“Then Elohim said.” In this one statement we have the word of God as the source, spark, and energy behind the evolutionary unfolding universe. This inevitably means Creation is the word of God. God reveals God's self through creation. The question is, "Are we aware of it?"
In Genesis 1, Elohim does not create something out of nothing. There is something already there. A pre-existing chaotic matter known as a formless void and a darkness that covers the face of the deep. Out of this chaos, Elohim brings forth order. Why does this matter? When you have been exiled to Babylon and torn from your people, land, and temple, knowing Elohim brings order out of chaos is deeply personal.
The two Genesis creation poems are not answering modern questions about how the earth was created but ancient questions about who we are and why we are here. These perennial questions have been asked for thousands of years. In this sermon, we examine these questions and discover how the ancient Israelites saw God, themselves, and the earth.
Connections Pastor and communicator Thomas Horton shares a message with the VL family to kick off the New Year.
As we come to the end of Ruth, we find the story coming full circle. Ruth the widow meets a husband. The childless Naomi finds new life in a baby born to Ruth. God takes the tragic, sorrowful, painful, the unjust and uses what would destroy you to transform you. All the loss, hurt, criticism, failure, mistakes, and bad choices that happened to us can be turned into something else, something new, something we never would have been able to create on our own.