Harmony Christian Church

?️? Tune in to Kent's sermon today to learn about Samuel and Saul and the cataclysmic collision that led to Christ. Let's dive in together and discover more! ?✨ EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). Get the fill-in-the-blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins.

OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

When I was a kid my brother had been doing something to make me mad.  I was sitting at the top of the driveway with my skateboard, and my brother had been making fun of me or something. As I sat there I can remember as clear as day when I let go of my skateboard, my brother was riding his bike down the sidewalk and I can remember watching it in slow motion as it went down and all of a sudden it hit me that my timing was perfect and he was going to hit the skateboard.  When his front tire hit the skateboard his bike flipped and he went flying. 

We’ve all been there when two worlds collided

-You’re wife meets your ex wife

-When the department leads of two divisions - sales and production explode because one wants to keep selling and the other wants to slow down

-Your kids over shotgun in the car…  lol

Some collisions can be cataclysmic and have repercussions that last for generations. 

ILLUSTRATION:

Did you know that how the Atomic bomb that Oppenheimer and his team developed and used during WWII, at a very basic level, is by having atomic reactions where nuclei splits, which creates a violent release of energy?  Neutrons are released which bombard other nuclei and cause a chain reaction of unfathomable damage and destruction. 

Today we are going to zoom in on a collision that will unfold in slow motion over the next few weeks and have massive consequences.

Today we are going to look at two people.  I want to tell you both of their stories leading up to the collision.

Samuel & Saul - the start of the undoing.

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Samuel:

Samuel is the last of the judges.  He operates almost as a priest and a prophet.  He was born to a woman who was unable to have children.  She prayed and asked God to give her a child and if he would she would give the child to the Lord’s service.  So, when she had Samuel, she brought him to Shiloh and gave him to the old Priest Eli to be raised.  Samuel is probably one of my favorite characters in scripture.  He hears God’s voice as a young man and he tries hard to follow God - he’s not perfect, but he is a man who brokered the collision we’re talking about.

Saul:

Here’s how the scripture describes Saul

1 Samuel 9:2

Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else.

ILLUSTRATION:

I’ve got a brother-in-law who is 6’ 8”.  Jenni’s sister is 6’ 1”.  When we are around them we look like their mini me’s.  But one of th

? What are we doing to pass on the knowledge of God to our kids? ? Join Kent to explore this crucial question through the book of Judges!  EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins.

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OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

So, I need to confess something.  I am a problem in our family.  Not just a problem, I am THE problem.  Here’s how it works.  It will be 9 or 9:30 at night, our kids will have school the next day, and everyone is getting ready for bed, showers, brushing their teeth, etc.  One of our kids will come into our room to say goodnight and a half hour later we are wrestling around and joking or watching a show or whatever.  I am the agent of chaos in our family!  Lol, it’s what I do!

Our kids know it too, they know if they can get me to think something is funny or fun that it’s over, I’m gonna forget about the reality of the day that is looming on the other side of night and I’m going to go headlong into crazy.  

When I was a kid, I hated order, I hated structure - I’m naturally a rule breaker, but as I’ve aged, I like to think I’ve gotten a little wiser and one of the things I’ve learned is

Where chaos rules, consequences multiply

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We all know actions have consequences right?  

If I stay up late on a school night, I’m going to have a longer harder day the next day…

You can only ignore the consequences of chaos for so long before they become unbearable.

WE:

-This may be a hoarder house where you can’t move around and can never invite anyone over to your house

-it may be the person who lives with the spouse that you can’t trust - anything they say is ever honest

-it may be the teacher who has no ability to manage their class 

I don’t care what the context is, if you ignore the consequences the chaos will eventually overtake your world.

I want to jump into a world that was FULL of chaos today.

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The book of Judges in the scripture follows on the heels of Joshua and his generation passing away.

Listen, I tell you a few stories from the book of Judges you need to not think of the Jewish people as you might see them, an organized nation and religious group.  

These were more like an odd mix of the old west and native American Indian Tribes that were loosely connected to each other. 

There is a violence and a way of doing things that does not fit with our modern sensitivities…

God’s promise had been “If you obey me, I’ll be with you. If you don’t, I’ll remove my blessing…”

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Over and over again this will be God’s promise to humanity and over and over again WE will walk back on the contract.

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How do we remain human in an artificial world? Join us as Kent delves into this crucial question. Listen in and let's sanctify this moment together. EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). Get the fill in the fill-in-the-blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins.

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OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

We live in a crazy world.  I remember growing up talking to my great-grandma Streeter in the 1980s.  She had traveled to Kansas when she was a kid in a covered wagon…  Isn’t that crazy?  I remember thinking about how we had colored TVs, cars, phones, and planes and she had experienced all those changes in her life.  

She had experienced monumental change…

You may not recognize it right now, but you are one of those people too…

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We are standing on the precipice of one of the most monumental changes in history.  

The internet (I remember hearing the first time someone said, “www. - it stands for world wide web…”).  Smartphones came out in 2007 and gave the internet a way to live with us all the time and now we stand on the verge of AI to potentially take all that to the next level.  

People who stand at the intersection of monumental times tend to do at least one of three things. They either…

Our world is changing at a monumental pace.

We are privy at all times to all information

We live in incredible fear and anxiety because we bear the entire weight of humanity in our minds - you know about a war the instant it breaks out and see the devastation in your ticktock feed

We are INUNDATED with information - did you know one of our biggest challenges at the church is communicating with you - because you are so over-communicated within your world that you can’t hear what we are saying - that’s not a comment on you or me, it’s our world…

And it’s all about to go into overdrive.  

ILLUSTRATION:

When I was a kid I remember going to my grandma’s house, she had this basket of fruit on her table and I grabbed an apple and took a bite.  As I did, my teeth sunk in and I realized it was styrofoam.  The fruit wasn’t real.

You and I are about to have that same experience in ways you can’t even imagine.  

Already you can’t tell if the pictures you are looking at are created by AI or are actual people.  Video is already there and will soon be everywhere - you won’t know if who you are looking at is really the person or not.  You can’t tell if I wrote this sermon or if AI did.  

And here’s what I think is going to happen.

I think there is a potenti

?Join us for a powerful sermon journeying through Moses' life. What idols do we worship? Let's reflect together. Tune in at Harmony Christian Church. EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins.

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This morning, I want to take you into the story of someone who is larger than life - so large that nearly 3,500 years later we are still talking about his story… 

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The Story of Moses

Moses’ life is so big, I can’t really do it justice… Instead, what I want to do is take you into three movements.  

I want to take you through the story of Moses, a specific incident from his life, and a challenge for us all.

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MOVEMENT 1:  The Man Moses

He was born into a time of incredible tumult.  The Israelites had been in slavery to the Egyptians for hundreds of years.  Moses is born to an incredibly brave woman who fights against all the odds to save her child.  Through a miraculous set of events, Moses is adopted into the family of Pharaoh - King of Egypt.  Moses is raised in a world of contradictions.  A slave who is a prince.  As he ages he will be moved for his people and in a moment of rage he kills an Egyptian who is beating a Hebrew Slave.  Moses will run away and for 40 years will be an exile.  When he returns it is because of an encounter with God in a burning bush.  God will call him to lead his people out of Egyptian slavery to come into the wilderness to worship God.  It is an epic story, it’s so massive I can’t do it justice.  But

During this time, God will send 10 plagues on the Egyptians trying to get them to release their iron grip on the Hebrew people.

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The last of the 10 plagues was the death of the firstborn son.  

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The Lord sent an angel through Egypt and anyone whose house was not marked on the door frames with the blood of a lamb, their firstborn son died.

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This is called the Passover, because God passed over the Hebrews in this moment and finally released them from their slavery.

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For the next 40 years, Moses will wander in the desert with the Israelites, leading them and shepherding them.

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Through all of this, Moses faces the challenges of leadership and following God…

MOVEMENT 2:  The Specific Incident

The Israelites have been in the desert for some time now.  God has been leading them with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  He is providing them with food, and water, He is giving them everything they need.  

Immediately people begin to complain.  

God begins to intervene and he gives what we know today as the 10 Commandments -

Ever felt like you're constantly hitting walls? We've all been there. Join us as Kent unpacks the story of Joseph and finding resilience in adversity.  It's EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins.

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OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

One of the hardest things for me to figure is people who just constantly hit wall after wall.  Have you known people like this?  I feel like growing up, my family was like this.  My parents started a marketing company when I was really young and a guy stole the money they had set aside for taxes and their business went under.  My dad got a job and I got hurt, we went to the ER and found out his new company had been siphoning the insurance money instead of paying it and that company went under.  It was one thing after another.  

Every time we’d get up, we’d get knocked back down…

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Does anyone know what that feels like?

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Today, we are going to look at the story of Joseph and how he got knocked down and back up again and again and came away with a different perspective…

STORY:

Joseph is the great-grandson of Abraham.  His dad Jacob has 12 sons who will become the 12 tribes of Israel.  Jacob’s wife Rachel - who he loved most only had two sons for him and at the birth of the second one, she died.  Her two sons were Joseph & Benjamin.  Brothers already have lots of tension in their relationships.  But you can imagine a couple of them being from the mom that your dad loved the most.  This story is full of Jealousy and Envy.  Honestly, as you read the book of Genesis, it feels like the same story unfolding over and over again in different ways.  Jealousy, rage, anger, and deception, all getting the best of these people.  

Joseph is different though.  He seems to not do much wrong.

One of his biggest faults when he’s young is he seems to not have much humility…

Joseph will have a dream where there are 11 sheaves of grain - kind of big bundles of wheat or barley or something.  All the bundles come and bow down to Joseph's bundle…  

Well, the interpretation is clear.  Joseph has 11 brothers and now this kid thinks we’re going to be bowing down to him…  Oh man, can you feel the anger rising in his brothers?

Then the kid does it again.  He can’t keep his mouth shut.  He comes in and tells the family that he had a dream that the sun, the moon, and the stars all were bowing down to him.  Lol, he just can’t stop..

His dad, Jacob - I picture him rolling his eyes and being like “Come on son!”

He rebukes Joseph - but the damage is done.

The rage, the jealousy, the envy and anger has all been planted in the hearts of his brothers…

One day, Jacob sends out Joseph to check on his brothers - he’s sending him multiple days away.  Joseph reaches the spot his brothers should be at and they are gone.  He finds someone who tells

Join us as Kent dives into the story of Jacob's wrestling match with God. Ever felt like life was spiraling out of control? You're not alone. Tune in and ask yourself: How do we find blessing in the midst of our struggles? EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give). Get the fill-in-the-blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins.

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OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

A few weeks ago at our worship night the team started singing the song Oceans.  As I stood there worshiping and singing that song I was taken back to a moment in New York City.  Jenni and I had been gifted the chance to to go to this conference in NYC @ the New York City Music Hall.  Shortly before we went to that we had stepped away from our church plant that we had started.  We were not doing real good emotionally and the leadership we were working with, instead of trying to figure out how to help us, they had told us to step down from the ministry if we wanted the church to continue to get support.  So, we walked away from it.  It was heart wrenching.  While we were at this conference the band introduced this new song “Oceans…”  As I sat there with the lights off, my heart went back to that moment standing in the balcony beside my wife.  We were at a conference that should have been pumping us up but I knew we had two weeks of pay when we got back and then nothing and honestly I was freaking out.  

I can remember singing those lyrics and trying to will myself to believe it…:

You call me out upon the waters, The great unknown where feet may fail, And there I find You in the mystery, In oceans deep my faith will stand, And I will call upon Your Name, And keep my eyes above the waves, When oceans rise My soul will rest in Your embrace, For I am Yours and You are mine

This was not the first time or the last time I’ve been in that dark night of the soul…

There is a place where everything feels out of control and like you are losing more than you are gaining.

My guess is more of you in this room than we would like to think are in that place.  

But I can promise you this

If you’re not there now, you will be at some point.

WE:

We all know what it’s like to have your life start to spiral out of control

-Projects piling up left and right and you feeling out of control

-To have a spouse come up and tell you “I just don’t love you any more” and your are spiraling

-To find out your child has a health diagnosis that has no real fix…

Every one of us has a story that is written with the ebb and flow of pain and joy, fear and faith.

BIBLE:

Today, I want to take you into a story of wrestling to give you some encouragement when your life feels like it’s at risk…

In the story of God we are going to jump into the life of Jacob - Isaacs son, Abrahams grandson.

This would be one of those stories you will want to go read.  It’s full of deception, has a really nice and weird love story in it, and it has redemp

? What if our significance lies in what God does through us, not to us? Join Kent in exploring Isaac's "insignificant" life and discover the thread leading to Jesus. Tune in for insights that might change your perspective! ?️✨  It's EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins.

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OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

Years ago I was eating dinner with a really good friend from high school.  He had started this marketing company and had some of the biggest brands in the world as his clients.  Names like Red Bull and Etnies skateboard shoes.  He was jet setting to New York and Australia and all these cool places.  He’s such a good guy, he wasn’t bragging about any of this, we were just talking.  And then he asked me what we were up to.  I remember feeling like I wished I could just pull my head into my shell like a turtle and hide.  We were a few years into planting a church in Wichita Kansas at the time and honestly, it was a struggle.  We only had about 90 people coming and I was embarrassed because I knew about all these church plants that had 1,000 people.  Jenni and I were struggling on every front.  I remember talking through that and feeling like a poser as I tried to convince him and me that what I was doing was good and significant.  

I was posturing to impress him and it left me feeling depressed.

Do you ever do that?  Posture to impress people?

What I mean is over-inflate who you are because you feel like you’re “less than”

WE:

I’m sure this appears for each of us in different ways

-Some mom starts talking about the birthday party she is throwing for her kid that includes ponies, clowns, inflatables & sky diving and you’re insecurity flairs up - “We just do a cake and some friends…”

-That kid on the team that’s the best makes a little snide comment about your abilities and you spent the rest of your career trying to prove them wrong

-You’re dad was NEVER impressed with anything you did and now you are secretly trying to be the best at everything hoping he will one day tell you how proud he is.

All of us have an insecurity somewhere about not being significant enough.

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I want to take you to an insignificant account of a person from history whose life is insignificantly significant and look at what we can learn from a person's life like that.

THE BIBLE:

Isaac is called “the child of promise”.  His mom and dad, Abe & Sarah are told in their old age they will have a bouncing baby boy - if you missed it, go back and listen to last week.  They will get pregnant, Isaac is born into a world that is very different from the world you are in.  It’s shepherding, it’s sunup to sun down.  It’s sacrifice and dirt and sweat fear and laughter.  Isaac will grow up to be a young man who marries Rebecca.  She is his relative (second cousin on Abrahams side).  There is this beautiful narrative about Abes servant going to search for a wife for Isaac.  T

Join us as Kent dives into Abraham's crazy journey. The burning question: Why would God ask such a thing? Tune in and let's unpack it together. ?? #SermonSunday #FaithJourney.  EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).  Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins.

OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

So, I don’t know if everyone is like this, but my brain doesn’t work for some things.  Pretty much anything that starts with a G that isn’t bible related.  When I was in High School I failed geometry one semester and got a D the second semester.  In bible college, I got a D in Grammar & Geography…  Serious…  And it’s not like I didn’t work hard, I worked crazy hard and still I got an F…  In Grammar, I would literally watch Conjunction Junction…  It was like the information would go in my brain and would not stick.  It’s probably some sort of learning disability…

Sometimes things just don’t make sense, right?

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Some of you had a relationship that you thought would last for your whole life and in one turn, your spouse went a different direction and you were left holding a bag that you don’t know what to do with… 

You’re left saying, “it just doesn’t make sense…”

-I’ve been passed over for jobs that it didn’t make sense, “I crushed that interview”

-You worked your tail off, showed up early, stayed late, and still they laid you off…

We all know what it’s like to have things that just don’t make sense.

Today, we are going to look at a moment in the life of Abraham that doesn’t make any sense, then we’ll look at how God made sense of it.

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We’ll see how God is always tying threads from the history of the Old Testament into the life of Jesus and making sense of things.

SCRIPTURE:

So, part of this series is helping you get a sense of who biblical characters - people are.  It has roughly been a few hundred years since the flood.  Noah is still alive.  There is an ancient document Jasher (in chapter 9) that actually says that Abraham, who we are about to talk about, lived with Noah and his son Shem for 39 years learning the ways of Yahweh God.  Abraham sticks out in this post flood world.  Everyone has immediately gone back to their own way - they are humans after all.  Abraham is called by God - you should study Genesis 11-25 this week.  Abe is called to leave his country, his family, and everything he knows and he does it.  He follows God.  3 times God will promise to Abraham to bless him, to make his name famous, to give him land and to bless the whole world through him.  Abraham.  Abe will have all kinds of crazy things happen, two times he will almost lose his wife to foreign kings, he will build up an empire and risk it all to rescue his nephew.  Abraham will be involved in crazy things like his wife telling him to sleep with her servant to have a child because God had promised him a child and Sarah could never get pregnant.  

God will eventually promise Abe that He will have a child, even when he is old and Sarah is old - Sarah was 9

Here's a question to chew on: Ever felt like you've baked something into your life that can't be undone? Join us as Kent dives into an unlikely story (of Noah's Ark) where the ingredients are set, and we'll explore together how God offers a fresh start. Don't miss it! ?? #TuneIn #FreshStart IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).  Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins.

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OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

My wife is seriously one of the best bakers in the world.  I had to put a moratorium on cookies in our house because when she bakes them it’s almost impossible to resist them.  I literally think she might be trying to kill me…  :)

Baking is interesting, it’s really chemistry.  If I mix all the right ingredients and put them at the right temperature, I get a particular result.  and here’s the thing, once it’s cooked - it’s nearly impossible to untangle the mingling of the ingredients…  Maybe you can separate things a little bit before they are baked - quickly remove a yoke from a white cake if you accidentally put it in.  But there is a point of no return for sure when you are baking where once the ingredients are mixed in, they can’t be separated out.

This is true of not just baking, but life as well. 

There are things that once done, can’t be undone…

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There are bells that can’t be un-rung

You know this to be true right?  

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New husbands learn this real quick the first time their wife asks them if a dress makes them look fat

Or what about that time you were asked on a job interview about the funniest thing you ever did and you actually answered honestly…

Or what about that time you called your husband lazy and worthless…

Ah, see, there are funny things we can’t unring and there are serious things…

Today, we are going to look at a story about a people who had rung a bell that could not be unrung, had baked into their story ingredients that couldn’t be removed…

I want to read you a series of passages from the book of Genesis, then we’re going to talk about some of the difficulties of the story and then we are going to look at how it ties into the overall story of God…

SCRIPTURE:

Genesis 6:3

3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with[a] humans forever, for they are mortal[b]; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

Genesis says this happens because the sons of God were coming down and having relations with the daughters of man… 

-scholars think this is referring to angels coming and intermingling with humans and creating a breed of humanity that was giant.  

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What crucial choice defines our allegiance? Listen in as we unpack Genesis 3, discovering our pivotal role in the Story of God. Join us to understand our narrative better. It's about choosing allegiance in a world with unseen forces. Tune in for insights on your story's plot!  IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).  Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins.

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OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

Do you have things about you that drive you nuts?  I have a LAUNDRY list of those things for myself.  But one of my pet peeves with myself is that I will start watching a movie.  But my brain is wired, thanks to Facebook, to pull out my phone and start scrolling.  Here’s why this drives me nuts!  I start scrolling and then the instant I do, the major plot point of the movie happens.  Someone kills the main character's dog, or their wife dies, or a terrorist makes a threat.  Doesn’t matter the movie, doesn’t matter how hard I try.  I almost ALWAYS miss the plot point…

Here’s the problem

If you don’t know the plot, you will miss out on the purpose…

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This is never more true than in the Story of God…

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There are major plot points along the way in the story that if you miss them, or misunderstand them it will affect everything else.

Today, we are going to be talking about one of the Two major plot points of the Story of God.

It’s vital we understand why this plot point is so important and to understand what is really going on with it…

If you have your Bible, we are going to open up to Genesis 3:

Remember, the story of Genesis is not so much about trying to tell you how God created things, but to express meaning.  Moses who is writing this account for us didn’t even have the word science available to him.  He did know about order and about the wisdom and beauty found in creation.

God created the world around us and all that exists in it.

God created mankind as the steward (managers) of that creation.

God created and it was all good.

In Genesis 3 we have this strange encounter between Adam & Eve - the name Adam actually means “humanity” and Eve means “source of life.”  There is a serpent that comes to Adam and Eve and begins to have this deceptive encounter with them.  I know it’s strange, and I want to give you permission if you are someone who struggles to believe this story.  That’s ok, don’t stop listening because of that, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  As you listen to this story, you are going to hear the echos of humanity's story and you are going to see the plot start to unfold in a way that helps you understand your own story better.  

I personally have landed in a place where I believe this story.  There are crazy, unexplainable things in this world.  I don’t know that it was a talking snake, I think it was an angel of darkness that we call Satan.  

This