An Honest Prayer

This Christmas is the third year that we have challenged our friends at Journey to give less at Christmas and give the better gift of presence with family and friends instead.  This year we raised the challenge for each family to give at least $40 less in gifts and donate towards a well in India to provide clean water for 50-100 families.

Last week during our daughters nightly prayer time she asked this simple prayer…

“God, help me not to be sad that I am getting less for Christmas this year so we can help build a well in India.  I really want them to have clean water but I also want to have more Christmas presents so please help me not to be sad.”

I love that she is so honest and for a 9 year old, it is very normal.  So, we decided to involve each of our kids in Advent Conspiracy by giving them each a portion of the money that they would have received on Christmas and we are letting them give it in the offering. It may not be quite as exciting for them but they can see what they are sacrificing for and learn how to give first hand.  We want our kids to learn a lifestyle of giving from us.  How can you be creative in teaching your kids to give?

iPaq to iPhone: My Geeky History with PDA’s

I was randomly thinking about some stuff the other day and for some reason, I thought back to my very first PDA.  So, for the older gadget geeks out there, here’s my history.

2001-2003 The Original Compaq iPaq Pocket PC (with the B/W screen)

2003-2004 HP Jornado 540 (I got a color screen!!!)

2004-2005 HP iPaq (Man, it was cutting edge…lol)

2005-2006 Palm Treo 650 (Now I only had to have 1 device on my belt)

2006-2007 Palm Treo 700p (Not sure why I upgraded…it wasn’t an upgrade)

2007-2008 Blackberry 8830 (Now we were getting somewhere!)

2008-2010 iPhone 3G (This was Smokin’)

2010-Present iPhone 4 (My current do EVERYTHING gadget)

For those that started with a Blackberry or iPhone…you have no idea how good you have it.

What is the church?

At Journey, our leadership team is working through some of the issues of becoming a more stable and established local church after 3.5 years as a church plant.  Two of the primary organizational structures that we are focusing on are the areas of biblical church membership and eldership.  This is the third post in a series of discussions on ecclesiology, or the study of the church.  In my last post, I wrote about the critical need to find the answers we are looking for primarily through scripture.  Many pastors, theologians, bloggers, etc. have a lot of opinions on the matter, but so does God.  It is His purpose that we have to seek first.

In this post, I want to share some basic but crucial concepts on what the “church” really is.  In my culture, it is normal for someone to talk about their community of faith as “my church”.  Many times, the idea is linked to a particular location or building…”Let’s go to church”, “I’ll meet you at the church”, and so on.  You might ask someone you work with, “So, what church do YOU go to?”  Or you might say, “I go to XYZ Church”.  Even the names of our faith communities almost always include the name “church”.  For the first 2 years of Journey’s life, we simply referred to our community as Journey Chattanooga.  We found that a lot of people in Chattanooga thought we were a travel agency, then we changed it to “Journey Church” just to alleviate the confusion.  The problem with the idea that each faith community is a separate church is truly a biblical one.  The Bible never talks about the church in those terms!

In the New Testament, the word “church” is primarily translated from 2 greek words, “ekklesia” and “kyriakon”.  “Church” originally comes from the Anglo Saxon word “circe” which is translated from the Greek “kyriakon” which means “belonging to the Lord”.  In the English New Testament, the word “church” is also translated from the Greek word “ekklesia” which means “a gathering of people” or an “assembly”.  It’s the idea of a congregation.  So, a biblical definition of the church is the people who belong to the Lord.  It never refers to a specific faith community, city, denomination, or building, it is the people who belong to Jesus.  They include every believer from every time period who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross.  There is ONE church, not many, and it is made up of people.  Throughout the New Testament, we do see practical descriptions of local regional churches in the sense of “chapters” of the universal church.  Examples would include, “the church in Jerusalem”, “the church in Corinth”, etc.  Still, they are part of the one universal church of believers.

The New Testament tells us a few other things about the church, as well.

Jesus is the head of the church. 

God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. Ephesians 1:22 (NLT)

The church is the “body of Christ” and followers of Jesus are members of that body.

Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. Colossians 1:18 (NLT)

No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. And we are members of his body. Ephesians 5:29-30 (NLT)

There is a great discussion by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:12-30.

Some of the questions that this raises for me is..

• Who does “the church” really refer to?
• Not everyone that attends a local church body (the church assembling in a local place) is part of “the church”.
• What should the activities of the church be?
• What roles can those that attend a local church but are not part of “the church” fulfill?

The most important question I deal with, personally, right now is, what does it look like for a local chapter of “the church” like Journey to truly be led by the “head of the church”, Jesus? I’ve heard a lot of discussions by a lot of different people.  Most obviously, we read scripture and act accordingly.  But what would it look like for a church to be led by Jesus when he doesn’t attend a leadership meeting by sitting in a chair and giving specific direction? I’ve got some more thoughts on this for later, but this will do for now.

 

The Source

Any of the great “ologies” in scripture point to a specific area of study in God’s word…soteriology, theology, ecclesiology, etc.  Before you can really dig in and determine what God is saying today, you have to recognize that we start out at a disadvantage.  We are at least 2000 years removed from any of the events that have happened in the Bible! As you can tell, a few things have changed in our culture and context.  The Bible is now primarily read from a book rather than being told in stories.  Our culture is growing more and more illiterate of biblical and spiritual truths, similar to the early Gentiles we read about in Paul’s letters of the New Testament.  We’ve seen thousands of scholars retell and interpret the work of Jesus and the early apostles over and over again.  In fact, if you’ve read any blogs or church leadership books in the last 20 years, you’ve seen drastically changing patterns, programs, priorities, and strategies.

To start any research, you have to start from one common authoritative source, the Bible.  If you want to read more about how God speaks to us, you can read about it here.  For our study of the church, we are starting with “the source” of authority and every living thing, God.

God is the source of everything

You see, everything finds its origin in God.  Creation, life, wisdom, strategy, principle, salvation, direction, faith and truth to name a few.  Before God created the earth, nothing existed before God.  He was methodical in everything He made and later revealed His greatest creation…us.

Because God is the author and we are His creation with a lot of potential and a lot of faults, we approach God from a level of weakness and inferiority.  That is one of the reasons we serve and worship God as well as why we needed a Savior in the first place.

We approach everything from the standpoint of weakness

The Bible goes so far as to say we cannot even comprehend the thoughts and ways of God (Isaiah 55:9).  In other words, we are clueless.  Our strategies, our rationale, our ability to plan wisely for an unknown future are absolutely futile without first hearing from God.  That very idea makes something in each of us gag just a bit, that we have nothing to offer to the conversation.  We approach everything from the standpoint of weakness.  Oddly enough, it is when we recognize our weakness that God promises to strengthen us the most. (2 Corinthians 12:9)  That means that if we approach the study of God, the church or anything else spiritual without going to the source, we will misunderstand, misinterpret, and get it wrong 10 out of 10 times.

God willfully reveals Himself to us

Because we get it wrong 10 out of 10 times, God willfully chose to reveal himself to us in many different ways throughout history.  He has spoken through prophets, priests, circumstances, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and the Bible to name a few. It’s called the doctrine of revelation, the things God has chosen to reveal to us.  Today, I believe God speaks primarily through the Bible and the Holy Spirit.  If you believe that the Bible is true and infallible as I do, you will have a high regard for what it contains and you will recognize that it will point to a singular story of God and His work in this world.  In other words, it will bear out a consistent message even if it seems otherwise at times.

Why we go to the source

People only see part of a situation or circumstance.  I have found that often we only see the parts we really want to see, or the parts that defend the position we’ve already decided is the right one.  We are narrow minded at our core, every single one of us.  We go to the source because God supersedes our narrow mindedness and shows us a bigger and better picture of what is to come…if we care to go to Him first.  I’ve found that God will speak through scripture directly to our culture and our context.  However, when we first want to know what other PEOPLE have said on the topic, we are already opening ourselves up for misinterpretation or interpretation in one context that doesn’t play out in all contexts.  We find our perceptions colored before we even get to the real prize, what God wants to say.  That doesn’t mean mature followers of Jesus who spend hours and hours studying the Bible through prayer can’t shed some light on what God wants to show us.  We just can’t go to them first even though it seems sooooo much easier.

How we go to the source

As a young Christian, I often asked the question, do you have to be a scholar to hear from God? Well…yes and no.  You can’t know God’s heart if you don’t know God’s word.  There is a definite need to spend time becoming familiar with all aspects of the Bible.  However, God continues to speak to those who earnestly seek Him through the Holy Spirit even if they are beginning readers of scripture.

For a first step, the best way to hear from the source is casually reading through the Bible, first through the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and then spread out from there.  This gives you a broad picture of who God is and what He has said and done in history.

Along with the first step, consistently praying over the text helps to bring it alive and engage the Holy Spirit in the process.  I can’t tell you how many times God has demonstrated something profound in simple times of prayer and reading.

Thirdly, much of the truth of scripture is demonstrated when we actually apply the things that we are learning and reading.  To know them is futile (James 1:22).  To apply them is to introduce the spiritual into the practical world we live in.  It’s incredible, fresh, and highly rewarding.  As you grow in your maturity and understanding of the Bible you will naturally begin to hunger for more. I’m always curious when someone is willing to die for a biblical principle but doesn’t care enough to read the Bible regularly.  It just doesn’t add up.

When we go to the source

Overall, to believe that God has revealed everything in the Bible would mean he is a pretty small God.  God shows us what He wants us to see.  No more and no less.  Along the way, we will learn common principles and traditions as they have been passed down from generation to generation.  Those who have studied before us can help us in our own study and growth.  When we go to the source first, we don’t just learn the face value stuff, we also begin to discover the heart of God in areas we weren’t necessarily looking.  That’s living in the overflow – applying the things we wanted to know and being blessed with the things we didn’t know we wanted to know.  Some of these have immediate applications and some we will use later in life as situations arise.  It’s one of the ways God prepares us for a future we are oblivious to but He is already working in.

The greatest part of going to the source is that we will experience God beyond principles and precepts, stories and traditions.  We will experience the true and living source, or creator.  His words will change the course of our lives and our church because I believe He WANTS us to know His heart and will.  It all starts with opening the Bible and digging in.  God will take it from there.

Charting the course for Journey

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be writing a series of posts on ecclesiology, or “the theology of the church”.  Journey is now over 3 years old and has matured to a point where a discussion of it’s future is important.  This is a definitely an important topic for me.  I took my first step in ministry over 20 years ago.  I first became a green church staff member for the first time 19 years ago as the “Youth Director” of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Strawberry Plains, Tennessee. (Anyone know where that is?)

Since then, I have given my career and much of my heart to the ministry of the church and to the church.  To say it is dear to my heart would be an understatement.  I love the church and believe that it is the single most important body of people on the planet.  I have watched it suffer and struggle, expand and triumph, fight and bicker, embrace and forgive.  I’ve watched as trends come and go.  Leaders take center stage and then disappear into the background as new leaders step forward with new ideas and goals.  But through it all, I’ve had the privilege to be a part of the body of Christ all over the world as a member of God’s family.  Yeah, to say that the church is important to me is quite an understatement.  That’s why having a good foundation in studying the church is so vital in continuing the long line of the community of faith in Jesus Christ.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting several articles on the basics of a biblically based ecclesiology as well as questions I have and directions we are going.  Along the way, you’ll see a discussion of church purpose, goal, structure, and vision.  All of these come together to form a biblical basis for the Body of Christ as God intended it to be.  We’ll find that some areas are prescriptive, or mandated, while others are descriptive, or “a” way of interpreting and practicing biblical principles in the church.  I’ll warn you now, some of the blog posts will be lengthy and are not for the faint of heart.  If you are ready for the challenge, though, feel free to comment or ask questions along the way!

The Doctrine of the Fall of Humanity

Do you ever get together with friends and start remembering all the crazy things you did “way back when”? Is there a point in your life that you would love to go back to and experience it again? In the Bible, that point for most Christians is in the Garden of Eden.  It was the place where humanity was created.  The place where we drew our first breath, felt newly created dirt between our toes, took in the aroma of thousands of budding flowers, trees, and plants (Genesis 2:8-9).  “The Garden” is the place where humanity first walked and talked with God…and it hasn’t ever happened like that since.

God had thought of everything.  It was free game…eat what you wanted, go where you wanted, and explore the wonders of creation for the first time.  There were no tears, not disappointments, no discouragements, and no heartaches.  Everything was just as it should be to experience life fully.  God forbid one thing, though, that we know about…don’t eat from two specific trees He had planted in the garden, The trees of life and of the knowledge of good and evil.  That was it.  It was paradise.  Life was good.  (Genesis 2:15-17)

In that whole scenario, I’ve always asked an intriguing question, why did God put the tree in the garden?  Couldn’t we have avoided a lot of mess if he had just left those 2 trees out? I mean, really… If you already know the story or if you read ahead, then you know that those trees would change everything for Adam and Eve and ultimately for you and I, too.  Eve would be tempted by a snake (Genesis 3:1-6) to do exactly what God said not to do and Adam would follow suit.  To be fair, it wasn’t any ordinary snake, it was the physical representation of Satan (Revelation 12:9).  This all happened sometime after Satan and his followers went to war with God and the rest of the angels.  Satan lost, he was thrown to the world, he spread his misery to everyone else.

I wonder what that fruit from the forbidden tree taste like.  I imagine it was incredible, after all, forbidden things just taste better. They are more exciting and seem to be altogether exhilarating…at least in the moment.  For Adam and Eve, though, that moment passed quickly.  This tree of the knowledge of good and evil was different.  It actually gave them knowledge of the difference between what is good and what is evil.  It gave them knowledge that they had done what God told them not to do.  They were acting in sin, an evil deed against the will of their creator and they were ashamed of what they had done…no forbidden fruit is worth that!

At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.Genesis 3:7-8(NLT)

If this is the entrance of sin, then it still begs the question, what is sin?  The Bible describes in a lot of different ways…

•  Disobedience to God
•  Missing the mark
• Breaking the law of God
• Madness
• Selfishness
• Idolatry
• Among others

There are generally two broad categories that all other sins fall into.

1. Sins of Commission – in other words, those are the things that God said not to do and we did them anyway.  We committed sin.
2. Sins of Omission – those things that we should have done but chose not to.

Shame was their first consequence of sin.  They knew they had done wrong and it felt terrible.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only result.  Ultimately their choice to disobey God would cause them to be thrown out of paradise and ultimately have a much more difficult life.  The greatest consequence, though, was that they could now longer walk with their creator.  They could no longer be in His presence, a consequence that continues today. (Genesis 3:9-15)

All of this raises another interesting question, can we avoid sin?  Adam and Eve didn’t, but what about me? I can be good enough.  Unfortunately, the Bible says that we aren’t immune from the temptation to choose ourselves over God.

For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. Psalm 51:5 (NLT)

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Romans 5:12 (NLT)

Sin would not only brought shame and broke the relationship we had with God, it actually brought death.  The first recorded death in the Bible is spiritual, the death of Adam and Eve’s life of sinlessness with God.  The first killing in the Bible was at God’s hands when he killed animals to make skins for Adam and Eve to wear.  We’ll learn later, that sin would tear apart families, ruin lives, and cause us to seek after every pleasure under the sun with no success in regaining true peace.  It would also lead to an eternity in Hell.

Not only is the cost of sin great, the cost of bring restoration to this fallen reality of life and creation would be immense.  We’ll talk about this Sunday at Journey but if you want to read ahead, look at what God would go through to bring us back.  To restore us to a relationship with Him in sinlessness.  Warning, if you read it truthfully, it’s intense.

2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.

3 He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.

4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!

5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.

7 He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.

8 Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people.

9 He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.

10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.

11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. Isaiah 53:2-11 (NLT)

Picking up the pieces after the storm

The picture above was taken in Ringgold after tornadoes ripped through homes and businesses this week.  Thousands of homes and businesses are still without power and debris will be collected for weeks as people start to rebuild their homes and lives.  For the most part, everyone from Journey seems to be doing pretty well.  Thankfully, no one was injured or worse.  While several had trees and debris in their yards, none seem to have sustained serious damage (if you know of anyone that did, please let us know).  Disaster relief teams have been flooding into the area and the clean up has begun.  The most affected areas near people from Journey is Ringgold; near the Mike and Diann Jarvis and Chris and Samantha Caldwell, in Hixson; in Charlie and Jessica Gann’s neighborhood, and Ely Road, near Jean Neyman and Kely Woods.  Ringgold is so devastated that there really isn’t much we can do right now.  They need trained volunteers and heavy equipment.  The Gann’s, Jean, and Kely have several trees down around them and their neighbors are primarily senior citizens.  As the church, I think it is important to get involved in “helpful” ways to help our community.  Here is what we are proposing….

1.  If you would like to volunteer in the most affected areas, get in touch with either the Red Cross or the Salvation Army.  They are coordinating volunteer activities and offering some disaster relief training.  If you would like to make a donation, they are good organizations to donate though.
2.  Come out with rakes, chainsaws, and gloves to help the Gann’s and Jean and Kely’s neighborhoods tomorrow (Saturday) morning.  We’ll meet at Journey at 9:00 and head to the area that needs the most help.
3.  Blood Assurance is desperately low on blood, especially O-.  Go to a blood assurance collection point and donate, no matter what type blood you have! They need all types.
4.  COOKOUT THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON after worship.  While we hope EPB will have power up for most of Chattanooga by Sunday, that may or may not be the case.  We are going to have a cookout to provide some much needed community with each other and have a hot meal for our neighbors.  IMPORTANT:  If you have power, please plan to bring a side dish, drinks, desserts, etc.  We’ll provide everything else.  It would make it much easier if you would reply to this email and let me know what you are bringing.  Most likely, those without power won’t get this email, so please make phone calls and let everyone you have a phone number for know about the cookout.  For those that don’t have power, just bring yourselves and let’s invite our neighbors and friends that still don’t have power, either.  We will still have our regularly scheduled worship experience and will eat immediately after.  It is a great time to be with friends and help each other deal with the trauma that we’ve witnessed this week.  Everyone is welcome and we are right next to Walmart, so if we need more food…it’s easy to get!We expect the cleanup to take months.  We’ll be looking for other ways to help along the way.  If you know of any, let us know ASAP.  Looking forward to seeing everyone on Sunday.

The Doctrine of Humanity

In the Genesis 1 & 2 creation accounts, God systematically created the heavens and the earth, light and darkness, plants and animals, and finally Adam and Eve.  In each case, God spoke them into existence.  He said, “Let it be.” and it was.  The creation of humanity took a different direction, though.  God didn’t just speak them into existence, He crafted them.  Genesis 2 describes it as a supernatural sculpting of the first man, Adam, from dust with His very hands.  The first breath of life was given directly by God, too.

It’s hard to imagine the kind of buzz that was present as all new life began to explore its surroundings.  God had created everything out of nothing and it seems as though there were components of God interwoven within the creation itself or at least they gave a type of testimony to His creative mastery.

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.  Psalm 19:1-4 (NLT)

“Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!” But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!” He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”  Luke 19:38-40 (NLT)

The Creation of Humanity

When we studied the doctrine of creation, we noted that the Bible shared more about the creator than about the technicalities of the creation process.  Looking at the creation of people we see a few things about God.

Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like ourselves. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened. Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.Genesis 1:26-31 (NLT)

• We were made in God’s image.
• God existed eternally in three persons.
• In some way, God intended for people to mimic some of His own qualities.

In most ways, God is Unique

• Only God is Eternal
• Only God is Omnipotent/All Powerful
• Only God is Omniscient/All Knowing
• Only God is Omnipresent/All Places
• Only God is Immutable/Doesn’t Change
• Only God is Ruler and King

In some ways, we mimic the attributes of God

Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.  Colossians 3:10-15 (NLT)

Ways we  can be like God

• We Can Love
• We Can Create
• We are Spirit
• We Pursue Holiness
• We seek Justice and Righteousness
• We Receive and Share Grace
• We Exist Best in Community

How do we pursue a life that mimics the qualities of God?

1. Seek to do the will of God instead of trying to get God to do our will.  He created the universe…and us…certainly he knows what is best.
2. By worshiping God instead of the things that the world created (idols).
3. By demonstrating what it means to live in the image of God.  Leading others to have a relationship with God is one way we fulfill our purpose.
4. By serving God and serving others.  Something happens when you put someone else’s needs above your own.  Your entire perspective of life and value changes.
5. Struggle with what it means to love others and do it.
6. Care for those that were important to Jesus, namely the poor, sick, hurting, oppressed, and needy.
7. Live in Community, not in obscurity.  We were created to live with people and interweave our lives with each other.

How is life with God different from life without God?

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.  Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT)

Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.  Galatians 6:2-3 (NLT)

Bottom Line

A full life is only possible by living out the image of God.

The Doctrine of Creation

The doctrine of creation sets the tone for everything else we believe about God and about our own origins. What we believe about the origin of the world and ourselves will literally determine what we believe about the purpose of life. At its core, the central debate of creation is whether or not there is a God. Because we believe that God revealed Himself truthfully in the Bible, we learn a lot from it’s pages.

What does the Bible say about the beginning of the universe?

By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.
Hebrews 11:3 (NLT)

The belief that God formed the universe gives us hope that He can answer prayers and ultimately save us from our sins as He claimed. The amount of evidence in biblical literature and extra-biblical literature confirms that God can actually bend the natural laws of this world because He created them. There is no conflict between science and God because He not only created science, He also gave us the curiosity to discover scientific principles.

What does life without God as creator look like?

That Man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave; that all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and the whole temple of Man’s achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins—all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain, that no philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand. Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of the unyielding despair, can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built. -Bertrand Russell

2 Primary Beliefs about the creation of the world

1. Divine Creation

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Genesis 1:1-2 (NLT)

2. Biological Evolution dating back to 6th Century BC and made popular by Charles Darwin in mid 1800’s

• Macroevolution – that the building blocks of life existed already and over time, the combined and mutated to eventually form life quite randomly and by accident. This view claims the creation account from the Bible is false. It’s most visible challenge to the Bible occurred in the early 20th century during the Scopes “Monkey” Trial in Dayton, Tennessee. A biology teacher was taken to trial for teaching a non-biblical account of creation and gave national attention to the growing tension between science and religion.
• Microevolution – the belief that life undergoes small changes and adaptions to it’s environment over time without being a source of life or the ability to create new life. This belief does not require you to be a proponent of Macroevolution.

What is the purpose of the creation account?

You might think we have the account of creation in Genesis to give us the specific facts about it. Instead, the purpose of the creation account is to demonstrate who the creator is rather than describe the act of creation itself.

What does the Bible tells us?

1. Who made the earth

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
John 1:1-5 (NLT)

2. Why the earth was made

Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them.’”
Isaiah 43:7 (NLT)

3. How the earth was made

Genesis 1:1-31

What do we learn about God?

• The Eternality of God
• The Omnipotence/All Powerfulness of God
• The Creative Nature of God
• The Trinity in Action
• The Love of God
• The Desire for a Relationship with His Creation

God’s continual act of creation

This is what God the Lord says– he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
Isaiah 42:5-7 (NIV)

Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
2 Corinthians 5:14-18 (NLT)

Bottom Line

We were created by God, for God, and only find true hope, purpose, and fulfillment through God.

The Doctrine of the Trinity

Trying to explain God is like trying to explain the feeling you get when the sun finally comes out after a month of rain.  It just can’t be done! The fact is, God is a huge mystery.  If we could completely understand Him, He wouldn’t be God.  What we do have are the glimpses of what He has chosen to reveal in scripture.

Augustine said, “If you deny the Trinity you will lose your soul.  If you try to understand the Trinity, you will lose your mind.” He was right! The fact is, what we believe about God determines what we believe about life.

The doctrine of the Trinity states that God is one triune God who exists eternally in three equal persons…God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes but with no division in nature, essence, being, or message.

There is one God

Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like ourselves. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” Genesis 1:26 (NLT)

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Deuteronomy 6:4 (NIV)

Then people all over the earth will know that the Lord alone is God and there is no other.  1 Kings 8:60 (NLT)

“But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says the Lord. “You are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God. There is no other God— there never has been, and there never will be.  Isaiah 43:10 (NLT)

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.  Luke 1:35 (NIV)

One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.  Luke 3:21-22 (NLT)

Development of the doctrine of the Trinity.

It’s important to know that the Trinity is not mentioned in the Bible.  Instead the idea of one God in three persons first mentioned by Theophilus of             Antioch in 170 AD who was known for driving out heretics attacking Christians.  Others have associated this new doctrine to Tertullian.

One of the most difficult aspects of understanding concepts from the Bible that was written in another age is the difference in language and culture.  “Person” in English is understood to be an individual.  In ancient Israel, “person” communicates the idea of an individual AS WELL AS that person existing in community.

Why does it matter if it is one or three Gods? A number of questions would be raised.

• Who is supreme?
• Who should be worshiped?
• Who is more powerful?
• Which should be followed?

When we attempt to study God, we often call it “theology”.  It’s a word made by two greek words…Theos (God) + Logos (Word) = theology – a word about God.  Similarly, sociology is a word/study about society.  Psychology – A word/study about the psyche (mind/behavior).  Ecclesiology – A word/study of the Ekklesia (the church).  Soteriology – A word/study of the soter or savior or the  study of salvation.  Studying the Trinity helps us to understand God in the ways he was revealed Himself to us.

God represented as “Three In One” Through the Bible

God was so revered in the Old Testament that His name was never to be spoken out loud.  He was to be honored above all things.  He was simply called God or Lord.

The Holy Spirit was introduced in the Old Testament but was not fully taught until the New Testament.  Jesus was mentioned in the OT as the coming messiah and He asserted his godship as did God the father during Jesus’ baptism.  The consistent message of the Trinity has always been to know God, to become like Christ, and to lead others to do the same.

This is the one who came by water and blood–Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.  1 John 5:6-13 (NIV)

Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.  Hebrews 9:14 (NLT)

God the Father

Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me. However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”  John 6:35-40 (NLT)

Jesus who was often referred to as “the Word”

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.  John 1:1-5 (NLT)

Holy Spirit

For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.  2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NLT)

Our response to the Trinity

Once we have a grasp of God existing as one God in three persons, we must respond to him in some way.  After Jesus was wrongfully convicted, crucified, and resurrected from the grave, He gave certain instructions to His followers.  We call this the “great commission”. We see that we are to lead people to know and worship God as the Trinity.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  Matthew 28:19-20 (NLT)

Bottom Line

1. God is one God that exists in the three persons of God the Father, Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit.
2. God’s consistent message is one of love and salvation through Jesus so that we can know God, become like Jesus, and lead others to do the same.