We are like the zebras. We are God’s treasured possession, his special, peculiar people, different from the world. Last week we learned that as God’s redeemed people we live redemptively by imitating God. We are called to reflect God’s love, grace, forgiveness, justice, salvation, hope, and kingdom.
Read MoreLast week we learned that God’s people are a redeemed people. God freed us from the slavery of evil and sin. We saw that redemption involves the whole of life. All areas of life have been freed from all forms of slavery. All of life are now under God’s rule. Even though we are still in this world, we are no longer citizens of this world.
Read MoreWe are back to our series called, Be Courageous—Living as God’s People in God’s World. So far we have learned that God’s people are created in God’s image. We are called to care for God’s creation. We are called to walk, to live in God’s way. We also learned that God’s people know the story they are part of, and that story is God’s story. Our next stop in God’s story is the Exodus.
Read MoreGod’s people is a blessing to the nations when they keep, that is, walk, live in God’s way. John Stott said that “the greatest hindrance to the advance of the gospel worldwide is the failure of God’s people to live like God’s people.” When God’s people are no different from the world, when we walk in the ways of the world, we cannot be a blessing to the nations.
Read MoreToday we fast forward the story from creation to the call of Abraham. But to understand this extraordinary call, we must see Abraham’s call within the context of the whole story. So let’s make a quick tour of what happened in Genesis 3 to 11.
Read MoreA few Sundays ago we learned that human disobedience and rebellion against the Creator God brought disaster into the world. Evil and sin weaved its way into every dimension of human life, and into every aspect of God’s creation. The story of the fall presents us also with the reality of a broken and cursed earth.
Read MoreHow should we live as God’s people in God’s world? Why this emphasis on creation, you may ask? This is where our story begins. This is where the Bible begins. The whole story is important if we are to fully understand who we are and what our mission is.
Read MorePart of our sermon series—”Be Courageous! Living as God’s People in God’s World.” This series is based on and follows the outline of Christopher J.H. Wright’s book, The Mission of God's People : A Biblical Theology of the Church's Mission, (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2010). Other sources used in this series—Christopher J. H. Wright, The Mission of God : Unlocking the Bible's Grand Narrative, (Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2006); Michael Anthony, A Call for Courage : Living with Power, Truth, and Love in an Age of Intolerance and Fear, (Nashville: Nelson Books, 2018); John S. Dickerson, Hope of Nations : Standing Strong in a Post-Truth, Post-Christian World, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2018); Ed Stetzer, Christians in the Age of Outrage : How to Bring Our Best When the World Is at Its Worst, (Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2018).
Who are we? What are we here for? How should we live as God’s people in God’s world? These are the questions we are seeking to answer in this sermon series. We have learned that God’s people are a people who know the story they are part of. And that is the story the Bible tells us, beginning with creation and ending with the new creation.
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