From Clay to Creation: Surrendering Our Creative Will to Christ

• Creation and Divine Speech [00:29:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor analyzes Genesis 1, focusing on the Hebrew conjunction 'and' to argue that God's creative act involved a sequence where creation existed in potentiality before being spoken into reality.
• Internal Sin vs. External Action [00:30:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor cites Matthew 5 to demonstrate that Jesus equates internal states (anger, lust) with external sins (murder, adultery), establishing that sin originates in the heart.
• The Nature of Creation/Intent [00:34:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses an analogy of an artist painting to explain that true creation begins in the mind and spirit before physical manifestation.
• Imago Dei (Image of God) [00:36:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that being made in God's image refers to the cognitive ability to conceive and design (logic, reason, creativity) rather than physical appearance, distinguishing humans from other creatures.
• Creation and Conception [00:34:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using Genesis 1 and analogies of artists and singers, the pastor explains that creation/design begins in the mind/spirit before physical manifestation, applying this to both divine creation and human sin.
• Sanctification and Grace [00:43:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor asserts that human creativity is inherently corrupt due to sin, and only through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit can humans create true goodness and righteousness.
• Prayer and Intercession [00:49:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The segment transitions into the Liturgy of the People, praying for specific individuals, the church, military personnel, and global leaders.

• Sermon Illustration [00:34:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses an analogy of an artist painting a picture, noting that the creation begins in the artist's mind and heart as thoughts and designs form, rather than only when the paintbrush touches the canvas.
• Sermon Illustration [00:34:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of an artist painting a picture to explain that creation begins in the mind and heart before the paintbrush touches the canvas, and similarly, a song begins in the singer's mind and spirit before it is vocalized.
• Sermon Illustration [00:37:38 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the physical appearance of God with the cognitive abilities of humans, noting that dogs and cats also have eyes and noses, so physical likeness cannot be the image of God; instead, it is our ability to think, design, and pass information across generations.
• Sermon Illustration [00:39:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of making bricks from clay to illustrate that while God creates from nothing, humans create from what God has given, using our minds to shape God's creation into something bigger, like a house or community.
• Sermon Illustration [00:41:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the biblical concept from James of a person looking in a mirror and forgetting their reflection, comparing it to hearing the Word but not doing it, illustrating the danger of failing to manifest the image of God in action.

• Pastoral Charge [00:45:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > Surrender personal will and personality to Christ daily to allow His Spirit to create righteousness through them.
• Pastoral Charge [00:46:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > Perform acts of goodness towards all people, with special priority given to members of the church community.
• Pastoral Charge [00:53:48 ▶️ 📄]
  > Invite congregation to confess sins together after self-examination.
• Pastoral Charge [00:55:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > Instruct congregation to trust in God's promise of forgiveness.
• Pastoral Charge [00:55:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > Call those burdened to come to Christ for rest.
• Pastoral Charge [00:55:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > Direct congregation to lift their hearts in thanksgiving.

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:03:14] God spoke these words and he said to his people, I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods but me.
[00:06:29] You shall not make to yourself any graven image nor the likeness of anything in heaven above or in the earth beneath, or in the water that is under the earth, you shall not bow down to them
[00:06:38] and you shall not worship them.
[00:06:41] You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.
[00:06:49] Remember that you shall keep holy the Sabbath day.
[00:06:52] Six days shall you labor and do all that you have to do.
[00:06:56] But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.
[00:07:00] Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the language to the Lord your God who has given you.
[00:07:06] You shall not commit murder.
[00:07:08] You shall not commit adultery.
[00:07:10] You shall not steal.
[00:07:12] You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
[00:07:16] You shall not cut.
[00:07:17] Lord, have mercy upon us.
[00:07:20] Christ, have mercy upon us.
[00:07:22] Lord, have mercy upon us.
[00:07:24] O Lord, you did first deliver your commandments from a mountain which burned amid darkness with fire and storm.
[00:07:31] Lord, we thank you that this law has now been published unto us in a new and a more precious way from Mount Zion.
[00:07:40] Through the mediation of a new and a more perfect covenant, we humbly beseech you to put these words in our minds and to write them upon the walls of our hearts, that we may always take delight in your law and serve you in the goodness of spirit.
[00:07:54] Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
[00:07:58] Please be seated.
[00:07:59] Good morning.

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:08:10] We have thank you notes, we have some announcements, quite a bit going on this morning, so if you'll just bear with us, we'll plow through them.
[00:08:18] Anyone who wants to participate in the Mount Pleasant Independence Parade, please let Dr. John know, the parade will be there June 27th, starting at 5, and I believe Crystal, you said we line up at 3.30, I think you said?

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:08:30] No, that starts at 3.30.

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:08:31] and don't be late on special weeks so singing saints chorus free mother's day concert is today 3 p.m of course to the united methodist church there uh union street you know if anybody wants to hear the lovely folks sing make sure you join them there we are going to be looking at possibly
[00:08:50] reorganizing some of our committees so if you will be so kind as to provide the council jazz been on council the updates on who's on the committee who's in charge duties um we're looking at possibly reassigning things uh to that point we're going to do a maintenance and property
[00:09:10] committee meeting this thursday uh in the fellowship hall at six o'clock uh we're possibly thinking about maybe splitting that into a maintenance uh committee and then a grounds committee just so we can have more people with hands in the pie there speaking of
[00:09:25] things of that nature custodial bid is going to be for custodial service of the church due june the 7th at 8 o'clock and this is going to be a six month duration we've historically had
[00:09:39] the long uh care and the custodial different times we're going to try to unify them at the same time because it's going to make 10.99 a lot easier for those folks because right now get 10.99 for half the year and it makes it very difficult so we're going to do a six month bid
[00:09:55] this time and then every bit afterwards will be 12 months and that way the lawn care and the uh custodial are at the same time and it just makes the paperwork much easier for ms janey and the treasurer and all that to do well it'll all be in january that is correct
[00:10:12] thank you so much just to clarify everything will be in january going forward so this particular custodial is going to be for six months just so that we can do the council is not empowered
[00:10:21] to do an 18-month bid so we have to do a six-month bid to align with that makes sense don't forget uh the 17th we are doing our joint men's brotherhood uh here at boker so all the
[00:10:33] men's brotherhood make sure you show here right there when you start cooking 536 when we make sure we cook to have our meeting and all that vbs is coming on us very quickly and so after the youth
[00:10:47] meeting on wednesday all the people who want to teach and participate in there make sure you're here for a teacher's meeting this Wednesday after the youth meeting to go over the VBS teaching assignments. I told you it was a long list. Thank you notes. Now we get to thanks.
[00:11:05] We had the amount of announcements, now we get to thanks. This is to Teresa and the ladies of the church from Barry and Margaret. It says the purple prayer shawls are absolutely beautiful. Thank you for thinking of mom and me. It will come in
[00:11:17] handy at the nursing home. Mom likes to sit and look out at the birds and butterflies. I already have my prayer on the back of my recliner. We're so grateful to have all of your support and love.
[00:11:33] What was your family? Thank you so much for the lonely, the lovely pink knockout rose bush I received after my recent surgery. I will enjoy it in my yard for years to come. Thank you also for all the calls, texts and prayers
[00:11:47] I've received since my recent cancer diagnosis. They have made my journey thus far so much later, I have experienced a peace which passes all understanding. Praise and glory to God. Love. Thank you, Teresa. And our final thank you note. This is from
[00:12:03] the Isley's Bober Home Church. We'd like to thank the Women's Circle and several others for their contribution to purchase items for our niece, Shelby, and her shipmates on the George Bush aircraft carrier. We purchase and ship beef jerky, energy drinks, rice quickly
[00:12:19] treats, Nutrivane bars, packet chicken, and the games grab before their game.
[00:12:24] I thank you all so much and we love you all and on that note, Mr Jim would like to have a announcement about a naval relief effort that we'd like to help

[00:12:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:12:35] with the church. Mr Jim. Yeah, thank you. I think a lot of you know about it already. But again, Shelby's my granddaughter and she's on the USS Bush over there. Now we're the huge, you know, the forward been supporting all
[00:12:47] that they pulled them out now that so they're on the front lines of the straight now and so what's happened is Bahrain the American base were destroyed so they have no place to go to port to restock so I'm not gonna say you get
[00:12:58] hungry but they have to get stuff she didn't get a link in a Amazon is agreed to set up where we can see stuff straight to them and pay for it I think you do it so if you'd like to support that uh that's appreciated because what's happened is
[00:13:19] i've been talking to her about the last week she contacted us she's got a crew of 250 people over here okay she's in charge of for some reason a lot of her her crew are uh without families here
[00:13:33] they were foster kids that's doing services stuff like that so he kind of i'll have 200 so she's probably got a hundred some assistant has no family that you go back to so she's collecting all this stuff and making them a room the game room and all that kind of stuff so

[00:13:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:13:48] appreciate you thank you so much jim any help if you would like to send supplies uh to our sailors because dr jim said several supply bases have been destroyed they cannot hit the same supply they could but thank goodness they have helicopters and amazon um see chris and uh i mean
[00:14:07] chris see christy and scott and jim and mary so they can help coordinate helping our sailors out there in the gulf so thank you so much are there any further announcements well let's have

[00:14:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:14:18] the children meet in the back to bring the food service park forward food service and all of those announcements so i'm going to ask you who remembers what the book is that we've been going through huh
[00:16:08] yes the bible yes and we're using another book that's full of questions to help us get to better understand the Bible. Who remembers what that's called? Anybody?
[00:16:19] You want to ask Ananias over? Anybody?
[00:16:22] Heidelberg Catechism.
[00:16:24] The Heidelberg Catechism.
[00:16:25] Somebody's been paying attention. Everybody say it.
[00:16:27] The Heidelberg Catechism.
[00:16:31] Very good. And what does the Heidelberg Catechism do?
[00:16:34] It asks us questions to help us better understand the

[00:16:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:16:40] Bible. That's right.

[00:16:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:16:45] ask these questions and better understand the Bible. So far, we've gone over about five, maybe six questions out of it, and I'm just going to pick one at random and see who can answer it.
[00:17:01] What is your only comfort in life and in death?
[00:17:09] Anybody know it?
[00:17:10] Anybody can recite it?
[00:17:12] I'll give you the first two words.
[00:17:14] That I there we go very good everybody let's do it together that I am not my own but belong to Jesus that's right very good I'm impressed by what I heard from out here too very good very good
[00:17:44] So, that is the first question in the Heidelberg Catechism, and it's one that is probably the most important because there's a lot of stuff in that question.
[00:17:56] That you belong to Jesus means that you have been purchased.
[00:18:00] Sit up, please.
[00:18:05] Sit up.
[00:18:06] That you belong to Jesus means that you have been purchased.
[00:18:10] So, even though that's a really short little question, there's a lot of meaning, a lot of lessons packed into it, okay?
[00:18:17] So as you go forward with your week this week, I want you to remember that you belong to, that you have been bought and paid for.
[00:18:28] You can have a bumper sticker on your backside that says, Property of JC.
[00:18:32] How's that?
[00:18:32] Don't do that.
[00:18:33] Terrible idea.
[00:18:34] But you have a spiritual bumper sticker that says, Property of JC.
[00:18:39] Got it?
[00:18:40] Very good.
[00:18:41] Let's pray.
[00:18:42] Blessed Lord, we give you thanks for these children, for their sense of humor, for their seeking, for their desire to understand and to know you and your word.
[00:18:52] Lord, we ask that you would guide them with your light, with your Holy Spirit, so that the things that they do would reflect the fact, would reflect the knowledge and the faith that they have,
[00:19:02] that they belong to you.
[00:19:05] We pray these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
[00:19:09] Amen.
[00:19:11] Shalom.
[00:19:16] We'll be with you. Let us pray.
[00:19:41] Almighty and eternal God, who was before all creation, we give you thanks that by your word you did create the heavens and the earth and all that is in them.
[00:19:53] We give you thanks that through our disobedience and sin you sent your son Jesus Christ into the world to redeem the world.
[00:20:00] We give you thanks that your Holy Spirit is in and amongst us so that we might know your presence and know your word and be led to follow after the same.
[00:20:11] Help us always to see you in all that we do, so that we might continually follow in your path, hear your voice, and be conformed to the image of your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you, O Father and Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

[00:20:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:20:33] Our first lesson comes from the General Epistle of James, chapter 1, verses 16 through 24.
[00:20:48] Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
[00:21:04] Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, and we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
[00:21:13] Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
[00:21:22] For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
[00:21:28] Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
[00:21:40] But ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
[00:21:45] For if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in the glass.
[00:21:52] For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgiveth what manner of man he was.
[00:22:01] Here ends the first lesson.
[00:22:03] Please stand to sing the gradual hymn number 311, Haste not, O gentle Savior.

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:22:10] The 16th chapter.

[00:25:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:25:36] And as I have said these things to you, you are filled with grief.
[00:25:48] But I tell you the truth, that unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you.
[00:25:56] But if I go, I will send him to you.
[00:26:00] When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment, in regard to sin because men do not believe in me in regard to righteousness because I am going to the Father
[00:26:14] where you can see me no longer and in regard to judgment because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
[00:26:22] I have much more to say to you more than you can bear now and when he, the spirit of truth, comes he will guide you into all truth.
[00:26:32] He will not speak of his own he will speak only what he hears and He will tell you what is yet to come.
[00:26:40] He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.
[00:26:47] All that belongs to the Father is mine.
[00:26:50] That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
[00:26:56] The Gospel of the Lord.
[00:26:58] Praise be to Thee, O Christ.
[00:27:01] Let us take time now to profess our faith together in the words of the Apostles' Creed, and on the inside of that cover, if you would.
[00:27:34] I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

[00:27:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:27:37] Creator of heaven, and in Jesus Christ, His own Son, our Lord, conceived by the Holy Spirit,

[00:27:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:27:44] born of the Virgin Mary, suffered by the dead, and married,

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:27:51] He is sinning, and sits at the right hand of God the Father, the judge for living and the dead, the Holy Spirit, the Holy God of the Church, the saints, the forgiveness of sin, and the life of heaven.
[00:28:12] Please be seated.

[00:28:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:28:15] good stuff packed in these lessons. So much good stuff in fact that I had to go find some more to pack in as well. Not so much that I had to find them as much
[00:28:31] as I've had some things that have been pressing on me this week.
[00:28:34] So I'm going to go a little bit off script, but not too terribly off script if you will. I want you guys to flip with me. We're going to read a couple more passages all the way back to the beginning.
[00:28:46] like the very beginning, like I've been in the beginning.
[00:28:49] Genesis 1 is right there at the start.
[00:28:53] And I'm going to give you just a second to get there.
[00:29:00] Alright, so, the Scriptures say in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
[00:29:10] Now the earth was formless and empty.
[00:29:12] Darkness was over the surface of the deep.
[00:29:14] And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
[00:29:18] and God said let there be light and there was light God saw that the light was good and he separated the light from the darkness God called the light day and the darkness night and there was evening
[00:29:31] and there was morning the first day and that's where we're going to stop for right now now we're going to flip to something that is going to feel incredibly disjointed at first everybody let's go to Matthew chapter 5
[00:29:49] Matthew chapter 5.
[00:29:51] We're going to start at verse 21.
[00:29:54] Matthew 5, 21.
[00:30:01] Where Jesus is speaking.
[00:30:05] And it says, You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, Do not murder.
[00:30:10] Anyone who murders will be subject to the judgment.
[00:30:13] But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.
[00:30:18] Again, anyone who says to his brother, Raka, is answerable to the Sanhedrin.
[00:30:23] For anyone who says you fool will be in danger of the fire of hell.
[00:30:28] Therefore, if you are offering your gift to the altar and remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift at the altar.
[00:30:37] First, you will be reconciled to your brother.
[00:30:39] Then come and make your offering.
[00:30:42] Sell matters quickly with your adversaries who are taking you to court.
[00:30:47] First, do this while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown in prison.
[00:30:57] I tell you truly, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
[00:31:04] You have heard what was said, do not commit adultery, but I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
[00:31:16] If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away.
[00:31:23] It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for the whole body to be thrown into hell.
[00:31:31] Now, on the surface of it, we see two very different messages here.
[00:31:37] We read about the creation.
[00:31:41] We read about God's creation in the beginning.
[00:31:45] And then we read about Jesus lecturing us, Jesus condemning wickedness, condemning sin.
[00:31:51] And I can already hear the head scratches going, Richard, where are you going with this?
[00:31:56] But there's something very important packed into these verses.
[00:32:01] And indeed, specifically in that passage from James.
[00:32:07] If we look at this Genesis account, in the very beginning, It says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
[00:32:18] We acknowledge that.
[00:32:20] We understand that.
[00:32:21] We believe, we trust, we have faith that God created it all.
[00:32:27] Full stop.
[00:32:28] We can all agree on that.
[00:32:30] But we're going to jump down to verse 3.
[00:32:36] We see this word, and.
[00:32:39] This word, and, in the context of the Hebrew, means that something happened, then this thing happened.
[00:32:48] There is a division in these articles.
[00:32:51] So God created the heaven and the earth before the and.
[00:32:59] Think about that for a second, okay?
[00:33:01] Now, the scriptures say, and, so then, God said.
[00:33:11] So God created, and then God spoke.
[00:33:18] Where are you going with this?
[00:33:19] I don't know.
[00:33:21] Whenever we read the account in Matthew where Jesus is talking to the people who have gathered around him, he says that if you have committed a sin in your heart, it is no different than committing it with your hands.
[00:33:42] If you are angry, if you have hatred towards your brother, it's as if you've murdered him in your heart.
[00:33:49] If you look with lusty eyes at someone who is not your spouse, you are committing adultery in your heart.
[00:34:00] That is to say that creation begins before it is done.
[00:34:08] We think about actions beginning when they begin, but the reality is they begin before.
[00:34:15] Whenever an artist paints a picture, the creation doesn't begin when the paintbrush touches the canvas.
[00:34:27] The creation begins in his mind, in his heart, as the thoughts, as the design begin to come together.
[00:34:36] Before they are manifest in reality, they exist in his spirit.
[00:34:42] Whenever a person sings a song, the song doesn't begin whenever her voice comes out of her mouth.
[00:34:53] The song begins whenever she feels, when she senses, when she reads, when she creates the music in her mind and in her spirit.
[00:35:03] The creation, the design, the creativity, the reality exists before it is made manifest.
[00:35:14] That is true both with good and with wickedness.
[00:35:19] That is true both in obedience and disobedience.
[00:35:24] The very beginning of the scriptures, it says, in the beginning, God created.
[00:35:30] And then he spoke it into existence.
[00:35:35] He designed it.
[00:35:36] He planned it.
[00:35:37] He set it out.
[00:35:40] And then he said, let's do it.
[00:35:47] He conceived of it.
[00:35:50] And then it was made manifest.
[00:35:53] In the same way that Mary, the mother of our blessed Lord, conceived Christ.
[00:36:01] And then He was made revealed.
[00:36:04] He was made manifest to us in the Nativity.
[00:36:09] The same is true of our sins.
[00:36:13] The same is true of our wickedness.
[00:36:15] Before our actions, we have a spirit.
[00:36:20] Before we do something with our hands, it is done in our heart, it's done in our mind.
[00:36:26] This is one of the things that makes us the image of God.
[00:36:32] We have the ability, unlike any other created being, to conceive and then to do.
[00:36:41] We have the ability to design and then create.
[00:36:46] There is no other creature, no other species in this world that can do that.
[00:36:53] There is no other species in this world that can pass information from one generation to a generation that it has never and will never meet.
[00:37:06] There is one creature in all of God's creation that can record its words.
[00:37:15] And that's us.
[00:37:18] Writing, you know, it's something that we do in school.
[00:37:20] It's not a big deal.
[00:37:23] But the ability to record our thoughts, to record our words, to record our realities is what makes us like God.
[00:37:36] Think about it.
[00:37:38] We talk about being made in the image of God, and a lot of people go, oh, well, that means God must look like this.
[00:37:44] God must have two eyes.
[00:37:45] God must have a nose.
[00:37:46] God must have two ears.
[00:37:48] But the reality is, so do dogs.
[00:37:50] and cats, and a whole bunch of other creatures.
[00:37:53] That can't be what makes us the image of God.
[00:37:56] It has to be something that's distinct to us.
[00:38:00] And it's here.
[00:38:02] It's here.
[00:38:04] It's our logic.
[00:38:05] It's our reason.
[00:38:07] It's our ability to think.
[00:38:09] It's our ability to design.
[00:38:10] It's our ability to create and to contrive.
[00:38:14] It's our ability to love and to pass information, to pass our love, our convictions, from one generation to the next.
[00:38:24] It's the ability to come up with an idea and then to do it.
[00:38:31] We're not bound to instinct.
[00:38:33] We're not bound to what our body is designed to do.
[00:38:39] But we're given an ability, like God, being made in the image of God.
[00:38:45] to create, to do, to make, to build something new.
[00:38:54] The difference is, God creates it from nothing.
[00:38:59] We create it from what God has given us.
[00:39:04] We can take clay from the ground and put it into a mold and create bricks.
[00:39:11] We take God's creation and we shape it with our minds.
[00:39:16] Our minds design it and our hands do it.
[00:39:19] But what good is a brick without the ability to use your mind and think, you know, if I put all the bricks together, I can build something bigger.
[00:39:31] What good is a house if you can't use your mind and design something bigger?
[00:39:38] A community.
[00:39:41] Each step of this is a role that we play in God's plan.
[00:39:46] It's a way that we live out, that we work out, the design that God has for us.
[00:39:56] And that is to be like Him.
[00:39:59] He intended, He designed us from the beginning.
[00:40:06] Genesis 1 verse 27 says, So God created man in His own image.
[00:40:13] In the image of God He created him, male and female He created.
[00:40:18] Our intention, or the intention of our creation, was to be like God.
[00:40:26] He created us in His image.
[00:40:28] He created us in His likeness.
[00:40:30] He gave us a blessing and a spirit and a soul that makes us different from all of the other creations.
[00:40:42] All of the other things.
[00:40:45] All of the other crips and plants.
[00:40:47] We are distinct. We are different. Because God breathed His Spirit, His life into us.
[00:41:03] What makes us the image of God? The ability to look for God. The ability to see God in ourselves and in each one of us, as corrupt as that image might be. Not because God is
[00:41:21] for us, but because we damaged the image. In the letter from James, we have that concept of a person who hears the word but doesn't do it is the same as a person who looks in a mirror and
[00:41:39] sees his own image.
[00:41:42] And they step away and they forget it.
[00:41:45] It's as if they never saw it at all.
[00:41:49] That image, that likeness is essential to our being. In the beginning was the Word. The Word is with God, and the Word is God. This Word, this written account existed before the foundation of the world. Words have power, y'all. The ability
[00:42:14] to speak, the ability to think, and then make our thoughts manifest so that other people can hear it. Yes, there are creatures, there are other animals that can parrot, that can repeat words that other people say that's not the same as cognition that's not the same as creating
[00:42:37] words is coming up with ideas there are also animals that have some ability to think and come up with ideas but at the same time they can't verbalize them they can't communicate so they are also lacking in that completeness there are similarities between us and other
[00:42:57] creatures all over the place, but none that is made in the image of God but us.
[00:43:06] As you live your life, as you walk with your brothers and sisters, as you walk with people who are not of this faith, people who are not of the tree, people who are not of this
[00:43:21] family. They will look at you, and they will see either the image of God, or they will see corruption. It is your duty.
[00:43:35] It is the expectation that God has laid upon you, that we should create goodness in the way that God creates goodness.
[00:43:50] Are we capable of creating what is good? We are not.
[00:43:54] Because we are corrupt.
[00:43:56] but through His grace, through being conformed to the image of God again, through Jesus Christ.
[00:44:05] By being sanctified, by being bought and paid for by His blood, by His life, by His offering, and by His sacrifice, we have an opportunity, we have a hope to be conformed to His image again.
[00:44:24] We have a hope to say, not my will, but yours.
[00:44:29] We have an opportunity to say not my creativity, not my creation, but yours, O God.
[00:44:37] Nothing that these hands do will ever be good.
[00:44:43] Nothing.
[00:44:46] But if these hands become the hands of God, then His Spirit, His power, can create what is good.
[00:44:53] His power can create what is just, what is right.
[00:44:57] and His power can restore us.
[00:45:01] You have the ability given to you by God to do, to create, to manifest things.
[00:45:12] And the choice is yours whether you manifest, whether you create goodness by His Spirit or wickedness by your own will.
[00:45:23] Within your heart, within your mind you create things every single day.
[00:45:31] Every day.
[00:45:32] Are the creations that you manifest with your hands and with your life going to separate you from God?
[00:45:44] Or are they going to bring you closer to Him?
[00:45:49] Create goodness, create righteousness by letting the Lord fill your spirit.
[00:45:59] By letting God direct you.
[00:46:01] Let your spirit, let your will, let your personality die daily with Christ.
[00:46:11] so that Christ, our God, can live in and through you.
[00:46:40] While we have time, let us do good unto all mankind, especially those who are of this household.
[00:46:46] The King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I tell you, inasmuch as you have done to the least of these my brethren, you have done also.
[00:46:54] We beseech you, in all conditions of mankind, we ask especially for your mercy to fulfill the needs of all those things we take time now to call out before you.

[00:49:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:49:24] David Freddie, George and Fran Brown, Mike and Connie Moss, Joyce Yates, Shannon Fowler,

[00:49:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:49:40] Rachel, Shelby, Karen, David, Teresa, Jonathan, Thomas, and Michelle.
[00:49:55] For these and all others who for whatever reason we have chosen not to call out their names, We ask that you fulfill, O Lord, their necessities in the way that it was expedient to them, according to your will.
[00:50:17] We bless your holy name for all the blessings, the miracles, the graces, and the glories of this life.
[00:50:23] But especially we take time now to give you praise and thanksgiving for the blessings that we take time to claim by name before your divine master.

[00:50:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:50:39] For showers of wine, beautiful creation.

[00:50:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:50:44] For those serving on the military, home of the brethren.

[00:50:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:50:50] For creativity.

[00:51:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:51:01] for art, for those that you have empowered with these gifts to inspire us.
[00:51:10] We ask, O Lord, that you would open our hearts to see your blessings at any time that we encounter them, so that we might always give you thanks and praise.
[00:51:19] Remember in your mercy, O Lord, your church militant throughout the whole earth.
[00:51:23] Clothe her ministries with righteousness and her priests with salvation.
[00:51:27] Where she is desolate, build her up.
[00:51:29] Where she is disordered, restore her.
[00:51:31] Where she is divided, heal her.
[00:51:33] and grant unto your church prosperity, safety, unity, and peace.
[00:51:38] Lord, we commend unto you this particular congregation here in Bogart, this pastor and these people who are joined together to pray and to give you honor and glory.
[00:51:49] We beseech you to accept our piety and our faith and to increase towards us your heavenly grace that we should abound more and more in knowledge and love of thee and of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:52:01] Blessed Lord, we ask your continued blessings and provision for the ministers and the members of this evangelical reformed senate around the world.
[00:52:09] Increase these congregations by the power of your Holy Spirit, both in number and in the depth of our commitment to your service. Today, we pray especially for Lubumbashi in our church, and Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic
[00:52:23] of Congo.
[00:52:24] Enable them constantly and faithfully to do your will and to preach your word.
[00:52:31] We pray for the rulers of all lands and all nations and for the people committed to their charge. Look with favor upon your servants, especially the President of these United States and the Governor of this state, and all others
[00:52:43] who are in authority over us.
[00:52:46] So enrich them with your wisdom and grace that under their governance we might lead quiet and peaceful lives.
[00:52:53] Those leaders who are not members of your church and have not submitted to the power of your Son, we ask you, O Lord, that you would break their hardened hearts that you would enlighten their path
[00:53:06] so that they may be conformed to his image, that they may submit to his love, and that they may walk in his gospel.
[00:53:18] We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
[00:53:22] We ask, O Lord, that you would send forth your truth and your light to the ends of the earth.
[00:53:28] Cause the glorious gospel of your grace to be proclaimed among all the nations and powerfully incline the hearts of mankind everywhere.
[00:53:35] that they may hear and they may obey the joyful sound of this through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
[00:53:44] Amen.
[00:53:48] I invite you now who have searched your hearts and intend to lead a new life following the commandments of God and walking after Christ and Christian holiness.
[00:53:57] Let us join together our voices as we make our humble confession to Almighty God.
[00:54:03] Say, Almighty God, Father, Lord, Lord, Jesus Christ, maker of all things,

[00:54:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:54:09] to judge of all men.
[00:54:11] We acknowledge and bewail our ineffable sins and wickedness, which we, from time to time, have most rigorously admitted by thought, word, and deed against thy unrighteousness, provoking most justice in our wrath and vindication against us.
[00:54:26] We do want us to repent, and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings.
[00:54:31] The remembrance of men's grievances to us, the burden of men's tom-tom, have mercy upon us, Have mercy upon us, O merciful Father, for thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, is saved.

[00:54:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:54:43] Forgive us all our past acts, and grant that we may ever appear after this servant, pleading and seeing him through the life of life.
[00:54:49] To the honor and glory of thy name, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
[00:54:53] I want to accompany assurance of the grace of God that is promised in the Gospel to all those who have heard repentance and true faith turn to him.
[00:55:05] Trust in his word, and be assured that your sins are forgiven.
[00:55:10] In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
[00:55:14] Hear the words of our Lord Jesus Christ as he calls out to all who truly turn unto him, saying, Come unto me, all you that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.
[00:55:27] Hear the words of St. John as he says, If any man sins, be a advocate with the Father.
[00:55:31] He is Jesus Christ, the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins.
[00:55:38] The Lord be with you.
[00:55:39] And with thy spirit.
[00:55:41] Lift up your hearts.
[00:55:42] We lift them up to the Lord.
[00:55:44] Let us give thanks unto our Lord God.
[00:55:46] In his name we can rise so to him.
[00:55:49] In his very means, right, our bounden duty, that in all times and in all places, we should give thanks unto you, O Lord.
[00:55:54] Holy Father, almighty and everlasting God, you did create the heavens and the earth and all that is in them.
[00:56:02] You did make mankind in your own image, and your tender mercies are over all your works.
[00:56:09] Mighty God, our heavenly King, we magnify and we praise you with patriarchs, with prophets, with apostles and with martyrs, with the whole church throughout all the world.
[00:56:19] We worship and adore your glorious name and we join in the song of the cherubim and the seraphim as we say together Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord

[00:56:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:56:30] God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory.
[00:56:35] Glory be to thee, O Lord, most high. Amen.

[00:56:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:56:41] All glory be to you, O Lord God, who sent your Son, Jesus Christ, into the world.
[00:56:49] The Lord Jesus, who did in the same night that he was betrayed, took bread into his hand.
[00:56:55] And when he had given thanks, he broke it.
[00:56:59] And he gave it to his disciples, and he said, Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you.
[00:57:09] Do this in remembrance of me.
[00:57:16] Likewise, after supper he took the cup and he gave thanks and he said, This cup is the New Testament in my blood.
[00:57:30] This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
[00:57:39] Wherefore, we beseech you, merciful Father, to send your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these elements of bread and wine that the bread that we have broken here would be for us a communion of the body of Christ
[00:57:50] and the cup of blessing that we now bless would be for us the communion of the blood of Christ. Be pleased now, O Heavenly Father, graciously to receive this memorial of the blessed sacrifice of your
[00:58:02] Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, that we here offer unto you in union with the sacrifice of our praise and thanksgiving to consecrate ourselves and soul and body, property, and life to your most blessed service and praise.
[00:58:18] Look upon us, O Lord, through the mediation of our great High Priest. Make us accepted in the Beloved, and let His name be as a pure and holy incense through which all of our worship may come up before you.
[00:58:32] A sacrifice acceptable and well-pleasing in your sight.
[00:58:36] Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, to whom with you, O Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory world without end. Amen.
[00:58:49] Let us pray the words that our Savior Jesus Christ has taught us to say, calling the Lord God, our Father, to our death.

[00:58:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:58:57] hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come give us this day our daily bread for our trespasses

[00:59:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:59:09] taste and see the lord is good the mysteries of the precious body and blood of your son our lord by these gifts you have assured us of your favor and your goodness towards us you have assured us that we are members incorporated in this body of your son
[01:06:41] that is the same body of hope of your everlasting kingdom, the church that he has established.
[01:06:52] By the merits of his precious death and passion, we are engrafted into that body. We humbly beseech you, O Heavenly Father, so to assist us with your grace that we may continue in that holy fellowship and do
[01:07:06] all such good works as you have prepared for us to walk in.
[01:07:11] We pray these things through Jesus Christ, our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Ghost we all honor and all glory.
[01:07:17] World without end.
[01:07:19] Amen. Let us stand together and sing the glory of God.
[01:07:25] The love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all today and forever.
[01:08:11] Let us continue standing as we sing our closing hymn number 500, I Would Be True. You have chosen to bring near and to live in your courts.
[01:12:16] We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house.
[01:12:20] and your holy temple your awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance oh god oh god of our salvation amen