Start of a new study... Can you feel the excitement??

Genesis 1

1:1-2:3

Discussion: If you had God’s power to create anything you wanted to, what would you create?

Apple Pie (See last week)

Read Genesis 1:1-2:3

1. Summarise the seven days of creation.

Before Creation
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7

2. How does God create each part of creation?

3. What patterns can you see in this account of creation? What things stick out for you?

Hopefully you’ve made it up to here, ignoring the blank spaces… you’re all big kids now, and should be able to answer to first 2 questions.

Anyway, I want to talk about one thing which stood out for me (and hopefully for you too). The first is that the source of all creation is God- it starts with His Word, which is the beginning of the earth and sea, plants, animals and mankind. Our God is the Creator God, who stands higher than any created being.

4. What is man’s part in creation?

Gen 1:26-30 indicates Mankind’s pre-eminence in the scheme of creation. We were created last, distinguished from the rest of all created things in that were created in God’s likeness and image. Secondly, we have been given authority over the rest of creation, to spread across the earth make use of its resources.

I just want to quickly note that in the King James Version of Gen 1:28 words like ‘dominion’ and subdue’ are used to describe our authority over creation. Some have taken this to argue that Christian’s and an environmentally unfriendly world perspective. While this isn’t the main point of the Creation story, it is a criticism that has gained some popularity recently- we will see why this isn’t so however, in the later questions.

5. How would you respond to someone who believes that we’re just animals… glorified apes?

An finally, we arrive… the clash between Genesis and evolution. This is a topic which often puts Christians and non-Christians on completely different levels of understanding. Firstly, focussing on the question at hand, we can see that Genesis puts Mankind and the rest of creation of different levels. Mankind is the only created thing which bears a resemblance to God in all of His aspects (‘Let us make human beings in our image…’ Gen 1:26) There is no way to interpret the creation of Mankind except by recognizing the exceptional place that has been bestowed upon us.

If we ignore the unique position of Mankind and choose to believe that we are no different from the rest of creation, we can fall into situations where we are unable to justify concepts like ‘human rights’.

6. What does this account of creation tell us about who God is?

First and foremost, the creation story affirms God’s complete authority and sovereignty over all of creation. I’ll explain this more in the next question, but the Genesis creation story stood to point out the many differences between the religion of the Israelites and those of their surrounding neighbours (Canaanites, Babylonians). In many of these cultures, rather than the worship of God they had worship of the Sun and Moon as their main objects of worship. In the Babylonian creation story, the Creator has to first battle sea monsters before he can begin the task of creation. In contrast to these stories, Genesis points out that the objects of worship and fear in other cultures ultimately stood far below their actual Creator.

7. What do you think is the purpose of Genesis 1:1-2:3?

Get on your COMA reading caps, people- a lot of the differences in opinion over the Christian creation story is because people don’t read it with the right frame of reference. It would be a mistake for me to read Moby Dick if I wanted to learn about the process of Whaling (I don’t know why I picked this example- Japan’s rubbing off on me, I guess. Ed.). In fact, by doing so I miss the literary value of the story. In the same way, I think that we would be wrong to read Genesis as a scientifically accurate account of creation. As I mentioned in the previous question, Genesis served to point of the qualities of God against the pagan religions that surrounded the Israelites at the time. In order to express the God-centered hierarchy of the world, Genesis was written in such a way that the things it describes (such as the sun and the stars) would be understandable on the level of the general observer.

Reflection/Application

8. Explain the relationship between God, creation and science.

As surprising as it might sound, the relationship between God and science doesn’t have to be the antagonistic one it is often portrayed to be. Because many people (both non-Christians and Christians) see God and science offering contrary explanations about many things including relation, we might see ourselves as being forced into choosing one or the other.

Instead of looking at God and science as enemies, another view might be to see them as answers to different questions. To look at the world around us and question the mechanics, or how something works would have little meaning beyond confirming what the Bible already tells us if we stopped at ‘Because God makes it so’. So science can show us the operation of the world around us, to a certain extent- to this extent I think everyone agrees on.

But to answer the deeper answer of why, rather than how things have occurred relies on the truths that God has revealed through the Bible. God explains our purpose, while Science can explain the execution. Rather than see science as an inevitable antagonist of God, we can use rather as a means to correct our translation of the Bible. God’s Word is perfect and complete- our interpretations may not be. In such instances, our ability to discern a world stamped with the mark of its Creator can correct an inerrant understanding of the Bible.

9. Are there parts of Genesis 1 that you struggle with, don’t understand or are confused about?

10. Which characteristics of God do you find most surprising, or you would not usually associate with God (from those identified in Question 6)?

11. Reflect on your part in creation. Share any encouragement or insights that Genesis 1:1-2:3 gives you.

Spend some time in prayer, especially in thanking and praising God for His creation.

This place is like a ghost town, people. Let's get some activity going!

Tehillah Bible Study 4: Titus 3: 1-15

Pre-study Question:

1. In what ways will you thank your leaders this or next week?

I will bake them an apple pie for Tehillah! (Edit- Will accept cash as well)

Read Titus 3:1-15

Questions:

1. How then are we saved as a Christian? List out the logical steps Paul makes to support our salvation and the changes made in us. (v4-7)

· Jesus appears through the kindness and love of God the Father (v4)

· We are saved, not through any works of righteousness, but by the mercy of God (v5)

· The Holy Spirit is poured out on us, cleansing us and ultimately transforming us into the heirs of eternal life (5-7)

It might be a good idea here to also look at v3. The reason for this is that the beginning of our salvation starts at the same place it does for everyone else- as a sinner. In the absence of Jesus Christ, we too are ‘foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures…’ (Tit 3:3) My emphasis on ‘too’ is because there is nothing inherently different within us that is drastically different from our non-Christian friends and associates. But for the Grace of God and Christ’s death and resurrection, we would also be captive to the sorts of behaviour that Paul describes in v3.

Similarly, keep in mind the topic at hand here. Having been saved in Christ, ‘we are a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good,’ (Tit 2:14). I want to draw your attention to the order of things here- We are saved first, with the good works reflecting our inner beliefs. To invert this order is to deny the necessity and importance of our redemption through Christ’s crucifixion. This is something which I’ve noticed talking to my friends over here- it’s been very easy for me to simply (or inaccurately) to portray Christianity as a mere way to live a good life (part of this is because I still suck at Japanese…).

2. Paul asks us to be “subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate and to show true humility towards all men”. Why would he ask us to be act like this?

From my reading (you can trust anything you can get off Wiki, by the way), there might have been a historical context for Paul specifically telling the Cretans to obey the government of the day. In addition to their reputation as ‘liars, evil brutes and lazy gluttons’ (Tit 1:12), the Cretans were also notorious for an unwillingness to submit to any sort of authority, that may have led to civil unrest being a common occurrence within their community.

That being said, there is still a current imperative for Christians to submit to the civil authority of the day, insofar as they do not contradict the laws of God. One of the main passages used to express this duty is Romans 13- in this chapter, the ruling authorities are positioned under God’s ultimate authority as his servants. As for when the authorities of our day contradict the teachings of God, Daniel provides an example of how and to what extent we are to refute the laws of man (Not Daniel Ng. Do not follow his example- please).

Where God and the government come into disagreement can be less clear (I think that copyright rules in large measure are rubbish, btw)- just make sure you have a good excuse grounded in the Bible before we catch you on the evening news.

3. Paul states that there are things that are profitable and things which are unprofitable. What are these things? What is the correlation between these things that Paul is talking about here?

Having been left with the great Commission to ‘make disciples of all nations…’ (Matt 28:18), we should be careful in considering whether our actions attract or repel people from Christ. When people see the fruits and satisfaction in living ultimately under God’s authority, our lives become a testament to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. True, we are saved by our conviction and not actions in Jesus Christ- but how do our ‘poor actions’ accurately portray our status as heirs of eternal life?

In contrast, Pauls warns us of not having anything to do with the people listed in v9, those interested in only arguing about Christian living, rather than living Christian lives. The strong theme of good actions borne out of our acceptance of Jesus Christ in Titus, is once again reiterated by Paul, who also continues his warning to abstain from the sorts of pointless arguments that the Jewish Christians in Crete were perpetuating at the time.

At the end of the day, our mission to evangelise to people about the love of God is met through a balanced whole of sound doctrine and kind actions. To neglect either of these only continues the image of ‘paper Christians’ whose lofty minded ideals don’t translate into hard reality, or leaves us in danger of justifying our salvation through actions rather than God’s mercy.

4. How are we to act towards these people who do these unprofitable things and what is the reason for this?

I could only do this with a bunch of Asians… to use an economic term, the opportunity cost of pointlessly arguing with the people Paul mentions in Tit 3:10 is less time actually putting to practice the love of God in one’s own life. Indeed, the word ‘divisive’ Paul uses in v10 to qualify the people we are not to talk to drives home the consequence of arguing with such people very often leads to a split or break in our people relationships. Over such division, it is only harder to love someone.

Another point that might be raised here is that to argue with such people is to grant them a degree of credibility or authority. In the same way I don’t pay attention to anything mark said when he was a baby (and still don’t…!), by refusing to engage in pointless conversations we deny their opinions of any worth.

Does this mean that Paul’s instruction to study the Bible and be educated in sound doctrine through the previous 2 chapter’s become’s useless? Where our words and conversations are borne out of a desire to restore someone a educate people on how to live a Godly life, our discussions have merit. In order to do this, it is crucial that we ourselves are soundly grounded in Biblical doctrine. Where our goal however is to win an argument for the sake of winning or to protect our own pride (something I confess I fall into as well!), our words become useless.

It is then because our goal is to correct and not to ‘win’ in discussions with these ‘divisive people’, that Paul urges us to have nothing to do with them after warning them the second time (Again, this should be seen less as an absolute number, a principle to follow- for what reason are you talking to this person)

Further Questions:

5. v1 states that we should be subject to in this instance civil rulers and authority. Why do you think Paul would want us to be subject to them when we believe God to be the only ruler and authority?

(Answered in q2)

6. Should we always be subject to rulers and authority? What situations are there where this may not be the case? How do we therefore know when to follow civil authorities?

(Answered in q2)

7. v5 tells us that we are washed by the regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. Does this mean a physical washing (i.e. Baptism) or is this something more? Do we need to be physically baptised to be saved?

Based on the context of the passage, Paul does not seem to be implicating water Baptism as a necessary prerequisite to salvation. While there are churches which take this verse to mean precisely that (not ours), to go along with that construction would seem to contradict our complete dependence on God’s mercy and not of ‘the righteous things that we had done’ (Tit 3:5) for our salvation. For me, this contradiction is the strongest indicator that Paul is not saying a bath will open the gates of Heaven for you (Paul was a lawyer- lawyers never contradict themselves).

8. Verse 10 and 11 tell us to reject a factious man after two warnings. What does it mean to reject the factious man? Are we to completely cut them out of our lives? If so how and why?

As Christian’s, we are to adopt the same attitude as God when it comes to sin and have nothing to do with it. The ‘fractious man’ in Tit 3:10-11 (‘divisive’ sounds so much better… and it’s written in my version) is condemned by his own consciousness given by God (Romans 2:14-15). The responsibility to accept Christ’s salvation is a personal one and if our warnings are not being listened to by such people, then we ourselves are in danger of being influenced by their sinful behaviour.

Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind here is the purpose of restoration. The decisive manner of Paul’s command is so that people can realise that any way other than God’s way leads to Satan (1 Cor 5:5). The separation is to be of a fairly significant degree, to the extent that the people being denied community with God’s people realise the consequences of their ways, and hopefully find their way back to God.

Finally, while Paul is talking about people with the Church community, it might be wise to also keep an account of the sort of non-Christian friends we hang out with. I am not asking you to only hang out with other Christians!!! However, where our relationships with non-Christians put us in a position to cause other’s to stumble (1 Cor 10:32) including ourselves, we should carefully evaluate the situation before making a decision.

Application:

9. Do you have a problem listening to authority? Do you consider how it affects the Christian image before you choose to follow or dismiss the authority?

10. Can you think of a time where you have had to cut someone off because of their beliefs contrary to the Christian view? Do you still show them mercy that you were shown?

11. Is there any part of your Christian character that you feel need to be changed to fully represent God and your change to righteousness.

12. Look back on the logical steps that Paul has stated for our salvation and being baptised as a Christian. Would you consider baptism if you are not already?

Modesty

I just heard about a pastor talk about Purity, a whole sermon about it.

I'll begin with saying we look upon Jesus who sets the standard of purity
Hebrews 12: Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith
Romans 12: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind

The pastor continues to say, "people are going to look at you when you cooperate with the Spirit of God & say I want what that person has. They are going to see that the righteousness of Christ will be manifested in your life. But it's not going to happen if we are not going to cooperate. Are you cooperating? Are you conforming to the worlds standard Or out of insecurity or out of desperation to be loved ? Our hearts should be looking to Him & not to the world"

& then goes onto say how we dress, what clothes we wear pretty much says it all of our personalities. i.e Insecure ? Sometimes saying I'm cool (pride), I'm easy? I'm sexy, I'm hot, some say Will you just love me? I'm hiding, Some clothes say I'm pretty important

Some clothes to the person who is perusing purity say, I'm pure I'm chosen, I'm loved, I'm holy.

Timothy 2:9,10: And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do. (NLT)

It's in what we do, how we live, our actions speak louder than our words

On that note, a Modesty Survey done by 1,600 Christian guys was recommended for Everyone to look at:You may have heard the Rebelution. Check out Modesty Survey
http://www.therebelution.com/modestysurvey/browse
- Read the main page &
- Go into Survey Results

There you go, kids. Enjoy your 'Like' button.

*shakes head*

George the Red

Hello yall!!! Being back from China makes me sad *no more unlimited wontons* but happy *yayyy i missed you facebook!! ... eh I mean yayy i missed you guys!!!*

Being in China was a very fun and good experience. Been ages since I went overseas so I despreately needed to get out of Canberra even if it meant missing two assesment pieces :D It was quite awesome. Food was awesome and clothes were cheap. even though theres nothign for winter... jsut summer clothes.... but still it wsa awesome. I often thought "man i could jsut live here"

but then I started to notice vital differences from Canberra? Can anyone guess what that difference is??? Yes your right! Where are the churches? Where are the koroongs or the hillsong or the crossroads? Where are the pastor nelsons and pastor maks? Where are the tehillahs, jabezes or solomans? There are alot of cantonese ppl but no cantonese youth fellowship :( (well there are cantonese youth but u know what i mean lol)

Sometimes living in Australia for your whole life you start to take thins for granted. ONe of these things I've taken for granted (And maybe a few of yous) is that in Australia we are so lucky to be able to worship, go to bible studies, talk to randoms about Jesus, go to awesome church camps (Which i heard was awesome btw) and listen to Christ Tomlin. In china, you have to be 18 to participate in church activities (Well not legally aleast)!!!

To live in a country where you can be arrested and perseucuted for your faith is kinda scary. It's something in Australia we're so lucky to have that every sunday, bible study and even minute we should be so thankful for. God has truely blessed our awkward island with our freedom and there shouldnt be a morning that we shouldn't thank God for allowing us to live as his children without fear.

I love China to bits but when I hear news of pastors beign dragged out of church and ppl getting beaten up because they tried to share the gospel, first reaction is to try to igrone anything negative about hte motherland (yes i know tpyical mainlander behaviour :P) but in Acts we see the early church was perseucted like crazy and even paid the ultimate sacrfice for the hope Jesus has given us. So I reliase that its reality. :(

But God being awesome, turned Saul to the cross and gave him a new name. I hope one day that God will turn CHina to the cross (and we can see he has been!! Over 40 million unregistered christians in china... that's TWO AUSTRALIAS D: ) and give China not a new name but a new hope for a mighty gold medal factory nation of 1 billion people (yes take some commie properganda >: D ).

It's not easy to pray for those ppl doing the persuceting but rememeber "For God did not send his son to condemn the world but to save the world through him , John 3:17" so everyone is to be saved, even the Sauls and the Pharisees and the Neros of our time.

So pray for China and many other parts of the world where being a Chrisitan isn't easy. Pray for our brothers and sisters in those places (don't forget about von !! :D ) . Pray that God will touch the hearts of people in those places as he has touched our hearts. pray that the message of the salvation and hope we have in jesus is spread all over the globe so that every knee should boy and every tongue confess that Jesus is LORD! (Eh kinda from philemon 2:10?? lol). Never stop thanking God too!

It's good to be back too :P