Jun 24 2008
around the word
We began a new series at Mountain this week. We are traveling “Around the Word in 80 Days.” In this series we are taking a balloons-eye view of the Bible. We want people to be equipped to study scripture, and to be empowered by having a good idea of what they will find in its pages. I am excited about the series. I have a lot of faith in God’s ability to work through scripture. I think that the Bible is a remarkable book and the story it tells is the most important story in the world.
I got the honor of kicking of the series yesterday. I preached on the very beginning (of the Bible and that story.)
I love the beginning of the story. In particular I love the opening image of the story. The earth is a chaotic formless light-less mess. Before God talks, God comes in close to the mess, into the darkness and then, from up close, God speaks. That image and the truth it conveys is extremely important to my understanding of God. If you missed the sermon, I hope that you will listen. You can find it online here.
It turns out that God from the very beginning has been working amidst the chaos. This point is especially important to me because on Sunday I was thrust into a pastoral situation of great chaos. I found that my faith in the sermon I preached was greatly tested. Would God work in the chaos? I had proclaimed from the stage, based upon scripture, that God was an expert at creating light in dark places and creating new creation out of chaos. But now I was being asked to walk into the dark trusting that God was already there hovering over the chaos. (Theory and practice simply are not the same)
God was.
God is working new creation in chaos, Just as God always has.
on the walk
-Ethan
