Aligning Your Story with God's Great Story
Act 1: Creation - Made in the Image of God
Gen 1:26-27; Col 3:10
Pastor Jeff
4/10/16
Human beings are special creatures - made in the image of God
"Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas."
Psalm 8:1-8 NIV
http://bible.com/111/psa.8.1-8.niv
"Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.""
Genesis 1:26-28 NIV
http://bible.com/111/gen.1.26-28.niv
"Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."
Colossians 3:9-10 NIV
http://bible.com/111/col.3.9-10.niv
Being created in the image of God is the source of human dignity
People are gifts to be treasured
Children are gifts from God - we need to invest in them
Monday, April 11, 2016
Monday, April 4, 2016
God's Great Storyline
God's Great Storyline
Ephesians 1:9-10
Pastor Jeff
4/3/16
God's great story:
A story is a series of events that is connected by a plot.
Faith is acting out your belief in what is true.
Are we able to align our life with God's storyline?
4 acts: creation, fall, redemption, restoration.
In Genesis, God creates human beings to have a relationship with Him, and for Him to bless them.
Instead of trusting God, Adam and Eve think that He is withholding something good from them, and they turn from Him, leading to the Fall.
How does God work through a redemption to restore a relationship and blessing?
"he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ."
Ephesians 1:9-10 NIV
http://bible.com/111/eph.1.9-10.niv
"The Lord had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing."
Genesis 12:1-2 NIV
http://bible.com/111/gen.12.1-2.nivus
The promised land becomes the restoration for God's people.
But His people don't trust Him.
The tabernacle becomes the way for God to dwell in the midst of His people.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham.
God's work is done by the Spirit.
God dwelled in the Garden of Eden, in the tabernacle, the temple, and now...
God is dwelling in us!
1. Get the right story, and get the story right.
2. Reflect on God's great story.
- Joshua 1, proverbs.
3. Remember God's great story.
4. Retell God's great story.
5. Relate yourself to God's great story.
- interpret your life in God's story.
"All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Ephesians 2:3-10 NIV
http://bible.com/111/eph.2.3-10.niv
Ephesians 1:9-10
Pastor Jeff
4/3/16
God's great story:
A story is a series of events that is connected by a plot.
Faith is acting out your belief in what is true.
Are we able to align our life with God's storyline?
4 acts: creation, fall, redemption, restoration.
In Genesis, God creates human beings to have a relationship with Him, and for Him to bless them.
Instead of trusting God, Adam and Eve think that He is withholding something good from them, and they turn from Him, leading to the Fall.
How does God work through a redemption to restore a relationship and blessing?
"he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ."
Ephesians 1:9-10 NIV
http://bible.com/111/eph.1.9-10.niv
"The Lord had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing."
Genesis 12:1-2 NIV
http://bible.com/111/gen.12.1-2.nivus
The promised land becomes the restoration for God's people.
But His people don't trust Him.
The tabernacle becomes the way for God to dwell in the midst of His people.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham.
God's work is done by the Spirit.
God dwelled in the Garden of Eden, in the tabernacle, the temple, and now...
God is dwelling in us!
1. Get the right story, and get the story right.
2. Reflect on God's great story.
- Joshua 1, proverbs.
3. Remember God's great story.
4. Retell God's great story.
5. Relate yourself to God's great story.
- interpret your life in God's story.
"All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Ephesians 2:3-10 NIV
http://bible.com/111/eph.2.3-10.niv
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