Sermon notes

Sermon notes

I've been tagged a few times by the 20-random-facts thing going around, but work is really busy today and I won't have time to flesh out that post. In the meantime, a few people expressed interest in the sermon I preached on Sunday. Thanks to our media deacon William, the mp3 is now available for download.

If you're interested in the Powerpoint presentation that went along with it, please shoot me an email or drop a comment here. The following is the sermon outline that I worked off of - if you follow along on the Powerpoint, just hit "next" each time you hit a bolded word.

Any feedback and suggestions for improvement are welcomed!

EDIT ADD: Due to technical difficulties, the mp3 is silent until about the 17:40 mark, so half of the sermon is still there. It starts somewhere around Roman numeral V in the notes.

EDIT ADD #2: That's what my speaking voice sounds like?

“The Magnificence and Mystery of Creation”

I. Scripture reading – 2 Cor 5:17, Gen 1:31

II. Intro

a. “Worship Sunday” and highlighting different ministries throughout the year – still have Media, and then “Celebration” in Nov. and Dec.

b. Deacon last 3 years – God has taught me much not just about music, and worship within the church setting, but what it means that when Christ comes into your life, the entirety of your life becomes a living sacrifice of worship

c. Read Scripture with new eyes, read and listened to insights from men and women much wiser than myself, and would like to share a couple of insights with you all that has helped make my life of trying to follow Christ much more joyful and rewarding

d. Ultimate goal is to inspire people to look into God’s Word for themselves

e. Opening prayer

III. Overview

a. Thematic message as opposed to inductive – general principles that I’ve found show up throughout Scripture

b. Magnificence of Creation:

i. Whirlwind tour through Gen 1 to illustrate the nature of God as a creator, worker, and artist

ii. Examination of people as creators, workers, and artists made in the image of God

c. Mystery of Creation

i. Why is it that Scripture says that when someone places faith in Christ, he is a new creation – but I don’t feel all that new?

IV. God as creator, worker, and artist

a. Gen. 1 – NIV – page 1 of your Bible – use your imagination to be there with the Triune God at the beginning of creation

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Verse 3 3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night."

6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky."

9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Verse 20 20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Verse 24 24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

b. Think back to the last work or school or home project that you completed and that you were proud of. When you hit the final “Save”, or put the final coat of lacquer, or added the final garnish – you undoubtedly felt good about what you made.

c. God saw that his creation “was good”. Various translations of “good” – suitable, pleasant, fitting, admirable – God approved all of His creation as being suitable and fitting for the purpose of bringing him maximum glory and fame and honor

d. Attributes of God:

i. Creative – wide variety of vegetation, animals, and each is a supersystem of complex systems for life

1. color green in nature – aesthetically pleasing, indicative of photosynthesis

ii. Worker – chapter 2 description of shaping of man, set amount of work done each “day”

iii. Artist – creates things that are beautiful

1. sculptor – Half Dome

2. painter – sunset

3. composer – thunderstorm

e. Application – take time to appreciate God’s magnificent art – look at your hand – complex structure of skin, muscle, bone, cartilage – when you want to grip something, some difficult-to-understand process of electrical signals go from your brain through your nervous system to have you close your hand – isn’t that cool? Go on hikes, go on walks, raise up your eyes to the hills occasionally while you drive. Make time for parks.

i. Observation – many people walk with their eyes on the ground

ii. “There’s so much beauty around us, and just two eyes to see” – Rich Mullins

iii. Live in a constant state of awe – when you see beauty, praise God for it – personal story – love clouds, add texture to the sky. Last week driving home at sunset, the sky was a brilliant purple, reflected off the clouds and onto the mountains – said “wow” and breathed a short prayer saying “Nice job” to God and thanking him for letting me see that

V. People as creators, workers, artists

Verse 26a 26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness. Verse 27 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Verse 2:15 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

a. B/c we are made in the image of God, we have little glimpses of His character in our lives. We have an element of eternity in the soul, we have the heart to discern good and evil, and the mind to create something out of nothing, and to create something beautiful out of nothing – we too are creators, workers, and artists, as God is

b. Yet, we often don’t treasure or make the best use of our ability to create

i. Work = “daily grind” – goal of life is to work just enough to retire and relax

ii. Similar to early Greek/Roman view of work – out of necessity, more for poor/slaves

iii. As with all things, Christ changes the common view - Christian worldview changes view of work to a high calling b/c God is pleased and honored through work – 1 Cor 10:31, 31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

c. Christian view of art has changed through the centuries, to the point where Christians seem to value creativity less today then they used to

i. In the church up till last 500 years, very few people could read – thus, the church commissioned painters, glassworkers, sculptors, musicians, and other artists to create images and songs that could tell the Bible stories

1. see this all over the place in Europe – early church was like a museum (Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, Last Supper by Da Vinci)

ii. Reformation, focus was placed back onto doctrine, focus on words. Around the same time, Gutenberg invented the printing press to get the book of the Bible into many hands, which is good thing

1. however, this focus on words has seemingly left out the approximately 40% of the population who learn and express themselves by means other than words – know that many in congregation express themselves through visual design, through photography, music, painting, crafts, dance

2. as a church, we have a creative heritage and a divine inspirer for creation – the beauty in art and the truth in words can complement each other to point people to Christ - maybe we can listen closely to God’s inspiring spirit and begin creating again

d. Application: What has God put you on Earth to do? Your work, your creation, honors him. Don’t settle for less than your best, but strive to create beauty

i. Beauty is made complete when it inspires awe and glory for God the maker

ii. In your daily life, strive to make things beautiful – do your homework, write your computer program, plan your teaching curriculum, hone your medical skills, lead your family, as if to present your work to God

VI. Mystery of Creation – 2 Cor 5:17 - 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

a. Do you feel like a new creation? There are more days than I’d like to admit where I feel inexplicably old

i. I believe in my heart that I am “in Christ” – literally “ingrafted into Christ” – so why? Difficult question to ask myself as days, months, years have gone by of following Christ – a great mystery

b. Way I’ve come to understand this mystery is – you, me, even the world, we are all “under construction”

i. God, the master creator, worker, and artist, is still at work crafting his masterpieces, living and active in the world

ii. 1 Cor 6:19 - Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? Metaphor

iii. Metaphor – unfinished cathedral

1. Spain trip – Barcelona, Sagrada Familia – designed by innovative architect Gaudi about 100 years ago, and still in progress

2. some parts are beautiful and complete, telling the story of Christ in you

3. some is just raw materials, not built yet

4. some is being refined

5. sometimes you have people crawling all over you

6. ultimately, God will finish his work

VII. Conclusion

a. God is a creator, worker, and artist and is magnified by His creation

b. We are creators, workers, and artists made in his image, and the work we do to the best of our ability honors Him – in addition, we can express creativity through the ways God gifts us, through drawing, painting, sculpting, crafting, music, dance, etc.

c. We are masterpieces of beauty ourselves that God is continuing to refine, because beauty finds its completeness in magnifying the glory of the Maker

i. God takes pleasure in the process and the end product, but we need to ask God to do that work in our lives, renovating us, tearing out the old stuff and building up the new beautiful temple that will honor Him – our asking God to do this is one of the most important acts of worship we can do

ii. Ask worship team to come up, Song of Response – “Lord, I Give You My Heart” – Focus on lyrics: This is my desire, to honor You / Lord, have Your way in me