In The Beginning Series

Title: In the beginning God.

Text: Genesis chapers 1-11

Introduction

This week we are starting a new sermon series based on the E100 Bible reading challenge. We are encouraging everyone in the church to read 5 passages of scripture a week for 20 weeks.

So that at the end of the 20 weeks Bible reading challenge we will all have a good overview of the Bible.

The 5 scripture readings we read this week covered the first 11 chapters of Genesis

1.Creation

2.The Fall

3.The Flood:

4.God’s Covenant with Noah

5.Tower of Babel

This morning I’d like to share a message based upon the readings for last week.

Title of my message:” In the beginning God.”

You probably recognize my title as the very first phrase found in the Bible. Genesis 1:1 begins with the phrase “In the beginning God."

“In the beginning God” has got to be the most powerful phrase in the entire universe. It’s got to be more powerful than any other phrase out there. Because before the phrase “in the beginning God” appeared…there was nothing!

But when the phrase “in the beginning God” shows up; every day afterwards (at least in Genesis chapter 1) is a good day

Day 1 – You get your lights turned back on

Day 2 – You get to finally look up at the sky

Day 3 – Your apple tree produces fruit

Day 4 – You get to sit out in the sun

Day 5 – You get to go on a safari

Day 6 – You get to meet God

Day 7 – You get to sleep in and rest all day

All because of “In the beginning God…”

What happens to our day when the phrase “in the beginning God” is not there? We don’t have to speculate because Genesis 3-11 tells us what happens to our day when you don’t have the phrase “in the beginning God”.

Genesis 3 – The fall of Man

Genesis 4 - Cain kills Abel

Genesis 5 - Adam and lots of other people die (obituaries page)

Genesis 6 – God was grieved that he even made man

Genesis 7-9 – God destroys everyone except Noah and his family

Genesis 11 – Everyone is scattered over the face of the earth (not by choice)

Conclusion: Do the math

Where you have the phrase “In the beginning God” you have good days every day

Where you don’t have the phrase “In the beginning God” you don’t have even one good day

Application:

We have to put God in the beginning of everything!

I doubt anyone who read the readings for this week would question- Why all of us should put God in the beginning of everything.

Noah would tell us it’s the only way to stay afloat…it’s the only way to keep our heads above water…

Unless I deliberately choose that my plans, personality, friendships, family and time has God at the beginning – Life is purposeless and wasted for all eternity.

The bigger question is “How do we put God in the beginning of everything”?

Could we learn how to put God in the beginning of everything from what we read for this week?

Many of you who posted on our facebook page shared some good insights on this very subject.

I’m going to share some of those insights this morning.

Putting God in the beginning of everything involves us having to do 3 things

1.Prioritizing

2.Planning

3.Purity

1.Prioritizing

…in the beginning…God!

Not - in the middle…God …not at the end… God! Not #10 on the list…God!

In the beginning God…

God is to be first in my life. That takes prioritizing…

A word a lot of people used this week on facebook that’s similar to prioritizing is the word …trust

What is trust?

Trust is believing God know what’s best for me

-He knew Adam needed Eve even before Adam did

God always knows what is best for us even though we question Him at times

-How it was best for Adam and Eve to be thrown out of the garden of Eden

-How it was best for Noah to stay in the ark and wait until God told him it was time to come out

Then there was another word a lot of people used this week on facebook that’s key to this whole idea of prioritizing; it was the word… humility…

What does humility mean?

It means - letting God pick your priorities!

That’s what humility means

Noah didn’t question God when he told him to build an ark. He let God pick his priorities

It was said this week that we don’t hear of Noah ever doing anything else but only what God told him to do.

What do you think might happen if all of us trusted God and let him pick out our priorities?