Posted by Pastor Pat on January 23, 2009
Where do we go from here? Because the story exceeds the boundaries placed on it, it engulfs everyone and everything that lies in its path. God wrote every detail into the story. He knows what will happen before it happens simply because He is God. There is only one book that gives us “the rest of the story.” It is found almost exclusively in the book of Revelation. The Book of Revelation is notably apocalyptic literature. This means it uses symbolism to communicate its thoughts. The meaning is not in the symbol but in what the symbol represents. “It is literature born out of crisis and was a means of addressing that crisis to a religious community.”(http://faculty.bbc.edu/rdecker/phd/depriest/1defined.html) This means the intent of the literature was to explain present conflict and provide immediate hope. The book of Revelation is remarkably singular in its purpose. Chapter 1 verse 1 opens with the following statement,
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Posted by Pastor Pat on January 13, 2009
We have already noted how the Hero’s work has left His people with a legacy. This legacy is to be carried out by every succeeding generation. The mission for His people is to share His legacy. Luke 24:47 notes how the message is to “be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” Luke continues this idea in Acts 1:7, 8. ”He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth’”.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on January 7, 2009
In the story of God, He created a world in which His story would unfold. From the very beginning a villain, an antagonist was presented. But God also wrote into His story a deliverer who would bring deliverance. This hero was foreshadowed and imaged throughout biblical revelation and history. The foretelling and figure were so exact that when the hero arrived all who were looking were able to identify God’s hero. The Hero came at a very specific time in history and with a distinct purpose. He came as a deliverer, and He brought with Him deliverance. The Hero has finished the work entrusted to Him by His Father; now He gives to His people the responsibility to carry on the work of proclamation to all the nations. Even though we acknowledge the story of God, we fail to see how we are living in the story and how our lives are a part of the ongoing story of God.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on January 5, 2009
“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:4, 5).
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Posted by Pastor Pat on January 4, 2009
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:4, 5).
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