Following Jesus Son of God …

■ Does God still stir the hearts and spirits of his people to do his work?

■ Do I believe that?

Here are our handouts. We continue in Ezra as God stirs the spirits of the people to return to Jerusalem for his rebuilding project.

Lessons in the Sovereignty of God: Building with God’s Blessing in a Pagan Land!

Message Title: The People Answer the Sovereign Call of God!

Message Text: Ezra 1:5-2:70

• PDF The People Answer the Sovereign Call of God  Ezra 1-5 – 2-70  Dave Scott  FFC  020214 HANDOUT ONE
• PDF The People Answer the Sovereign Call of God  Ezra 1-5 – 2-70  Dave Scott  FFC  020214 HANDOUT TWO

I have learned a new word this week: anachronism.

Anachronism  … 

• A thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, esp. a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned.
• Something (such as a word, an object, or an event) that is mistakenly placed in a time where it does not belong, such as in a story, movie, etc.; a person or a thing that seems to belong to the past and not to fit in the present.

Example 1: Seeing a cell phone on the bedroom dresser in a 1940’s movie.

Example 2: The following instance in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a popular example of anachronism. (From Act II, scene i : lines 193 – 194 of Julius Caesar)

• Brutus: “Peace! count the clock.”
• Cassius: “The clock has stricken three.”
• The year was 44 AD, and there were no mechanical clocks at the time of Julius Caesar but were present in Shakespeare’s times that is, when the play was written.

Example 3: Another dialog from the same play is a prominent anachronism example.

“he plucked me open his doublet and offered them his throat to cut”

• A doublet is a garment that was worn during the time of Shakespeare, and not during the time of Julius Caesar.

———————————-

So we ask … ?

■ Is God merely an anachronism in 2014?

• Does God belong in our story now as he did in the Old Testament?
• Is the mighty hand of God “a thing of the past”?
• Does the Sovereign LORD of Ezra’s time not fit our current perspective of God?
• Is this Sovereign LORD too old-fashioned, out-dated?

http://bible.com/100/PRO4.18.NASB

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

Bible.com/app

http://bible.com/100/EXO15.2.NASB

The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him. The Lord is a warrior; The Lord is His name.

Bible.com/app

We begin our study of Ezra this week.

Lessons in the Sovereignty of God: Building with God’s Blessing in a Pagan Land!

Message Title: King Cyrus Bows to King God!

Message Text: Ezra 1:1-4

Here are our HANDOUTS/WORKSHEETS for Ezra 1:1-4 for Sunday January 26, 2014.

• PDF Cyrus Bows to the Sovereign Command of God Ezra 1-1-4 Dave Scott FFC 012614 HANDOUT ONE 012614
• PDF Cyrus Bows to the Sovereign Command of God Ezra 1-1-4 Dave Scott FFC 012614 HANDOUT TWO

Hello to All,

Here are all the handouts to the two week series – HEAVEN OR HELL? I thought I would put them all together for anyone who wants digital copies.

I also have excerpts from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards if interested.

Dave

• PDF Men Come and Go : 010514 : FFC : Dave Scott : Psalm 90-1-12 : Revelation 20-11-21-8 : HANDOUT ONE
• PDF Men Come and Go : 010514 : FFC : Dave Scott : Psalm 90-1-12 : Revelation 20-11-21-8 : HANDOUT TWO
• PDF Dust to dust to heaven or hell : 011214 : FFC : Dave Scott : Psalm 90-1-12 : Revelation 20-11-21-8 : HANDOUT THREE
• PDF Dust to dust to heaven or hell : 011214 : FFC : Dave Scott : Psalm 90-1-12 : Revelation 20-11-21-8 : HANDOUT FOUR
• PDF Where Is Our Confidence FFC Dave Scott HANDOUT ONE 011914
• PDF HANDOUT 011914 My Anchor Holds – Haven Rest

If you have never used the New Century Version to read through the Bible, you may want to give it a try. An excellent reading level and more literal than you would think. A pleasant surprise.

FIVE STARS *****

Here is a sample:

Proverbs 4:23–27 (NCV)
Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life. 24 Don’t use your mouth to tell lies; don’t ever say things that are not true. 25 Keep your eyes focused on what is right, and look straight ahead to what is good. 26 Be careful what you do, and always do what is right. 27 Don’t turn off the road of goodness; keep away from evil paths.

God’s word. Amen and amen!

http://bible.com/100/PSA18.30.NASB

As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the Lord is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

Bible.com/app

http://bible.com/100/PSA18.6.NASB

In my distress I called upon the Lord , And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.

Bible.com/app

Ran across this clearing out a box of miscellaneous.

We Were in His Mind

Dave Scott / December 6, 1992

Before the foundation of this world we were in His mind,

He carried out His plan of goodness through creation,

We rebelled and died but He persisted in His love,

And carried out His plan of grace through His only Son.

Even amidst the curse, hope was reflected through the promise of His Seed,

He carried the promise to Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob,

Then through the prophets and poets of His people Israel,

Emmanuel would come, God would be with His people.

The first day of fulfillment dawned quietly with the birth of Messiah,

Little baby Jesus born in a manger,

Light had now dawned in a world of darkness,

But darkness would not comprehend this carpenter from Nazareth,

And the price of the promise would come through the death of the Prince.

Enduring the Cross, He looked past the Cross,

To the joy set before Him, to the children of salvation,

Yes, before the world began, we were in His mind.

The second day of fulfillment will arrive with a shout,

With the sound of the trumpet, the Lord Himself will descend,

From heaven this same Jesus will come to gather His own,

Even so, Lord Jesus, come!

Okay. I am finally getting caught up after our trip to Indiana in which we were snowbound for a couple days.

Is hell real? Is hell forever? Have you ever noticed that people typically do not question the reality of heaven? Why do we do this?

Hell is so hard to understand and accept.

But we have God’s word. So we study and listen and believe.

• Check out the article in a previous post by Russell Moore. Excellent!

Can I understand how a loving God could send people away for judgment in this way? Not really. I know the theology but it seems so harsh.

• (Romans 11:33 ESV) Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

However, I know God. I trust God. I believe his word. We cannot disbelieve because we do not understand. We cannot question the choices of a God whose wisdom is unsearchable and whose ways are past finding out.

So God says it, and I believe it.

• There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, specially, of our Lord’s own words; it has always been held by Christendom; and it has the support of reason (C.S. Lewis).

Here are two more handouts. I will be preaching from HANDOUTS 1-4 Sunday January 12 and Sunday January 19 Lord willing.

Then we begin our Ezra study.

Message Title: Dust to Dust to Heaven or Hell!

Message Text: Psalm 90:1-12, Revelation 20:11 – 21:8 and others

• PDF Dust to dust to heaven or hell : 011214 : FFC : Dave Scott : Psalm 90-1-12 : Revelation 20-11-21-8 : HANDOUT THREE
• PDF Dust to dust to heaven or hell : 011214 : FFC : Dave Scott : Psalm 90-1-12 : Revelation 20-11-21-8 : HANDOUT FOUR