Stopping to Think

  Preface:  This isn't "writing" per se, this is the first of three posts that will be lesson outlines from the VBS our church is conducting this week. The titles are,  Where Did I Come From? , Am I Important , and How Can I Be Okay? My hope in sharing is that if you work with kids, or simply are interested in answering these questions for yourself, you will be edified. How Can I Be Okay? Gold bean bag Do you ever feel broken? Like something inside of you just isn’t right?  The last couple of days the kids have been working on a verse, Gen 1:1, In the beginning, God created… The Bible starts not with people, not with some slog beginning with an immense hydrogen explosion, but with God. A speaking God. A God who speaks life into being What did God call his creation? Very good ( v31 ) Part of that very good creation was an image-bearer: people Kids, who made everything? God! So, who made you? God! So, who’s the boss? God is! Right, God is the boss. And he gave people a...

Preface: This isn't "writing" per se, this is the first of three posts that will be lesson outlines from the VBS our church is conducting this week. The titles are, Where Did I Come From? , Am I Important, and How Can I Be Okay ? My hope in sharing is that if you work with kids, or simply are interested in answering these questions for yourself, you will be edified. Am I Important? Have you ever felt small and unimportant?  Did you know you are important to God? God cares about little things and little people, because God values all people.  What did we talk about yesterday? Creation Who remembers what the most important part of creation was? People; Gen 1:27, 31.  Gen 2: 7-9 , how did God make man? Where did God put him? 15 , why did God put him in the garden? Remember how people are supposed to take care of God’s world? 16-17 , God gives them a rule. How many rules? 1 rule! What is the rule? Remember that, it’s important. 18-23 , God didn’t want Adam to be alone, so wha...

    Preface: This isn't "writing" per se, this is the first of three posts that will be lesson outlines from the VBS our church is conducting this week. The titles are, Where Did I Come From?, Am I Important , and How Can I Be Okay ? My hope in sharing is that if you work with kids, or simply are interested in answering these questions for yourself, you will be edified. Where Did I Come From? Have you ever wondered where you came from? Who made me? What’s our memory verse? Genesis 1:1 : In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Can you name some things God made? He made everything, stars and trees, elephants and bees, the stars and your knees! But did you know he didn’t make it all at once? Gen 1:2 Does anyone know what void means? Empty. But he was there Do you know what happened next? God did 2 things: form, and fill Form: 1, Light/Dark (eyes open/close); 2 water/sky (swim/jump action); 3; water/dry land (swim/pump arms) Fill: 4, Lights (can you name l...

 I'm working on some VBS lessons out of the first couple chapters of Genesis, and I was struck once again by Genesis 1:1-2 , In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.  Here are three quick things I noticed in this passage today. God Created This is the most obvious point. It's also the most important. The opening pages of the Bible assume the existence of an eternal Creator (present before the beginning, because he initiates said beginning). They also assume that everything else is derivative from, and dependent upon, him. This assumption frames the whole Bible; nothing makes sense without a Creator who transcends, who exists apart from and independent of, this world. God Formed I've always found it curious that God didn't just create everything in one big shot. He's speaking it all into being ex nihilio , wh...

I would like to briefly introduce you to a doctrine: the independence of God.  This characteristic of God falls under what theologians typically refer to as His attributes, or perfections. This is a beautiful truth, the eternal independence of God. In simplest terms it is this: God depends on no one to exist, because He and He alone has always been. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.- Genesis 1:1 (ESV) Here, in the very first line of the Bible, we behold something amazing: In the beginning, God was already there. In the beginning, He created. Which means, before the beginning, He existed. He exists outside of, apart from, independent of that which He has created. Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”   God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” - Exodus 3:13-14 If one is familiar with the Old Tes...