Church


23
Oct 2017

Summary – The Gospel in Genesis 1-50 and in the City Genesis has introduced us to the Creator-Redeemer God who graciously gives mankind a garden-temple in which to serve God and from which to extend the worship of God throughout the earth. In Adam all mankind rebels against God and is banished from the temple-garden. Prior to banishment from the temple-garden, a promise is given of a second Adam, who would not succumb to Satan’s temptation and would finally defeat Satan. After the progression of sin and rebellion, mankind and the earth......

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25
Sep 2017

Jacob’s family in Egypt (46:1-47:27) As Jacob and his family go to Egypt during the time of famine, he is assured by the Lord that the Abrahamic promise of numerous descendants will be fulfilled in Egypt and that the covenant family will eventually return to the land of promise. While in an alien land, God continues to bless Joseph with wisdom and influence so that he becomes a blessing to the Egyptians. God prospers His people as they settle in the alien land. ” 27 Thus Israel settled in the land of......

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13
Mar 2017

Genesis 36:1-37:1 record the descendants of the rejected line of Esau. The prosperity of both Jacob and Esau makes it difficult for them to share the land of Canaan so Esau chooses the higher elevation of what is later called Edom. Esau takes multiple wives one of whom is a descendant of Ishmael, perhaps an attempt to bring some unity to the two lines that were not heirs of the Abrahamic promise. The Edomites create their own alien kingdom to the kingdom of God in establishing themselves in a fortress like land......

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13
Feb 2017

In chapter 35, the Lord instructs Jacob to return to the place where Abraham had built and altar and where he had made a vow to the Lord after he had been assured by the Lord that the promise to Abraham belonged to him and his descendants.  Jacob returns with a serious commitment to shun idolatry and to worship the Lord. He is keeping the vow he made at Bethel that if the Lord brought him back in peace, then the Lord would be his God and he would honor Him as......

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23
Jan 2017

Genesis 34 is one of those sad chapters in the history of redemption.  Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, is raped, humiliated, and then treated like a commodity to be traded for mutual benefits. Jacob appears ready to make the exchange of his daughter for the benefit of prospering in the land – the land already promised to him by the Lord. When Dinah’s brothers hear of the atrocity they first object because the Hivite’s do not bear the covenant sign of circumcision. It appears already that the covenant itself has become less significant than......

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12
Dec 2016

Genesis 25:12-27:46 reminds us that God is faithful to fulfill his covenant promises despite human unfaithfulness.  Isaac shows a similar failure of faith, as did his father. He lies about Rebecca being his wife and instead of blessing the nations, he arouses disdain from them. Yet, despite Isaac’s unfaithfulness, the Lord blesses him and causes him to prosper. He recovers numerous wells that his father had dug and digs new ones, making his mark as he sojourns in the land of promise. In the land of promise he builds an altar and......

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15
Nov 2016

In Genesis 21-22 Abraham’s faith that God would bless the nations through his offspring is now tested. Isaac, the son through whom the promise will be fulfilled, has become for Abraham the visible evidence of that promise. The underlying question of Genesis 22 is this:  Is Abraham’s faith still dependent on the Word of God or is it now placed in the physical presence of Isaac? Is Abraham walking by faith or is he walking by sight? Abraham is ordered to offer the son of promise as a sacrifice. Abraham, in obedience......

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10
Oct 2016

Genesis 16 and 17 tell the story of the Abraham’s struggle with faith as the promise of an heir is delayed.  In weakness of faith Abram and Sarai take matters into their own hands rather than wait upon God for what appears to be an unlikely promise, considering their age. Abram accomplishes his goal of having an heir by his concubine but this is not acceptable to God. Consequently, rather than obtaining a legitimate heir, Abraham’s faithless act results in the birth of a nation that would perpetually afflict the chosen descendants.......

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22
Sep 2016

Seven reasons why I do not join the popular, secular fight against racism! Yes, I write this as a white man, who has been a racist in the past, who seeks to experience gospel grace to fight internal racism in the present, and who believes that the gospel alone can resolve the evil of the human heart which fosters racism. Here are seven reasons why I do not join the popular, secular, fight against racism. I do not believe we can have redeemed structures and institutions within society without having redeemed individuals.......

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01
Aug 2016

In Genesis One we find our Redeemer-King creating and forming a world to be inhabited and ruled by those made in His image. Creation was a gracious blessing and generous gift to humankind. All was perfect; all was glorious.  But, as we read Genesis one, we realize that the harmonious world conditions therein no longer exist. Our hearts are not in unison with God’s repeated summary, “all is good.” Instead our hearts cry out because of the brokenness within our lives and within the created world. Though Genesis One provides for us the origin of God’s World, it......

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