Genesis (1/6/19)

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Genesis (1/6/19)

The Story of the Book

January 6, 2019

NEW BEGINNINGS - a message of encouragement from God to His kids (the Jews and Jesus) about the new phase of life in which they were about to embark   * God to the Israelites: * The Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land. * What message would God have for them? * God downloaded five books into Moses, one of them went back to the beginning - Genesis. * The Jews needed this book to create a solid foundation for their new life. * Many scholars believe that the Israelites fled Egypt around 1450-1440 BC. * They also believe Moses wrote Genesis around 1400 BC. * KEY - Whatever God forms He fills. * But there’s an order to how He does it: * Illumination - Separation - Habitation. * He did this with all of creation - the earth first and then mankind. * Gen 1:1-2 - He created the heavens and the earth. * But the earth was FORMLESS - God needed to FORM it. * The earth was VOID - He needed to FILL it. * The Six Days of Creation are all about Him forming and filling. * 1) ILLUMINATION: Gen 1:3 * 2) SEPARATION: Gen 1:4-9 * * light from darkness * * waters below from waters above * * land from water * Illumination and separation prepared the way for habitation. * 3) HABITATION: * vs 10-31 - Vegetation, Animals, Humans.   Day 1 - Heavens and the earth (nothing but water) - He lit it up and split it up! Day 2 - Sky - He separated the waters above and below Day 3 - Land - He separated the water from the dirt - vegetation was a part of this Day 4 - Stars - Gen 1:14-18 - Before habitation he had to create government so people could keep things separate. Day 5 - Fish Day 6 - Animals & Man   * EXAMPLE - ADAM: God did with Adam what He did with the earth. * vs 2:19-20 - ILLUMINATION - no helper was “found” - he was looking. * vs 2:21 - SEPARATION - feminine was removed from masculine. * vs 2:22-25 - HABITATION - and they lived happily ever after.   * FLOOD - when God brought the flood He set the earth back to its original form (full of water) - He removed Separation. (Genesis 7:21)   * APPLICATION: Illumination - Separation - Habitation * 1) Walk in the light. Spend time with God in prayer and the Word. * 2) Stay separate from the world. “Be holy for I am holy.” * 3) When we walk in the light and remain separate we live in God and He lives in us.

Matthew 17:3 (9/11/24)

September 11, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Matthew 17:3

* God is a God of reward. * He loves to reward those who honor Him. * But those rewards aren’t always here on this earth. * The best rewards are eternal. * God is also a God of punishment. * If you step outside His boundaries, you’ll pay the consequences. * Why? Because He’s a father, and all good dads enforce boundaries for protection and blessing. * However, oftentimes God shows us mercy we do not deserve. * “Mercy in the midst of judgment” is God’s gig. * Case in point - Moses sinned against God and didn’t get to enter the Promised Land. * Or did he? * vs 1-2 - “After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” * Jesus showed them what was on the inside. * He lived an inside-out life. * vs 3 - “Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.” * Did Moses make it into the Promised Land? * YES! * Today, we should look at life through an eternal lens. * If we do that, then we see as God sees. * We elevate lives over likes. * We live for an auidience of one. * We know our best rewards come in the next life. * In this life, fame is rewarded more than faithfulness. * But in the next life, faithfulness is rewarded more than fame. * Think about your position in the next life, during Christ’s millenial reign. * This will set your heart and mind at ease. * EX: Fame from HGTV

Matthew 17:27 (9/11/24)

September 11, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Matthew 17:27

* When you take care of God’s thing, He takes care of yours. * When you put His kingdom first, “all these things will be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33). * EX: Birds don’t worry, they work. * Backstory - the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus. * They challenged Him on whether or not He paid the temple tax. * All Jews paid it to keep the temple in good repair. * vs 24-26 - “After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes, he does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him.” * Kings don’t charge taxes to their kids. * Jesus didn’t “need” to pay the tax because God was His Father and God was king! * But look what Jesus did: * vs 27 - ““But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.” * First, it’s good to forfeit certain things for the sake of others. * We don’t need to draw an offense. * Second, look how God rewards obedience. * Peter got his tax paid in full! * “…Take that and give it to the them for me and for yourself.” * Pete had to pay his tax, but Jesus covered the bill because Peter put Him first! * God will do the same with us. * If we put Him first, our needs will always be met. * We put Him first by seeking to honor Him in all we do (tithe). * This includes our work, where we make our money. * Honor God in your work and you’ll never beg a day in your life. * That’s a promise you can take to the bank! * NOTE - this is the only time we see Jesus telling His disciples to fish with a hook and line rather than a net. * It was when they were looking for money! * Many times our churches are fishing the wrong way - we're using a hook and bait to lure people in, only for them to bite a fake. * We lure them in through entertainment which means we have to keep them there that way as well. * But we have to keep them there because they pay everyone's salary through their tithe. * We should simply be shining our light and drawing people in through the net of love. * That's the proper way to fish for people.

Matthew 13:3-9 (9/4/24)

September 4, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Matthew 13:3–9

* When we read Scripture, there are times we are the sower and times when we are the soil. * Our job is not to worry about the growth… * Our job is to receive the seed (like good soil) and scatter the seed (like a good sower). * To teach this principle, Jesus taught the parable of the sower. * In the parable, we are the sowers, the seed is the gospel, and the ground is those who hear our message. * vs 3-9 * Notice the four ground types (people) on which the seed falls. * 1) Path - these people’s hearts are hard, so no matter what you say, it will not penetrate. * They have already rejected God, and there’s no coming back. * 2) Rocky soil - these people hear and receive the word, but when trials and suffering come, they return to their old patterns. * Strength comes through strain. * So we should expect it in the Christian life (it’s not just about getting blessed). * 3) Thorny soil - these people hear and receive the word, but they aren’t disciplined in their daily habits. * So the cares of the world (their daily needs for food, shelter, clothing, etc) get more of their attention than growing their relationship with God. * They focus on the temporal, not the eternal. * 4) Good soil—these folks hear and receive the word, commit to serving Jesus whatever the cost, establish habits to keep them on track, and slowly grow and mature into firm believers. * The question is, which soil are you? * The three types of bad soil - what gets in their way: * SELF. * STRAIN. * STUFF. * But the healthy soil gets the SAVIOR!