Tune in to our series as we uncover the purpose of humanity in partnering with God to shape our existence. It's time to step into this extraordinary journey together! IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).  Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins.

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ILLUSTRATION:

I used to love going on trips as a kid.  Do you remember those days?  We just got back from driving to Kansas to visit our family.  I remember as a kid getting so excited for a trip, I wouldn’t be able to sleep getting all geared up for it.  We are about to jump into a several-month trip to look at those who have gone before us in the faith and to connect with the story of God through the ages.  

And I have to tell you,

I’m excited about what we’re going to learn along the way!

A Great Cloud Sermon Series

This series has some companion study material you can grab to take it even deeper - we have two books - an adult study book and a kids study book.  Each week you can take the study deeper on the characters that we are going to be talking about and do personal study on their life and learn their stories….

My goal with this series is simple, I want you, by the end of this series, to have a grasp on the story of God and His work in the world.

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I’m going to ask something of you for this series:

Will you make a commitment to be here for as many Sundays as possible?

ILLUSTRATION:

My son is on the basketball team, and you know, just like you we’ve had different teams and activities through the year.  I’ve never seen anyone who wants to be a player on the team take a lackadaisical approach to it.

We are a church that wants to help people become serious disciples of Jesus.

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But it takes more than just commitment on the church's side, it also takes your commitment.  

Are you willing to start this year off with a commitment to get rid of the casual approach to faith?

This week and next we are going to lay some foundational ideas for the way we think about God and our interaction with Him.

ILLUSTRATION:

For pretty much all of my adult life, I thought the word was “you all” and it wasn’t till I moved to Kentucky that I learned it was “yall” Ha, you can teach an old dog new tricks.  We all know what it’s like to think you know something and then find out you didn’t really know it all.  Some of you are like, “I married that…”  lol, we’re not getting into that.  I’m talking about finding out your car has some cool features you didn’t know before or learning there’s a secret entrance at work that no one else uses.  We all have experienced that.  

Today and next week we are going to talk about some things about God that may feel a little like that, but 

My hope is, that what we are going to talk about will actually help make sense of some disequilibrium you might feel in your relationship with God.

THE PROBLEM:

Let me show you where this disequilibrium starts with for me, it’s an underlying doubt, here’s one way it shows up for me, but it has a bunch of different forms.  As a pastor, I remember years ago finding out that this single mom in our church didn’t have any beds for her kids.  She had been faithfully coming and didn’t tell anyone about her need, but somehow I found out, that’s what happens with Pastors.  So, I reached out to a lady who I knew that was extremely generous.  She and I talked and she bought this mother beds and had them delivered to the mother’s doorstep.  I’ll never forget reading that mom’s facebook page about how good God is and how He provides for her….

And I have to tell you, I had a slight cringe inside me…

See, I think I’m more wired as a skeptic than a saint.  Because what went through my head was:

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What you saw as God was just a series of coincidences…

What do you do with that?  What do you do if you are a Doctor and people pray for someone's healing and YOU heal them and people declare it was God?  What do you do?

Here’s the challenge, that doubt comes from a fundamental misunderstanding of the way God works and has set up his partnership with mankind.

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This idea is VITAL for us to grasp as we move forward in this series:  There is a way things work with God.

We really have to go back to the beginning to understand.  

Genesis 1:28

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

According to the book of Genesis, God created the world in 6 days - we’re not going to look at the “how” of creation, but at the meaning God gave to the created order - specifically that of humans.

did you see it?  

God told man to do a few things

-Increase in numbers (be fruitful and increase)

-Subdue the earth

-Rule over fish, birds, and every living creature

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When God created, He created man as His partner in managing the physical environment - plants, land, and animals.

Jesus conveys this same sense in multiples of his parables:

Jesus regularly told parables about people who were left in charge of things and either did well or did poorly with those things.  

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Why do you think He used these illustrations?

It’s because the primary way God interacts with people in the world is through…

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…People

This is why the prayer of Matthew 6:10 is so powerful

“Thy will be done, one earth as it is in heaven.”

The Christian's primary purpose in humanity is to bring the will of God into existence in the world around us.

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This is why Christians are described as “Reigning” with Christ after Jesus returns.

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We will bring the Good Will of God into the World

It’s not that we are a part of some big Hallmark movie where the prince comes and we all become his princess.  It’s that our purpose will be fully restored as the managers of creation, bringing God’s goodwill into the world around us.

ILLUSTRATION:

When I found out about my friend who had no bed, and I contacted my other friend who had money and I helped put them together, that was me bringing the Goodwill of God into the world around me.

It is VITAL for you to understand that while God CAN work mysteriously without us understanding or seeing what is going on, His most frequent play is to work THROUGH you…

CLOSING ILLUSTRATION;

When I was a kid, I didn’t know I needed glasses till about 1st or 2nd grade.  All I knew is my mom would tell me if I kept sitting close to the tv I’d ruin my eyes, turned out my eyes were ruined and I needed to sit close to the TV, it wasn’t till i got glasses that I saw the world as it was.  I remember seeing the leaves for the first time and realizing how beautiful everything was.  Can I just tell you today, if you are not a Christian, you may have had the idea that God was a big Oger in the sky who doesn’t want your good, you may have asked why He didn’t so something about your predicament.  I would say most of the time it’s because God is a very disciplined mover - He has put humans in charge and we have wrecked this thing, we’ve allowed Ego and evil to enter into the equation, more on that in the weeks to come.  But for now, know this, God was not ok with that.  So, He did what was unthinkable.  He became one of us to come and interact with us and buy us back out of this defunct system and to infect the system with His love and grace, so someday there would be a guy named Kent, preaching this to you, not because it’s good for me, but because it’s good for you.  Here’s what I can promise you, if you will put on the glasses of the Kingdom, it will change the way you see everything…  Everything!  God is calling you, come to Him!

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