>> Pastor Eric
00:00:32.299 Good morning, Freedom Church. Welcome, everyone.
00:00:36.540 So exciting to be here today. If you haven't gotten to meet me, I
00:00:40.540 haven't had the privilege of meeting you, I'm Pastor Eric, lead pastor here at
00:00:44.080 Freedom Church. I was actually off preaching the last three weeks because
00:00:48.020 we had a new baby girl born two weeks ago, and she's here today.
00:00:52.180 Baby Brielle. We talked about her a little bit last week.
00:00:55.080 I just want to make sure if you missed last week, you got to see Brielle and my
00:00:57.920 wife, Rachel, here, both recovering well. She's eating well.
00:01:01.100 Thank God Brielle is sleeping well as a newborn.
00:01:04.200 Still awake a couple of times in the middle of the night, but sleeping well
00:01:06.380 overall. And so blessed that God has blessed us with a fourth child, so two
00:01:10.100 boys and two girls. So our house is full.
00:01:13.180 We actually had the conversation with Judah recently about math and how one plus
00:01:17.260 one doesn't always equal two, but one plus one equals six because our family keeps
00:01:20.780 growing, keeps multiplying. But anyways, I always want to say welcome
00:01:24.600 everyone. Welcome everyone watching online.
00:01:27.070 I love getting messages, especially from people watching online, that, "Hey, so
00:01:30.760 great. Great to check in from vacation." The reality is summertime,
00:01:34.580 people are traveling, people on vacations, there's grad parties, a lot of stuff
00:01:38.400 going on. You may skip a church Sunday, but you should never skip
00:01:42.220 out on your spiritual walk with God.
00:01:44.560 So you may take a break from something, but don't take a break from growing in your
00:01:48.440 relationship with God. Don't take a step back spiritually, even
00:01:52.380 if you can't physically be in the building.
00:01:54.400 That's one of the reasons why we have the online service.
00:01:57.440 We want to make it available to you.
00:01:58.600 We want to make sure you're getting the word and worshiping with our community of
00:02:02.680 gathering here at Freedom Church.
00:02:06.100 But before I jump into today's message, I want to give you a little update, but I
00:02:09.000 also want to share with you some opportunities and things happening here at Freedom
00:02:12.740 Church. So we are actually, this is our 16th Sunday.
00:02:16.200 We're only just over three months into Freedom Church.
00:02:19.440 So we launched on March 1st, so it's now in our fourth month of
00:02:23.280 existence as Freedom Church. So a lot of amazing stories,
00:02:26.700 baptisms, people's lives being changed and transformed, getting to be involved in
00:02:30.720 the community. And I want to share, that's one of our core values.
00:02:34.480 One of our core strategies and missions as a church is we're going to be a church
00:02:38.160 outside the walls. We're working with local businesses, we're working with Franklin
00:02:41.780 Regional School District. I shared last week, but two weeks ago, we were at the
00:02:45.360 school, Franklin Regional. We worked with Groove Coffee and just paid for
00:02:49.180 teachers to get coffee. I got letters and emails from teachers saying how thankful
00:02:53.160 they are. It helped them get through the day. It's the end of the school year.
00:02:56.320 They needed a little extra
00:02:58.240 boost. But I share that because we want to be a church outside the walls in the
00:03:02.160 community, working with other churches, working with other non-profits, working
00:03:05.960 with other businesses, that we're not just existing for those of us who show up
00:03:09.680 inside the walls. We also have a heart for the schools.
00:03:12.400 We really believe we're going to impact and influence the local school district,
00:03:16.380 starting with Franklin Regional, but I believe going beyond that in the future as
00:03:19.980 well. And we also have discipleship as a core value of ours, of really giving
00:03:23.940 you opportunity to grow, to serve, to learn the word,
00:03:28.220 but also have opportunity to use the things that we're learning and apply
00:03:32.100 them to our lives. So we're going to have a lot more things coming in the fall,
00:03:35.020 especially with Bible study groups, with discipleship
00:03:39.040 opportunities, with classes. There's a lot of things coming available.
00:03:42.540 We're working our way towards that in the fall.
00:03:44.910 But this summer, we have some opportunities, what we're calling a Summer of
00:03:48.940 Serving. We want you to stay connected more than just Sunday morning,
00:03:53.060 but there's opportunities outside of Sunday as well.
00:03:55.720 Especially if you're traveling on Sunday, here are some extra opportunities that we
00:03:59.720 want you to be aware of, and I'm inviting you to get signed up, to
00:04:03.200 be involved, to get engaged. The first one's actually in
00:04:06.840 13 days, on June 27th, where we're doing a
00:04:10.660 community outreach. Now, we have a plan right now to work with Murrysville
00:04:14.640 Christian Concerns. They own and operate Friends Thrift Shop.
00:04:18.360 So it's a Christian nonprofit.
00:04:20.661 Great deals, by the way, if you're looking for good clothes or good household
00:04:24.300 items. Friends Thrift Shop in Export, Google it, look it up, put it in your
00:04:29.240 whatever GPS system you use, app you use. Go check it out.
00:04:32.260 They have really great deals, great stuff for a very inexpensive and
00:04:36.060 affordable price. But they also own a community outreach building
00:04:40.280 next door to Friends Thrift Shop. That community outreach center is something we
00:04:43.760 believe we are going to be able to use
00:04:47.080 for different outreach opportunities, for different ministry for the next
00:04:50.540 generation especially, reaching kids right here in our neighborhood.
00:04:55.050 But the building needs renovated.
00:04:56.400 So they already have a roof, windows, doors, a lot of the exterior's done.
00:04:59.960 Now the inside needs done. So I already have measurements, material list,
00:05:03.900 been working with them to come up with... I just need people to help do the work.
00:05:07.740 So on June 27th, Saturday, right now my
00:05:11.380 timeframe, I would say 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
00:05:13.860 Not everyone has to work 12 hours that day.
00:05:16.380 But I'm throwing it out there, we're probably going to work and have something to
00:05:19.340 do for a long period of time. What I'm asking you is once you sign up,
00:05:23.800 then we'll be able to figure out how to assign people, times, materials, tools,
00:05:28.120 all those things. That's going to be, we're doing some renovation in that building.
00:05:32.100 That same day, throughout the day, we're also going to be on the trail.
00:05:35.960 Westmoreland Heritage Trail runs right behind our building.
00:05:38.620 We're going to be on the trail. What we do for the trail outreach is we offer water
00:05:42.300 bottles, fruit, snacks for people who are healthy, running, and exercise, and we're
00:05:46.140 trying to help them support their goals.
00:05:48.540 But we're also going to be praying for them and inviting them to come be a part of
00:05:51.840 checking out Freedom Church. And this is not about what we can get from people,
00:05:55.980 but I want us to be a church that wants to bless people.
00:05:58.300 We want something for our community, not something from our community.
00:06:02.140 So we're going to be doing these community outreaches, scheduled on the 27th and
00:06:05.660 the 11th. Both of those community outreaches are going to be doing some trail
00:06:09.580 outreach, some construction work, maybe some other service projects, depending on
00:06:13.460 how many people sign up, what capacity we have.
00:06:16.520 I've heard of a few people that are in need for lawn care, for some household
00:06:20.460 maintenance things that maybe we can take care of.
00:06:23.032 But also on the 11th, that Saturday, we have the Embrace Grace baby
00:06:27.092 shower. Embrace Grace is a ministry that we run here.
00:06:29.892 It's national, it's a pretty large organization, but Embrace Grace here at
00:06:33.872 Freedom Church is we help single pregnant moms
00:06:37.932 learn have their identity and value in Christ.
00:06:40.932 We come alongside and we support them with learning how to be a mom.
00:06:44.382 And in order to go through the program, they have to be a single mom.
00:06:47.392 That means unmarried or their husband or partner's not in the picture or not
00:06:50.932 supportive. Typically, these women, they don't have any family.
00:06:54.332 They don't have help. They don't have healthy help.
00:06:56.592 They don't have healthy friends. That we walk with them to help support
00:07:00.472 them to really be the church. And one on my heart in prayer
00:07:04.012 for our church is that we would be a place where women who are pregnant
00:07:07.892 outside of marriage would not be shunned away, but would be welcomed in with
00:07:11.672 open arms. That we would love people into the kingdom of God, not tell them
00:07:15.552 they're bad and they're wrong, and they should stop doing it, but we want to
00:07:18.392 welcome people. We want to love people, and then let Jesus do the work of
00:07:22.132 cleaning them up and changing and transforming their life.
00:07:24.792 Our job is to love them, support them, and I'm so excited.
00:07:27.631 A baby shower,
00:07:29.192 we're going to host it right here, probably in our cafe space.
00:07:32.652 One girl has gone through the program.
00:07:34.352 When she completes, we're going to have this baby shower on July 11th.
00:07:38.152 We're going to bless her with gifts, we're going to have some food.
00:07:40.792 We're going to have a great time celebrating, praying over this one mom who has
00:07:44.472 chosen to keep her baby, but also our church to really support and come
00:07:48.252 alongside her. So if you're interested in any of those, also the kids
00:07:52.212 camp, should mention that, July 15, 16, and 17, Wednesday,
00:07:56.292 Thursday, and Friday evening. It's about 6:15 to 8:15,
00:08:00.392 two hours in the evening. We're going to have crafts, games,
00:08:04.252 lessons about Jesus. It's basically called a vacation Bible school, or
00:08:07.972 VBS if you've been around church a while.
00:08:10.092 But a lot of unchurched people, they don't know what VBS means, so we're calling it
00:08:13.152 kids camp. It's just a time for kids, parents to drop their kids off for a few
00:08:16.712 hours, learn about Jesus, connect with other kids, have some
00:08:20.472 fun, and we get to love on them and invite them to come back
00:08:24.412 as well. Any one of those things, you can sign up.
00:08:28.072 Everything's completely free. We just want you to spend your time serving and
00:08:31.972 volunteering this summer. So you can scan that QR code.
00:08:35.752 You can also go to our website, go to the Events tab, and all the
00:08:39.692 opportunities for you to sign up are on there.
00:08:41.712 Next Steps is on there, opportunities to serve are on there.
00:08:44.492 As more and more things are added to the calendar, we have some tentative things in
00:08:48.092 August and September. Once those get added to the calendar, you'll be able to find
00:08:51.672 those right on our website and sign up for those things. Everyone good?
00:08:55.952 Everyone's going to sign up for something today, right?
00:08:58.112 Any one of those things, sign up, get involved, be a part of what
00:09:01.932 God is doing. So we're going to switch gears and jump into the message today, but
00:09:05.572 before we do, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you, God, for
00:09:09.512 just the opportunity to be your church, to be your hands and
00:09:13.252 feet in our community. God, we thank you for this girl who's gone through Embrace
00:09:16.932 Grace and is learning her identity and value is not in a man but is in
00:09:20.932 you. And God, I just pray a blessing on every single person, God, who
00:09:24.652 signs up, who says they're going to serve, and shows up to be the church,
00:09:28.392 representing you outside of these walls as well.
00:09:31.462 And God, I pray for today's message, that, God, you would help me speak what
00:09:35.192 you would have me speak, God, that this room full of people and those watching
00:09:38.712 online, they want to hear from you.
00:09:40.472 God, I pray your word would just come alive as you promise it does, and God, help
00:09:44.452 me just be a conduit for what you would speak. In Jesus' name, amen.
00:09:49.332 Well, how many of you are big movie buffs? Anybody a movie buff?
00:09:52.412 Like you love movies, watch a movie couple— You don't have to be embarrassed about
00:09:55.812 that. How many of you love movies? Thank you. A couple of you.
00:09:59.132 Anyone ever binge-watch a whole series? Anybody do that? Okay.
00:10:02.792 It's okay. You're in church. Be honest. Be free. All right?
00:10:05.612 Binge-watching, that's not always a sin, okay?
00:10:07.832 But it's okay to watch TV and have entertainment at times.
00:10:11.312 But how many of you ever started watching a movie or a series partway
00:10:15.112 through, right? You missed the beginning of the movie.
00:10:17.592 You started watching it, and it's like you can watch, you can follow along, but it
00:10:21.072 doesn't all make the most sense. I remember watching a series one time.
00:10:24.352 It was like the third episode, and Rachel started watching it with me, and she's
00:10:28.272 asking me all these questions about who's this person? Why are they doing that?
00:10:31.692 Who's this? Where'd that guy come from?
00:10:33.872 Go back and watch the first two episodes and it'll all make sense because now we're
00:10:37.052 talking the whole time and I can't pay attention.
00:10:40.332 Many Christians treat the Bible the same way,
00:10:44.372 where we read the New Testament, we see Jesus, we like the
00:10:48.152 gospels, we read Paul's letters, but we've never read the Old Testament.
00:10:52.242 And some things don't really all make sense, or they don't fully make sense
00:10:56.312 until we get the backstory, until we read the history,
00:11:00.172 until we see the things that were written thousands of years before they
00:11:04.152 happened in the New Testament. So we've got to see this whole
00:11:08.152 picture of what the Bible is really communicating to us.
00:11:12.022 And if we don't read the Old Testament, we miss the depth, the
00:11:15.732 beauty, and really the wonder of what the Bible
00:11:19.272 really is. There's so much power in God's story.
00:11:23.452 It's really not two separate books, as many people think, "Oh, that's Old
00:11:26.432 Testament. I'm just a New Testament Christian." I say there's no such thing as a
00:11:29.692 New Testament Christian unless you understand the Old Testament, because you're
00:11:32.512 missing out on so much. But really, the
00:11:36.212 Bible, literally translated, just means "the book." It's the book
00:11:40.272 or the good book or the holy book, and many people would call it the references.
00:11:44.092 The Bible, which is comprised of 66 books, from
00:11:48.072 Genesis to Revelation, 66 books of the Bible make up what we
00:11:51.832 know as one book of the Bible itself.
00:11:54.512 Over 40 authors, over 1,500
00:11:58.072 years of history, of recording history and writing this down, and it's
00:12:02.072 one story about one God, one plan,
00:12:05.972 one savior, one story where the Old Testament and New
00:12:09.692 Testament are not disconnected, but it tells one
00:12:13.412 story laid out for us to learn and
00:12:16.912 see for our lives today. Really, the Old Testament lays the
00:12:20.712 foundation that the New Testament stands upon
00:12:24.488 Without the Book of Genesis, you miss out on understanding all
00:12:28.388 the backstory and how it ties everything together in the New
00:12:31.728 Testament. Without the promises and the prophecies and all the things that were
00:12:35.628 predicted that are going to happen in the future, you miss out on the wonder and
00:12:39.388 the power of the New Testament. So today and in this new series we're
00:12:43.148 kicking off called "Timeless," I want to show you how the Old Testament and New
00:12:46.948 Testament are beautifully connected, how God has woven timeless
00:12:50.688 truths throughout the entire Bible, the
00:12:53.788 cross-references that are filled throughout the Bible that still
00:12:57.748 transform our lives today. We're going to look at several different
00:13:01.728 people from the Old Testament and learn how to practically apply the
00:13:05.788 lessons that we learn to our lives.
00:13:07.708 So timeless, past lives, present purpose.
00:13:11.248 That's what we're going to dive into for the next several weeks.
00:13:13.588 Today, I'm going to give a little bit broader summary of the Bible, and then we're
00:13:17.068 going to look at a story from the Old Testament as well.
00:13:20.748 But I want to start with the main character of the Bible. This is a trick question.
00:13:24.228 Who's the main character of the Bible?
00:13:27.288 Jesus. Jesus, right? Let's say it again. Who's the main character of the Bible?
00:13:31.188 Jesus. Jesus, right? Whenever you read a story, there's only one main
00:13:35.208 character. His name is Jesus. So the main character, Jesus, in his
00:13:39.068 story, that one story that's written, he says this.
00:13:43.088 What we see in him, actually, after the resurrection in Luke 24,
00:13:47.168 Jesus rises from the dead. He's walking on the road to Emmaus with these
00:13:51.188 two guys, and these guys are talking about Jesus, and Jesus comes along.
00:13:55.428 They don't know it's him, but Jesus doesn't just reveal himself to
00:13:59.128 him, to these guys. He doesn't say, "Hey, guys, I'm Jesus."
00:14:03.088 In fact, the guys are questioning, like, "Are you the only one who doesn't know
00:14:06.168 what's going on?" And Jesus is kind of like, I think in his mind going, "I'm the
00:14:09.368 only one who knows what's going on." But he's walking with these two guys
00:14:13.268 and he starts, it says, "Beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
00:14:17.688 he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the
00:14:21.348 things concerning himself."
00:14:24.808 What did he do? He opened the Scriptures to them.
00:14:27.128 He spoke the Scriptures. What scriptures did he use?
00:14:30.988 The Old Testament. They didn't have the New Testament yet.
00:14:33.287 It was being lived out and written down.
00:14:35.308 So he went to the Old Testament, Moses, the prophets, the Scriptures,
00:14:39.688 and those Scriptures were revealing of who Jesus really
00:14:43.608 is, the Messiah, the one that they were walking with, yet they did not
00:14:47.568 recognize him. A little bit later, in a few verses, Jesus is
00:14:51.368 back in Jerusalem with his disciples, and he said to them, "When I was
00:14:55.208 with you before," in verse 44, "I told you that everything written
00:14:59.028 about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and in the
00:15:03.048 Psalms must be fulfilled." He talks
00:15:06.848 about the three major components of the Old Testament, the Law of
00:15:10.688 Moses, the Prophets, that's the major and minor prophets, and the
00:15:14.748 Psalms. He says, "All those things were written about me."
00:15:19.448 So he says all those things that were written about me, they must be fulfilled,
00:15:22.808 again, confirming how important the Old Testament, the
00:15:26.608 Scriptures really are. In John, chapter five, he's actually having this
00:15:30.308 dialogue with religious leaders, the Pharisees, and they're
00:15:34.348 questioning him about who he is, and he flat out claims that he is
00:15:38.688 God. In verse 39, he says, "You search the Scriptures
00:15:43.108 because you think they give you eternal life.
00:15:45.768 But the Scriptures point to me."
00:15:49.148 Jesus lays it out. He's so clear. There's no room for
00:15:52.648 interpretation. He says, "Those scriptures that you're arguing about, those
00:15:56.348 theological debates and information that you're arguing about," because the
00:16:00.208 Pharisees and the Sadducees, they argued over all this information.
00:16:04.008 He goes, "Hey, those scriptures actually talk about me, but you're
00:16:07.788 missing the picture. You're not giving your life to me because you're so caught up
00:16:11.568 in the information, you haven't surrendered your life to me."
00:16:15.868 Jesus talked so highly of the Old Testament.
00:16:19.248 How much more should we be learning and reading and studying the Old
00:16:23.208 Testament because it points to Jesus?
00:16:26.368 Again, it's not two separate stories, but one story.
00:16:29.848 There's a few graphs I want to show you.
00:16:32.448 The first one here, probably the most common one, the most
00:16:35.928 well-recognized one. This shows all the
00:16:38.788 cross-references in the Bible, beginning with Genesis all the way
00:16:42.728 to Revelation. This long line right in the middle is Psalm 119.
00:16:46.608 It's the longest chapter of the Bible.
00:16:48.848 All these are chapters of the Bible, and every one of those lines, there's
00:16:52.728 63,779 cross-references
00:16:57.028 where something mentioned in one part of the Bible is connected to another part of
00:17:00.708 the Bible. You can see the Old Testament connected to the New Testament, the Old
00:17:04.689 Testament connected to itself, the New Testament connected to itself.
00:17:08.088 All of these cross-references combined together, over
00:17:11.388 63,000 cross-references, that shows that
00:17:15.848 God had to be the author of something so amazing and so miraculous.
00:17:20.008 No amount of men, no matter how intelligent, no matter how wealthy, no matter how
00:17:23.969 good they are, could ever put together something as great as the
00:17:27.689 Bible, as something as true, as something as honest, as something as
00:17:31.488 real, as something as powerful as what we have as the word of
00:17:35.368 God. Only God could do this. Men could not have
00:17:39.048 possibly created all this and actually walked it
00:17:42.888 out. There's another
00:17:45.208 graph I want to show you. Just in the Book of Luke, we see thousands of references.
00:17:49.188 This is on the left side, Luke, 24 chapters, all these different
00:17:53.128 mentions and how they connect to different books in the Bible.
00:17:56.178 Most of the books of the Bible on the right side.
00:17:59.388 Look how thick that line is of all those references just in one
00:18:03.408 of the gospel accounts. Again, I share this to
00:18:06.668 show you how interwoven, how
00:18:10.248 connected the Old Testament is to the New Testament, to
00:18:14.008 see that God is the author of what we have as the
00:18:17.808 Bible, that men didn't write this.
00:18:19.888 Men recorded it down, but God is the author of the Bible because
00:18:23.628 nobody else could write a piece, a work of literature as
00:18:27.508 wonderful and beautiful as what we have in the Bible.
00:18:32.368 So we see Jesus in the Old Testament. Here's just a few of the examples.
00:18:36.388 In Genesis, the book of Genesis promises a coming
00:18:40.128 deliverer, that there's going to be a deliverer for God's people, and
00:18:43.788 Exodus presents a Passover lamb. Leviticus reveals a
00:18:47.788 perfect sacrifice. The whole Levitical law and all
00:18:51.248 the things that needed to be done to sacrifice animals, to make a
00:18:54.848 sacrifice for temporary covering of our sin.
00:18:57.908 Leviticus all points to Jesus as the perfect sacrifice.
00:19:01.748 Isaiah, Messianic prophet, speaking about the
00:19:05.328 suffering servant who's going to come, who Jesus walked out.
00:19:09.148 Micah predicted his birthplace in Nazareth.
00:19:11.688 Zechariah predicts his betrayal, and so many more things that we
00:19:15.708 see. Thousands of prophecies, things that were written in the Old Testament,
00:19:19.508 speaking into the future. This is how you will know who the
00:19:23.168 Messiah is. This is how you will know that whoever that guy is,
00:19:27.068 these will be all the signs, and Jesus fulfilled them.
00:19:30.168 Jesus walked them out. Jesus lived them.
00:19:32.478 He overcame death, burial, and resurrected.
00:19:35.588 That's how we know who Jesus is and why we put our faith in him.
00:19:39.148 It's not just because of what he did, but he fulfilled so
00:19:42.548 much of history. The Bible's not a random
00:19:46.348 collection of stories. It's not Aesop's Fables.
00:19:49.188 It's not just a bunch of myths and a bunch of storytelling. It's history.
00:19:53.548 It's so much of one story that God is writing, the
00:19:57.388 story of redemption for each and every one of us.
00:20:00.568 Paul shares in Romans 15 a very practical, and some very
00:20:04.588 practical reasons why we should read the Old Testament.
00:20:08.328 He's giving instruction. He's talking about how when they're making these
00:20:11.968 mistakes, and he tells them such things were written in the scriptures.
00:20:15.948 He's trying to help them. These lessons, these things you can learn, they were
00:20:19.788 written in the scriptures long ago to what? To teach us.
00:20:24.268 We learn from the scriptures, the Old Testament, to teach
00:20:27.988 us. And the scriptures give us what? Hope.
00:20:32.788 How many of you could use some more hope in your life, right?
00:20:35.448 Of the three big ones in Corinthians, right, faith, hope, and love.
00:20:39.388 Love will last forever. It's the greatest one.
00:20:41.427 But faith and hope, while we live here today until Jesus returns, are some of the most
00:20:45.048 powerful things that we can have. Hope is where you go through life
00:20:49.328 not just hoping to get by, not just hoping things get better, not
00:20:53.348 just hoping for heaven to be real and someday you die and go be there.
00:20:56.968 Hope is something that the scriptures give us now.
00:20:59.828 We can have hope for today. We can have hope for life and life abundantly
00:21:04.088 now, on Earth as it is in heaven, as Jesus taught us to pray.
00:21:08.308 That we live our lives, but we read the scriptures, and it gives us
00:21:12.268 hope. It builds faith within us, and it puts courage
00:21:16.328 in us. That encouragement that comes to have
00:21:19.708 courage to step out and be bold for Jesus, to live
00:21:23.668 our lives, not compromised to the world, but following
00:21:27.428 Jesus as we wait patiently for God's
00:21:30.808 promises to be fulfilled. If you didn't need hope or encouragement, I think
00:21:34.748 we all need a little more patience. Amen? Especially with newborns.
00:21:38.228 We need some patience. But Paul gives these very practical reasons for
00:21:41.948 why we should study the Old Testament.
00:21:44.808 Why else does the Old Testament matter? Well, three things.
00:21:48.488 You see God's character. We see God's character in the Old
00:21:52.268 Testament. We learn timeless truths, and we
00:21:56.088 understand Jesus more clearly. There's three things,
00:21:59.958 that the Old Testament wasn't written merely for information,
00:22:04.148 but was written for transformation.
00:22:06.588 We learn more about God and his character.
00:22:08.888 The same God of Genesis is the same God in Matthew.
00:22:12.628 The same God who parted the Red Sea is the same one who calms the
00:22:16.608 storms in the New Testament. The same God who delivered his
00:22:20.368 people still delivers us today. We
00:22:24.268 see God's character, and cultures change,
00:22:28.088 governments change, technology changes.
00:22:31.108 Certainly, the weather changes. Not in Pittsburgh, it's always dreary and rainy,
00:22:34.488 but things change, but God does not change.
00:22:38.528 In Malachi, the last book of the Bible, in chapter 3, verse 6,
00:22:42.388 God says this: "I am the Lord, and I do
00:22:45.808 not change."
00:22:47.868 God himself, even in Malachi, looking back at the Old Testament, and
00:22:51.848 today, looking back over all of history, we can see God doesn't
00:22:55.608 change. In the context of Malachi, he's actually talking about how the people
00:22:59.548 of Israel were rebelling, they were disobeying, yet God was still
00:23:03.188 merciful. We see his holiness, we see his justice, and
00:23:07.108 we see his mercy and his grace. We see that God is
00:23:10.738 faithful. He's been faithful since the Garden of Eden.
00:23:13.528 He's faithful today. He does not change.
00:23:16.888 That the same God who was working then is working
00:23:20.248 now. The second thing we have is timeless truths, things that we
00:23:24.228 learn from people of the past. Now, we're going to look at next
00:23:28.008 week, and actually, the next several weeks, I have a list of them.
00:23:31.328 We're going to be looking at Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jonah, Daniel,
00:23:35.508 Esther. Some of these stories of Old Testament characters.
00:23:39.248 Now, maybe you're new to church. Maybe you didn't grow up in church,
00:23:43.208 and a lot of these names you probably have heard of, or you know somebody by one of
00:23:46.748 those names, but you don't know the meaning or the back story of that.
00:23:50.068 And I want you to come every single week, and this goes not just for new people,
00:23:53.708 but the Word is alive and speaks to us.
00:23:57.288 When we read the story of Abraham, when you read the story of Noah, or read the
00:24:00.288 story of Moses, God's Word still speaks to us, and he
00:24:03.648 illuminates things to us that apply today.
00:24:07.228 So it's not just looking at old stories, and one of the things we fail to
00:24:11.208 do, I think, at times, that we see ancient people, ancient culture,
00:24:15.168 ancient things. That's all the past.
00:24:17.328 Well, we're never going to learn how to walk into our future until we learn from
00:24:20.468 the past, but also, there's so much of us that we
00:24:24.148 see in each and every one of these. And next week, Father's Day
00:24:28.456 I just want to say, everyone, Father's Day is next Sunday.
00:24:30.736 Maybe that's news to you. Maybe you just learned that information, but next week is
00:24:34.396 Father's Day.
00:24:35.836 Next Sunday here, I'm going to spill the beans. I'm going to tell everyone here.
00:24:39.836 We're giving away beef jerky for the men. Okay?
00:24:42.196 I know guys like meats, right? How many of you like beef jerky?
00:24:45.356 How many of you guys like beef jerky? All right, so you're all coming.
00:24:47.956 I'll see you next week. Beef jerky, but not only beef jerky.
00:24:50.536 I have a message that I really feel is so powerful about Abraham and
00:24:54.336 Isaac, a father and a son. It's a story about sacrifice.
00:24:58.036 It's a story about obedience. It's a story about trusting God that I believe is
00:25:01.736 going to impact every single man in this room who shows up next week,
00:25:05.836 but it's going to be for every single one of us to understand how the Old Testament
00:25:10.176 points to our lives today and ultimately points to Jesus.
00:25:14.296 So come next week, and men and women, and too, invite a
00:25:18.256 guy to come next week. Men, invite a coworker, invite a
00:25:22.156 friend, invite your golf buddy, invite somebody, invite a family member to
00:25:25.856 come next week because it's going to be such a powerful time, I believe of
00:25:29.696 worship, of the message coming alive, and they get
00:25:33.576 beef jerky. If nothing else, beef jerky, free coffee. Get them here.
00:25:36.896 God will do the rest.
00:25:38.796 But oftentimes we fail to see ourselves in these stories.
00:25:42.316 We fail to see ourselves in these characters.
00:25:45.256 But the Bible's not only history, it's a mirror.
00:25:49.676 The Bible is actually, it says in James, like the word, the law is like a mirror.
00:25:53.376 Now, a good mirror reflects what is looking into it
00:25:57.226 accurately. I know there's those funny mirrors at Kennywood and different places
00:26:00.296 that make you look tall and fat and skinny and all those things.
00:26:02.816 But a real mirror, a true mirror is something that simply reflects what is looking
00:26:06.796 into it. The Bible is similar in that when you read the Bible, when you look at
00:26:10.816 scripture, it reveals who you really are, where you are.
00:26:15.336 And then the better thing with the Bible instead of the mirror is it helps you
00:26:18.796 change and transform to become more like the main character of
00:26:22.716 Jesus. And when we read the Bible, the history of it, we see
00:26:26.626 the pride of Pharaoh still exists today.
00:26:30.176 When we're really honest, and we read these stories, and we say, "Wow, he's so full
00:26:33.116 of pride." Oftentimes if we're honest, we say, "I can be like that at
00:26:36.916 times." Or with the fear of Moses, or Moses' inadequacy
00:26:40.936 or insecurities, we can go, "Yeah, sometimes I feel that way."
00:26:44.996 Or the rebellion of Jonah. Jonah, when God said, "Go here," Jonah went the
00:26:49.116 opposite direction. That rebellion still exists today.
00:26:53.276 We can rebel. We
00:26:54.976 disobey God, and sometimes we go the opposite direction of what He's telling us.
00:26:58.796 But here's some good news. The faith of Abraham still exists today.
00:27:02.736 The faith to trust God when it doesn't make sense, it doesn't
00:27:06.696 look like there's any possible way, that faith of Abraham still exists
00:27:10.516 today. The courage of Esther to put her life on the
00:27:14.416 line for her people, that courage still exists
00:27:18.356 today. When we see the Old Testament and see these characters, we
00:27:22.256 learn those timeless truths from past lives
00:27:26.176 that apply to our present purpose and how we can walk it out today.
00:27:29.476 See, human nature repeats itself again and again.
00:27:33.596 But God's faithfulness is always there again and
00:27:37.176 again. The purpose of a mirror is to show yourself and
00:27:41.056 if you've ever been to a gym with the mirrors on the wall, anybody ever been to a
00:27:44.456 gym with the mirrors on the wall? How about just a gym?
00:27:46.846 Maybe some of us we've seen, walked by one.
00:27:50.036 But often they have mirrors in the gym, and unfortunately, most people think those
00:27:53.736 mirrors are to look at themselves and take pictures and look at how great they are,
00:27:57.546 and so they can post and get more followers. Now, that's not always bad.
00:28:00.816 Maybe it's a little vain. But the reality is the mirror is
00:28:04.656 supposed to show you where you're not lifting correctly.
00:28:08.336 So get this, there's a mirror, and you're lifting weights.
00:28:11.576 The point of the mirror is to look at the mirror and watch how you're lifting.
00:28:15.156 If I'm doing curls and I'm going like this, I'm going to hurt my back.
00:28:19.296 But if I'm just trying to breathe and watch to get the weights up, I might not
00:28:22.616 realize that my form is incorrect.
00:28:24.976 So when I look at the mirror, I can go, "Oh, I can keep my form correct."
00:28:29.176 The mirror is meant to show you where you're not doing something correctly so
00:28:33.096 that you can correct it. It's to correct your form.
00:28:36.316 It's to train you to help you see things that you wouldn't see
00:28:39.896 without the mirror. The Bible's the same way.
00:28:42.956 In Second Timothy 3 he says, "The Bible is good for teaching, for
00:28:46.676 correction, for training." We read the
00:28:49.696 scriptures to help us see how we're not measuring up.
00:28:53.236 We're not lining up. We're not living our lives as we're supposed to, but
00:28:57.216 then how do we change and transform our lives to be more like the main
00:29:00.976 character, Jesus? Right? It shows us where we're not
00:29:04.676 actually doing exactly what we're supposed to and become more like Him.
00:29:08.316 It's not to beat us up and hold us down. It's to help us. It's to train us.
00:29:12.036 It's to correct us. Ultimately, the whole Old Testament points
00:29:16.076 to Jesus, and the story we're going to end with is where it all begins,
00:29:20.176 the story of Adam and Eve. The story of Adam and Eve is really a story
00:29:24.236 about Jesus.
00:29:25.836 In Genesis 3, just to give a little context here, Adam and Eve were created for
00:29:29.536 perfect fellowship with God. God creates the Garden of Eden.
00:29:33.176 He places Adam and gives him a wife, and all the things are perfect.
00:29:36.376 It's beautiful. It's wonderful. There's an abundance. There's health.
00:29:39.496 It's perfect. Perfect paradise. There's no
00:29:42.616 shame. There's no sin. There's no separation.
00:29:46.016 There's no calories. There's no need to go to the gym.
00:29:49.016 Everything's perfect. It's wonderful.
00:29:51.656 But then the serpent comes along, and Adam and Eve, they take the fruit from the
00:29:54.696 tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and they eat it.
00:29:57.456 And then the very next moment, in Genesis 3:7, it says, "Their
00:30:00.836 eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their
00:30:04.616 nakedness, so they sewed fig leaves together to cover
00:30:08.576 themselves."
00:30:10.356 What happened was Adam and Eve sinned. They rebelled.
00:30:13.956 They disobeyed God, and everything changed.
00:30:17.956 First, they saw their nakedness. The first thing they felt and experienced was
00:30:21.556 shame because of their sin. They tried to cover it themselves
00:30:25.516 by sewing fig leaves together.
00:30:28.876 God came looking for Adam, and Adam's hiding.
00:30:32.096 He actually says in verse 10, "I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid."
00:30:36.236 "I was afraid because I was naked."
00:30:40.316 Humanity has been doing the same thing that Adam did ever
00:30:43.956 since.
00:30:45.136 We sin, we disobey, we rebel, we go against God.
00:30:48.856 We feel shame, we feel guilt, we feel condemnation,
00:30:52.916 so then we go and hide, often in fear.
00:30:56.076 Often because we know we messed up, so we go and hide. My children do that.
00:30:59.936 When they make a mistake, they try to hide it. They try to cover it up.
00:31:03.236 We do the same thing with God. It might not be as obvious to us,
00:31:07.576 but when we sin, when we screw up, when we do something that's disobeying God,
00:31:11.916 we typically should feel shame. You should feel guilt.
00:31:14.496 You should feel bad, but not let it go to where we try to hide
00:31:18.476 and we try to live with that guilt and condemnation.
00:31:21.976 What we try to do is often, just like Adam and Eve do, we try to put fig leaves
00:31:25.496 over our nakedness, over our shame.
00:31:27.676 Fig leaves are like religion or like good works.
00:31:30.976 Trying to be a good person because you know you aren't a good person, so you try to
00:31:34.656 make yourself look like a good person.
00:31:36.736 You try to cover up the thing that you feel embarrassed about.
00:31:40.836 Now, being a good person's not a bad thing.
00:31:42.676 We should all be good people, but if it's being a good person to cover
00:31:46.696 up our sin or to cover up our shame, it's never going to
00:31:50.496 erase the guilt. It's never going to fix the sin.
00:31:53.356 It's never going to eradicate the condemnation that you're feeling.
00:31:58.076 The result of their disobedience was they were separated from God.
00:32:03.116 The same thing happens for us. When we sin, there's separation from
00:32:06.896 God. But notice what God does.
00:32:09.756 In verse 21,
00:32:11.596 it says, "The Lord God made garments of skin for
00:32:15.576 Adam and his wife and clothed them."
00:32:20.636 Don't miss this.
00:32:22.876 For animal skins to exist, something had to die.
00:32:27.266 A sacrifice had to be made. God had to take the
00:32:31.216 skins from an animal, innocent animal, to cover the
00:32:34.856 guilty nakedness and shame of Adam and Eve.
00:32:38.576 This is the first glimpse of the gospel. It's right here in Genesis.
00:32:42.576 The covering came from God. The sacrifice was
00:32:45.996 provided by God. The guilty were covered by
00:32:49.816 God. We cannot cover ourselves in any
00:32:53.596 permanent or eternal sense. But Jesus did
00:32:57.596 the same thing for us, not as an animal sacrifice, not as a
00:33:01.476 temporary covering, but a permanent covering of our sin.
00:33:05.676 In Hebrews 9:22, he writes, "Without the shedding of blood,
00:33:09.576 there is no forgiveness."
00:33:12.076 For Adam and Eve to have a covering, the animal had to be killed.
00:33:15.456 But in the future, in our time, and even today, there
00:33:19.436 can be no forgiveness without the shedding of blood, the
00:33:23.356 blood that comes from Jesus. That's what we were singing about this morning, the
00:33:26.476 blood of Jesus, that crimson flow that turns us
00:33:30.096 white as snow. That turns us from our death and our
00:33:33.816 darkness and our sin and our shame, and it leads us into life
00:33:38.016 and forgiveness and hope and encouragement.
00:33:42.156 The shedding of blood must take place for the forgiveness of sins.
00:33:46.176 We can't just say, "God, I'm sorry.
00:33:48.216 Give me a do-over." There has to be a payment.
00:33:50.656 There has to be a sacrifice in order to be forgiven.
00:33:54.476 In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says this, he contrasts Adam and
00:33:58.336 Jesus. He says, "So you see, just as death came into the world through
00:34:02.396 one man, through Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has
00:34:06.036 begun through another man, through Jesus.
00:34:08.857 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam,
00:34:12.556 everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new
00:34:16.196 life."
00:34:17.957 Being a descendant of Adam, as all of us are, was not our choice.
00:34:21.516 But Jesus says in John, chapter five, he says, "You have the choice.
00:34:24.596 Whoever hears my word and obeys will have eternal
00:34:28.216 life." The good news is that we can choose to
00:34:32.096 accept Jesus. It's not a question of is Jesus the
00:34:36.016 Savior? The question is, have you accepted Him as payment,
00:34:39.917 as covering for your sin and for your shame, for your
00:34:43.736 nakedness, for your fear, for your guilt, for all of your
00:34:47.457 inadequacies? For everything we fall short to God,
00:34:51.336 He is the covering, the permanent, eternal covering that we
00:34:55.276 have.
00:34:56.656 See, Adam brought sin. Jesus brought
00:35:00.036 salvation.
00:35:02.056 Adam brought death, where Jesus brought life.
00:35:06.236 Adam hid in shame. Jesus invites us into
00:35:10.116 His grace.
00:35:11.776 Sin separated us, but Jesus' sacrifice
00:35:15.696 saves us. He reconciles. He brings us back
00:35:18.936 into right relationship with Him.
00:35:21.896 Those animal skins in Genesis were a foreshadowing of what happened
00:35:25.896 on the cross, that Jesus gave His life as the
00:35:29.716 ultimate sacrifice, the perfect sacrifice, the only
00:35:33.516 sacrifice that could remove sin, wash away our
00:35:37.536 sins.
00:35:40.056 Jesus is the center of the entire story,
00:35:43.056 the story of redemption, the story of grace.
00:35:46.696 The Bible really is a story of rescue.
00:35:49.176 It's not about a bunch of amazing people doing amazing things.
00:35:51.756 It's actually about an amazing God rescuing a broken people.
00:35:57.156 Can we say amen? Praise God that it's not about how good
00:36:01.096 we are, it's all about how good God is.
00:36:04.396 He rescues a broken people who are desperate for Him.
00:36:07.676 You're not saved because you're so good.
00:36:09.816 You're saved because you are in desperate need of a savior.
00:36:12.936 The Bible, if we're really honest, should never be something we tout about and we
00:36:16.576 say, "Look at how much I know." But it should show us how much we don't know, how
00:36:20.676 much we need a savior, how much we need to be rescued by
00:36:24.626 the only one who could rescue us.
00:36:28.636 Maybe you're here today,
00:36:30.456 maybe you're watching online,
00:36:32.356 and you've been trying to sew fig leaves together.
00:36:34.916 You've been trying to swear a little less.
00:36:36.356 You've been trying to drink a little less.
00:36:37.576 You've been trying to go to church, be a good person, do good,
00:36:41.476 be kind. All those things are great But if you're doing it as a
00:36:45.444 means to cover for your sin, it's temporary.
00:36:48.964 It's not going to do it. It's not going to be enough.
00:36:51.444 Religion and good works will never be enough to cover
00:36:55.284 you for your sin.
00:36:57.504 It's only by the shedding of the blood of Jesus that we can be forgiven,
00:37:01.644 that we can have eternal life with him.
00:37:04.704 So I'm going to invite you just to bow your heads, close your eyes, those
00:37:08.504 watching online, if you could just join us in prayer.
00:37:14.864 Heavenly Father, we thank you, God,
00:37:18.244 that you created us to be in perfect relationship with you.
00:37:22.344 God, we see your character in the garden, that you wanted to be in relationship
00:37:26.064 with Adam and Eve. God, you don't change.
00:37:28.724 That still exists today, that you want to have a relationship
00:37:32.624 with each and every one of us.
00:37:34.944 That, God, you desire
00:37:36.804 for us to know you, to find freedom in you, to
00:37:40.444 discover our purpose that you have put inside of us.
00:37:43.044 That, God, we would make an impact in our world by pointing other people to you.
00:37:47.944 God, I thank you for the freedom that we have in Jesus.
00:37:51.904 That only freedom that lasts for eternity is through the blood of
00:37:55.804 Jesus Christ.
00:37:57.504 God, I pray right now for every single person in this room.
00:38:00.324 God, that we would not just glaze over the Old Testament or think it's some ancient
00:38:04.224 text, but God, we would know and see how important it is to
00:38:08.044 read the scriptures, to dive into the scriptures, not just to look
00:38:12.044 for stories, but to look for you, to look for Jesus, to look for
00:38:15.764 truth. Those timeless truths that apply to our
00:38:19.484 lives today.
00:38:21.384 And God, I pray that we would see the wonder, the power, the miraculous
00:38:25.304 work that is the Bible,
00:38:28.144 your word that speaks to us, that comes alive to us.
00:38:32.384 God, I pray we learn from Adam and Eve that we would not walk in disobedience.
00:38:35.864 We would not try to hide from you or live in fear of you, but God, we would
00:38:39.424 desire to receive you as our covering.
00:38:43.964 God, we'd receive you and accept you as our personal Lord,
00:38:48.144 as our personal Savior, the only one who could ever pay for our
00:38:52.063 sins and wash us white as snow.
00:38:55.784 That's why within this
00:38:58.024 mode of prayer,
00:39:00.184 if you're here today
00:39:02.544 and you want to give your life to Jesus, you want to accept him as your Lord,
00:39:06.784 as your Savior, as the covering for your sin,
00:39:10.644 I want to pray for you. I want you just to do something real simple.
00:39:13.624 Maybe you've done this before and you say, "I want to recommit my life.
00:39:16.864 I want to rededicate that Jesus would be my Savior, that he
00:39:20.804 covers my sin." All I'm asking you is to slip up your hand right where
00:39:24.704 you are, and I want to pray for you.
00:39:28.024 If you want to make that decision to surrender your life to Jesus, rededicate your
00:39:31.284 life right now, I just ask you to raise your hand and I'll pray for you.
00:39:35.904 Amen. Heavenly Father, I thank you, God,
00:39:39.544 for every person making that decision in their heart, God, as your word says, we
00:39:43.344 hear your word, we choose to obey your word, that we inherit eternal
00:39:47.284 life. God, I thank you for each and every person who's making that decision today
00:39:51.764 to have their sins washed away. God, to walk a new way with
00:39:55.584 you. God, that they would be born again, a new creation
00:39:59.484 in Christ Jesus. God, I pray they would know that they can
00:40:03.444 come to you and confess their sin to you.
00:40:06.044 That, God, you are right and just to forgive us of our sin because of your
00:40:10.044 shed blood on the cross. And God, I pray they would stay the course,
00:40:13.824 walking with you, learning about you,
00:40:17.064 and applying everything they learn in the word to their lives.
00:40:20.204 In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Can we give God a great big hand?
00:40:24.633 Those people making that decision.
00:40:26.324 If you've made that decision online as well, you can fill that out online.
00:40:29.664 You can scan the tap card with your phone if you're in this room right now.
00:40:33.624 We want you to be able to let us know that you surrendered your life to Jesus, and
00:40:37.564 we're going to help you identify your next steps with him as well.
00:40:40.984 So grateful to be here with you. Jared, come on up and—