God of the Upside Down

I thought this this week. Is there any reason why the alphabet has to be in order?

I m at helpful for for sorting purposes and having a standardized way of looking stuff up, but who decided it? I don't have a point to this. I'm just making an observation.

Hi, my name is Jack Starcher. I would say if you may not know me, but I learned on Monday that there is actually a good better chance that you may know me better than I know you and so if there is a if that is if you believe that to be the case, please introduce yourself to me. I'd love to meet you. So I'm who I was here on last week who was not here last week. Second question who has been here in the last 7 years. Okay, so you are most likely familiar with our three and a half year reading cycle that is taking us through the new out of the first five books of the Old Testament. and

Those are if your if you have your ear to the railroad in our congregation, you know that we just concluded the second time through the 3 1/2 year cycle. It was a seven-year process. And now there is a rather prevalent opinion that Among Us that it we would like to explore that process through the New Testament. So I am a one more. I want of the more vocal. Among those among that contingent. So in this if you see something say something for lots of you that our church has it involves necessarily stepping up and putting that into action. So we are. If ya if you were here last week, then you heard Mariah give that call to action that appeal for help in working through this process because as went with the Old Testament cycle, we were using resources. We were really standing on the shoulders of giants man and walk holder who had worked through who knows how much literature and archaeological evidence to discover these link that had been made traditionally between old the original Source material and they the prophets and and even the Psalms. But this is a new thing as far as I know they are are. Not nearly as many people who have done what we're setting out to do just use the entire New Testament over the course of three and a half years. So where we were standing on the shoulders of giants. We're preparing to jump off by their shoulders and start flapping her arms as fast as we can attempt to fly. So I will second Mariah's request. If this is something that you are interested in if you would like to see this brought to fruition talk to me talk to Mariah talk to Doug Ward because this is something that we think we need there. It would be great to have a lot of brain power to develop links. between the Testaments starting with the New Testament So with that said I will begin if you have a Bible open up to Luke chapter 1.

We're going to start in Luke because Luke and then acts is the closest thing. We have to a cohesive narrative one book naturally flows into the other but the New Testament is really an ad at it's an anthology of letters and different accounts of the same event happening. So it's a lot harder to put together a single cohesive pathway through the New Testament. So we have made the decision. That's the beautiful thing about developing this new testament cycle. I want to say because it means that we are able to we have a lot of freedom to do. What we believe is the most the clearest thing to do. So we will be starting in Luke and then acts and then we'll be going through a few ladders and then jumping back to a gospel and then a few letters and so on. And even that is Up For Debate if if you have ideas, we'd love to hear them. So starting in Luke 1 verse 1 and as many as it in as much as many have undertaken to compile A Narrative of the things that have been accomplished Among Us just as those who were from the beginning where I Witnesses and Ministers of the word of the word have delivered them to us. It seemed good to me. Also having followed all things closely for some time past to write an orderly account for you. Most excellent Theophilus that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

In the days of Herod King of Judea. There was a priest named Zechariah of a division a Bobby John and he had a wife from the daughters of Erin and her name was Elizabeth and they both were righteous before God walking blamelessly and all the Commandments and statues of the Lord. But they had no child because Elizabeth was Barren and both were advancing years. Okay. I know that this conversation is ass is learned enough to know that I don't even have to say this but the very fact that Elizabeth is mentioned as being Barren. We know that we have that she will not stay that way for long.

And that's not just because you know the story, you know, the story, are intended to Luke 1 B at the word here in the Greek is Style. It's an adjective that I have a woman who means Baron and then in the Septuagint the three translations of you of an Old Testament it acts as a corollary to the Hebrew word a car which also means barren and 90% of the time that these words or use. It is to refer to a woman who cannot have children who will one day have children. and this is really want to focus on God loves to use

unintuitive methods Bye-bye. The world's standards to accomplish his goals. And one of the one of the one of his favorite way to do that in the biblical text is why I'm going to take improbable conception. The barren woman shall have a child and that child will be very important to the work of God. You see it throughout the Old Testament examples include Exodus 23 none as as he speaks to the children of Israel None Shall miscarry or be Barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days. It's almost in 113, right? He gives the barren woman at home making her the joyous moment their children praise the Lord. And Isaiah and his in his book and chapter 54 sing ovarian one you who did not bear Break Forth into singing and cry aloud you who have not been in labor for the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married says the Lord. God loves it to subvert establish rules and patterns.

And that I have a saying I like the day he look god of the upside down. He magnifies the marginalized uplift the Forgotten. He humiliates the mighty those who are great in the Kingdom of in the in the world will be least in the Kingdom of Heaven he who is poor poor in the in the world will be rich in the kingdom of God.

Because he loves to make his he loves to put his signature on what he's doing and the best way to do that is to act as in ways that are Impossible by mankind standards.

She also with the with the GM he heats the Mavericks expectations the cultural. Idea of the firstborn inheritance that the firstborn will be that will be on the pass on the name the lineage and they will be the pride of the family again and again and again, you have Jacob and Esau you have David the youngest of seven, I believe. I can overnight over and over you see us case where the first born is. Not the one to carry on the Legacy. But they want but the thing about God is that he loves to subvert expectations all throughout the Old Testament. We have this pattern firstborn is not the one first one is not the one and then he gets to Jesus were then he subverts the subversion and suddenly the first born of Mary the firstborn of creation. The firstborn of the Dead is the one who took who takes his place at the right hand of God.

So God loves us a established rules and patterns, even the ones that he's created. He's set us up. He's created us to find patterns and we would write when we have a pattern. We think okay, we know what he's going to do next. He puts on his head. Suddenly were was wondering what in the world. I thought this was what you were going to do next. He does that I think with Jesus has been tapped into. Because again, he has established a pattern throughout the Bible of children. Born to demonstrable. He unfurled infertile women. We have Sarah Rebecca Leah Rachel, even though Elizabeth here. But then Jesus comes along and he has still maintained this motif of improbable conception, but he's actually swing the pendulum to the complete opposite extreme. Instead of being born to a woman who has tried to get in to have a child who failed and tried and failed and tried to fail he is born he is born he was conceived in a woman who has not yet been given the opportunity to try for a child.

Again, he's subvert these expectations. So I have to take away. I have a second Timothy 3:16 for loss of for you that all scripture is profitable. It's useful. This isn't some thought exercise. So I encourage you to stay that's on your on your own but I'll leave you with this a god moves creatively and unpredictably not to say that God is unpredictable God he has clearly defined his characters in And is this a through his word and his desires for his family clearly and reproducible reflect that character. But he takes great pleasure in taking an intuitive measures to achieve predictable goals. We should keep us in mind as we walk as we pray as we bring forth the kingdom into the world. We shouldn't limit our expectations of his action two methods is used before methods. We can imagine even the message that are possible by the written rules of the universe as Gabriel says to marry later on in the chapter. Nothing will be impossible with God.