Sermon Tone Analysis

Review:

In this book, I want to argue a singular point: the Bible is a form of divine communication meant to lead us more fully into the life of God.

Put in theological terms, we might say that through the Bible we receive divine revelation, the purpose of which is soteriological.

In other words, the purpose of God’s Word is salvation for the world.

John Wesley believed that Scripture shows us “the way to heaven—how to land safe on that happy shore. . . .

Here then I am, far from the busy ways of men.

I sit down alone: only God is here.

In his presence I open, I read his Book; for this end, to find the way to heaven.” 9 Or to put it in yet another way, God speaks to us through the Bible and leads us into salvation.

God loves us and wishes us to return that love.

When we do, we enter more fully into the divine life.

The Bible is a “book of meeting.” 10 It draws us ever more deeply into a relationship with the God who came to us in Jesus Christ.

In light of this, our first posture toward the Bible should be one of gratitude, not criticism.

Divine communication for salvation.

Can we trust the book?

First week we talked about how it came together and if you missed hopefully my notes helped a little there.

Last week we talked about inspiration and authority....my hope was to help you to be inspired to read the Bible.

The crux for me is authority:

Invested authority and earned authority.

explain this....

Many of you have mentioned that you have some questions and have been hesitant to ask, let me just say please do not hesitate.

A question that someone else might have.

Do not feel embarrassed about a lack of knowledge or something on this topic.

Much of my presentation and work is from deep research and extensive education.

I grew up in the church and did not always find the adequate teaching for some of this.

What is in the Bible: Biblical Narrative

The study will be titles “Storyboard” and I will embrace an approach found in “The Drama of Scripture” that is adopted from N.T. Wright’s metaphor of the bible as a drama.

In this book the authors break the narrative of scripture into 6 Acts:

: God Establishes His Kingdom: Creation

: Rebellion in the Kingdom: Fall

: The King Chooses Israel: Redemption Initiated

Scene 1: A People for the King

Scene 2: A Land for His People

: The Coming of the King: Redemption Accomplished

: Spreading the News of the King: The Mission of the Church

Scene 1: From Jerusalem to Rome

Scene 2: And into All the World

: The Return of the King: Redemption Completed

Hindu Scholar once said to Lesslie Newbigin (renown missiologist):

“I can’t understand why you missionaries present the Bible to us in India as a book of religion.

It is not a book of religion—and anyway we have plenty of books of religion in India.

We don’t need any more!

I find in your Bible a unique interpretation of universal history, the history of the whole of creation and the history of the human race.

And therefore a unique interpretation of the human person as a responsible actor in history.

That is unique.

There is nothing else in the whole religious literature of the world to put alongside it.”

Source: Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen, The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2014), 21-23.

Source: Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen, The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2014), 21-23.

: God establishes His Kingdom: Creation

There is really two creation stories that takes place in .

There is so much we could talk about here and in my Storyboard Class we spend a whole 2 weeks here.

I believe a couple of things here…first Genesis is not to explain how God created, necessarily, but that God did create.

And creation is wholly different than the Creator.

He spoke out of nothing and brought the world.

He brought order to the chaos.

The point of Genesis is to say that He did create.

begins with three small Hebrew words that introduces us to the artist.

(1) In the beginning.

(2) he created.

(3)God.

Three short words transports us to the origin story to meet the artist.

looks at humankind in its relationship to the world.

In the process three great places of the world are brought into existence: earth, sky, and sea and the image bearers are the “gods” of the earth.

focuses on the man and the woman in their relationship to one another and to God.

They are brining into play two different aspects of what it means to be human.

Though Christianity has often been accused of being otherworldly, it should be clear by now that the beginning of the biblical story does not encourage anyone to feel detached from, or somehow superior to, this world of space and time and matter.

The Bible depicts this created, material world as the very theater of God’s glory, the kingdom over which he reigns.

These early chapter of Genesis are very positive about the world.

Though it is created (and therefore must never be put on the same level as the uncreated God), it is always described as good.

Through the repetition of the word good is a reminder that the whole creation comes from God and that in its initial state it beautifully reflects his own design and plan for it.

Creation has great diversity: light and darkness, land and sea, rivers and minerals, plants, animals, birds, and fish, human beings both male and female.

This bounty is part of God’s intention, suggesting a marvelous harmony of created things.

Like an orchestra, it produces a symphony of praise to the Creator.

There is an order to this diversity; God’s creative word gives it structure.

Genesis also reveals our world as existing within time.

God is the one who creates the day and the night, and he names them.

In these early chapters little is said about how God intends his creation to develop through time, but clearly he intends for development within what he has made.

The man and the woman are to produce children from their one-flesh union, and these future generations will spread out to subdue the earth.

The story of begins with the phrase, “This is the account of the heavens and the earth....,” suggesting that history is an integral part of creation.

The work of Adam and Eve in the marvelous park made by God marks the beginning of a long process by which their children and their descendents are to develop the riches of the creation.

Adam and Eve’s royal stewardship of Eden is to be a small version of what God intends to happen to the whole creation as history unfolds.”

Source: ibid, 36-37.

: Rebellion in the Kingdom: Fall

.

Things change drastically.

As we know, right off the bat.

Eugene Peterson:

“A catastrophe has occurred.

We are no longer in continuity with our good beginning.

We have been separated from it by a disaster.

We are also, of course, separated from our good end.

We are, in other words, in the middle of mess.” - Eugene Peterson

What was the initiation of the mess?

It was .

There is a lot we can say about this chapter and the implications.

This is clearly designed to be historical narrative, though, some of it has elements that are difficult to reconcile.

There is some metaphorical, or imagery that is invoked to share the fall....

The temptation they face and the one they succumb to through the serpent is to assert “their autonomy: to become a law unto themselves.

Autonomy means choosing oneself as the source for determining what is right and wrong, rather than relying on God’s word for direction.”

Source: ibid.

41.

Messy rescue....draw on board.