Introduction I’ve been a big fan of the Bible all my life. As a child I was amazed by the miracles God did. As I got older it was His character that captivated me. These days I’m intrigued by His wisdom. I want to know how He thinks, what He’s planning, how to make sense of His creation. The Bible is at the center of my relationship with God, and it always has been. But the Bible isn’t God, and the Bible isn’t the whole of my relationship with God. So why is it that I always come back here? I believe that God reveals Himself in Creation and in…

Outline Intro: The Matter of Life and Death Death as Punishment Death and God Chinks in Death’s Armor The Death of Death For Now We Wait Closing Thoughts: Ash Wednesday Introduction: The Matter of Life and Death A friend once told me that Christianity is a “culture of death.” This was of course a reversal of Pope John Paul II’s 1995 condemnation of the modern culture of death, which sees the weak as useless at best—a burden to be eliminated. He pointed to the crucifixion, the Old Testament sacrificial system, and the way we seem to look forward to death so that we can go to heaven. In a strange…

Outline The Unfolding of the Fall Fractured Relationships Total Depravity—but not Extreme Depravity Comparing Theories [new! not discussed in class] So What Do We Do Until Then? Conclusion Bonus Thoughts The Unfolding of the Fall We all know the story of the Fall from Genesis 3. Perfect woman with perfect husband in perfect garden meets talking snake. He tempts her to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit, then she hands some to her husband who does the same. God comes and gives them a spanking and sends them out of the garden. Ok, so the details might be a little off… maybe even a little forgettable. But the story…

The Gist God Created You to Need Other People We All Need a Suitable Helper Marriage Is a Great Community—But Not the Only One! You Need Community and Community Needs You! Introduction We’ve been trying to understand just what God says about us—who we are, why we’re here—and distance ourselves from what the world says about us. So far we know that we’re made in God’s image, unique in all of creation. But the creation story didn’t end in Genesis 1. There’s another story within that story that needs to be told. And it begins in Genesis 2:18. Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man…

Outline Introduction: The Challenge from Evolution Can we be made in God’s image if science says we evolved? Are we misreading the Bible? Not the Whole Debate, Just the Bible The Bible is our authority as the very words of God. We submit to it whether we understand it or not. The first place we go to understand a passage of Scripture is the rest of Scripture. Scripture interprets Scripture! The clash isn’t science vs. Scripture but one interpretation vs. another. What Does the Bible Say about Adam? Three genealogies portray him as the first father, the end of a real lineage. In two long passages, Paul ties Jesus’ work…