I enjoy learning from you and others on all the threads, but believe I will really learn (and enjoy) a lot here, too. Thanks.
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I’m hoping that people who find something they learned from worship of any kind–Sunday or Wednesday, devotions, etc–would feel comfortable posting it here. Maybe @Dale 's Spurgeon quotes would go well here, too.
Today at Sunday School, we studied James 4.
Verse 13 talks about how we can’t always rely on our plans. A banker in our SS remarked that having a Godly perspective sometimes lets us avoid overstressing if something business-wise doesn’t go right. We discussed how it’s ok to be careful about plans–especially to protect others–but it helps to have a perspective.
A summary of James comes in verse 17–
“17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”
We discussed that if we don’t know what’s right, God knows that, too.
At our house, we had one of those family days where the kids were just pretty tired, so we thought we’d practice grace, and did home church (I think we’ve all had those days!). I came back so we could do it together-- using Bible Project on “Justice,” “Anointing,” and sang “Gospel Song,” letting the kids summarize what we learned. My 9 year old daughter pointed out how the anointing of human representatives as God’s workers started in Eden and mirrors through Christ today.
Maybe someone has insights or good advice, or recollections, from James or home churching, especially with kids, that they would enjoy sharing.
Thanks.
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What a great idea for a post!
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James is an important book because he gives some balance to Paul’s ideas. James argues that faith without works is dead. Did you know that Martin Luther distrusted this book very much? He referred to it as an “epistle of straw.” When he translated the NT into German, He translated James but didn’t include it in the table of contents. We are lucky it stayed in the canon!
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I did not know that. Thank you! We are indeed lucky! Thanks for teaching.
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My standard refrain: “That’s luck in the strict theological sense of the word?” 
I sometimes think that Martin Luther could have used a dimmer switch LOL.
Now, what did I learn? We’ve been in a year-long course in systematic theology and we’re covering creation in three classes.
When Christians talk about “Creation” they are not trying to explain how everything came into existence, but why. Even though Genesis is at the beginning of our bibles it was written much later than most other books of the Old Testament and with the same aim: explaining who God is and who we are – and what kind of relation God wants to have with us. Believing in God as creator is yet another way of proclaiming the extent of his love for humanity.
Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 were written at different times and places-- Genesis 1 during the exile (587-538 BCE) and Genesis 2 during the reign of David or Solomon (10th century BCE)
Genesis 1 entails the experience of a place where the waters abound and the need to tame their force, that is Mesopotamia.
Genesis 2 makes the initial chaos coincide with the lack of water, which presupposes an arid region.
Nowhere in the Bible does anybody attempt to reconcile the two accounts.
. There are other passages in Scripture which refer to God’s creative activity in ways that differ from the versions in the book of Genesis – for example we have Proverbs 8:22-31, in which God creates thorough a personified “Wisdom”
The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works,
before his deeds of old;
I was formed long ages ago,
at the very beginning, when the world came to be.
Then there were no watery depths, I was given birth,
when there were no springs overflowing with water;
before the mountains were settled in place,
before the hills, I was given birth,
before he made the world or its fields
or any of the dust of the earth.
I was there when he set the heavens in place,
when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,
when he established the clouds above
and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,
when he gave the sea its boundary
so the waters would not overstep his command,
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.
Then I was constantly at his side.
I was filled with delight day after day,
rejoicing always in his presence,
rejoicing in his whole world
and delighting in mankind
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Thanks for this, and for the quote. There is a lot of meat there.
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Your turn Randy. What did you learn in church this week?
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We are using material from The Gospel Coalition for our Sunday School church wide, and this week were in 1 Samuel. In chapter 11 verse 12 we see that after Saul affirmed his kingship with a military victory, his supporters came around and said something like,”Who was speaking against Saul being king? Let’s kill them!” Wow, just like today, once in power, people seek to use it for their selfish vindictive purposes. Saul, to his favor, stopped the crowd and put an end to such talk.
So, I suppose I learned that people have not changed that much.
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Nope.
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I learned quite a bit…thank you! I will try to get back in a few days, though, if that is ok …am vacationing in a state park on Lake Michigan with extended family…
Beautiful. I appreciate the others’ input and accounts
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Beautiful! Relax and enjoy your vacation.
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Thanks! I had a great vacation. My mom, brother, sisters, and their spouses are really encouraging Christ-followers, and I loved talking with them about books and things they had been doing.
Last week was quite an interesting Sunday. We worked on James 5: 1-11, which, as our leader said, seems to convey how to make faith practical.
The emphasis that we should put God ahead of riches reminded one of our group of Jesus’ command to the rich man to give everything up. One questioned if God really meant that, as we have to live on something. Someone hazarded if Jesus knew that was specifically what would be best for him. I’m reminded of @DOL 's excellent testimony book, “Struggling with God and Origins,” in the theme that we have to put God prior to any other aims.
Our sermon was on Genesis 6. Our pastor, who is very definitely YEC, made some interesting points
–He said we don’t know what the Nephilim were. He doubts that the old idea of “angels who had sex with women” was right
–He noted that the NT authors believed in the Flood, and that there are Flood stories around the world that seemed to him to corroborate the story. I have a pretty good relationship with him, but did not email him to discuss that. I honor him for the next point–that these details aren’t the most important point. He thinks that the actual happening, how all kinds of animals got on, etc (he wished there were more exits on a big boat than one!) didn’t matter–that the theme of this passage was “God is God.”
My 12 and 15 year old boys keep me on my toes. We have a deal that they can watch a video of their choice on You Tube (they watch clean gaming videos) if they write down 3 points from each sermon or Bible passage. Both wrote down more than 3–about 6 each. They had good questions, as both know that I think that the Flood is not factual–that true history starts about Genesis 12, as @DOL wrote. We had a good discussion after. I think the fact that Dr Witter pointed out that there’s a theme, and that the details don’t matter much, helped. For example, we have in the past discussed how one of themes of the Flood is that God really cares about people’s actions–in contrast to Marduk and the other Sumerian gods, who, I think, were annoyed at noise. We discussed Gilgamesh and Atrahasis.
Some other things that I learned–how much church supports the lonely .I saw many single and widowed folks–some younger, some older; some mentally challenged–who really brightened up and needed support. They seemed to get it. I’m doubtless a thorn in the side of my pastor sometimes, but he genuinely seems to like me and listen. They also really care about my kids–they’ve babysat and taught them in Sunday School, Awana and youth group since they were born.
If anyone would like to listen to one of the sermons they’re here.
(Edited to reflect Dr Lamoureux points out literal history began about Gen 12, not 13) @DOL
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A church community would have to turn a dark corner indeed if they ran you off, Randy!
You put me to shame in that I’m having trouble recalling what some of our recent sermons have been about - not because they weren’t worthy, I’m sure - but due to my not keeping notes like you and your family. I have vague recollections that they were good ones (well - okay, last Sunday was my first Sunday back in my home church after several weeks of being away). But for me it is more about trusting and knowing the speaker (which I do), that causes me to receive the message as being from Christ.
And to acknowledge the community nature of church - this week prior to this Sunday morning, I’ve already spent time with good believing friends in various contexts, and am continuing to learn in our interactions about the importance of relationship as having primacy over group identity. There is group identity in Christ - yes - but that is an idenity that is always inviting more in. No - I mean relationships (all the good ones I’m currently enjoying) are strong enough that any other group identities or tribalisms we may indulge in (and I’m sure many of us have supported contrary ones) all seem to be kept in their place. I.e. - those lesser gods - those principalities and powers are kept subjugated to the infinitely higher importance of the person standing before us, and to be at the beck and call of Christ.
Relationships that I have (or had) in which partisan tribalism is on the throne, and where Christ has been put in chains to be summoned or dismissed, pressed into the service of the partisan god - those relationships have tended to grow cold. That is what I’ve been learning from the body of believers around me these days. Trees are known by their fruit.
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Thanks. I think that’s a very good point.
Re the note taking–I’ve become better since keeping my kids to the task–I have to admit that sometimes I’m like the man who reported to his wife, “Pastor talked about sexual sin in church today.” --“What did he say, Honey?” —“He was against it.”
We still use Hangman, Tic Tac Toe, and the Dot Game (Cornrows) after the first notes are taken. Sometimes, honestly, the kids and I have more questions than answers–but that’s a good start for me, still.
Today we finished James 5 --about involving God in rejoicing, prayer for healing, etc. We’re decidedly not Pentecostal, so we struggled a bit about the “and he shall be healed” after anointing with oil. After all, my dad had lung cancer, was anointed, and performed the ritual more to acknowledge God as Lord than to expect healing (he was a doc, too). In James, in context of Elijah praying for drought to incur repentance, followed by rain after repentance, it seems to fit more with the passage before–that maybe the sickness was emotional, from sinning. It’s hard to know–I’m not sure if James felt that all sin was from unrepentance or not.
In the sermon in Genesis 7, again the pastor emphasized that the theme was “God is the Judge; He can’t let evil go unpunished; and He provides a ‘but,’ as in ‘But Noah’==in a merciful escape.”
I felt a bit sick when he quoted Henry Morris as saying that he was convinced that the principal objection to the Flood was not scientific, but emotional–that we don’t want to accept judgment or mercy.
He seems willing to listen, so I’ll talk to him about that.
My kids wrote 3 notes --one was asking what happened to Noah’s grandchildren. I am not sure, either–I know that in Peter, there were only 8 saved–but I wonder if he was referring to adults, only.
I’ll have to ask my pastor about that position, too.
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In our Sunday School, we continued our study of Samuel,and the verse that stuck out to me was 1 Samuel 15:22: “But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”
It reminded me of book by a Jewish rabbi discussing how Christians often mischaracterize Jewish beliefs, and how sacrifice (and now such things as keeping kosher) was done as a sign of obedience preceded by repentance by Judaism rather than as often presented by Christians being done as a transactional event. In any case, the same principle Samuel stated appears to be similar to Jesus’ teaching on separating the sheep and goats at judgement : obeying the law of love is what it is about, rather than the empty ritual. Sacrifice without obedience and repentance is just a barbecue.
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That’s a very good point-- something I read in Enns (and the New View on Paul) pointed that out. Thanks!
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