Search Results

This is a sermon preview for a sermon in the “We Believe: Back to Basics” series. To watch the recording of any of the sermons in this sermon series, visit our website. “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” –Matthew 9:1-8 “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,” –Titus 3:3-7 If you pay attention long enough, you’ll see the words “Jesus Saves” plastered any and everywhere. Sometimes in the weirdest of places. In my own life, I’ve seen “Jesus Saves” on posters at football games; written in sharpie on Converse toe pieces; car bumper stickers with groovy font; tattoos on arms, backs, and ankles; billboard signs, complete with cheesy-looking images of clouds or ideas of heaven; the oddly trendy “Jesus saves, bro” t-shirts sold on Etsy and other online markets; jewelry, especially those elastic “Live Strong” style bracelets that were made popular when I was in middle school; carved into sand at the beach…you get the point. Jesus saves. The message is certainly out there! (And I bet you could add a few more places to the list!) But how often do we go any deeper than that? What are we saved from? How are we saved? What does it mean to be saved? Who gets to decide if we’re saved? What happens if we’re not saved? These are the questions that soteriology–the theology of salvation–tries to address. These are the questions that point to the work of Jesus Christ in the world and are the foundation of the Christian faith. These are the same questions that the crowds were demanding of Jesus when he was still walking in flesh and blood on this earth. In Matthew 9 (retold also in Mark 2 and Luke 5), Jesus is approached by men who are bringing their paralytic friend to him. Jesus saw their faith in coming to Him for all their needs, so Jesus declares, “Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven.” Unfortunately, this is not exactly the celebratory moment that one might expect. Instead of firing off confetti poppers that Jesus has saved the man from the power of sin in his life, the scribes and the crowd are ready to fire shots. Salvation belongs to God alone! How dare Jesus claim to have this power of God! In a moment of divine sass, Jesus sets the record straight. It might be harder for the crowds to understand how Jesus saves us from sins because it’s a gift of radical grace that we cannot see. But to Jesus–who is fully human and fully God–it is just as easy to work in the unseen parts of our lives as the seen. And to prove his point, Jesus miraculously heals the man as a physical sign of the wholeness that he is also now experiencing spiritually. Later, as Paul reflects to his co-laborer in ministry, God saves us through and through. The Father was willing to give his son. Jesus obeyed the Father’s perfect will to come to earth as a baby, to live a righteous life, to pay the price for sin (which is death, even death on a cross), and to be resurrected to life as the Good Judge and King of this new Kingdom of God. By grace and faith alone, Jesus gives us some of his righteousness so that we may be renewed by the Holy Spirit for the good life that God always created us for. The exact how of this salvation is impossible for us to fully get our minds around, just like the crowds who struggled because they couldn’t see the paralyzed man’s sins being forgiven the same way that they could see his healing. The Scriptures give us many metaphors to help us navigate this complex gift of salvation that has been given, and different Christian traditions are prone to emphasizing some of these metaphors more than others in attempts to explain this great and wonderful mystery of salvation. But more important than knowing the exact how is knowing the who. Jesus Christ’s work freeing us–individually and collectively–from the power of sin and death is intrinsically connected to who he is. This was the point of the story in Matthew 9: to reveal to the crowds and us that Jesus is the beginning, middle, and end of our salvation. We are saved because the Father loves us too much to allow the cancer of sin to continue to unjustly plague the world He loves. We are saved because Jesus has come to us, and where there is light, the darkness must flee (Isaiah 9:2). We are saved because the Holy Spirit transforms us to desire more and more to love and seek this God out over our selfish ambitions. We are saved by knowing the who: the One, risen, Lord. “Salvation is not what is frequently understood by the world, the going to heaven, eternal happiness…It is not a blessing which lies on the other side of death, or (as we usually speak) in the other world…It is not something at a distance: it is a present thing, a blessing which, through the free mercy of God, ye are now in possession of…The salvation which is here spoken of might be extended to the entire work of God, from the first dawning of grace in the soul till it is consummated in glory.” –John Wesley Reflection Questions: Are you more like the paralytic man who had faith in Jesus or the scribes who had a hard time believing in a salvation that is unseen? Why do you think that is? How does knowing salvation from sin is closely related to the person and character of Jesus Christ help you accept this gift? What metaphors for Jesus’ salvation can you find in scripture? How do these metaphors help you get a better idea of what Jesus has done for you? What questions do these metaphors still leave you with?

This is a sermon preview for the third sermon in the “We Believe: Back to Basics” sermon series. To watch the recording of any of the sermons in this sermon series, visit our website. “Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin.” - Romans 3:9-18 (NLT) We believe that man was created in holiness, under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression fell from that holy and happy state; in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners... - New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith 1833 “Yes sir, that’s one subject you can’t talk enough about– sin.” That’s what Deputy Barney Fife told the preacher after church in an episode of the old Andy Griffith Show. Everyone had been gushing about the pastor’s “magnificent” sermon. The laugh track plays as soon as he says it. The preacher is clearly uncomfortable. Years later, on another famous sitcom The Simpsons, Reverend Lovejoy holds a Bible in his hand and says to Marge Simpson: “Marge, just about everything is a sin. You ever sat down and read this thing? Technically, we're not allowed to go to the bathroom." (Relax, that’s not true). Combined these two pop culture portrayals of the Christian faith, a generation apart from one another, sum-up many people’s conceptions of the doctrine of sin. Nearly everything is a sin. Sin, it seems, is breaking a long list of sometimes nonsensical rules. Sin is nearly all Christians talk about – though it’s uncomfortable to point that out directly. Now, I wouldn’t say those are accurate ideas. But they represent what a lot of people think. This week, I hope we can see that while sin isn’t the main point of Christianity, we do need to understand it. Frederick Buechner said, “The Gospel is bad news, before it is good news.” The good news is that Human goodness, while lost, is not gone forever. That bad news is, when there’s a problem, the first step to facing it is knowing what it is. It's common to say that sin is "missing the mark." Biblically, this is true. It has some relationship to a term in archery. It is a fault. A failure to measure up. But it is also (again, in Scripture), a power that we're under. Fleming Rutledge, one of my favorite preachers, is fond of saying Sin is both: a fault for which we are responsible a power which holds us in bondage G.K. Chesterton was fond of saying that a doctrine of sin was the only Christian doctrine that could, really, be proven. Paul in Romans, seems to agree that sin is everywhere. Jew and Gentile alike have fallen short. Gentile and Jew alike are under the power of sin. All of God's creation is good. Truly good. Made by God and declared by God. There is nothing you see or perceive, no person you know, no corner of the universe which is not made by a good and glorious God. And yet, all of sin is corrupted. Truly corrupted. Marred by turning from God and fallen from its good state. There is no part of human senses, no person you know, nor corner of creation which has not been touched by the terrible and miserable corruption of sin. Knowing the scale and nature of the problem should help us understand our situation. We have a human habit of messing up horribly. It's not just a matter of breaking the rules of a particularly picky home owner's association. It means even our good intentions turn into things which are... anything but. And, what's worse, is it seems like sin goes beyond our willed actions. And even our actions become incomprehensible at times to us. As Paul says in Romans 7:15 (NIV): "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." Yes, sin is bad news indeed. It binds us even as we think we are choosing it. It controls us, though through it we try, in vain, to gain some measure of control through it. Sin never delivers on its promises, and always takes more than it's owed. Its a parasite on good creation. And it has a terribly successful track record of bringing down humans. With a minute to go in the last quarter, it's Humanity - Zero; Sin ...embarrassingly, uncountably, high. That's the score. But then, there is Christ. I am uncorrectable, incorrigible as a preacher. I cannot let a sermon end with simply bad news. Barney and Rev. Lovejoy are not right. You cannot just preach Sin. That's not what Christianity is about. Oh, it's part of the story. It's part we can't leave out. But it never has the last word. The score looks hopeless. . . . but then, there is Christ. I mentioned Frederick Buechner saying the Gospel is bad news before it is good news. That implies many things. Yes, that there is bad news. But also, that there is good news. And we'll let the good news have the final word: THE GOSPEL IS BAD news before it is good news. It is the news that man is a sinner, to use the old word, that he is evil in the imagination of his heart, that when he looks in the mirror all in a lather what he sees is at least eight parts chicken, phony, slob. That is the tragedy. But it is also the news that he is loved anyway, cherished, forgiven, bleeding to be sure, but also bled for. That is the comedy. And yet, so what? So what if even in his sin the slob is loved and forgiven when the very mark and substance of his sin and of his slobbery is that he keeps turning down the love and forgiveness because he either doesn't believe them or doesn't want them or just doesn't give a damn? In answer, the news of the Gospel is that extraordinary things happen to him just as in fairy tales extraordinary things happen. Henry Ward Beecher cheats on his wife, his God, himself, but manages to keep on bringing the Gospel to life for people anyway, maybe even for himself. Lear goes berserk on a heath but comes out of it for a few brief hours every inch a king. Zaccheus climbs up a sycamore tree a crook and climbs down a saint. Paul sets out a hatchet man for the Pharisees and comes back a fool for Christ. It is impossible for anybody to leave behind the darkness of the world he carries on his back like a snail, but for God all things are possible. That is the fairy tale. All together they are the truth. -Originally published in Telling the Truth Pax Christi, *The Peace of Christ - Jonathan

We Believe: Back To Basics - A series about our common faith. | Week 2 resources. Learn what it means that we can meet the one unique God, who is Father, Son, & Holy Spirit, in prayer. “O LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief.” -Psalm 143:1 (NIV) For a printable [.PDF] version of the Prayer Resources to follow, download below: Prayer is something like a heartbeat of the Christian life. Scripture tells believers to “in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6b, NIV). But, many Christians confess they find it difficult to pray. Or the sorts of prayers they do pray are short, anxious, and leave little time to listen. Perhaps they’re in the car on the way to an appointment or in the shower – life simply feels too busy. It’s true we’ll never have a perfect time to pray. Distractions are inevitable. And yet, it is possible to make prayer a part of our lives and even to (as Scripture says): “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NIV). There are many different ways to pray. Because we hope to be a praying church, we hope to equip all our members to pray individually, as families, and as a church body. Whether you have prayed for years, are new to prayer, we wanted to provide you with resources to help you along the way. Book Recommendations & Descriptions While no resource is perfect, these are generally helpful and recent books that may aid you in prayer. Some are meditations on prayer. Others are guides to prayer. Some are even written prayers you can pray yourself. These resources come from a diversity of contemporary Christian traditions and denominations. Expand to see the publisher's description. You can find podcasts / interviews, and other resources with the author about the subject in the last section (linked, put at the end because it takes up quite a bit of room). These may give you insights about the book to help you decide if it may be a resource helpful to your prayer life. App Recommendations Aid for Prayer - "Scripture Prayer Weaving" Aid for Prayer - Praying with Children When Praying with children it helps to be... Podcasts and Other Resources with the Authors Podcasts and other resources with the authors in our first section. Tish Harrison Warren — Prayer in the Night on the Renovare Podcast Jonathan Gibson — Be Thou My Vision book preview on Crossway (publisher) podcast. Rich Villodas — The Deeply Formed Life on Public Worship & Public Life Podcast (Calvin Institute of Christian Worship) We pray these resources will lead you into prayer and deeper knowledge and love of God. Pax Christi* *The Peace of Christ - Pastors Kendall and Jonathan

This is a sermon preview for a sermon in the “We Believe: Back to Basics” sermon series. To watch the recording of any of the sermons in this sermon series, visit our website. “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’” - 1 Kings 19:11-14 I’m not much of a radio show person, but Air1 has a captivating segment where hosts CJ and Lauren ask an “impossible question of the day.” The name is exactly what you’d expect–a question that seems like it should be a no-brainer, but somehow I’ve literally never heard anyone get the right answer. Don’t believe me? Try it out: A little over 75% of us do before taking a long road trip? (Turn around because they forgot something!) 83% of Americans use this everyday during the summer months? (Ice!) Sometimes questions about God feel a bit like answering an impossible question for Christians. While it’s fun to guess the answers to silly trivia questions, there’s a lot more at stake when we try to describe the mysterious triune God we claim to love. How are imperfect and limited humans like us supposed to find words to adequately describe this God that is so “other” from us? Perhaps that’s it: we begin our faith by simply recognizing that God is like no other being we’ve ever encountered. In 1 Kings, Elijah the Prophet is having a rough time. Actually, that’s putting it lightly. Elijah is failing to get the people of Israel to turn away from idols and back to God. Elijah has made enemies of the royal family. He is running for his life, all alone in the wilderness. He’s depressed and desperate. I bet it’s not the life he imagined for himself when he was a kid. Elijah needs God to do something–do anything–when God finally tells him to go stand on a mountain until God’s presence passes by him. Elijah obeys and sees many wonderous signs: a powerful wind roars and tears the mountains apart; an earthquake rumbles the ground loose; a fire bursts out and consumes whatever it touches. All of these great and mighty signs, one after another, seem to surely be the powerful Lord breaking into the world and finally having his way. But they are not! 1 Kings says that God was not in the wind. God was not in the earthquake. God was not in the fire. Though we humans are easily mesmerized at the wonders of such elements, God is unlike them all. This God is greater than them all. But don’t worry! God doesn’t leave Elijah hanging. God’s presence does pass by: an unexpected gentle whisper. A personal voice which calls to Elijah and reveals that this is a God with care and love for his children. In this life, we won’t get all the “Who is God?” questions right. And that’s okay. (For a good laugh of the many ways Christians have commonly failed throughout history, check out “St. Patrick’s Bad Analogies” on YouTube.) But we can go to the mountain like Elijah. We can wait for the presence of God to come to us. We can wait for this “other” God to show us piece by piece who he is. We can try our best to honor the testimony of who God reveals himself to be in scriptures: one God who we come to know as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One God in three persons, all equally divine, with distinct natures, and working together in harmony. This Trinity can’t be found anywhere else on earth or in the heavens. This Trinity cannot be replicated in our own lives or turned into a practical life skill. This God is greater, worthy of our worship, mystery and all. As the New Hampshire Confession of 1833 points out: “We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit…the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness; and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love.” (Baptist Confessions of Faith: Second Revised Edition, pg. 379) Reflection Questions: What do you know about God’s character that is easy for you to accept? Do you struggle with not understanding something about who God is? What might it look like for you to stand and wait for the Lord’s presence to pass by you this week? When God reveals something about his unique nature to you, how does it affect your worship? How does it affect your witness as you share your faith with others?

We Believe: Back To Basics - A series about our common faith. | Week 1 resources. Learn what it means that Scripture is the testimony of Apostles and Prophets. Christians can talk a lot about Scripture being “God’s word.” They might even use somewhat unusual words like “sufficient” or “inspired” to describe the Bible’s role in the Christian life. And these things are true! But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to understand. In the Biblical book of Acts, Philip was once led to an Ethiopian man reading the prophet Isaiah as he rode in a chariot. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him…” (Acts 8:30-31, NIV). Similarly, when Jesus finds two of his disciples on the road, after his resurrection, they do not immediately recognize him. When they do, after he breaks bread with them, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he [Jesus] explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” (Luke 24:26-27, NIV). Christ himself is the key to Holy Scripture. Whether you’ve read the Bible all your life, or have just started, we wanted to provide you with resources to help you along the way. Some resources are free (online resources, videos, podcasts), some will cost money (books), and some require a subscription (Seminary Now video curriculum). “We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction…” - New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith, 1833 How did we get the biblical canon? "Beliefs shaped the books that were prized and read, while the books in turn shaped the beliefs that people held and professed." - Michael F. Bird, What Christians Ought to Believe How do Christians read & understand the Bible? “God did not give the Bible so we could master him or it; God gave the Bible so we could live it, so we could be mastered by it. The moment we think we’ve mastered it, we have failed to be readers of the Bible.” ― Scot McKnight, The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible Is the Bible anti-women? Pro-Slavery? Sexually repressive? How should Christians understand the Bible on social issues? On Women: “My experience of coming to know God in my twenties was uncompromisingly affirming… it built me up as a person… encountering the love of God was really life-changing… when I discovered [subordinationist theology] I realized that kind of setup of relationships hinders or blocks the revelation of God to a woman of who she is in Christ…” - Lucy Peppiatt, Episode 111 of The Essential Church Podcast "These women leaders of the early church are more than just extras on the set of the gospel drama. They are often key characters." - Nijay Gupta, Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church On Slavery: “The question isn’t always which account of Christianity uses the Bible. The question is which does justice to as much of the biblical witness as possible. There are uses of Scripture that utter a false testimony about God. This is what we see in Satan’s use of Scripture in the wilderness. The problem isn’t that the Scriptures that Satan quoted were untrue, but when made to do the work that he wanted them to do, they distorted the biblical witness. This is my claim about the slave master exegesis of the antebellum South. The slave master arrangement of biblical material bore false witness about God. This remains true of quotations of the Bible in our own day that challenge our commitment to the refugee, the poor, and the disinherited.” ― Esau McCaulley, Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope On Sexuality: The idea that gentleness isn't masculine or the dangerous idea that grown women shouldn't have body fat are sinful distortions of masculinity and femininity. These distorted ideas aren't what our good God intended for us when he gave us sexually differentiated bodies...It can also help us to recognize that growing in holiness as a son or daughter of God sometimes requires defying social rules about men not being gentle or women needing to eat so little that they cannot thrive.” ― Beth Felker Jones, Faithful: A Theology of Sex Moving from reading for information to reading for worship & transformation “Christians don't simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus' name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in company with the Son.” ― Eugene H. Peterson, Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading If you REALLY want to dive in: “The Bible is not a fortress to be defended, but a mansion to explore, to live in and invite others into.” ― R.W.L Moberly recounting how Keith Sutton encouraged him to journey into the world of the Bible. It's my sincere prayer you've found this collection of recent resources increase your love and knowledge of Scripture and the God of the Bible. Pax Christi,* (*The Peace of Christ) - Jonathan Co-Pastor, FBCM

This is the first part of the series: "We Believe: Back To Basics" which is a series on our faith. It follows the articles of the New Hampshire Baptist Confession of 1833, which our church general holds to, recognizing and respecting the diversity of believers in our congregation. You can find Live streams of the series sermons on the church center app. We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy. 1 John 1:1-4 (NLT) A bit more than a decade ago a Humanities professor, Stanley Fish, wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times entitled: “Citing Chapter and Verse: Which Scripture Is the Right One?” In it, he described several atheistic critics of religious persons suggesting that scientific inquiry and method have proven Christianity false and that religious people simply refused to listen to the evidence. The host of the cable news program asked these critics what simply doubted the sources of “the evidence” they preferred. Weren’t we all, in some sense, appealing to our own authorities? Fish writes: “It was at this point that Dawkins said something amazing, although neither he nor anyone else picked up on it. He said: in the arena of science you can invoke Professor So-and-So’s study published in 2008, ‘you can actually cite chapter and verse.’ Dr. Fish noted the irony of the phrase, as it echoes the practice of citing Scripture. But he uses this exchange to critique the idea that truth is simply self-evidently about recognizing the evidence. Dr. Fish is quick to point out that there is no independent authority which will convince everyone of THE truth, regardless of their starting point. In fact, our starting points are so often are our authority. He says this, adding: “It is at bottom a question of original authority: with what conviction — basic orthodoxy — about where truth and illumination are to be found do you begin? Once that question is answered satisfactorily for you (by revelation, education or conversion), you cannot test the answer by bringing it before the bar of some independent arbiter, for your answer now is the arbiter (and measure) of everything that comes before you. Your answer delivers the world to you and delivers with it mechanisms for distinguishing good evidence from bad or beside-the-point evidence and good reasons from reasons that just don’t cut it. “ It might be a somewhat heady point, but it’s true: we bring a lot of assumptions to the table in all of our searches for truth. Much more humility is needed for the task than we often give it. So the question is, for us, “Which Scripture is the right one?” Who will we trust? We’re beginning a new series entitled “We Believe: Back to Basics.” It's all about what Christians in general, and we at First Baptist, believe. Does any of this make sense in a modern age? We believe the testimony of Apostles and Prophets to the true word of God spoken in Jesus, very much has something to say to our time, and people of all times. This series follows the organization of the New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith of 1833 (NHCF 1833). An old document that our church generally adheres to, (recognizing and respecting the diversity of believers). We live in a time and place where the idea that the Bible might have something unique or true to say about God and ourselves is not taken for granted. So when we read a document like the NHCF1833 that says: “We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction” You might wonder “How can you be sure?” or “Is that even possible?” What makes The Bible different from any other ancient text? Is there, to use the title of R.W.L. Moberly’s helpful book, a place for the Bible in a disenchanted age? Join us this Sunday as we talk about what it means for something to be “the word of God” and why Scripture might surprise us all over again. The testimony of Prophets and Apostles found in the pages of Scripture really might be “a lamp unto our feet” (Psalm 119:105) which guides us. Join us as we experience how it all leads to “The Word [who] became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14a) If it’s true, it’s good news. If it’s true, these are more than just ancient inventions of clever people. They are the testimonies of those who can point us to God. If it's true: “We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14b NIV). Reflection Questions: What is your experience with Scripture? What expectations do you bring to it? Has this changed over time and why? What makes the way you approach the Bible similar to, or different from, other texts? Have you ever thought about why you treat them similarly or differently? Read Luke 24:13-35. What does Jesus do with scripture that seems unique or unusual?

This is a sermon preview for the eleventh (and final) sermon in the “Promise & Threat” sermon series. To watch the recording of any of the sermons in this sermon series, visit our website. “Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.” –Genesis 45:1-15 (NIV) Of the Genesis stories, Joseph is a well-known classic. Whether from children’s books, the 1970s musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, or the 2000 animated movie Joseph: King of Dreams, odds are, you know (at least some of) the plot of the story. And it’s truly an incredible story! Even by literary standards, this story has it all: family drama, rooting for the underdog protagonist, mystery. And now–in Chapter 45–a surprise “Joseph reveals all” episode and a moment of profound forgiveness. No wonder everyone knows and loves this story! While thinking on the layers of this literary masterpiece, I read a reflection by John Walton (Genesis NIV Application Commentary). He lamented that he was a horrible chess player. When he plays chess against the computer, he is amazed that it doesn’t seem like it matters what move he chooses–the computer somehow uses each of his moves for its own strategy. The computer always seems to win. (A lament which I know all too well!) He writes: “Compared to God, we are all like bad chess players competing against a computer. There are differences, of course. God is not just in it to win, and God’s moves are not mechanically programmed. In one sense it can be said that when God wins, we win. He is driven by love and compassion.” This is what makes Joseph’s story such an incredible ending to Genesis! God wins! Joseph wins! And even the rotten brothers, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham all win because of God's love and compassion! For eleven weeks, FBCM has been following God’s promises throughout Genesis. For eleven weeks we have seen time and time again how humanity’s flaws and this sinful world try to threaten those promises–from old age to unknown futures, betrayal, silence, and wrestling. For eleven weeks we have seen God show up in the midst of every threat and overcome it–showing God’s true faithfulness in both scripture and our own lives! When Joseph sees his brothers in need from the famine, he could’ve easily dismissed them. Joseph could have been consumed by rage and revenge. Joseph could have tried to use his power to punish his brothers for all the evil they did to him. But God intervened. God guided Joseph towards grace. God led Joseph to forgiveness, allowing God to (once again) fulfill his promise of multiplying Abraham’s family and making them a blessing to others. As Joseph so eloquently says a few chapters later, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives,” (Gen. 50:20). There are many times in life when it feels like we’re losing–whether that’s because of our own choices or others’. But as we bring this series to a close, we can have confidence that God is the Chess Master. God does not desire evil to happen, but God cannot be stopped by it. God somehow always turns evil into good and shares his victory with us. In the meantime–until we see that victory come to fruition–may we all have the eyes to see the world like Joseph did. May we forgive as we have been forgiven. May we bless others as we have been blessed. And may we rest in the assurance of God’s unshakable character that overcomes every obstacle in our paths. Reflection Questions What is the most surprising part of Joseph’s story to you? How might God be trying to tell you something through that part of the story? Who or what do you need to forgive? How does knowing that God turns all things right empower you to take the first step towards forgiveness? What promise from this summer Genesis series do you want to “hide in your heart” (Ps. 119:11) to guide your life towards faithfulness in the future?

This is a sermon preview for the ninth sermon in the “Promise & Threat” sermon series. To watch the recording of any of the sermons in this sermon series, visit our website. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” from Genesis 32:22-31 Come, O thou Traveler unknown, Whom still I hold but cannot see! My company before is gone, And I am left alone with Thee; With Thee all night I mean to stay, And wrestle till the break of day… Wilt Thou not yet to me reveal Thy new, unutterable Name? Tell me, I still beseech Thee, tell; To know it now resolved I am; Wrestling, I will not let Thee go, Till I Thy Name, Thy nature know.” This Song “Wrestling Jacob,” or “Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown” originally comes from the pen of Charles Wesley, from way back in 1742. Wesley relates Jacob’s wrestling with God with his own spiritual journey. Perhaps that’s why this story has captured so many. The idea that when we are overcome, when we’re wrestling, when we’re in our “Dark Night of the Soul,” it might be in that moment that Christ is closest. It might be in that moment where God is a breath away. It might be then that God blesses us. Cling to the promise. Wrestle with God. Clif, our Worship Arts Pastor here at FBCM sent me this reflection on Jacob Wrestling with a man, or with the angel, or with God from Art & Theology. (It definitely says something important that we have these multiple ways to talk about this episode in scripture). Join us this Sunday as we see how wrestling with God is not a refusal to trust God. It might just be what clinging to the promises of God looks like.

This is a sermon preview for the ninth sermon in the “Promise & Threat” sermon series. To watch the recording of any of the sermons in this sermon series, visit our website. When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?” –Genesis 29:15-28 #Barbenheimer has taken the box office and social media threads by storm. I admit: I am totally part of the storm! Decked out in a shimmery hot pink dress, you better believe I was among some of the bright-eyed and pleasantly surprised viewers of Barbie last weekend. Thinking I was about to waste a couple hours on a goofy film, I somehow came out of the theater both laughing and in deep thought. Most notably–without giving any spoilers–I remember feeling Margot Robbie’s “Stereotypical Barbie’s” betrayal: betrayal acted by her towards Ken, betrayal against her by close friends, and ultimately, the betrayal of the world in how we’ve culturally accepted the maltreatment of one another. As it turns out, betrayal has been threatening the promises of God in this world since Genesis. The story of Laban tricking Jacob into marrying Leah and working double for Rachel is a hard one to read. Jacob is clear in his negotiations to work seven years to marry his true love, Rachel (Gen. 31:18). How could Laban double cross Jacob by giving him Leah in marriage instead? The Biblical text never answers Jacob’s question. It answers a different question: Who is God in the midst of betrayal? Lest we feel too sorry for Jacob in this story, let us not forget that Jacob has the reputation for being quite the deceiver himself! In Genesis 27, Jacob dressed in animal clothes to deceive his blind father (Isaac) into giving him Esau’s blessing as the firstborn. In Genesis 28, Jacob has to flee for his life because his mother fears that his deception will lead to someone murdering him. And in Genesis 31, Jacob again deceives by working with Rachel to steal Laban’s property and flee with his family. So yeah…Jacob gets the bad end of the deal when Laban tricks him with Leah. But it’s not like Jacob was totally innocent. Some might even sing the Chicago tune, "He had it coming. He had it coming. He only had himself to blame." At the core of each betrayal story is some kind of jealousy. Someone wants something and they think the only way to get it is through their own deceptive means. Jacob wants Esau’s birthright. Jacob wants Rachel over Leah. Laban wants labor. Everyone wants something and tries to get it by their own hands. In the face of betrayal, Genesis reminds us that we worship the God who resolves conflict–even conflict that seems impossible to overcome. I like how the NIV Application Commentary put it: “Many Christians can compete with Jacob as master manipulators, making their own way through life and taking their destiny into their own hands. But that’s not God’s way. God wants to be recognized as the source of our success.” In other words, as the children learned this week at Vacation Bible School, “When life is dark…shine Jesus’ light! When we disagree with others, shine Jesus’ light! When life is good, shine Jesus’ light!” No matter what is happening in our lives or how others are treating us, we are called to shine the light of Christ and trust that God is the promise keeper who is the source of our success. Reflection Questions: How can you end the cycles of betrayal in your life? How can you act in trust that God will be the source of your justice and success?

This is a sermon preview for the fourth sermon in the “Promise & Threat” sermon series. To watch the recording of any of the sermons in this sermon series, visit our website. "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” v. 25 Read full passage: Genesis 28:10-19. I heard something once: "Americans are foolish enough to think 100 years is a long time, and Europeans foolish enough to think 100 miles is a long distance." We live in a large nation. I flew to Las Vegas last weekend, and that is an incredible distance! But many of our currently existing cities have not existed very long in their current form, even if Native Americans have lived in the United States for thousands of years. This can make us forget how deep roots can go in a particular place. When in South Korea, I once asked one of my co-teachers, Mr. Lee, why he left Seoul. After all, Seoul was a booming metropolis of 26 million people in its metro area. He had worked in finance. Now, he was back in Uiseong, a town so rural it was considered too small to support a movie theater. "I had to return to my family house." He said, simply. "Oh really? Did your parents build it?" I asked. He laughed. "It has been our family home for 500 years." He said. That was unfathomable to me. I could not name a single building which was 500 years old in my hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. The Lee family had deep, deep roots in Uiseong in Gyeonsangbuk-do. In our story, there are multiple threats to the promise. Slippery, tricky Jacob himself seems unreliable. He makes a deal, a vow, with God, and we might wonder (given his deception of Esau and his father) how sincere he is. As Biblical scholar John Walton put it, "Jacob is still more scoundrel than saint" at this point. Jacob is also leaving the land of the promise. He is traveling far away. And yet God appears to him in this famous vision of a dream: Jacob's ladder. A portal between our world and the Heavens is opened up, with God's angelic messengers ascending and descending. In that vision, God says: "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." Jacob has a lot to learn about trusting God, rather than conniving and manipulating his way to the promise. And maybe it is the same for us. The 20th-century American-British poet, T.S. Eliot, ended his poem "Little Gidding" with the lines: “We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time." Perhaps Jacob will not understand the depth and significance of God's promise until God draws him back to the promised land he left, and he "know[s] the place for the first time." Or, as Kierkegaard said, "Life must be lived forward, but it can only be understood backward." Join us this Sunday as we reflect on God's enduring promise even when we find ourselves not-yet-where-we-hope-to-be, and how coming home to the familiar promises of God can be something new even as it is something old. Reflection Questions: 1. Jacob's motives seem mixed. It's unclear how much he is "striking a deal" with his vow to God, or how much he is sincerely devoted. And yet God is gracious and keeps his promises. How has God been faithful to you, even when your motives for seeking God were "mixed" between the noble and selfish? 2. The Promised land is the big promise in this passage. But there's also a promise of future generations, which will be a blessing. God says to Jacob in verse 14: "All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring." How have you been blessed by other's blessings? How have you blessed others with the goodwill and favor God has toward you? 3. Jacob's response is to make a promise to God and to set up an altar. Do you have a location that reminds you of God's goodness? Or do you have a place in your home set aside to God for the purpose of prayer? If so, where?

This is a sermon preview for the fourth sermon in the “Promise & Threat” sermon series. To watch the recording of any of the sermons in this sermon series, visit our website. This message comes from James Heimlich, our Ministry Resident. Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Genesis 25:31-33 The word "family" invokes a variety of feelings depending on an individual's experiences. For some "family" invokes feelings of love and security, but for others "family" may invoke feelings of hurt and division. In truth, most people's experiences with "family" are a mix of both viewpoints. As we continue our Promise/Threat series, we focus this week on the family. How does the Bible view family and in particular family division? Genesis 25 recounts the story of two brothers, Esau and Jacob, divided over inheritance and blessing. This division led to years of family strife. What can we learn about our own family interactions and about our church family interactions from the story of Esau and Jacob? This Sunday we will explore the wisdom of Genesis 25 and how God wants unity in our families.

This is a sermon preview for the fourth sermon in the “Promise & Threat” sermon series. To watch the recording of any of the sermons in this sermon series, visit our website. “And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’ “Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’ “He replied, ‘The LORD, before whom I have walked faithfully, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father’s family.’” –Genesis 24:34-58 Amidst the BBQs, swimming, and fireworks, Independence Day is an interesting day of reflection. Perhaps more than any other American holiday, we gather to celebrate the unique freedoms we have in this country while also dreaming of how to keep these freedoms alive and well for the generations to come. This hope is even written into the Preamble of the U.S. constitution itself: “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union…and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…” This concern for the next generation isn’t new or unique to our American context. Abraham was worried about what would become of his son, Isaac. God had certainly been faithful to Abraham. God had certainly followed through on each promise so far. But Abraham is old and can’t be around forever. So what’s to be done? What can be done to pass on the promises of God to the next generation? So Abraham does what any normal, concerned father would do: he makes a plan. Abraham sends his servant back to his home clan to find a wife for Isaac. (The hope being that a wife would help secure Isaac’s future and provide the family with more heirs.) As you can read in Genesis 24, the servant's journey to find a wife for Isaac is long and filled with threats: How will nature treat him on the dangerous journey back to Abraham’s clan? How will he know that he’s selected a good match for Isaac? Will anyone even believe his story and trust him enough to send their daughter to be married to someone they don’t even know? I would not want that servant’s job. Good luck with that! Thankfully, the servant doesn’t need luck. In Genesis 24:34-58, the servant retells the story of his journey and how he chose Rebekah to be Isaac’s wife. But it’s not just a dull retelling of human events. The servant’s story is interesting because he retells the narrative as a testimony–as a story of how God has been working in the world. As it turns out, Abraham didn’t need to secure Isaac’s future. The servant didn’t have to stress about the oath he gave to find Isaac a wife. God prepares the way and cares for each generation. There are many things that rightfully should concern us about the current state of the world. There are many things that God is calling us to do to care for the world and for one another while we are still here. But the story of Rebekah agreeing to be Isaac’s wife is a reminder that, ultimately, God is the one who gives the promises. And it is God who is faithful not only to an individual–but to the generations. We need only to place our trust that God cares for our young even more than we do–even unto death on a cross–and to help our young learn to see how God is already at work in their lives. Now What? Reflect: What is something about the future that worries you for the next generation? How is God already at work in that area? How might God be calling you to join in that work as God prepares a way for the next generation? Pray: Who do you know that is in the generation below you? How can you specifically pray for them this week? Share: How do you already see God at work caring for the next generation? How can you help this younger generation learn and see the promises of God that are active in their lives? How can you encourage them to live faithfully in response to God’s grace?