How Great is Our God!

Yesterday we talked about how much God loves us and how He had created us. Today, I want you to listen to Loui Giglio speak about how great God is and how His creation screams out His love and presence. Watch to the end, and I guarantee that you will be blown away!

And we’ll see you on Sunday!

The 12 Days of Christmas—Days 6, 7, and 8

“On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, six geese a-laying…”

The six geese represent the six days of creation. On these literal days, God spoke the very earth, universe and everything in them into existence. This also speaks to the fact that God created you and I. He loves us because we belong to Him. He will never leave those who have placed their faith in Him, and if you will, this same Jesus can and will be with you always.

“On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, seven swans a-swimming…”

These seven swans represent the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or the Spiritual Gifts as they are presented in the Scriptures. These seven gifts (Prophecy, Service, Teaching, Preaching, Giving, Leadership, and Mercy) are born out in different ways, but each gift will fall in one of these seven categories. What is your gift? Are you using it for the glory of God? Think about the answers these questions this year when you hear The 12 Days of Christmas sung this Christmas season.

“On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, eight maids a-milking…”

The eight maids were supposed to represent the eight beatitudes found in Matthew chapter 5. These eight “attitude adjustments” (as I like to call them) help us to remember who we are and how we ought to live. The priorities of our life ought to be reflected in these 8 godly attitudes. We are to have a dependence on God, spiritual sensitivity, gentleness, righteousness, mercy, purity, peacefulness, and a life that is so focused on God that those who hate Him also hate us. When you hear this song this year, think about these things, because they are important to how you shine the light of Jesus throughout the rest of the year.

Keep on shining and we will see you on Sunday!

Creation

Please read the following Scripture, and then come back and read the rest of this post. Thanks.

Genesis 2:18-24

Okay, so in Genesis 2, Adam is faced with a dilemma that God already knows about and has a plan to address. But the fact of the matter is that God needed Adam to realize his need. God could have just given Adam what he needed, and Eve would have been the perfect wife and helper for him. But God wanted Adam to know that he needed Eve.

So God has Adam name all the animals. As he’s naming the animals, he notices that each one has a male and female. There is one with man parts and one with lady parts. This is not lost on Adam and he begins to wonder where his “lady” is. Now, he sees that he has a need. And now God steps in and solves the problem.

What problem do you face? Realize that God doesn’t let you walk into problems because you failed Him in some way. Sometimes, God needs you to see your need before He will step in. He’s already got the solution in mind, just admit your need to Him and then trust Him. Because believe me, it’s gonna be awesome!

Comment on a way in which God solved your problem when you finally realized that you had one.

And we’ll see you on Sunday!

Image Bearers

A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine wrote a poem expressing his feeling over what had been happening in America the week of all the police shootings and violence in places like Minnesota, Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Dallas. His poem, entitled, "A Black Man's Lament," was a passionate plea to help people understand how he feels about all of this. (If you would like to read this poem yourself, click here. The poem begins about half way down the page. The paragraph immediately prior to it explains what he was thinking as well.)

Now if I'm honest with you, the first time I read it I had questions. I was concerned about this man, who was and is a friend, feeling the way he felt as expressed in this poem. My soul was conflicted because of the fact that one side of me was saying, "How can you feel this way in 21st century America?" All the while another side of me was saying, "This is someone you care about who is feeling this way." I decided to reach out and talk to him.

As we talked, I confessed that my understanding was limited, and that I wanted to understand, but was afraid of being offensive with my questions. My friend told me, "Jim, we are not going to be PC here. If we are going to get anywhere, we have to be honest." That was freeing to me, so I asked my questions and he answered and he asked me questions and I answered and when we finished, I was in a better place of understanding.

I then asked him how he thought that the church should respond to all of this. He simply stated, "Jim, we have got to get back to the point where we see each other as image bearers of God."

When we show favoritism, whether in the form of racism, or putting a higher value on people with power or someone affiliated with "our group," we ignore the image of God on that individual. And here's the rub: EVERYONE has that image placed on them. In Genesis 1, God created mankind (the Hebrew word is in the plural) in His own image, and through Adam, we all bear the image of God...no matter who we are.

So today, think about God and the image you bear, and remember that every other person you come in contact with, or see on TV, or hear on the radio, they bear God's image, too.

Leave a comment, and we'll see you on Sunday!!!