"It's All Good in the Neighborhood"

“It’s all Good in the Neighborhood”

(Genesis 2:4-25)

  1. The Name(s) of God in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2.

    1. Genesis 1: God is the sovereign God who creates the heavens and the earth. God is the majestic God who speaks and it is done. He is Elohim. 

    2. Genesis 2: God is the personal God who breathed his life into man. God is the self-existent God who establishes relationship with man. He is Yahweh. 

  1. The Lord God formed man from the ground and breathed into him the breath of life (v7). 

  1. The Lord God prepares a delightful and gorgeous garden as the home for man (v8-16).

    1. The Lord God planted a garden and put the man in it (v8). 

    2. The Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food (v9). 

    3. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden to tend and keep it (v15). 

    4. The Lord God gave one command to the man in the garden (v16). 

  1. The Lord God provides a person who is categorically different from him in such a way that it completes him (2:4-25). 

    1. The Lord God said it is not good for the man to be alone in the garden and decide to make a helper comparable to him (v18). 

    2. The Lord God gave Adam authority to name all the animals and he could not find his counterpart among them (v19). 

    3. The Lord God put Adam into a deep sleep, took a rib from him, and made it into a woman and brought her to him (v21-22). 

    4. The man says, finally! He and his wife became one flesh–All was good in the garden (v23-25). 



And Behold, It Was Very Good

Introduction: “What is man that you are mindful of him?” Psalm 8

Four important distinctions between the created material world and mankind.

“Let there be” to “Let us make man”

Pivot from the impersonal to the personal, from the special to the unique special

“According to their kind” to “In His image and likeness”

Image of God was reserved for a Pharaoh or king

Everyone else was seen as lower value and dignity

Image of God is assigned to every human being everywhere.

“Be fruitful and multiply” to “Be fruitful and multiply and have dominion”

This is the first great commission. Exercising royal rule over the earth is the basic purpose for why God created us (mentally, morally, and socially).

“According to their kind” to “male and female He created them”

Male and female He made them. That’s it. There is no “each according to their kind” differences. Only after the fall are distinctions and divisions made among the human race.

God’s final assessment: “And He saw that it was good” to “And behold, it was very good!”

"Form & Fill"- Genesis 1:3-31

Introduction: Days 4-6: God fills the heavens and the earth

The message of Day 4: God is not the sun; He is its designer. God is not the moon; He is its maker; He’s the One who assigned their purpose in His vast creation

  • To give light upon the earth

  • and to rule over the day and the night

  • and to separate the light from the darkness

The message of Day 5: God is not a sea creature; He is their creator. God is not a flying bird; He is their maker.

  • He made them in a variety of ways. Each according to their kind

  • He blessed them by telling them to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth

    Let the waters teem and let the birds fly and God saw that it was good.

The message on Day 6: God is not an animal of the earth; He made them too.

God made them in a variety of ways. Each according to their kind.

The central message: From the teeny, tiniest bug to the gigantic expanding galaxies, in the beginning God created all of them.

Two essential responses: obedience and worship.

"In The Beginning God"- Genesis 1:1-13

Getting Started in Genesis 1

The primary purpose of Genesis 1: to instruct the Israelites about the God who had redeemed them, letd them, and promised to be with them as their God.

The primary application of Genesis 1: to worship and trust God by revealing all his instructions as they crossed the Jordan River.

Why does it matter…

Genesis was written to us so that we worship God in awe, fear, wonder, trusting and obeying Him for our future.

Who is God in Genesis and why does it matter to us as believers today?

God creating all physical reality. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”

“God” = “Elohim” means “supreme one” or “mighty one”.

God as three in one in Genesis 1:1

God speaks and commands His creation into existence: “and it was so”

God saw and evaluated His creation: “God saw that it was good”

God separated and named His creation: “God separated,” “God called”

The days of Creation: God formed on day 1-3 and God filled on days 4-6.

Day 1: Light and Darkness

Day 2: Sea and Sky

Day 3: Land and Vegetation

"The Beginning" - The Big Picture

Finding our way into the Old Testament and into Genesis:

Why preach a series on Genesis?

Knowing and living out the New Testament requires a growing understanding of the Old Testament

Jesus affirmed the Old Testament at divinely authoritative Scripture. It was HIS book!

We must have the Old Testament and the New Testament included in our discipleship.

Genesis will strengthen our faith and will help us in our evangelism and defending of our faith.

It's Reasonable to Be Radical- Romans 11:33-12:2

Radical speaks to the origin or root of something but not to the extreme version.

It’s reasonable to be radical because:

  • it’s all about God

  • of His mercies toward us

  • God gives the ability to do the “unreasonable”

  • God is pleased with such sacrifices

  • Giving your all to God is logical service (worship)

Living sacrifices

  • offer themselves voluntarily

  • offer up themselves daily

  • can crawl off the altar

Unwavering Hearts of Worship in Warfare (Psalm 108)

Unwavering Hearts of Worship in Warfare

(Psalm 108)

In Psalm 108, David declares that his heart is fixed (unwavering, steadfast) upon His God. He exclaims, "I will awaken the dawn!" in worship of Him. I will sing loud among all the people. The occasion is that a real and very present threat against him and his people has come– a very real and present war has arrived. For David, the reality of God is his all-consuming focus, and unwavering worship is his weapon. Satan hates worship. We can become easily distracted with a hundred disappointments, conflicts, irregularities, challenges and yes, demonic opposition too. My prayer for us is that, like David, we have hearts fixed on God and unwaveringly worship in the real and present spiritual war we wage each day. 

May our hearts be unwavering in our worship of God (1081-4). 

  • for His love is unwavering for us. It measures beyond the heavens. 

  • for His faithfulness is unwavering toward us. It reaches to the clouds. 


May our exaltation of God be in accordance with his immeasurable love and the reach of His faithfulness (108:5).

What unwavering worship and exaltation accomplishes for us.

  • It helps sets our hearts right as we face distress and it postures us to depend solely on His holy promises (v6-12).

  • It helps set our faith properly in God so we can win great victories and accomplish great things through Him (v13). 


“Worshiping God in the Wilderness” (Psalm 63)

Introduction: Each Psalm is about an experience in life with God. Psalm 63 was written by King David during one of the most stressful and agonizing "wilderness" experiences of his entire life. Even still, David worships his God. Even still David longs for God more than anything–even the very things that keep him alive like food and water. He remembers his God is better than life. So no matter what He will keep blessing Him as long as he lives. Psalm 63 teaches us to worship in the wilderness.

Summary of David's "wilderness" experience with God (Ps. 63:9-11; 2 Samuel 15-19). 

  • A conscious and conniving effort to remove David from being King was enacted (2 Sam. 15:4-6).

  • David must flee for his life into the wilderness (2 Sam. 15:12-14, 23).

  • David does what is right and resolves to let God do whatever he decides is good (2 Sam. 15:24-26). 

  • David refuses to seek revenge or curse in return when slandered, leaving everything in God's hands (2 Sam. 15:28-16:12).


What the wilderness taught David and what it teaches us today.

  • The wilderness tested David’s resolve to keep God as His God & develop an appetite for Him above all else (v1).

  • The wilderness taught David to long for & appreciate the “sanctuary” experiences with His God (v2).


  • The wilderness taught David that God’s love is “better than life” and to bless Him as long as he lives (v3-4).

  • The wilderness taught David to fight by faith in the future promises of God knowing he will be satisfied (v5-6).

Questions for Whole-hearted Worshipers - Psalm 150

What?

Praise the Lord!

Halal- to shine, to glory, to boast

For whom?

Praise..the Lord!

Don’t worship what man’s hand has crafted (idols)

Don’t worship what God’s hand has created (nature)

Don’t worship what man’s mind has concocted (speculations)

Where?

Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse.

Immanence of God- He is near us, with us, and within us.

Transcendence of God- He is beyond us. He is infinite and uncontainable.

Why?

Praise Him for His mighty deeds. Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.

How?

Praise Him with trumpet sound. Praise Him with the harp and lyre (with music)

By whom?

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Publically and privately

Recounting and Rejoicing in the

Attributes and actions of the

Infinite and immanent

Sovereign God of

Earth and eternity

The Last Sermon in 1 John

The big picture of 1 John was written…

  • So that we may have fellowship with God and one another

  • So that we may not sin

  • Because we know the truth

  • Because there are those trying to deceive us.

  • So that we may know we have eternal life.


Knowing we have eternal life gives us confidence before God.

If we ask God for anything He hears us and gives it to us according to His will.

If we see a God-believer commiting sin not leading to death we ask God to give him life. We can be sure that He hears us and gives us what we ask.

  • There is a sin leading to death we are not obligated to pray for that.

  • Sin not leading to death vs sin leading to death. Possible interpretations:

    • Physical death

    • Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit

    • Apostasy

    • Those who were from us but not of us.

      The final three assurances in 1 John

      • We know that all believers are secure and protected by God from the evil one.

      • We know that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one

      • We know that the Son of God has come that we may know him and have relationship with him.

“The Effects of God’s Love on our Fear of Judgement" (1 John 4:13-21)

The trustworthy testimony of John and the Apostles (v13-15). 

1. They have fellowship with God because he gave them His Spirit (13). 

2. They have seen and told others the truth about the Father and the truth about His Son (14). 

3. His hope was that all respond by faith so they too can have fellowship with God (15) 

The trustworthy conclusion of John and the Apostles (v16)

1. We all have come to personally experience God's love for us (v16a)

2. We all realize that God is love (v16b). 

3. When we all live in love we are living also in God and God is living in us (v16c). 

How does this affect us today in our relationship with God and then with each other (v17-21).  

1. It gives us confidence on judgement day (v17).  

2. It casts all fear of God's judgement out of our lives because fear involves punishment (v18).

3. Since God will not judge or punish us on judgement day we love each other as he loved us. (v19-21).

“Practice Makes Perfect–God’s Love and Ours”  1 John 4:7-12

“Practice Makes Perfect–God’s Love and Ours” 

(1 John 4:7-12)

I. You and I are dearly loved ones by God so let's practice loving one another (v7-8).  

Because... 

1. The source of love is God. 


2. The nature of God is love. 

Implication & Application:


II. God's love was revealed by who he sent to us (v9-10). 

  1. He sent His only Son so that we could model our life after His (v9). 

  1. He sent His only Son so that we could see and experience God's all-in and costly love for us. (v10).  

So what? 

1. If God loves you and me so much, we ought to practice loving each other so much (v11). 

2. No one has ever seen God. He is seen in our practice of love for each other: Practice makes perfect (v12).

Discernment in the Last Days- 1 John 4:1-6

The Holy Spirt is given to discern the Spirit of truth from the spirit of error.

Discernment is necessary because many false prophets are in the world.

Their aim is to shake your faith and confidence in Jesus Christ.

False teaching will be persuasive.

John’s readers were outnumbered and so are we.

Be willing to be an “unbeliever” even if the teaching comes from a professing Christian.

We discern by the Holy Spirt and according to doctrinal confession about Jesus.

The Spirt of truth confesses Jesus Christ as fully God and fully man.

The spirit of error denies such confession; this is the spirit of the anti-christ.

The Antichrist’s objective is to deceive you and keep the lost in the dark about Jesus.

His spirit is active in the world wherever the truth about Jesus is distorted.

You are from God: The Holy Spirit in you is greater than the antichrist’s in teh world.

We are from God: The Apostle’s teaching about Jesus in the Scriptures is who we listen to.

Be a Berean (Acts 17)

Sermon- From Condemnation to Confident Fellowship & Commandment Keeping (1 John 3:19-24)

By this we know we are of the truth and reassure our hearts before Him (v 19)

“By this” refers to verses 16-18

Christ laid down His life for us (v 16)

We lay down our lives for one another opening our hearts to do whatever we can to provide for the needs of one another (v 17)

Let us no love in words or in talk but in deed and in truth (v 18)

Implication: To know we are of the truth and have our hearts before God comes by our actions to meet the needs of one another.

Whenever our hearts condemn us (v 20a)

Implication: John knows our hearts need reassurance when we fail to measure up and our behavior aren’t what they shoucld have been.

Your heart is the command center

Condemnation is the expression of very strong disapproval bringing punishment

So what do we do when our own hearts condemn us?

Remember your God!

Is this feeling and experience leading me away from the Father or toward Him?

God is bigger than your heart and He knows everything about you.

Application: Tell yourself the truth.

His verdict is over you- “I don’t condemn you”

You can have confidence before God with a fruitful prayer life while continuing onward doing what pleasees Him.

This happens by confidence in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirt abiding in you.

From self condemnation to confident fellowship with God and Spirit filled obedience to Jesus.

"By This We Know Love" (1 John 3:11-18)

The message you heard from the beginning: love one another (v11). 

  • Don't be like Cain; you have crossed into a new way of life (v12-15)

    • He was from the evil one, not born of God. 

    • He murdered his brother, his deeds were evil.

    • The world operates like Cain, not Christ. 



Biblical Truth and Principle: With respect to eternal life, a hateful attitude of the heart is no different than a hateful deed in action. 

  • Loving one another is based on the historical event of the crucifixion of Jesus (v16a). 

    • Jesus voluntarily endured unimaginable torture, an agonizing death, a painful betrayal by his disciples, and total abandonment by His Father who he perfectly obeyed. 

    • He endured all this... 



Biblical Truth and Principle: Taken to heart, this love transforms our actions toward each other (16b-17). 

  • In our willingness to... be rich in generosity with our resources to demonstrate God’s love.

  • In our readiness to... have open hearts toward those in need.

  • in our call to... love not in mere talk but in deed and in truth

Practicing Sin & Righteousness (1 John 3:4-10)

Defining the practice of sin

Sin is missing the mark

Sin is lawlessness

The practice of sin is antithetical to why Jesus came.

Both the practice of righteousness and sin will be evidenced

Righteous standing

Righteous living

Satan’s priority is to get you to practice sin. The devil has been sining from the beginning.

The practice of righteousness is seen most clearly in love.

Show love to:

Other believers

Your neighbor

Yourself

Your friends

Your enemies

The needy

The Lord God

The reason the son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

Sermon- The Anointing You Received- 1 John 2:28-3:3

The Anointing You Received

1 John 2:28-3:3

October 20, 2024

John’s concern: Be aware and discerning that intentional efforts to draw you away from Christ are prevalent and can be difficult to spot.

Among the more deceptive is Gnosticism.

Which says:

1.        God is pure bliss, an idea, a concept. We can connect with God in a number of different ways.

2.        God is not personal. God as pure bliss would never stoop down as flesh and live among us.

3.        Jesus is divine but only appeared to be in human form. He did not come in the flesh and live in the created world.

4.        You are an essence of the divine but trapped in an evil physical body.

5.        The fall is from the immaterial world not into a physical world.

6.        You are ignorant of your condition and must be awakened to the presence of the divine in you.

Gnosticism denies salvation as the rescue from original and personal sin.

It says salvation is the eradication of ignorance of the light imprisoned within you.

It says authority speaks from the voice of the spirit inside you.

It says darkness is only an illusion.

It says sin has no substantive meaning because it is linked to the body and not to the divine light in you.

The purpose of Christ’s coming to earth was to impart this to people and help them to their true divine nature that had been covered over by the material world and forgotten.

This required a kind of “anointing”

“The Anointing” we received: response and action

1.        We’re trusting in the Lord looking ahead to his appearing with confidence.

2.        We are able to see the great love of the Father who has given us

a.        A new name

b.       A bright future

c.        A purifying hope

How does it look in action to abide in Christ?

1.        It looks like coming clean and admitting we have sinned

2.        It looks like not calling God a liar by not owing up to your sin

3.        It looks like fighting our sin and falling upon Jesus Christ our advocate when we do

4.        It looks like learning to walk like Jesus walked.

5.        It looks like learning to walk like Jesus walked

6.        It looks like complete commitment to Christ more than you sin and worldly comfort

7.        It looks like sticking to the text of Scripture

8.        It looks like believing Christ is the only light you need

9.        It looks like not hating your brother or sister- labeling them out of their new identity in Christ.

 

Here at Anchor Point Church in Duluth, we practice expository preaching. Expository preaching is a style of preaching that involves explaining and interpreting a specific passage of Scripture in a detailed and systematic manner. Our pastors endeavor to be faithful in drawing out the meaning of the text, often going verse by verse, and then applying its principles to the lives of the listeners. The goal is to faithfully communicate the original intent of the biblical authors, ensuring that the congregation understands the message within its proper context. Please join us on Sunday morning!