing on your own merit? Or, are you standing on the promise of Christ? He was born to die for our sin, sent by God, an acceptable sacrifice, willing King, Lord of all! 

Phil.2:6-11

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

A Nice Warm Bed

1 Timothy 6:6-10

6 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 

7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 

8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 

9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 

10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

As I lay in my warm bed this early cold morning, I sang praise to the Lord for all the rich blessings He has bestowed on my family. I asked for mercy for those who are in the cold air today, those who sleep outside with no hope of a warm bed. We have the resources to help these lost ones, one person at a time, but do we? Is it not easy to think that someone else will help them?

Lord, convict each and every one of us. Let us not think of the vast amount of people who need help but just the one we will see today. Amen

Contemplating The Eternal At Christmas

Heb.9:27-28
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 

so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Thank You Pastor David!

We are...
surrounded by the superficial
blinded by the temporal
numbed by the trivial

We need to contemplate out lives...
Life is precious...
Gen.1:26-31
Gen.2:7-9
Job 10:11-12
Ps.22:9-10
Ps.139:13-16
Life is valuable...
Ps.8:3-8
Is.49:1
Jer.1:5
Luke 1:14-16
Gal.1:15-16
Life is fleeting...
Ps.39:4-5
Ps.102:11
Ps.103:15-16
James 4:13-14

We need to contemplate our death...
Death is coming...
2 Sam.14:14
Ps.90:10
Eccl.9:2-5
It is often surprising!
It is inevitably sure!
Death is a consequence of sin...
Gen.2:15-17
Gen.3:22-24
Gen.6:13
Ps.90:5-9
Death is a multi-faceted
Mt.10:28
Eccl.12:7
1 Cor.15:26
James 2:26

Spiritual death: Separation of a person from God
Gen.3:22-24
Romans 5:12
We are all spiritually dead...
Ephesians 2:1-3
Physical death:Cessation of life in our physical body
Gen.5:1-8
We will all experience physical death...
1 Cor.15:22
Eternal death:Finalization of separation from God
Rev.20:6
Rev.21:8
We all deserve eternal death...
Romans 6:23
Death is not the end...
John 5:27-28

We need to contemplate coming judgment...
Fact: Judgment is inescapable...
Acts 17:31
Romans 2:5-11
Rev.20:11-15
The desire for judgment is instinctual...
Heb.1:2-4
The warnings of judgment are undeniable...
2 Peter 2:4-10
The scope of judgment will be universal...
Is.66:15-24
The nature of judgment will be personal...
Matt.7:21-33
Romans 14:10-12
Eccl.11:9;12:14
The effect of judgment will be eternal...
Matt.25:46
Rev.21:6-8

We need to contemplate the coming of Jesus
He came once in humility to provide salvation from sin.
He lived the live we could not live...
John 18:38
Heb.4:15
1 John 3:5
He died the death we deserve to die...
Heb.2:17
Rom.5:6-8
Gal.3:13
1 Peter 2:24
2 Cor.5:21
He conquered the enemy we can not conquer...
1 Cor.15:3-8
Heb.2:14-15
Col.2:13-15

He is coming back in glory to execute judgment for sinners
Those who have turned from Jesus...
Dread(or disinterested in) the return of Jesus...
2 Thessalonian 1:5-10
Death remains an eternally hopeless enemy...
Rev.20:12-15
Those who have trusted in Jesus
Long and look forward to the return of Jesus...
Phil.3:20
Rev.22:20
Death has become a surprisingly helpful friend...
Phil.1:20-23
Luke 23:46

When Your Heart Is Breaking

Have you ever had your heart ache so bad that you were sure it would just fracture into tiny pieces? This is how I feel when I see my big brother who is dying, a little every day, struggle to stand, breathe or eat. My soul actually is in deep pain, it is wounded, seeping raw emotions that I wish I did not have to experience. God did not plan for our life to be this way. Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan and brought sin into all of us. That corruption changed everything!! From one man man sin entered all! God's beautiful creation was tainted and forever sin would scar man's soul. But God who is rich in mercy did not let Satan ruin His plan. He sent His Son to defeat Satan! Satan, you are defeated and Christ is king! People ask,"How can God let innocent people die"? Remember what changed God's perfect plan for man? Satan and his temptation that leads to sin! So if you look for blame, look to Satan and his plan to entice man to rebellion against God. You better praise God for not destroying all mankind for we surely deserve it.

Who Christ is...
Phil.2:5-11

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 

7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant,being born in the likeness of men. 

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 

11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

Who man is...
Gen.1:27 

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Job 7:17

What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him

Deuteronomy 4:32 
Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of?

So remember when you seem to be all alone, there is One who is there. He was there when He took your place on that cross, there when He intercedes for you before God and He is coming again soon to take you home!

The Big Fish (Hear the Word of the Lord)

Jonah 1:1-4
1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me."
3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
4 But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.
Jonah 1:8-10
8 Then they said to him, "Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?"
9 And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."
10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, "What is this that you have done!" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
Jonah 1:14-17
14 Therefore they called out to the LORD, "O LORD, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you."
15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.
17 And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah 2:1-2
1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish,
2 saying, "I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. 
Jonah 2:7-10
7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!" 
10 And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
Jonah 3:1-5
1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying,
2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you."
3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth.
4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
Jonah 3:7-10
7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water,
8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
9 Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish."
10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
Jonah 4:1-4
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, "O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
3 Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live."
4 And the LORD said, "Do you do well to be angry?"
Jonah 4:6-11
6 Now the LORD God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.
7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered.
8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, "It is better for me to die than to live."
9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you do well to be angry for the plant?" And he said, "Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die."
10 And the LORD said, "You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night.
11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?"

Are you running like Jonah? Are you unwilling to give up that sin that has you enslaved?