Anchor Of Hope Christian Reformed Church

Why do we not trust God? Every time we sin, we are putting our hope, trust, and desire in something other then the God who made us, saved us, and graciously give us us all things that are good and life giving. Why do we continue to listen to the lies of the devil, the world and our own fallen flesh and continue to be deceived by these lie's? Help us Jesus! The Holy Spirit enables believers in Jesus Christ to work out the process of saying no to the lie's and yes to God's truth. Thank you God for your grace! Amen!

The Scriptures teach us about one God in three persons- Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is eternally in perfect relationship within Himself. Of all the other kinds of living creatures God brings to Adam, he cannot find a helper to fit him perfectly. God is making clear by making woman from man that true, fitting, and helpful marriage can only be between one man and one woman united until death would separate them. Marriage points us to the ultimate and eternal union between Christ and His bride- the church. Amen!

When God makes Adam He places Him in a perfect garden with abundant food and work without toil or struggle. In the midst of all this perfect beauty and peace there is a test. Genesis 2:17 "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Will Adam be content with all God's goodness, or will he chose to abandon it for something he thinks is better than the best? We all face these tests every day. Will we be thankful for God's best, or will we disobey God thinking we can do better? Help us Jesus!

The seventh day is a set apart day to remind us that God is the perfect creator who created everything that exists "very good" and begins a rest on the seventh day until sin enters the creation. The only way we can enter into the "rest" that God provides is to trust and believe in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that provides the forgiveness we need. Salvation is a gift, it can not be earned by us. To enter into God's rest is to acknowledge that there is not work that we can do to save us and that we must rest in our faith that we are saved by grace through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the only source of life giving rest. Amen!

God created the first man and woman "very good." Adam and Eve are given dominion over all the kinds of other living things in the universe. There is peace and life, no conflict or death. We are all born into sin and death because of the fall, yet God has made a way of peace and eternal life in His Son Jesus Christ, the new perfect Adam who does everything very good. All things that are "good" can only be found in Jesus. Amen!

What the Bible teaches as true concerning Genesis 1:1-25. The Eternal Sovereign Triune God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) created out of nothing (without preexisting material) the heavens and the earth (the universe- all existing matter and space considered as a whole). God ordered the created matter and space to be conducive for inhabitation. All vegetation and living creatures were made according to their kind. God created the universe in a sequence of six solar days (morning and evening). This creation occurred in a period of one week of normal solar days, about 6000 or so years ago, and the entire creation was mature and aged at the instant of its creation. Death did not exist, nor any corrupting influence; and the creation was good.

Genesis 1:1-5 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (2) 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. (3) And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. (4) And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. (5) God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. Nehemiah 9:6 "You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. God is in control. God is in charge. God is greater, bigger, more powerful than anything because he made everything

To be a healthy church requires God's gracious gift of the "minds of Christ." These are minds unified in God's love and truth. These are minds of complete sacrifice, forgiveness, and humble service. These are minds fixed on the cross of Christ and continual carrying of our own cross in following Jesus. I pray that God will grant us such a mind as we continue to respond in lives of gratitude to God who is to receive all the glory, praise, and honor. Amen!

Love and forgiveness are of vital importance in the process of discipline. Remember 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (4) Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant (5) or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; (6) it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. (7) Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (8) Love never ends... If someone we have disciplined comes to repentance, then we welcome him back to full fellowship within the Body of Christ. The limb is reattached with much rejoicing and tender care and healing.

I Corinthians 15:1-4

Ephesians 5:15-20, 25-33; 6:1-4

1 Corinthians 5:1-13 Discipline is for the protection of other believers and the hoped for restoration of the one being disciplined. Unrepentant sin that grows in prideful rebellion against God's laws, if unchecked, will spread like fire through the church and many will get burned. Love is not ignoring or trying to cover up the sin and disobedience, love is shining God's perfect light into the darkness so that everyone will see clearly enough to get to safety. Only the truth will set you free.

Hebrews 10:19-39

Acts 20:17-38

1 Peter 5:1-7

1 Timothy 3:1-13

James 5:1-11

James 2: 1-13

Micah 6:6-16

Easter Sunday - John 20:11-23