{"id":95,"date":"2016-12-29T14:10:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-29T22:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pastorfred.blogsite.org\/?p=95"},"modified":"2019-04-29T08:58:42","modified_gmt":"2019-04-29T15:58:42","slug":"teaching-series-1-the-creator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodnews.homedns.org\/?p=95","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Series #1: Creation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.”<\/h2>\n
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This post is part of a series where I will try to lay out the basics of Christian teaching in simple terms. The first in the series will be God as creator. <\/p>\n

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What we believe<\/h3>\n
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  • We believe that God made the universe: heaven and earth. This encompasses everything in physical reality.<\/li>\n
  • We believe that the universe had a beginning — the moment of creation.<\/li>\n
  • We believe that God made it out of nothing. (Hebrews 11:3)<\/li>\n
  • We believe that God made the universe by a rational, orderly design. Genesis 1 describes a process of creating spaces and filling them, and doing so in a certain order so that the needs of the next stage are already present. See also Proverbs 8:22-31.<\/li>\n
  • We believe that God created by free grace: the universe was not necessary to God in any way. Thus the creation is an act of love; God imagined and lovingly gave being to us, providing what we need to live and prosper.<\/li>\n
  • We believe that God was satisfied with what he created, pronouncing it “very good” when he was finished.<\/li>\n
  • We believe that because God is personal, the ultimate purpose of the universe is to give being and scope to a multiplicity of persons.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    What we don’t believe<\/h3>\n
    \n
      \n
    • We don’t believe that the universe is eternal or self-existent.<\/li>\n
    • We don’t believe that the universe was created out of material already present (as is often the case in ancient creation stories).<\/li>\n
    • We don’t believe that random chance either caused the universe or dominates its fate.<\/li>\n
    • We don’t believe that the created material universe is inherently evil.<\/li>\n
    • We don’t believe in a god who abandoned the universe after making it (as deists such as Einstein or Thomas Jefferson do).<\/li>\n
    • We don’t believe in a mindless, impersonal universe where things happen without meaning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      \n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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      How this affects you<\/h3>\n
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      • You are loved by God. He imagined you and spoke you into being. He wanted you around.<\/li>\n
      • You have a purpose. Since God created you, that purpose can be found by pursuing God’s will.<\/li>\n
      • Your life is not a matter of random chance. Nothing that happens to you can put you beyond God’s purposes and his love.<\/li>\n
      • Because God chooses to remain involved in his creation, he has made it possible to find him by seeking.<\/li>\n
      • Creation reflects God’s skill and eye for beauty. (“The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament displays his handiwork.”)<\/li>\n
      • The deep cries of the heart for connection, love and purpose are central to God’s intentions for creating the universe.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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