Burning Bushes and Snapshot Moments
Today, our summer intern, Mary Stegink, spoke about the story of Moses and the burning bush found in
Exodus 3. She talked about those "snapshot moments" in life where we sense that God is calling us to change our direction. When we look back, we can see where our life was kind of "frozen" in that moment and we remember it as the time when nothing was ever the same again.
The story of Moses and the burning bush is a good example of one of these snapshot moments. God called Moses out of the burning bush to lead His people out of Egypt. Moses didn't feel worthy of the calling, but are we any more eager to follow God's call than Moses was? We can see how God had been equipping Moses throughout his life for this call, and through this, we should be encouraged to trust that God goes before us when we answer His call.
Meagan and Kyle showed us a painting they made to illustrate what this story said to them. It showed calm waters at the bottom with a blazing fire at the top. This shows how when we answer God's call, our calm lives are set on fire. Some people shared stories of snapshot moments in their own lives... do you have any to tell about?
Labels: Old Testament
Abraham's Test
Today, our intern Jason talked about Abraham's near sacrifice of his son Isaac - the story found in
Genesis 22. God told Abraham to take his ONLY son Isaac to Moriah to sacrifice him. The Bolt family gave us their input on the story and noted that this phrase "only son" reminded them of John 3:16 - for God so loved the world that He gave His only son..." Jason pointed out that this story is a typology - it foreshadowed the story of Jesus' sacrifice in so many ways. At the end of the story, God promises that because Abraham did not withold his only son, He would bless him and make his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Today, we are asked by God through His word to offer our bodies as living sacrifices(see Romans 12:1). How can you do this?
Labels: Old Testament
Listening to God in the Story of Noah
Today Pastor Henry asked us to reflect on the story of Noah's Ark. He suggested we listen to the story "with fresh ears". What does the story say about God? About humanity? About God's desire for our relationship with Him? Ultimately, God created us to be in relationship with Him. He wants us close to Him, and to be close to Him we need to listen to (hear) what He tells us.
Question of the week: If God would wash out one thing that is corrupting my life right now that is preventing me from walking in faith with him, what would it be?
I have a tendency to believe Satan's lies and to let his lies make me afraid of the future. I would want God to erase all my memories that are filled with Satan's lies.
Thanks to Cathy R. for writing this today!
Labels: Old Testament
In the Beginning...
Today, we read the story of the creation of the world in
Genesis 1 & 2. The Reeds shared that in talking about the story of creation at home, they also read the book
You are Special by Max Lucado which is a good reminder for all of us to seek daily the one who created us because He is the One who tells us what we are worth.
Pastor Amy contrasted the biblical story of creation with the Babylonian or Mesopotamian creation epic, the Enuma Elish. She noted especially that in the Bible, God (one God) made
order out of chaos, while other ancient traditions spoke of many gods who made things and people to serve them and constantly fought over what they had made and with each other. Creation was a result of God speaking. Even today, we can see how God sorts out situations and infuses them with His life.
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6
What new perspective about the creation story did you learn today?I loved the story Amy told about her grandpa who wrote the book, "Science God & You". He thought about how we can't even see some of the stars that God created yet because their light hasn't reached us yet. That was cool to think about because then I was thinking about how we haven't seen all He has created because He is still creating through His people, us! And hopefully, we too are making order out of the chaos in people's lives.
Labels: Old Testament
Bloom Sunday
Today we read
1 Corinthians 3:1-9 which was so appropriate for Bloom Sunday. Paul says in verses 6-7:
"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow." This makes it clear that God causes spiritual growth and not any of us. We only need to keep our eyes on the "Son" as plants keep their eyes on the sun. This is where we find life.
How is God making you grow right now? I believe that by keeping my eyes on Him, He is making me righteous or right with Him through the process of sanctification. He is changing me to be able to make more choices based on love and truth rather than selfishness. This is a life-long process in which I have to continually trust that God knows what is best for His purposes even if it doesn't seem good for me at the time.
Labels: growth
