Genesis: The Blessing And The Betrayal
Jacob must have been one rotten kid! In spite of God's clear direction, and although his other son was a numskull, Isaac did not want Jacob to receive his blessing. If it were up to Isaac, it would be Esau who would carry the family line forward. Jacob was not an option. However, God's decree wou…
Genesis: The Patriarchs And Predestination Of Israel
Meet Abraham. Isaac. Jacob. These men, hailed as the 'patriarchs' of the Old Testament, helped shape the entire narrative of our faith.They were also sinners. Big, big sinners. In today's sermon, we'll see that the patriarchs needed God's grace every bit as much as we do. And God gave it to them! …
Genesis: A Father's Sacrifice Of A Son
In Genesis 22, God told Abraham to sacrifice his son. Why? For many, this event is one of the most confusing in all of Scripture - why would God tell Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? What was His purpose? And then, why would He tell Abraham to stay his knife? In today's study, we will study this diffic…
Genesis: The Destruction Of Sodom And Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah are the poster children for God's wrath. In Genesis 19, we come across a cautionary tale to a world hellbent on offending a holy God. Specifically, Genesis 19 describes the destruction of these two cities. The destruction was horrific. It was severe. And yet, in Matthew 10, Jesu…
Genesis: Abraham, Sarah, And God's Big Promise
In Genesis 18 made a promise so outrageous that Sarah laughed. The promises that He has made you are even bigger. God has promised to save and sanctify you, to wipe away all your tears, and to dwell with you in Paradise for eternity. Now those are promises! But how can we be sure they apply to us…
Genesis: Abraham, The Friend Of God
God made Abraham mind-boggling promises. And Abraham believed Him. In Genesis 12, Abraham was introduced with little fanfare. He was a man from a pagan family and a pagan background. And yet, God was going to make this nobody a series of incredible promises - promises that Abraham believed in, and…
Genesis: The Tower Of Babel
God told the people to go outward. Instead, they went upward. "Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth" God told the people. But they said no - in their minds, it was safer and smarter to stay in one place. And so, they built a formidable 'tower' in Genesis 11. In today's study we'll read about …
Genesis: Noah And The Great Flood
The wrong question: how did all the animals fit in the ark? The most crucial question of Genesis 6 is NOT about the animals. Not at all. Rather, it is this: why was an ark needed in the first place? In other words, why was God willing to flood the entire globe, only six chapters after creating it…
Genesis: A Murder East Of Eden
That didn't take long, did it? You might have thought Genesis 4 couldn't go worse than Genesis 3 - that mankind would have learned its lesson. Surely man would do better! Surely he'd turn away from sin! However, before Genesis 4 was over, a blood soaked corpse proved otherwise. Questions That We'…
Genesis: The Temptation And The Fall
One sin. That's all it took. In our day, sin is treated casually - as a marketing device (think 'Sin City'), and rarely as a spiritual anchor. But one sin is all it took for man to be thrown out of the garden, and for chaos to sweep the created realm. This tells us two things: 1) sin must be reall…