Leviticus 16: Summary:As Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, the question hung in the air east of Eden, "Is all lost?" And God answered with a solid and comforting, "No!" Though sin corrupts and defiles, God will make a place with us. The picture in Leviticus 16 is of a perpetual sacrifice that points ahead to the need of a final reckoning, a once-for-all resolution to the mess of sin and the chaos unleashed on creation. But here-and-now, the priest is himself a sinner, and the people's sin continues to corrupt the place where God has set his name and glory. God provides a means for cleansing, for purging sin from priest, place, and people. There is a Day for the punishment of sin, as well as a Day for bringing an end to the guilt of sin.

Main idea(s):The coming of Jesus fulfills the message of the Day of Atonement, which points the way to restored relationship with God, as sin is punished and the guilt of sin is removed

Sermon Outline:

The advent of God’s glory and a holy priest

The advent of God’s glory and a holy place

The advent of God’s glory and a holy people

Leviticus 10:1-11: Summary:Our greatest problem is sin. Violating the holiness of God has dire consequences. But we often entertain sin anyway in hopes that God will let us have our cake and eat it too. But His glory condemns sin, and His holiness consumes it: either in the form of an acceptable sacrifice as He has ordained, or ourselves when we refuse His authorized means of atonement. Thus, we need a truly righteous priest who will distinguish for us the holy from the common and teach us all that God has commanded so that we can have atonement for sins.

Main idea(s):God reveals His holiness against sinners who disobey His Word in an effort to make atonement for their sin on their own terms, but in light of Advent, we also see that he reveals his holiness in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who is the very embodiment of God’s glory and holiness.

Sermon Outline:

The Advent of God’s Glory and a Priestly Blunder

The Advent of God’s Glory and Priestly Obedience

The Advent of God’s Glory and a Priestly Commission

Leviticus 9: Summary:Our greatest problem is sin. Our greatest need is atonement. Only God can forgive sins. Therefore, our greatest hope is the atonement for sin that only God can supply. In this provision, we see His glory as God. He comes to His people. He arrives. He appears. And He acts to receive the provision He's made. In His advent, sin is forgiven. We're thus pointed to the apex of this advent, the incarnation of Him Who will save His people from our sins. A Person has been promised Who will decisively deal with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. In Him, the glory of God our Savior appears. Let it refresh our worship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Main idea(s):With the advent of Christ, we're to see and savor the glory of God in the sin-atoning Person and Work of Jesus.

Sermon Outline:

The advent of God's glory and the way of atonement. (9:1-4)

The advent of God's glory and the work of atonement. (9:5-21)

The advent of God's glory and the wonder of atonement. (9:22-24)

Genesis 7:11-24: Summary:God ordained a door to be in the side of the ark, and for that door to remain open for a century. Noah and family enter that door, while the rest of the world takes their chances against the Word of God. Almighty justice comes and prevails, such that all flesh outside of the ark dies. Simultaneously, almighty grace prevails over justice for those within the ark. The righteous remnant, having lived by faith, and taken God at His Word, are safe from the waters of the flood. None of the justice due to them touches them. As the ark is elevated by judgment, so also God's grace is exalted. It's yet another historical work of God intended to drive us to the omnipotent salvation and security we've found in Jesus Christ.

Main idea(s): God's given a door that separates the heirs of His justice from the heirs of His grace; and as His justice can't be defeated outside of His grace, we're urged to enter it, share it, take all consolation in it.

Sermon Outline:

A shut door and almighty condemnation.

A shut door and almighty salvation.

Genesis 6:9-7:10: Summary:Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and grace has made him different than the rest of the world. While humanity has largely taken the wide path, Noah walks with God in the straight and narrow. His faith is a living faith. That faith is given a specific exercise: to make known God's design for the world. That design includes the literal architecture of the ark. It also includes the revelation of divine judgment and God's salvation for sinners from it. The door is open until it's not. Noah heralds righteousness for a century. He does all the Lord commands. The ark is finished, but only Noah and his family take God's way of escape. Within the ark, there is gathered a new world to survive the flood. Once let out, that gathering, that new creation, makes the ark visible. So also we are a foretaste of Christ's new creation in this world and, as we conduct ourselves faithfully, we show the world there is salvation for the perishing.

Main idea(s): Those who live by faith make salvation visible and available to the perishing.

Sermon Outline:

Noah's difference from the world. (6:9-12)

God's design for the world. (6:13-22)

The ark's deposit of a new world. (7:1-10)

Genesis 6:1-8: Summary:Moses reports on the state of the world, down to every heart. In so doing, he throws us into a wilderness of spiritual depravity and captivity to sin. The good world is now a godless world. It's a graceless world. It's a world begging judgment, while standing in desperate need of the Gospel. The world without reflects the world within. It's only evil continually. Opposite this, and in view of it, stands the heart of God. While dealing seriously with sin, we learn of His long suffering patience. As it appeared, the impassioned God knew sorrow over the degeneracy of the humanity He made in His image and out of love. All would seem lost, as God promises a judgment second only to the return of Christ. But Noah found favor in God's eyes. The Creator is the Redeemer, and He is faithful to His promise and purpose of salvation. The only hope for the world is the One with power to regenerate the heart.

Sermon Outline:

The divine heart in view of depraved hearts. (6:1-7)

The divine hope in victory over depraved hearts. (6:8)

Genesis 5:1-32: Summary:

Set against an idolatrous civilization, Moses records the line of grace, from Adam to Noah. We're reminded of the fact and spread of sin and its consequences. The chapter is filled with funerals. But we're also stirred by the record of Enoch who, residing in the line of Seth, and giving rise to Lamech and Noah, walked with God and seems to have avoided the otherwise typical route to being with God forever. Death is not the end for those who walk with God. Salvation reigns supreme over sin. The text ends on a faithful father's hope: Noah. As Eve with Cain, then Abel, then Seth, so Lamech with Noah: perhaps he's the Lord's Christ. Well he is a type, but Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Savior Who overcomes sin and death and the curse. Jesus is the One Who can return sinners to eternal, worshipful Rest.

Sermon Outline:

The spread of sin.

The supremacy of salvation.

The certainty of the Seed.

Genesis 4:17-26: Summary:

The trajectory of Cain's sin and the world view behind it is played out here in the pages of Scripture. Two ways of responding to the fallen world are set next to each other. One, focused on the world and its things, is emblematic of Cain and his descendants. But a new son to Eve promises a new hope for restoration, and a narrowing of humanity towards the promised seed of the woman. Seth is not just a human child, but God stating that his plans are not thwarted, that he will keep his promises. Those who call on the name of the Lord represent another way of life, one that leads to Jesus.

Sermon Outline:

Sin and decay.

Hope has a name.

Hosea 1:1-11: Sermon Outline:

The Deep Mercy of God

The Wide Mercy of God

Isaiah 6:1-13: Summary:

A sermon with application for our ministry as a local church in our immediate community, or local missions.

Sermon outline:

See His Greatness: The Sovereign, Exalted Lord (vs 1-4)

See His Grace: The Sin atoning Lord (vs 5-7)

See His Great Commission: The Sending Lord (vs 8-13)