BIG IDEA: In a world broken by sin, Christians live differently through Christ.

CHRISTIANS MUST LEARN

How should Christians live in a world broken by sin?

1. Align Marriage with God's Plan (16)

2. Approach Work with God's Purpose (17-18)

3. Anchor Life with God's Promise (19)

FAITH IN ACTION

In what ways has culture influenced my view of marriage more than God's Word?

How can I reflect Christ in a workplace that feels stressful, broken, or chaotic?

Where am I wasting time and energy on things that won't matter five minutes into eternity?

Big Idea: Believers need to trust God as our refuge and strength during difficult times.

1. Fortress of Faith

2. Fearless Faith

3. Flowing Faithfulness

Faith in Action:

• Am I trying to control the difficult situations in my life or am I surrendering to God's sovereignty?
• What spiritual disciplines do I need to incorporate in my daily life to better prepare and sustain me during trials?
• Am I trusting God and his faithfulness am I operating out of fear?

Galatians 1:8-9, Revelation 20:4, John 16:2-4

The Rise of Islam and the Reign of Christ

BIG IDEA: Islam may rise in power but Christ alone reigns in victory.

CHRISTIANS MUST LEARN How should Christians respond as Islam rises in influence and power?

1. Stand Firm against Islam's gospel (Gal. 1:8-9)

2. Stand Faithful under Islam's persecution (Rev.20:4)

3. Stand Fearless amid Islam's hostility (John 16:2-4)

FAITH IN ACTION Do I understand the true gospel so deeply that I spot a counterfeit?

Does my life show the kind of faithfulness that would endure persecution?

Am I willing to fight to preserve the faith, even when culture pushes back?

Believers live with confidence in God's promise of victory through Jesus Christ.

Genesis 3:14-15 14

14 The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."

Sin leads to blame and excuses, but the gospel calls believers to repentance.

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" 10 And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." 11 He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 12 The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Pastor Justin teaches from Genesis 3:1-7 that when the world questions God's Word, believers rest confidently in His truth.

Genesis 3:1-7 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Pastor Justin teaches that when we follow God's design for marriage, it results in real companionship and lasting commitment.

18 Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." 19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22 And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,

"At last this is bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called 'woman,' Because she was taken out of man."

24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.25 And the man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed.

Pastor Justin teaches from Genesis 2:4-17 that believers live under God's authority for His glory because life is a gift from Him.

4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

Pastor Justin teaches that we can rest because God's finished work set the pattern for rest and worship.

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Pastor Justin teaches that we are created in God's image to reflect Him, receive His blessing, and rule under His authority.

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 29 And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.