August 22, 2021 Worship

This Is Amazing Grace

Verse 1

Who breaks the power of sin and darkness
Whose love is mighty and so much stronger
The King of Glory the King above all kings

Verse 2

Who shakes the whole earth with holy thunder
And leaves us breathless in awe and wonder
The King of Glory the King above all kings

Chorus

(Yeah) (Oh) This is amazing grace
This is unfailing love
That You would take my place
That You would bear my cross
You laid down Your life
That I would be set free
Oh Jesus I sing for all that You've done for me

Verse 3

Who brings our chaos back into order
Who makes the orphan a son and daughter
The King of Glory the King of Glory

Verse 4

Who rules the nations with truth and justice
Shines like the sun in all of its brilliance
The King of Glory the King above all kings

Bridge

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Worthy is the King who conquered the grave
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Worthy is the King who conquered the grave
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Worthy is the King who conquered the grave
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Worthy worthy worthy

CCLI Song # 6333821

Jeremy Riddle | Josh Farro | Phil Wickham

• © 2012 Phil Wickham Music (Admin. by BMG Rights Management [c/o Music Services, Inc.])
• Seems Like Music (Admin. by BMG Rights Management [c/o Music Services, Inc.])
• Sing My Songs (Admin. by BMG Rights Management [c/o Music Services, Inc.])
• Bethel Music Publishing
• WC Music Corp.

For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com

CCLI License # 11176923

___________

To God Be The Glory

Verse 1

To God be the glory great things He has done
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin
And opened the life gate that all may go in

Chorus

Praise the Lord praise the Lord
Let the earth hear His voice
Praise the Lord praise the Lord
Let the people rejoice
O come to the Father through Jesus the Son
And give Him the glory great things He has done

Verse 2

O perfect redemption the purchase of blood
To every believer the promise of God
The vilest offender who truly believes
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives

Verse 3

Great things He has taught us
Great things He has done
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son
But purer and higher and greater will be
Our wonder our transport when Jesus we see

CCLI Song # 23426

Fanny Jane Crosby | William Howard Doane

• © Words: Public Domain
• Music: Public Domain

For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com

CCLI License # 11176923

Graves Into Gardens

Verse 1

I searched the world but it couldn't fill me
Man's empty praise and treasures that fade
Are never enough
Then You came along and put me back together
And every desire is now satisfied here in Your love

Chorus

Oh there's nothing better than You
There's nothing better than You
Lord there's nothing
Nothing is better than You

Verse 2

I'm not afraid to show You my weakness
My failures and flaws
Lord You've seen them all
And You still call me friend
'Cause the God of the mountain
Is the God of the valley
And there's not a place
Your mercy and grace won't find me again

Bridge

You turn mourning to dancing
You give beauty for ashes
You turn shame into glory
You're the only one who can

Bridge

You turn graves into gardens
You turn bones into armies
You turn seas into highways
You're the only one who can

CCLI Song # 7138219

Brandon Lake | Chris Brown | Steven Furtick | Tiffany Hudson

• © 2019 Brandon Lake Music (Admin. by Bethel Music Publishing)
• Music by Elevation Worship Publishing (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)
• Maverick City Publishing Worldwide (Admin. by Heritage Worship Publishing)
• Bethel Music Publishing

For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com

CCLI License # 11176923

Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing (Nettleton)

Verse 1

Come Thou fount of ev'ry blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it
Mount of Thy redeeming love

Verse 2

Here I raise mine Ebenezer
Hither by Thy help I'm come
And I hope by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wand'ring from the fold of God
He to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood

Verse 3

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be
Let Thy grace Lord like a fetter
Bind my wand'ring heart to Thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart Lord take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above

CCLI Song # 108389

John Wyeth | Robert Robinson

• © Words: Public Domain
• Music: Public Domain

For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com

CCLI License # 11176923

August 22, 2021. - A Time of Introspection and Prayer

Genesis has reminded us of how, in God's plan, we would spend time with Him, perhaps walking alongside Him inside the Garden. Genesis 3:8 says, “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, (but) the man and his wife hid themselves ... among the trees of the garden.”

• Take some time and stroll to one of the benches or spots to sit in our Roosevelt Community. Try to imagine you are strolling along with The Father. You can pair up with someone or find a private spot alone. Look around and notice the people; Each one is someone made in the image of our Creator.

“So God created Human in his own image, in the image of God created he him"; The Hebrew phrase for “image of God” is tzelem elohim. Every person you come across or see today is just that: Made in the Image of the God who created him.

Our world is heaving in all sorts of pain now. The reports of Afghani people falling from the sides of aircraft as they clung on as the cargo planes leaving the Kabul Airport is disturbing. Parents looking for their children after the earthquake in Haiti this last week pains our hearts. Flash flooding happened in our own state that overtook families. A gas pipeline that explodes kills a father and daughter. And then we see how Covid is cutting lives short and overwhelming the healthcare workers. People are looking for a chance to argue with someone.

One can only imagine that pain it brings our Heavenly Father as He sees Man's choices leading us down this road to these consequences. This present picture is a sad contrast to the original path that God created for us. If only Adam had admitted his sin and asked for forgiveness!

But he didn't.
Perhaps we should learn from Adam's omission.

• Take ten minutes, breathing slowly and asking God for His forgiveness of your own sin. Think back over this last week, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, to discover the sin you need to own up to. Remind yourself of the words we discussed last week from Psalm 51, this time reading from the Amplified Bible translation.

A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;

According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and guilt

And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them;

My sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned

And done that which is evil in Your sight,

So that You are justified when You speak [Your sentence]

And faultless in Your judgment.
5 I was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness;

In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful].
6 Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,

And in the hidden part [of my heart] You will make me know wisdom.
7 Purify me with [a]hyssop, and I will be clean;

Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness and be satisfied;

Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins

And blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a right and steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence

And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation

And sustain me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,

And sinners shall be converted and return to You.
14 Rescue me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;

Then my tongue will sing joyfully of Your righteousness and Your justice.
15 O Lord, open my lips,

That my mouth may declare Your praise.
16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it;

You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17 My [only] sacrifice [acceptable] to God is a broken spirit;

A broken and contrite heart [broken with sorrow for sin, thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.
18 By Your favor do good to Zion;

May You rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then will You delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,

In burnt offering and whole burnt offering;

Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.
Footnotes [a] Psalm 51:7 Evidently, hyssop was a bristly plant which was useful as a kind of brush.

Some of you also have personal agony or anxiety in your lives. You have plans that have yet to come to fruition. There are goals in your life that might not be realized. Again, take a moment and breathe before the Lord. Imagine you have the full attention of our Heavenly Father that knows the very hairs on our head and has numbered each one; He knows us more intimately that we even know ourselves.

• Then read; praying as you read these words.

Look to these words written by The Psalmist.

Psalm 121 translation from the Complete Jewish Bible

1 If I raise my eyes to the hills,
 from where will my help come? 2 My help comes from *Adonai,
 the maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip —
 your guardian is not asleep.

4 No, the guardian of Isra’el

never slumbers or sleeps.
5 Adonai is your guardian; at your right hand
 Adonai provides you with shade —
6 the sun can’t strike you during the day

or even the moon at night.
7 Adonai will guard you against all harm;

he will guard your life.
8 Adonai will guard your coming and going
 from now on and forever.

*What is the meaning of the name Adonai?
Adonai ( אֲדֹנָי, lit. "My Lords") is the plural form of adon ("Lord") along with the first-person singular pronoun enclitic. As with Elohim, Adonai's grammatical form is usually explained as a plural of majesty. In the Hebrew Bible, it is nearly always used to refer to God. Imagine our Lord as One who is our Master and Protector.

God the Refuge of His People. Psalm 46 Amplified Bible translation
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah, set to soprano voices. A Song.

God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable],

A very present and well-proved help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change

And though the mountains be shaken and slip into the heart of the seas,
3 Though its waters roar and foam,

Though the mountains tremble at its roaring. Selah - Pause and think ....
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her [His city], she will not be moved;

God will help her when the morning dawns.
6 The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered and were moved;

He raised His voice, the earth melted.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our stronghold [our refuge, our high tower]. Selah - Pause and think ....
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,

Who has brought desolations and wonders on the earth.
9 He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;

He breaks the bow into pieces and snaps the spear in two;

He burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our stronghold [our refuge, our high tower]. Selah - Pause and think ....

To Be Forgiven

 

Genesis 3:23 - The Voice

23 So the Eternal God banished Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden and exiled humanity from paradise, sentencing humans to laborious lives working the very ground man came from.

______________________________

What are some of the Life Lessons you have become aware of during our study of Genesis thus far?

______________________________

Psalm 51:1-17 - The Voice

(c) The Bible Project

1 Look on me with a heart of mercy, O God,
    according to Your generous love.
According to Your great compassion,
    wipe out every consequence of my shameful crimes.

2 Thoroughly wash me, inside and out, of all my crooked deeds.
    Cleanse me from my sins.

3 For I am fully aware of all I have done wrong,
    and my guilt is there, staring me in the face.

4 It was against You, only You, that I sinned,
    for I have done what You say is wrong, right before Your eyes.
So when You speak, You are in the right.
    When You judge, Your judgments are pure and true.[a]

5 For I was guilty from the day I was born,
    a sinner from the time my mother became pregnant with me.

6 But still, You long to enthrone truth throughout my being;
    in unseen places deep within me, You show me wisdom.

7 Cleanse me of my wickedness with hyssop, and I will be clean.
    If You wash me, I will be whiter than snow.

8 Help me hear joy and happiness as my accompaniment,
    so my bones, which You have broken, will dance in delight instead.

9 Cover Your face so You will not see my sins,
    and erase my guilt from the record.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God;
    restore within me a sense of being brand new.

11 Do not throw me far away from Your presence,
    and do not remove Your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Give back to me the deep delight of being saved by You;
    let Your willing Spirit sustain me.

13 If You do, I promise to teach rebels Your ways
    and help sinners find their way back to You.

14 Free me from the guilt of murder, of shedding a man’s blood,
    O God who saves me.
    Now my tongue, which was used to destroy, will be used to sing with deep delight of how right and just You are.

15 O Lord, pry open my lips
    that this mouth will sing joyfully of Your greatness.

16 I would surrender my dearest possessions or destroy all that I prize to prove my regret,
    but You don’t take pleasure in sacrifices or burnt offerings.

17 What sacrifice I can offer You is my broken spirit
    because a broken spirit, O God,
    a heart that honestly regrets the past,
You won’t detest.

________________________________________.  

In this poem we hear King David’s confession after committing the heinous crimes of adultery and murder against his own people. He uses powerful imagery to describe how distorted his character has become––stained, broken, guilty––but he also paints a contrasting portrait of God’s generous mercy towards his failed human creatures. God is willing to clean and wash, to repair and recreate, to offer forgiveness. Notice that David doesn’t look for hope in his own power and ability to reform himself. Rather, he looks to God’s compassion and power to create a new humanity, one that lives by God’s will and love.

_________________________________

• Why is it a given that we are slaves to SIN?

• How can we first, identify our own sin and ultimately, cleanse ourselves from it?

• Where is the significance in Christ's model prayer to "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others that trespass against us?"

• Ultimately, how do YOU connect your own heart to the promptings of the Holy Spirit to identify sin and move beyond it?

• What will YOU do this week to grow in your spiritual maturity?
  

Lesson Two, Part B

 

Read Genesis 3:1–23 - The Voice

3 Of all the wild creatures the Eternal God had created, the serpent was the craftiest.
Serpent (to the woman): Is it true that God has forbidden you to eat fruits from the trees of the garden?
Eve: 2 No, serpent. God said we are free to eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 We are granted access to any variety and all amounts of fruit with one exception: the fruit from the tree found in the center of the garden. God instructed us not to eat or touch the fruit of that tree or we would die.
Serpent: 4 Die? No, you’ll not die. God is playing games with you. 5 The truth is that God knows the day you eat the fruit from that tree you will awaken something powerful in you and become like Him: possessing knowledge of both good and evil.
6 The woman approached the tree, eyed its fruit, and coveted its mouth-watering, wisdom-granting beauty. She plucked a fruit from the tree and ate. She then offered the fruit to her husband who was close by, and he ate as well. 7 Suddenly their eyes were opened to a reality previously unknown. For the first time, they sensed their vulnerability and rushed to hide their naked bodies, stitching fig leaves into crude loincloths. 8 Then they heard the sound of the Eternal God walking in the cool misting shadows of the garden. The man and his wife took cover among the trees and hid from the Eternal God.
The story of humanity’s sin begins with a tree and ends on a tree: first, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; and finally, the cross on which Jesus dies. The first tree offers fruit that leads to death, but the second offers a death that leads to eternal life.
God (calling to Adam): 9 Where are you?

Adam: 10 When I heard the sound of You coming in the garden, I was afraid because I am naked. So I hid from You.
God: 11 Who told you that you are naked? Have you eaten from the tree in the center of the garden, the very one I commanded you not to eat from?

Adam (pointing at the woman): 12 It was she! The woman You gave me as a companion put the fruit in my hands, and I ate it.
Since Adam and Eve, people have been blaming others for their mistakes. Adam has the audacity to blame God for his.

God (to the woman): 13 What have you done?
Eve: It was the serpent! He tricked me, and I ate.
14 God (to the serpent): What you have done carries great consequences.

Now you are cursed more than cattle or wild beasts. You will writhe on your belly forever, consuming the dust out of which man was made. 15 I will make you and your brood enemies of the woman and all her children; The woman’s child will stomp your head, and you will strike his heel.
16 (to the woman) As a consequence of your actions, I will increase your suffering—the pain of childbirth And the sorrow of bringing forth the next generation.  You will desire your husband; but rather than a companion, He will be the dominant partner.

17 (to the man) Because you followed your wife’s advice instead of My command and ate of the tree from which I had forbidden you to eat, cursed is the ground. For the rest of your life,

You will fight for every crumb of food
from the crusty clump of clay I made you from.

18 As you labor, the ground will produce thorns and thistles, and you will eat the plants of the field.

19 Your brow will sweat for your mouth to taste even a morsel of bread until the day you returnTo the very ground I made you from. From dust you have come, And to dust you shall return.

20 The man named his wife Eve because she was destined to become the mother of all living. 21 The Eternal God pieced together the skins of animals and made clothes for Adam and Eve to wear.
In Hebrew “Eve” sounds like the word meaning “life-giver.”
God: 22 Look, the human has become like one of Us, possessing the knowledge of good and evil. If We don’t do something, he will reach out his hand and take some of the fruit from the tree of life, eat it, and live forever.

23 So the Eternal God banished Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden and exiled humanity from paradise, sentencing humans to laborious lives working the very ground man came from.

________________________________________

INSPIRATION 

What God gave Adam and Eve, he entrusted to you and me. A soul. “The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). You, a bipedal ape? Chemical fluke? Atomic surprise? By no means. You bear the very breath of God. He exhaled himself into you, making you a “living being” (verse 7). . . . Your soul distinguishes you from zoo dwellers. God gifted the camel with a hump and the giraffe with a flagpole neck, but he reserved his breath, or a soul, for you. You bear his stamp. You do things God does. Think. question. Reflect. You blueprint buildings, chart sea crossings, and swallow throat lumps when your kids say their alphabet. You, like Adam, have a soul. And, like Adam, you’ve used your soul to disobey God. God’s command to the charter couple includes the Bible’s first reference to death. “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (verse 17). . . . Reread God’s warning: “When you eat of it you will surely die.” Sin resulted in Adam’s and Eve’s immediate deaths. But death of what? Their bodies? No, they continued to breathe. Brain waves flowed. Eyelids blinked. Their bodies functioned, but their hearts hardened. They stopped trusting God. Their friendship with their maker died. . . . Prior to this act, they followed God like sheep follow their shepherd. He spoke; they listened. He gave assignments; they fulfilled them. They were naked but unashamed, transparent and unafraid. Yet as one drop of ink clouds a glass of water, the stubborn deed darkened their souls. Everything changed. God’s presence stirred panic, not peace. Adam ran like a kid caught raiding the pantry. “I was afraid” (3:10). Intimacy with God ceased; separation from God began. We’ll always wonder why Adam didn’t ask for forgiveness. But he didn’t, and the guilty pair was “banished . . . from the garden of Eden” (verse 23). 

We’ve loitered outside the gates ever since. 

(From 3:16: The Numbers of Hope by Max Lucado.) 

REACTION 

7. Why do you think God planted a tree in the Garden of Edan . . . and then forbade Adam and Eve to eat from it? Why was it important for God to give them this choice? 

[Your Response Here] 

8. What immediate “death” occurred to Adam and Eve as a result of their disobedience? 

[Your Response Here] 

9. Even though people know the consequences of sin, why do they still choose to disobey God? 

[Your Response Here] 

10. Why do you think Satan’s words were so tempting to Adam and Eve? 

[Your Response Here] 

11. In what ways has Adam and Eve’s sin affected all humanity? 

[Your Response Here] 

12. What is God’s plan to defeat Satan and sin? 

[Your Response Here] 

LIFE LESSONS 

When God created humans in his own image, he also gave them the freedom to choose or reject him. Our ancestors, Adam and Eve, chose to disobey God . . . and as a result, they experienced the devastating consequences that sin brings. They fled from God, started to blame and mistrust one another, and ultimately lost their privileged and purposeful reason for being. The sin of the first Adam destroyed our unity with God. But the sacrifice of the second Adam, Jesus Christ, restored our relationship with our heavenly Father. At the cross, Jesus defeated Satan, the serpent, and began restoring all that sin had destroyed in creation. Sin is a dangerous and deplorable reality . . . but we can rest assured that salvation gets the last word.

DEVOTION 

Father, all too often we flirt with temptation and rationalize our actions . . . only to find ourselves far from you. Help us to learn from the consequences of our sin and bring us back into a right relationship with you. Thank you for gift of grace and forgiveness. 

JOURNALING 

What have you learned from the consequences of your past sins? [Your Response Here]

Lucado, Max. Life Lessons from Genesis (pp. 20-23). HarperChristian Resources.

Order your copy of Max Lucado's Life Lessons from Genesis. $10.99 paperback or $5.99 Kindle edition