The Fire and the Attributes of God

This has been an amazing week. Who would have imagined last Sunday that in the coming week over half a million people would be evacuated from their homes as hundreds of thousands of acres burned and over a thousand homes were destroyed? Many from our church were evacuated. Almost all of us were ready to flee the fires with our cars packed full of photo albums and important papers. What would you take? As you are aware, our family was deeply touched by the events when two of our friends perished in the flames.

We are in the midst of a series on the attributes of God, so I have decided to merge our study with the events of this week as we consider how God’s attributes are displayed in the firestorm of 2007. Some people get angry with God when disaster strikes. Instead, we should be put in our place as feeble, finite sinful creatures and should thank God for his kindness and patience with us and our community. Some deny that God has anything to do with the fires, instead attributing everything to ‘mother nature’ or ‘chance.’ Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases (Ps. 115:3). He was not caught by surprise when the fires struck. Actually He was working out His plan in our community and in the lives of many individuals and families. Finally, fire is a reminder and a warning of the coming judgment, while pointing us to Christ who withstood the fires of judgment for us!

The Attributes of God Part 1

This Sunday we are continuing our study of God as we embark upon a consideration of the attributes of God, which will last at least a few weeks. God’s attributes are what makes God, God. Though God is infinitely above us, He has chosen to reveal much about Himself to us both in creation and in the Bible.

This week we will focus upon:

1. God is Spirit.
2. God is self-existent and self-sufficient.
3. God is immutable (He never changes).
4. God is eternal.

The Trinity

Why study the Trinity? There is no more fundamental doctrine than the doctrine of the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity is of great practical importance because nothing is more important than to know, love, and worship God as He truly is. The gospel can only be properly understood in light of this doctrine.

Jesus As A Model For Personal Evangelism

In this sermon Jim Newheiser examines what John’s account of Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well can teach us about personal evangelism.

Consecrated to God

This week I am diverting from our studies in 2 Samuel and will be expounding Romans 12:1-2.

I plan, on certain Sundays over the next few months, to preach through Romans 12 with a special emphasis on our love and devotion for one another in the body of Christ.

Because our love for one another springs from our devotion to the Lord, Paul starts Romans 12 by exhorting us to be living sacrifices who are not to be conformed to the world.

Of course the foundation of our devotion to the Lord is the sovereign mercy which He has shown us in Christ — which was the subject of the first 11 chapters of Romans and forms the basis of Paul’s exhortation in Romans 12:1.

Portrait of a Godless Culture: An Appeal to Repent of Sinful Boasting

We will be doing a fairly rapid overview of the first nine chapters and then drawing some application from near the end of chapter nine, where Jeremiah writes, “Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises loving kindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.” (9:23-24).

Jeremiah’s theme leading to these texts is that of judgment: A judgment precipitated by the sinful lifestyle and arrogant living of the kingdom of Judah. The modern day parallels to our own day are truly amazing: Truly there is “nothing new under the sun.”