Trinity Sunday Sermon: Recreation

Preached on Genesis 1:1–2:4a
The Feast of the Holy Trinity
7 June AD 2020

Video: Click to view the YouTube video of Recreation.

Audio: Alternatively, choose Recreation to hear the MP3.

Summary: In normal recreation, we’re only treating symptoms while missing the cause and the cure. We mispronounce it and look for it in the wrong places. We need what the word clearly says: re-creation. We need to be remade in God’s image, not to merely clean and polish our fallen sinful images.

Text: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 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.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights — the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night — and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds — livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. Genesis 1:1–2:4a

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Video: Click to view the YouTube video of Recreation.

Audio: Click Recreation to listen to the MP3.

Other Readings: Psalm 8; Acts 2:14a, 22–36; Matthew 28:16–28

Trinity Sunday Sermon: Divine Grammar

Preached on John 8:48-59
The First Sunday after Pentecost (Series C)
22 May AD 2016

Title: Divine Grammar (MP3 Audio)

Summary: “Before Abraham was, I am.” It doesn’t take much schooling for most people to recognize that Jesus seemed to mix up the verb tenses. Looking back hundreds of years into the past, He spoke of Himself in the present.

Yet is wasn’t a grammar error that led His Jewish antagonists to grab rocks “to throw at him.” No, they understood what Jesus was truly saying. He wasn’t merely trying to say that He’d been around longer than Abraham. Instead, He as continued speaking about His relationship to the Father, He was telling them that He thought that He was God.

When Jesus said, “I am,” He wasn’t only stating the fact of His existence. He was claiming to be the One who called to Moses from the burning bush: “God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, “I am has sent me to you.”’ (Exodus 3:14)”

Jesus therefore identified Himself as “the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob” (see Exodus 3:16). He was — He is — the Holy One of Israel who brought His people out of bondage in Egypt and led them to the Promised land. He is the God and Lord of King David (see Acts 2:25-31).” He is “the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)” (Visit Preaching Symbols for information on the related symbolism in this accompanying picture of Christ.)

He is also your great I am, your God and Lord, your Rescuer and Redeemer. He is the source of your life and your only hope of life everlasting. He wants you to know this and believe it and through faith be saved from sin, death, and Devil.

Text: The Jews answered [Jesus], “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?”

Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”

So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. John 8:48-59

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Audio: Click to hear the MP3 of Divine Grammar.

NB: A few people have had problems trying to play the inline audio with Windows Media Player. If this occurs, you can either change to QuickTime or another default browser player, copy and paste the link directly into a selected player, or download it to your computer, where it seems to work regardless of which player. Several folks have suggested VLC Player from VideoLAN.

Other Readings: Psalm 8; Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Acts 2:14a, 22-36