Equipping Hour (9a.m.)

We are continuing our study called Thirsty? which is about having a passionate pursuit of God. After a break in July, we returned to this study with a focus on how God speaks. For a couple more weeks, we’ll be exploring this idea of how God does and does not speak to us today. Click here for the most recent 1-page overviews of these studies.

Service (10:30 a.m.)

• Announcements:
  • The Deasons and Tomlins will host a Baptism and Fish-Fry this Saturday, August 7 at 4:00. (Click here for a map and other details). Plan to join us for a great time together.
  • We’re in need of a nursery worker. Please contact Beth LePage if you can help.
  • Your opportunity to get in on the “cleaning ministry” is at hand. We need someone to take the last week of August. Contact Madalan Vann if you can serve that week.
• Songs (click on links to listen/watch):
  • Everlasting God
  • As For Me
  • You Are The Lord (A Mitch Langley Original)
  • O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing (a little different than our version but a fresh version of this great old classic.)
  • All I Need
• Message by Shaun LePage: God Has Spoken! (Listen on the CBC Podcast):

Introduction: From beginning (Genesis 1:3: “Then God said…”) to end (Revelation 22:20: Jesus “testifies…I am coming quickly!”), the confident claim of the Bible is this: God has spoken!

Read Hebrews 1:1-3

 A. (1) God spoke the Old Testament

  1. “To the fathers in the prophets”. This is another way of saying, “Old Testament” (OT).

  2. “Many portions and in many ways”. God spoke the OT in many ways: audible voice (Moses, Samuel), types (tabernacle, sacrifices), visions (Daniel, Ezekiel), dreams (Joseph, Nebuchadnezzar), stories (Ruth, Elijah), writings of men (David’s Psalms, Solomon’s Proverbs). God spoke the OT using all different kinds of literature: stories, poetry, laws, proverbs and prophecy.

  3. It was actual history, using the minds and vocal chords and pens of men, but it was God speaking according to Heb1:1 (Peter agreed. See 2 Peter 1:21-22).

  4. These weren’t just random thoughts either. God spoke promises to Abraham and said His descendents would be His chosen people. He spoke through Moses and gave them His Law, telling them how to live holy lives. He gave them the promised land and told them to remember, glorify and obey Him. When they didn’t, He spoke through many different prophets for hundreds of years pleading with them to live righteously. Finally, He kept the promises He had spoken hundreds of years earlier and removed them from the land. Even then, He spoke again, promising a Messiah, a King who would deliver them.

  5. After all that speaking, God went silent. 400 years passed and the people heard nothing. This silence must have been deafening because as beautiful and rich and wonderful as the OT is, it is incomplete. It was filled with pictures and symbols that remained unexplained. It was filled with promises that had not been kept. Then…

 B. (2-3) God spoke in His Son

  1. “In these last days He has spoken to us in His Son”

     a) Soak in the holiness of that statement. Perhaps God was silent for 400 years because He was drawing the breath necessary for this greatest of Words.

     b) Read John 1:1,14,17-18. Jesus is the Final Word of God, the fulfillment of all His promises.

  2. There are many different opinions about who Jesus is: great teacher, political revolutionary, first hippie! But the Bible teaches that Jesus was far greater than any of these human ideas: Look at this list in Hebrews 1:2-3 alone:

     a) (2) “whom He appointed heir of all things” . He owns everything that exists.

     b) (2) “through whom also He made the world” . He is Creator God!

     c) (3) “And He is the radiance of His glory” . He is God! He “radiates” God’s glory—giving us a glimpse of the God who is so glorious, no one may look at Him and live.

     d) (3) “And the exact representation of His nature” . Again, He is God—not just a picture, but in His very nature (see Colossians 2:9).

     e) (3) “And upholds all things by the word of His power” . This is almost belaboring the point: He is God. The One who “upholds all things” or administrates everything He created!

     f) (3) “When He had made purification of sins”. He is Savior, Sacrifice, Priest, Mediator between God and man and the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

     g) (3) “He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”. The “right hand” is the power side. Jesus is now reexalted to His place of glory that He left to come and be our Substitute.

  3. So, God spoke in His Son. When He returned to the right hand of the Majesty on high, did He go silent? No! Acts 1:1-8 tells us that Luke’s first account (Gospel of Luke) was written to document “all that Jesus began to do and teach” while on earth. But, Acts—Luke’s second account—was what Jesus continued to do and teach! Through His Apostles—His witnesses—Jesus continued to do great things and teach great truth. This is what we now call the New Testament (NT).

 C. (2-3) God spoke the New Testament

  1. The big point is that God spoke the entire NT! Don’t make the “red letter” mistake thinking the red letters are somehow more important. They’re not! All the NT is what Jesus taught. See John14:26; 16:12-14. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus continued to speak to and through His Apostles.

  2. What did He say? Just like the OT, God spoke through history, writings (letters) and prophecy.

     a) The Gospels (Matthew,Mark, Luke and John) give us eyewitness testimony of the “Kerygma” (Preaching or Gospel). They all follow the same basic format: Jesus is the promised Messiah of the OT, He did miraculous deeds to prove it, He died as a perfect Sacrifice, He rose from the dead and commissioned His followers to go into all the world, tell what He has done, offer salvation to all who believe and lead those who believe into His church.

     b) The Book of Acts tells us how the church started out very Jewish, then Peter was used to introduce the message to the Gentiles and Paul was commissioned to also preach to the Gentiles as well as administrate the Church—to establish new Gentile believers in the faith through local churches.

     c) The Epistles focus on the Church—Paul’s letters focus on Gentiles, while the rest of the letters focus primarily on Jewish believers. The focus is still on Jesus and is in fact, His teaching given through Apostles.

     d) The Book of Revelation is the climax of history! The end of this present age. The exaltation of Christ.

  3. Over the next several months, we’ll continue the His Story series of messages by taking a look at all 27 books of the NT.

God has spoken and it cannot be ignored. We’re so used to it that we forget just how important this truth is.

Years ago, missionaries showed the Jesus film to a primitive tribe in the jungles of East Asia. They had never heard of Jesus; Then, all at once, they saw it all—the gospel in their own language. Can you imagine how it felt to see for the first time this good man Jesus, who healed the sick and was adored by children, held without trial and beaten by jeering soldiers. As they watched this, the people came unglued. They stood up and began to shout at the cruel men on the screen, demanding this outrage stop. When nothing happened, they attacked the missionary running the projector. Perhaps he was responsible for this injustice! He was forced to stop the film and explain that the story wasn’t over yet, that there was more. So they settled back onto the ground, holding their emotions in tenuous check. Then came the Crucifixion. Again, the people could not hold back. They began to weep and wail with such loud grief that once again the film had to be stopped. Again the missionary tried to calm them, explaining that the story still wasn’t over yet, that there was more. So once again they composed themselves and sat down to see what happened next. Then came the Resurrection. Pandemonium broke out this time, but for a different reason. The gathering had spontaneously erupted into a party. The noise now was of jubilation, and it was deafening. The people were dancing and slapping each other on the back. The missionary again had to shut off the projector. But this time he didn’t tell them to calm down and wait for what was next—all that was supposed to happen! Pandemonium should break out here from time to time—God has spoken!

Because God has spoken…

  1. Believe. Read it for yourself! Be here over the next several months—listen! Believe it! Yes, it requires faith which the world mocks, but faith pleases God.

  2. Pay attention. Read Hebrews 2:1 and 5:11-14. The challenge is to pay close attention. Is it true or not? Did God really speak or not? If Has God spoken—if you really believe that—soak it up!

  3. Speak. God spoke. You speak. Tell others. It’s not a secret to be kept, but good news to be proclaimed. Let’s face it, it’s not easy to share the gospel in our culture, but it’s too important to be silent. People need to know that God has spoken.