3. What is Humanity?

May 21, 2023 • David Schrock • Psalm 8

When I watched the reruns of Star Trek as a kid, Captain James T. Kirk would talk to the computer like it was a real person and get all kind of information about the mission he was on. At that time, when Star Trek began in 1966, smartphones, artificial intelligence, not to mention personal computers were science fiction. Today, however, they are all scientific fact!

The fact of the matter is that our world is increasingly automated, computerized, and embodied by artificial intelligence. But if you are paying attention, an embodied computer is but a facsimile of a human. And if today, Siri, or ChatGPT, or Google Bard, or whatever—or is it whoever?—are your conversation partners at work, or home, or on the go, what will it be like in 6, 16 or 60 years?

If it has not been apparent that the sexual revolution and transgenderism movement have endangered the nature and nurture of humanity, then the rise of Artificial Intelligence should make it absolutely clear. In a day when children are given AI, it won’t be long before those children prefer AI to real friends. Likewise, if finding a spouse is difficult today, and the prospect of a good match is running low on the latest dating app, what would keep a man, tutored by AI, to seek a mate who was manufactured at Brides R Us? As odd as that sounds, considering where our world is going, what was science fiction yesterday, is fact today. And what is science fiction today, may not be fiction tomorrow.

Truly, with the increasing likelihood of a world populated by "non-human persons," we need to secure our understanding of humanity. Years ago, I wrote an article calling for a Sixth Sola (Solus Humanus). I would encourage you to read that article this weekend as we prepare for Sunday. Read and think about what God is doing in the world. Then pray over Psalm 8, which will be our passage this Sunday.

As we ask the question, What is Humanity?, we will see what Scripture says as we take another step to better understand the world that God has made. Pray for our time together and rejoice in the chance to gather with the body of Christ. John said that he longed to see the saints face-to-face, and so should we. We are embodied souls and bodily gathering is a gift that God gives us. On Sunday, we will begin to think about what it means to be human. And I pray, as the Lord allows, you will join us.

As a reminder, the Mapledale Community Group is in the overflow this Sunday.

For His Glory and your joy in Christ,

Pastor David

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Discussion & Response Questions for Psalm 8

What does it mean to be human? Before Sunday how would you answer?

Where have you gotten most of your views on humanity? What needs reconsideration?

What does it mean to be the Image of God? What does Psalm 8 teach us?

How does Psalm 8 point to creation? To the new creation?

Where are the places that the image of God / humanity is under threat today?

What does the incarnation teach us? What errors does the incarnation help us avoid?

How should Christians think about technology? Artificial Intelligence? Automation?

What is our hope—in this life and in the life to come?

What other questions do you have about humanity today?

More from Ontology 101: The Business of 'Is'-ness

8. What is a Church?

June 25, 2023 • David Schrock

Sermon Introduction Go, therefore, into all the earth and make disciples of all nations. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus gives what we call The Great Commission. In the closing scene of the first Gospel, Matthew records Jesus's final words to his disciples. As Matthew tells it, Jesus commands his disciples to go make more disciples. And when these disciples are made, by preaching the gospel of the kingdom to the whole world (Matt. 24:14), these converts to Christ are to be baptized and taught all that Christ commanded. Significantly, however, Jesus does not simply give a command “to make disciples"; he gives a command based upon the newfound authority he has received from the Father. This is why the Great Commission begins with the word “therefore.” Indeed, only after his perfect obedience on the cross, can the resurrected God-man send his disciples into the world with the message of the gospel; only after he has received authority over all nations can the mission go from Jerusalem to Juneau, AK. And importantly, this authority is royal authority which begins to identify the nature of the church as a royal assembly of God’s New Covenant people. Indeed, for all that The Great Commission does in telling the church what to do, it also tells us what the church is. And this Sunday, that is the last question to answer in our series on ontology, what we have called "The Business of Is-ness." Over the last 8 weeks, we have attempted to discern what God says about various aspects of creation (e.g. humanity, the human body, men and women, marriage, etc.), but this Sunday, we respond to all these aspects of creation with the message of the new creation and the people formed by Christ’s resurrection—namely, the church of Jesus Christ. Indeed, to all the problems we have addressed over this series, to all the intractable complications that we have highlighted, the answer to those problems is not simply trying to go back in time and make the world a better place. Rather, our hope goes in the other direction, where the new creation brought by Christ is the solution to the problems of this creation. Even as we must know something of the way God made the world, we also need to know how God has begun to effect his new creation in the world. And thus, in our final sermon in this series, we will look at the new creation reality of the church. We will attempt to answer the question: What is the Church? And by answering this question, it should help us to see a clear path forward in a world filled with dead ends—figuratively and literally speaking. So to prepare for Sunday, re-read Matthew 28:16-20. For background, read Daniel 7:13–14; 2 Chronicles 36:23–24; and Joshua 14:6–15. Each of these Old Testament passages plays a role in understanding Matthew 28:19-20, which in turn informs our understanding of the church today. Additionally, if you are able, be sure to join us for Sunday School, where I will take some time to apply the Sunday School lesson to the sermon series and answer questions from some of the last few messages. Questions like: What does the pastor think about women voting? (Hint: Wendy and I voted on Tuesday 😀) I am deeply thankful for the feedback I have received on this sermon series. And I am grateful to God for a church that loves to press into the Word of God and applies it to all of life. Bereans make the best kind of Christians, and our church is filled with such Bereans. To God be the glory! As we approach Sunday, let us pray that God would give us a greater confidence in the work he is doing in his church today. And let us pray for God to continue manifesting his presence among us, as we gather on Sunday. As the Lord wills, I look forward to seeing you on Sunday. As a reminder, the River Ridge Community Group is in overflow this Sunday. For His Glory and your joy in Christ, Pastor David ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Discussion & Response Questions What is the Church? 1. What has been most influential in your understanding of the church? What time have you spent studying the doctrine of the church in Scripture? 2. Why should churches teach about the church? What happens when someone seeks a church without knowing what a church should be? 3. The church is one, holy, catholic (universal), apostolic: What are the strengths and weaknesses of this definition? 4. What are the key metaphors in Scripture that identify the church? What do these reveal? 5. Why is it important to see the church in royal terms? Hint: Read Matthew 24:14; Acts 8:12; Acts 28:30–31. 6. What is the relationship between the universal church and the local church? How does Matthew’s Gospel relate the two (read Matthew 16:18 and Matthew 18:15–20). 7. Is the Great Commission for individuals or the church? The universal church or local churches? What difference does this make? 8. What do we learn about the nature of the church in the Great Commission? How does a church covenant help us be the church? 9. What is the chief mission of the gathered church? What are Christians called to / free to do when they enter the world? 10. How does a proper understanding of the church help us address all the other issues we have seen in this sermon series? 11. What is most encouraging or challenging about being the church? What can you do to reinforce the nature of your local church? In reverse, what are you doing to “de-nature” the local church?

7. What is Manhood and What is Womanhood?

June 18, 2023 • David Schrock • Numbers 30, Proverbs 31

What is a woman? Answering this question is not difficult, unless you live in America, where over the last decade common sense has become all too uncommon. Except for those who hold fast to the realities of biology and the Bible, the simple question, “What is a woman?” has https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3a%2f%2fobc.us14.list-manage.com%2ftrack%2fclick%3fu%3ddd23918991ea6f542a8065bed%26id%3da8099fa282%26e%3df5b57025e0&data=05%7c01%7c%7ce87412df703a4c548e0e08db6eaa80a0%7c84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7c1%7c0%7c638225450811219338%7cunknown%7ctwfpbgzsb3d8eyjwijoimc4wljawmdailcjqijoiv2lumziilcjbtii6ik1hawwilcjxvci6mn0%3d%7c3000%7c%7c%7c&sdata=uehsa%2fzwdwdt30m%2bnxluphuieavsj31lysbmqjnbrby%3d&reserved=0, https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3a%2f%2fobc.us14.list-manage.com%2ftrack%2fclick%3fu%3ddd23918991ea6f542a8065bed%26id%3d4c0e863c1e%26e%3df5b57025e0&data=05%7c01%7c%7ce87412df703a4c548e0e08db6eaa80a0%7c84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7c1%7c0%7c638225450811219338%7cunknown%7ctwfpbgzsb3d8eyjwijoimc4wljawmdailcjqijoiv2lumziilcjbtii6ik1hawwilcjxvci6mn0%3d%7c3000%7c%7c%7c&sdata=rjbi%2bpw0sxldqi7tqdd3wyz7ompuumfqwuv%2bjpvdn8w%3d&reserved=0, and countless others who were interviewed by Matt Walsh in his recent documentary, https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3a%2f%2fobc.us14.list-manage.com%2ftrack%2fclick%3fu%3ddd23918991ea6f542a8065bed%26id%3d18ec1a3e53%26e%3df5b57025e0&data=05%7c01%7c%7ce87412df703a4c548e0e08db6eaa80a0%7c84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7c1%7c0%7c638225450811219338%7cunknown%7ctwfpbgzsb3d8eyjwijoimc4wljawmdailcjqijoiv2lumziilcjbtii6ik1hawwilcjxvci6mn0%3d%7c3000%7c%7c%7c&sdata=tuvivh85brjfbh1ipdl3ouzt5gjun5thrvivjetwhn4%3d&reserved=0 (If you haven’t seen it yet, you should). On Sunday, we will take time to answer this question and we will go one step further. We will also answer the question, What is a man? While our culture teaches us to think in parts and pieces, tidbits and talking points, we will attempt to look at something bigger—namely, what the whole Bible and nature itself says about men and women. Critically, we will see that women cannot be defined without men, nor men without women. Just read 1 Corinthians 11:8–9. 8 For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. When God made mankind in his image, he made them male and female (Gen. 1:27). And in that creation, he gave humanity one nature in two forms. And only in relationship to one another can the nature of each be fully understood. So, while it is appropriate to ask, What is a woman? Any answer that ignores men, will be shortsighted. And the same is true in reverse. Sadly, our world has become so atomized, we don’t think like this. Even Matt Walsh’s eye-opening documentary doesn’t think like this. But by God’s grace, when we open up God’s Word, we will see men and women from the perspective of God himself. And I will warn you, what you may find may challenge how you think about men and women. As we saw last week, God did not create individuals as individuals, he created image-bearers who are born into families. This means, the basic building block of society is not the single man or woman, it is the family. And individual men and women learn who they are not by looking within, but by looking without—at the mothers who nurse them and the fathers who discipline them. This is how God designed it. And actually, the absence of family only proves the point. While the sins of abortion, divorce, and abandonment have often fractured these family bonds, they haven’t change the way God ordered his world. They have only marred that order. Likewise, as mad scientists are trying to create life without human parents, they are not changing the nature of humanity, they are only attempting to kill, steal, and destroy that nature—all in the name of research and design. Still, these experiments will end, but God’s nature created order remains. And so does God’s message of redemption. Therefore, as we stand in the gap to pray for and plead that our neighbors would repent of their sins and to submit to their Maker, we must be able to confidently answer the question: What are men and women? What makes them similar? What makes them different? And why does this matter? Those are some of the questions we will answer on Sunday as we gather to worship. To prepare for Sunday, take time to read Numbers 30, Proverbs 31, and 1 Peter 3. On this Father’s Day, those will be just a few of the passages we consider. And to press you to think more closely on this subject, take time to consider how much our culture (and the church!) has changed since the 1950s or the 1850s, when the practices of Numbers 30 were largely still in effect. Ask yourself, has the dissolution of Numbers 30 really served the cause of families, churches, women, and children? Or has it opened the door to all sorts of harm to women, men, and the children of God? As the Lord allows, I will look forward to seeing you on Sunday. As a reminder, the Bristow Community Group is in overflow this Sunday. For His Glory and your joy, Pastor David --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Discussion & Response Questions What are men and women? Where did confusion about this question come from? How did feminism contribute to the confusion? How have you seen confusion manifest itself? In what ways does individualism contribute to confusion about men and women? What about technology? Why should we start with the human body? What role does anatomy play in defining male and female? Is gender a social construct? Assigned by doctors or parents? Or is gender defined by God and the sex of the human? Why does this need to be addressed? Can we say that men and women have behaviors? Or is that being stereotypical? Are stereotypes wrong? How does the Bible speak? What evidence does the history of civilizations do to help answer the questions about men and women? Why must we define men and women in relation to one another? See Genesis 1:27; Numbers 30; Proverbs 31; 1 Corinthians 11:8–9. What direction does the Bible give to us? Is the Bible patriarchal (i.e., families led by and organized around the man)? Why or why not? What does Numbers 30 teach? Is this only for the Old Testament? Or does it give instruction for today (see 2 Timothy 3:16–17)? If it applies today, how so? Why is it important to recover a biblical understanding of manliness and womanliness? And how would you begin to do that?

6. What is a Family?

June 11, 2023 • David Schrock • Genesis 4

In 2023, few things are more important or more endangered than the family. Whether we look at divorce rates, or birth rates, or stores celebrating the destruction of the family with transgender bathing suits and binders, from all sides the family is in peril. And if Mary Eberstadt is correct (in her book How the West Really Lost God), the downfall of the family also means the downfall of Christianity. Indeed, when God made mankind in his image (Gen. 1:26), he made them male and female (Gen. 1:27), so that in marriage they could be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 1:28). Indeed, image-bearing is inseparably connected to the family. And so, if the family is destroyed, so is the image of God, as well as the God who gives shape to our image and likeness. Long story short, it is impossible to have strong families without God, and it is impossible to have God without strong families. On Sunday, we will see this point in fuller detail. But more than simply lamenting the loss of family values, we will see what Scripture says about the family, so that we can answer the question: What is the family? And from Scripture we will see that a family is not whatever want to make it. Rather, the family, like marriage, is divinely designed by God. And Christians, in all stages of life, need to know what the family is and isn’t. To that end, you can prepare for Sunday by praying for families in our church and by reading Psalm 127–128. The family is supposed to be a place of blessing, yet it is under great threat and often feels more like a place of cursing. That is what we need to address on Sunday with the hope of the gospel and the promise that God is making a new family of faith, even as his plans in creation continue to inform our own homes and families. As the Lord allows, I look forward to seeing you on Sunday and worshiping our God and Father, the one who redeems us and brings us into his family by means of his Beloved Son. As a reminder, the Montclair Community Group is in overflow this Sunday. For His Glory and your joy, Pastor David --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Discussion & Response Questions What is the Family? 1. In what ways has your family shaped you? Your faith? Your approach to God? 2. In what ways have you seen the family hurt over the last few decades? What has been most harmful? 3. What do we learn about the family from a survey of the Bible? In creation, fall, redemption, new creation? 4. What happens when deny or change the nuclear family (one father, one mother, children) into some other order? 5. How does the family provide stability for individual identity? What happens when an individual defines themselves outside the family? 6. What roles do men and women play in the family? (More on this next week). 7. Why do we need to make the family the basic building block of society? What happens if individuals are the basic building block? 8. What are you doing to lead your family to follow the model given in Scripture? What are the greatest threats? 9. What is your ultimate hope for your family? How do Jesus’s words about his family (Mark 3) inform your views on the family? 10. Take time to pray for your family and others.