THE STORY WEEK 1 God creates and loves

THE STORY WEEK 1

God creates and loves

<<<PowerPoint >>> Wait- I’m confused. Didn’t the Story tell us that God took a rib from Adam to make Eve? Yea, it’s right here on page 4. But I think Robyn’s Bible reads differently doesn’t it? Didn’t you say that God put Adam to sleep and took out his brain to make the woman?

Wait, wait… turnabout is fair play.

Adam is telling God how lonely he's been in the Garden of Eden. "You've made the day and the night, the land and the sea, the trees and the animals. But, what I really want with me in the Garden is a perfect companion. I want someone who will cook for me and take care of me. I want someone to talk to at night and to think about during the day. Can you make such a being for me?" "Sure I can," replied God. "But it'll cost you an arm and a leg." Adam thinks for a second and replies, "well, what can I get for a rib?

<<< Click >>> To help you keep track of where we are in the story, I created these maps to match the ones in the front of your book. See today’s map: Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and Iraq. <<< Click >>> Here is Israel. <<< Click >>> The Bible places the Garden of Eden between two of the great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. <<< Click >>> If you are so inclined you can put a tree right there on your map to remind you that is where we started.

<<< Click >>> The creation story is fun isn’t it. It is just great story telling. It could have been written as dry as a blue print; it could have been very mechanical and utilitarian. Instead as I read the creation story, God is a sculptor, creating in the sky, and on the earth all that ever was, or is, or ever will be. Think about that, before God created there was nothing: no matter, no light, no darkness, nothing. Now after creation there is not one thing in the entire universe that doesn’t come from this one primordial creative spark.

That is the first thing the lower story wants to teach us <<< Click >>> “In the beginning God, and from God everything.” And it was good wasn’t it. Even in God’s divinely discriminating eye, creation was good. And people… well people were very good. Creation was God’s handiwork and people were the apple of God’s eye (so to speak). We might even say that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. We were after all made in the image of God. What does that mean?

It means that when the God who delights in relationship created us in his image, he made us to need and want <<< Click >>> relationship. It means that the God of love created us to love and be loved.

It means that the God who freely chose, to create, and<<< Click >>> freely chose to make people in God’s image, and freely chose to love people, gave us the ability to freely choose God or not God. Gave us the ability to choose door number one or door number two. The Tree of life… or the tree of the knowledge of evil. (I said that very intentionally because we already knew good. Remember, all that God created was good and we were very good.) The problem is that Adam and Eve chose the tree of disobedience and developed a preference for the sweet taste of evil. Even more than that, it seems that the tree was like the crack cocaine of the garden. One bite and they were addicted. Addicted to disobedience and evil.

Adam and eve gave birth, then to crack babies… sin babies: Cain and Abel are the example that is lifted up to us. How much evil, and jealousy and vengefulness, and hatred did it take for Cain to kill his own brother? The DNA evidence was in. Not that they needed it to convict Cain, but that he had proven once and for all that his parent’s addiction to sin would be passed down through generation, after generation, after generation. Even to you and me. After the incident in the garden, we would never be the same. We would never be “very good” again. We would always have a broken ugly streak running through our hearts. And in the process of living that our in our lives, we break God’s heart.

Which brings us to the upper story.

Before we can understand what is happening here, we have to ask the question, “Why did the God who was absolutely complete, in and of God self.” The God who is so perfect that there is nothing that can make him more whole or more perfect. Why did a God like that create anything? After all, he didn’t NEED it.

<<< Click >>> The answer is God WANTED it. God wants more than anything else to love and be loved. Notice the perfectly divine relationship between father, son, and Holy Spirit is here at creation. Look at the bottom of page 2. “Let US create mankind in OUR own image.” In divine perfection, there is already a perfect relationship. So, not because he needed it… not because he lacked anything… but only because he WANTED it God created Adam. And Adam was created with the same desire for relationship. That is what it means when God says, “It is not good for man to be alone.” It doesn’t mean he’ll never get where he’s going by himself because he’d never ask for directions. It means, like God, Adam desires to be in relationship.

This would be a good place to point out that there are two creation stories in the Bible. One written, telling what happened on each day, like a journal on pages 1-3. The other starting about 2/3 of the way down page 3 is written more like a love story. This second one is where God says it is not good for man to be alone. And none of the animals God creates are suitable companions for Adam, until with a little divine surgery, Eve is created as the perfect companion for Adam.

Each story emphasizes different truths about creation and we are lucky to have both of the creation stories.

Back to the upper story. God’s plan is that he will come to earth and be with Adam and Eve. You know how when we have children we dream of taking our children fishing, or shopping, or picking out their first car or walking them down the aisle. Sometimes we get those wishes and sometimes we don’t. God had a vision, a plan that in the coolness of the day he would take Adam and Eve for walks in the perfection of the garden he had created. They would walk and talk and just enjoy each other’s company.

<<< Click >>> But God didn’t get his wish for long. The paint was hardly dry on the beautiful birds before Adam and Eve messed things up and broke God’s heart. And again, and again, they hide, they lie, they blame, they worry, they feel shame. Soon the killing and raping, stealing and deceiving and evil got way out of hand. Until God says, “What was I thinking?” The Bible records that moment on page 8 of the story, “The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.” Frankly, his heart was broken.

If it was us, at that point we would probably pick up our toys and go home slamming the door behind us. We would brush the dust from our feet and try to forget about the hurt and disappointment. At the very least, we would have grounded humanity from their free will for the rest of eternity.

Not God though! In his broken heartedness, God says, “Let’s try this again.” In all the divine wisdom, God believes that relationships and free will are so important that God is willing to try again … and again… and again… and again…. And again … and again. God will never give up on humanity. God will never give up on you.

And that brings us to your story and my story.

We don’t have the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to temp us, but we have all kinds of other things. We have everything from anger to apathy, from bullying to belittling, from gluttony to gossip, from pollution to pornography, from wickedness to war and more and more. And more and more we each have our part in that don’t we? Each and every day we have to fight away the snakes of temptation. Sometimes good wins… sometimes we lose.

You can condemn Adam and Eve for their choice. You can marvel that they chose that tree over the other. You can think that you would have done better, but I’ve been around long enough to know that most of you wouldn’t have lasted as long as Adam and Eve, and neither would I. We would have been right in there eating our share and probably fighting over the last one on the tree.

<<< Click >>> Thank your lucky stars because any lesser being would have given up on us long ago. Only God has enough hope… only God has enough trust… only God has enough patience to keep believing that we will come back… someday.

Somehow, after Noah, and Abraham, Sodom and Gomorrah, slavery and complaining, after failed faith and failed kings, after exodus and exile, and after being killed on the cross… somehow God still wants more than anything to know you and have you love him in return. You need to know… more than anything that you are loved and you are called to love (God and others).

Turn to page 11 in THE STORY and notice what God said starting on the third line.

“Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.” Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.

Skipping to the next paragraph

 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. “Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”[1]

<<< Click >>> Whenever you see a rainbow. Or when you see the colors of the rainbow, which I believe includes all the colors across the entire light spectrum. Whenever you see the colors of a sunrise or the sunset. Whenever you hear the giggle of a child or feel the caress of a loved one… remember that you are the pinnacle of God’s creation and you are the object of God’s love. As long as there are rainbows, God will love you and God will pursue your love.

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[1] Zondervan (2011-04-19). The Story, NIV: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People (p. 11). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

“Deal or No deal” THE STORY week 0 9/22/13

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Play jeopardized faith video- 3:44>>>>>>>>>

<<<<Slide>>>>

Biblical ignorance is no laughing matter. That’s why this week we are embarking on THE STORY. It is a big project. We invested in a table full of books that I am pleased to say has disappeared and been replenished, signs, curriculum for all ages, Bible Study curriculum, and small group curriculum. I personally invested many hours over the summer preparing material and creating the preaching plan. There have been articles, and videos, emails and inserts and letters and all of that takes time and resources. Why did we do it?

Because, just in case the test to get into heaven is a jeopardy style quiz, we don’t want you to look like that. We don’t want you to be unprepared… of course I am being facetious.

The truth is, I don’t want you to be uninformed about God’s word. We read this morning that the word existed before anything else did. God’s word is power active in our world. John is telling us, of course, that God’s word is active in Jesus Christ. However, let me tell you God’s word is active in all of scripture too.

The greatest library ever collected. That is what the word Bible means, and that is what it is, a library of 66 books and hundreds of stories and characters that create the church’s great treasure book.

Our story, God’s story, Your story.

<<<<Slide>>>>

By doing this we will learn more than a few select stories. You will not only know that Genesis comes first, then the flood the Abraham. You will know the 10 commandments. You will learn about judges, and kings, and prophets, and proverbs. You will come to know more about Jesus than Christmas and Easter. You will know that Paul had several missionary journeys and you will know how the Bible ends. And you’ll know a lot of stuff in between.

I want you to learn “ALL SCRIPTURE” Because these are all OUR STORY: the glorious story that belongs to all of us as God’s people. This is what I will sometimes call the LOWER STORY …What happened here on earth, to the characters of the Bible, is the LOWER STORY, it is OUR collective STORY.

Our story, God’s story, Your story.

<<<<Slide>>>>

More than that we will talk about the UPPER STORY which is God’s STORY. This is what is happening in heaven. I want you to see God working consistently through the LOWER STORY (and sometimes in spite of the LOWER STORY) to be in loving relationship with his creation… us. I want you to know that the God who created is the same God who gave those 10 commandments, is the same God who selected the judges and kings, is the same God who came to us in Jesus and promises to be with us always. I want you to see the grand sweep of God’s heavenly vision working consistently and patiently (most of the time) to bring creation into line with his kingdom.

I want you to know that “ALL SCRIPTURE IS God BREATHED” It is God’s story.

When I say Our story, God’s story, Your story. This UPPER STORY is GOD’S STORY.

<<<<Slide>>>>

That’s the lower story and the upper story. But there is another story…Your story. Because the Bible is not just an abstract concept… Because salvation is not a theoretical, intellectual exercise… I want you to know that the Bible is about real life. It is about decisions we make and priorities we set in our lives. It is about the way we treat each other and the way we relate to God. Therefore, every week we will talk about YOUR story too. I’ll try to talk about a common sense, real life applications for what we are reading. Things you can use in YOUR STORY.

2Timothy 3:16 says “ALL SCRIPTURE IS God BREATHED AND IS USEFUL FOR TEACHING, REBUKING, CORRECTING AND TRAINING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS”   Let’s say that together.

“ALL SCRIPTURE IS God BREATHED AND IS USEFUL FOR TEACHING, REBUKING, CORRECTING AND TRAINING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS” 2Timothy 3:16

All scripture is God’s story, but it helps us in practical ways in our lives.

Our story, God’s story, Your story.

<<<<Slide>>>>

In order to get the most out of it however, we have to be willing to put something into it. Do you remember the old game show “Deal or no Deal?” Remember they would open one case at a time trying to win the bigger prize? We’re going to play “deal or no deal today.”

Let’s open case number 3 <<<<slide>>>><<<<slide>>>>and see what kind of deal it has. “I will read the story.” The most basic commitment to the story is to read or listen to one chapter of the story each week. The chapters average 12 pages and the print is pretty good sized. It doesn’t matter if you are reading the adult, youth, or one of the children’s books, or listening to it on CD. You can do it a little bit each day, or you can sit down and read the whole thing at once. I just read the whole book cover to cover on retreat, so I can honestly tell you that one chapter a week is not bad at all. It doesn’t take that long. The most basic commitment is to read or listen to one chapter of the story each week.

That starts tomorrow. Reading chapter 1 this week. The weeks run from Monday to Sunday, so LIGHT and the Bible Studies will always cover the week’s material before we cover it on Sunday morning. You can always check

Sign in the front door…

The Bulletin…

The Newsletter…

The Enews…

Facebook…

ReinbeckUMC.org (soon)

Or

RUMCTHESTORY.BLOGSPOT.COM

 Optionally you can get a notebook and use the questions on the bookmark - or the questions at RUMCTHEJOURNEY blog to journal about each chapter. But fundamentally this is a commitment to read one chapter per week. Now it’s time to ask you. Do we have a deal? Are you willing to read The Story? Deal or no deal. OK, IF we have a deal mark your cards. <<<<Slide>>>>

Let’s open… what do you think? Case #2 let’s open it. <<<<Slide>>>><<<<slide>>>>“I will share the story with my family” Another deal would be to share the story as a family. What an opportunity… everyone is studying the same thing… why not read it together? Just think what a great family project that would be to read the story with your children or parents together. Or you might read it separately and discuss it perhaps using the table talk sheets that will be passed out at light each week.

Do you live alone?… you still have family. Maybe you send your grown child the book and ask them to read along with you. Maybe you gather some “church family” to share with. It doesn’t matter the key is sharing the journey with someone you know and love. So, Now it’s time to ask you. Do we have a deal? Are you willing to share The Story with your family whoever they are? Deal or no deal. OK, IF we have a deal mark your cards. <<<<Slide>>>>

Let’s see…… let’s try…case #1. <<<<Slide>>>><<<<slide>>>> Deal number 1 moves from a private commitment to a corporate commitment. I will join a Small group.

The studies are Wednesday night at 6pm and Sunday morning at 9. Classes, which use slightly different material, will be Tuesday morning at 6:42am, and Thursday at 6pm. In addition, there will be a face book study group OF 10 people SO FAR with slightly different material. It can be used instead of a face-to-face group or in addition to one. You can attend any of them or even move around if your schedule changes week by week. Gather a friend or two and talk to me. I’ll make sure you have material.

The important thing is that you study with others. In studying together, we learn from each other as well as the scripture. In studying together we come closer to each other as well as to Jesus. In studying together we support each other and care for each other. Small groups are a great way to be the church and they are a great way to participate in THE STORY. So, do we have a deal? Will you participate in a small group? Deal or no deal? If we have a deal, check that box on your card. <<<<Slide>>>>

Finally, let’s look at the fourth case. <<<<Slide>>>><<<<slide>>>> The fourth deal is easy… you are doing it right now. Attend THE STORY worship. You might attend Wednesday night. You might attend either service on Sunday morning.

Wednesday and Sunday will be different, but the two Sunday services will be alike. Alternatively, you can join our friends who attend on RTU. Those of you who join us weekly on RTU will be a week behind the small groups, but there just isn’t any way to change that. That’s OK because if something happens and you miss worship here one week, you have another opportunity the following Saturday.

The most important thing about THE STORY worship is that God will be worshipped. Secondarily we will journey to the heart of God’s story. We will be hearing, interpreting and, hopefully, come to an understanding of where God’s story intersects with our story. Every week I will try to answer the question, “How do we see God’s upper story acting in the lower story of this world, and how does that change our lives?

So, the 4^th deal is you attend THE STORY worship, and every week I will promise to do my best to answer that question. How’s that for a deal? How about it, do we have a deal? Deal or no deal? Mark it on your join the story card. <<<<Slide>>>>

Three kinds of commitments… personal commitments, group commitments, a communal commitment. I hope that at least one of them fits your particular spiritual type. And I’d like you to take the card with your name on it whether you have previously filled one out or not. If you are able, bring it up front. Everybody move if you are able. Bring your card up front. Drop it in the basket. Then stop along the front here to kneel or stand in prayer for just a moment dedicating yourself to the commitment you have made, and praying that God will change you through this time.

I’ll be up here. If there is anything we can pray about together, please step up to me and we will do that. It can be related to THE STORY or completely unrelated altogether.

Let us respond.