​Genesis 1:1 says that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” There are many that deny this fact by talking about other “scientific” solutions as to how the world came to be. On one hand Conservative Christians believe that God spoke the earth into existence. At the other end of the spectrum some say that there was a giant interstellar  explosion,  called the “big bang.” What is the truth? Is it either of these or something else. Genesis states that God created everything in six days beginning with the heavens and the earth on day one. If we agree on that, doesn’t either option work, or can both work? Could God have spoken the earth into existence (Psalm 33:8-9) using a “big bang?” There are things that we don't know because as God says,  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Someday we will understand how God did it, but regardless of your stance, we can all find commonality in the fact that no matter how He did it, “In the beginning God…”

​Planting, watering, growing, harvesting
A Christians Gardening Responsibilities.
Focus – What is our responsibility for the growth of the Kingdom and how should we react when people refuse to listen or obey? In particular, loved ones.
Matthew 28:18  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
•                     What are our three responsibilities according to this charge of Jesus?
•                     How responsible are we personally for baptizing those we come into contact with?
•                     How responsible are we for the learning of those we convert?
•                     How do we know if we are failing at “teaching?”
•                     Do we have excuses for not spreading the Word?
·                     “I don't  have the gift of evangelism.”
·                     “I show God by the way I live my life.”
1 Corinthians 3:1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3  You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?4  For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? 5  What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6  I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8  The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.
•                     What does this say about Christian growth?
•                     Are people expected to grow on their own?
•                     Are we expected to teach them?
•                     What is our responsibility in the growth of the Kingdom?
•                     Is it a responsibility to the seed or the soil?
•                     Is it to plant only?
•                     Is it to water only?
•                     What is our responsibility for the growth of each individual planting?
 
 
 
Parable of the Sower
Matthew 13:1  That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2  Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3  Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
19  When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
•                     If they don’t understand the message are we not doing a good job of explaining it?
•                     How accountable are we for our work with the seed that was sewn along the path?
Matthew 13:5  Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
20  The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21  But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
•                     Is this due to a lack of discipling on our part?
•                     Is there a way we could help them to be better “rooted” in Christ?
7  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
22  The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
•                     How do we intervene such that the thorns do not prevail in the effort of growth?
8  Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
23  But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
•                     Can we change the soil?
 
The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds
Matthew  13:24  Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25  But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26  When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27  “The owner's servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’28  “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?” 29  “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30  Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds *and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
•                     Who came and planted weeds?
•                     When did he come?
•                     What  will God do with the weeds?
•                     What are we to do with the weeds?
•                     What does this tell us about the soil?
 
Finally
Mark 4:26  He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground.  27  Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28  All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29  As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
•                     Does this tell us anything about the responsibilities that we have and those that God has?
Matthew 7:13  “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
 

There are a lot of opinions about what happens when we die, and before the day of judgement. Let’s take a look at what Scripture has to say about it.
In Matthew chapter 25 Jesus spoke the parable of the sheep and the goats. The sheep represents the righteous and the goats the unrighteous. Verse 46 tells us that the righteous will go to eternal life and the unrighteous, eternal punishment. Cleary, Scripture shows us there is a heaven and a hell. But there is one day of judgment and we don't all die on that day so there must be some answer to what happens in between death and judgment.
First we need to understand the terms, body, soul and spirit. The body represents our physical body, our flesh. When we die the body decomposes and eventually turns to dust. Scripture uses the terms spirit and soul sometimes interchangeably, but we see in an example that is a little confusing. When Jesus is asked what the greatest command His reply is recorded in three places; Matthew 23:37, Mark 12:30 and Luke 10:27. Using the NIV the list of things with which we need to love the Lord our God include all of our: heart, soul, mind, strength. I believe that there are three parts to the human being; the body, the spirit that God puts inside us so that we are alive; the soul/spirit/mind. This is the part of us that contains our personality, our will, and all the things that make us spiritually unique. This is also the part of us that will stand before judgement and live eternally in either heaven or hell.
With this in “mind,” let’s continue to look at the period between death and judgement. When the thief on the cross asked Jess for mercy (Luke 23:43), Jesus replied, "Today you will be with me in paradise." The place that Jesus was speaking of isn't heaven but it's a lot like heaven. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Luke 16:19 we see that there are two places that people go when they die, torment or Abrahams bosom (this is widely believed to be the same as paradise). Between torment and paradise is a chasm (a wide bottomless canyon). The term hades is used to refer to this place, with paradise, torment, and the chasm between them.
So when we die, we go to hades. At that point it is almost like we are already judged because we are in a good place or a bad place. Judgement, then, is not so much a pronouncement of guilt or innocence. It’s more like a reading of the charges against or for you and a sentencing. Those in paradise will be welcomed into heaven and those in torment will be thrown into the everlasting lake of fire, hell.

​As I worked out today I thoughts about my arms, my chest, and my legs. I thought about how I needed to use them if I wanted to keep them strong. I also pondered  the fact that I need to do more than just use them, I needed to exercise them. The difference between those two is the purpose for which they are done. I use my muscles to live, I exercise them to remain alive. The same is true of our spiritual muscularity. We use it to live, but exercise it to stay alive. Love, Hope, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, and Self Control are what we call the “fruit of the Spirit.” (Gal 5:22) These are not fruit that we produce, but fruit that the Holy Spirit produces through us as we exercise our spirituality and godliness.  We are to Love to even our enemies (Matt 5:44), be patient in our Hope (Romans 5:5), practice Peace with each other (Mark  9:50), be Patient with each other (Eph 4:2),  be Kind to each other  (Eph 4:32), do Good to all men  (Gal 6:10), be Faithful unto death (Rev 2:10), and be strong in Self Control (Pro 25:28). But here us is the key; as our muscles let us live by staying strong, and give us life by growing stronger, so too do our Spiritual muscles behave the same way. Consider 2 Pet 1:4-8, 4  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;  and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;  and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s exercise our faith.

​Pass it on…
“The Word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” Acts:19:20
 
How should the Word of God spread?
Matthew 28:18-20 “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching  them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.””
What does it mean to “teach?”
Greek  - “matheteuo”
It means “teach,” no secret meaning. The same goes for teacher and teaching.
Is this teaching one on one?
Phillip and the Ethiopian.  Acts 8 – Can someone give us a brief recap of this story?
Is this teaching accomplished during a sermon?
Peter at Pentecost. Acts 2 – Can someone give a brief recap of this story?
Is this teaching found in a bible class?
 
Can we agree that there are many ways of teaching and that we are all instructed to teach?
So the answer to the question “How should the Word of God spread?” is that Christians spread the word through teaching, just like we are commanded in Matthew 28:18-20?
 
Who should spread the word?
Romans 12:4-7 “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach;
1 Corinthians 12:27-31 “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.
Ephesians 4:11-13 “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
We are even warned against teaching.
James 3:1 “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”
So now the answer is that Jesus says in Matthew that we are all to be teachers, but Paul tells us that God didn’t create us all to be teachers, and James warns us against being teachers.
Is this a conflict in the lessons of Scripture?
The words that tell us to teach and not to teach use the same Greek language. The point is that we need to understand the balance between ability, responsibility, and spiritual maturity.
Spiritual maturity.
Hebrews  5:11-14 “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand.  In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
We don’t all mature at the same pace or to the same level. However there is a level of maturity that we should all strive for.
Responsibility.
James 3:1 “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”
Ability.
See the verses above that not everyone is gifted to teach.
Once we understand that there is a balance, we have something we can measure ourselves against.
Some say, “I can’t teach because I don‘t have the gift of teaching” Does this let us off the hook?
Not at all.
 
 
Now for the lesson!
 
 
We’re all expected to teach, not necessarily in a formal setting like a bible class or group study.
Some of us can we teach in a formal setting?
Some of us can lead a small study (note – most of the men here are on the rotation for leading this class.
Some of us can teach one on one.
All of us can tell our story.
1 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”
We all need to be able to do this, and it’s all that we need to be able to do. Our story at it’s core is the Gospel of Christ.
Our responsibility is to tell our story whenever we can.
If we tell one, they may tell another.
2 Timothy 2:2 “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”
Paul’s journey to Ephesus is a great example of this application to sharing the Gospel.
Acts 19:8-10, 20 “Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord…. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
 

There is an old saying, “The Devil Made Me Do it.” However, James refutes this excuse when he writes in James 1:13-15 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.  Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
What are evil desires?
Mark7:21 -  For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
It appears that these evil desires come from within us. How can that be?
Where do evil desires come from?
Looking at the of man and his relationship with God we see that Adam and Eve were comfortable, not understanding god and evil, but just experiencing the joy of being with God. But that changed. In Gen 2:15-17 we read, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.””
And when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and their eyes were opened and they understood good and evil. This is when mankind was exposed to good and evil; and our hearts were forever changed to be able to store up good and evil in our hearts.
We need to b careful here because we are not imputing the sins of Adam and Eve’s sins against all mankind believing that we are born guilty of sin. What we are saying that because of Adam and Eves sin, mankind has the knowledge of good and evil and has the propensity for sin and can store up good and evil in our hearts.
Matt 12:35 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.
Matt 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
Mark 7:21-23 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed?
What are we dragged away from?
Isaiah  59:2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
Our evil desires drag us away from our relationship with God.
What does it mean that we are enticed?
The Greek word used here is Deleazo, and it means “to bait; to catch with a bait.”
Who is doing the dragging?
Is Satan dragging us or are our desires dragging us?
We are dragged away from God with our as a direct rejection of God. The ability to do so comes from Satan the temper introducing mankind to sin. It’s therefore correct to say we are dragged away by our evil desires which are a result of the scheming of Satan
After desire has conceived it gives it gives birth to sin.
When does this happen, when we are tempted or when we give in to temptation?
Sin begins when our evil desires bait s into committing sin.
What is full grown?
Sin when it is full grown gives birth to death.
Sin is full grown when it has you in its death grip. When you are living in sin as a lifestyle. When we commit a sin we are not separated from God, if you are a baptized Christian. When you introduce sin as a regular part of our living we  become adulterers, thieves, slanderers and the like.
What is death?
Eph 2:1-3  As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,  in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
All sin can be described in three categories as pointed out in 1 Joh 2:16 which says, “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.”
 
Matt 4:1-11 – The temptation of Jesus
If we look at Jesus temptation, we see that He was tested with lust of the flesh – turn these rocks into bread; lust if the eyes – Satan promised to give Him all the kingdoms of the world; and the pride of life – throw yourself down, the angels will protect you.
It is from one or more of these categories is where our evil desires begin.
Let’s look at an example
·         Let’s use the example of a thief.
·         Evil desires
o   What is the evil desire of a thief?
§  Lust of the eyes – I want “it.”
o   What entices them?
§  Their desire.
o   What are they dragged away from?
§  Their relationship with God.
o   At what point are evil desires conceived?
§  When they are acted on.
o   When are they dead?
§  When they embrace stealing a part of their lifestyle.
Philosophical Questions
We all have desires, or evil desires within us. Does that make us guilty or does it just make us capable of sin?
·         It just makes us capable of sin. We receive guilt when we actually commit the sin
What is the tipping point between having desire and being enticed?
·         The tipping point is when we begin obsess over our desire.
Does it make sense to say that we all have evil desires within us and are we all capable of being enticed and drug away to our spiritual death?
·         Yes, we all have good and evil in our hearts and we are engaged in a war for our souls.
Isn’t this part of the reason that Paul writes in 1 Cor 10:8 - We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Absolutely, we are under a constant battle to be Christ like and Godly. We need to stay on track towards our heavenly goal. We begin by controlling our thoughts and focusing them on the things above.