Wednesday, April 27, 2016

April 24, 2016 | Genesis 37-50: Joseph

Here is the sermon from Sunday evening on the story of Joseph. The climatic verse is 50:20:
20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.

Audio
Notes


For more:
Book Recommendation - "Joseph and the Gospel of Many Colors" by Voddie Baucham

April 24, 2016 | Exodus 1:1-2:10: Your Best Slavery Now

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

April 24, 2016 | Exodus 1:1-2:10: Your Best Slavery Now

Here is the sermon from Sunday morning taken from Exodus 1:1-2:10:
Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. All the persons who came from the loins of Jacob were seventy in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt. Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.
 
Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. 10 Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.” 11 So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. 13 The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously; 14 and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them.

15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah; 16 and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.” 20 So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty. 21 Because the midwives feared God, He established households for them. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”

Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to find out what would happen to him.
 
The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, with her maidens walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid, and she brought it to her. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you?” Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go ahead.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. And she named him Moses, and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

Audio
Notes


For more:
"The Search For the Real Mount Sinai" Documentary
March 13, 2016 | Exodus 18 

Monday, April 25, 2016

Book Recommendation - "Joseph and the Gospel of Many Colors" by Voddie Baucham

Ironically, it is the dramatic nature of Joseph's story, coupled with our addiction to heroic character arcs and story lines, that make it difficult to interpret this well-worn narrative properly. Our tendency is to look at the story in isolation as though it were one of Aesop's fables with a moral at the end: “Let ’em hate you. If you’re faithful, you’ll end up rich, powerful, and vindicated.” However, this interpretation not only misses the mark, it also perverts the very message of the narrative in particular, and the Bible in general. Joseph is not a mere example of what awaits us if we’re “good enough.” His story, like every story in the Bible, is part of the broader redemptive narrative designed to cause us to recognize the glory of our great God.

We all know the story of Joseph - the favorite son of the last Jewish patriarch betrayed and sold into slavery by his own brothers only to rise to save them from starvation - and that is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because it is a central story of Scripture that unfolds God's ultimate plan of redemption. It is a curse because, like the many other well-known stories (like David and Goliath, Jonah, Moses, Abraham, and the miracles of Jesus), we have a tendency to moralize the narrative. In his new book Joseph and the Gospel of Many Colors (Crossway, 2013), Dr. Voddie Baucham shows how to read the the story of Jacob's favorite son with redemption, and not moralism, in mind.

The book begins with a helpful introduction and first chapter that lays out the issues. Baucham explains what his book is not (a commentary, a sermon series turned into a book, etc.) and what the book is. Any believer, pastor, or scholar looking for an in-depth study of the story of Joseph will be disappointed, but anyone looking to apply a redemptive hermeneutic to one of the Bible's most beloved characters will be blessed.

In the first chapter Baucham rightly blasts our natural tendency to moralize the Bible. He returns to this exhortation throughout the book showing how exegetically it does not work. For example, when Joseph literally flees sexual temptation from Potipher's wife, it is tempting to interpret the text morally revealing how we ought to respond to sexual temptation. The problem, however, is the stories conclusion: Joseph is arrested and put in jail. Moralism depends on a happy ending otherwise the moral of the story makes no sense.

Key to Baucham's redemptive hermeneutic is the theme of seed, land, and covenant. The author walks the reader through this argument in an extremely helpful chapter on how to understand the Bible in general and Genesis in particular. Chapter 2, where this theme is discussed, is worth the price of the book itself.

From here, the author surveys the narrative of Joseph mostly highlighting two chapters at a time almost always returning to the theme of seed, land, and covenant. Like a good pastor, Bauchman explains any textual difficulties and background information necessary, but he certainly does not dwell on any of these unless he is forced to. Again, this is not a scholarly treatment of the story nor a commentary. Bauchman remains focused in showing what the story of Joseph has to do with the gospel.

Perhaps an example of how Bauchman applies the three themes of seed, land, and covenant might be helpful. In his chapter on Genesis 37-38, the author writes:
The significance of Judah's marriage is threefold. First, we have already seen how important the marriages of their children are to be the patriarchs. Abraham made his servant swear that he would "not take a wife for [his] son from the daughters of the Canaanites" (Gen. 24:3). Now we find Judah, the next in the line of the Promised Seed, doing presently that. This raises questions about the seed.

Second, not only does Judah end up with a Canaanite, but he "went down from his brothers and turned aside." This raises questions about the land. Judah wasn't sold into slavery. nor was he advancing the patriarch's acquisition of territory. No one forced him to abandon the Land of Promise; he simply departed on his own. This is an amazing juxtaposition.

Third, the narrative makes it clear that Judah has not just left for a short while. He is among the Canaanites long enough for the woman to conceive three times. Even if she was exceptionally fertile, this took at least two-and-a-half to three years. How could Judah have been raised by the last of the patriarchs, tasted the Land of Promise, and decided to "turn aside" to live among the Canaanites? This raises questions about the covenant. Is Judah part of the covenant people of God? Of course, this question will be answered later. Nevertheless, the point is clear: Moses is showing how far Judah has fallen. (54)
Baucham's approach has forced me to go back over the story itself and look more closely for these themes which has been extremely helpful to me. The significance of the Judah story here, as the author points out, is that though Joseph might be the main character in the closing chapters of Genesis, he is not its central character: Jacob and Judah are. Judah becomes the promised seed, not Joseph, and it is Judah that learns to lead after his own repentance and it is upon his offspring (his seed) that Jacob makes his messianic promise.

This is the pattern of the book. Though I felt that Baucham could have made more direct connections with Christ and His passion, Baucham illustrates for us how faithful exegesis leads naturally to redemption. He is always careful not to allegorize in his effort to reveal its redemptive nature common among those with a redemptive hermeneutic of the Old Testament.

One opportunity Baucham missed regards Genesis 49:10. The NASB makes mention of a mysterious "Shiloh" whereas the ESV, the translation Baucham uses, translates using the word "tribute." I prefer the NASB as it forces the reader to see the messianic connection more clearly. This difference of translation, something Baucham does not mention, leads to him ignoring it. He does well in emphasizing the metaphor of a lion and a king, but fails to see the messianic prophecy here.

Overall, however, this is a helpful book for any reader of Scripture. Though a concluding chapter tying everything together would have been beneficial, Bauchman succeeds in guiding the reader to seeing redemption in one of the Bible's most known stories.


 This book was provided for the purpose of this review by its publisher, Crossway Books.





Friday, April 22, 2016

"The Search For the Real Mount Sinai" Documentary

Sunday we are starting a new sermon series on the book of Exodus. In anticipation of that series, I encourage you to consider the following documentary which claims to have discovered the real Mount Sinai. Though I am unwilling to conclude definitively that they have in fact found the real Mount Sinai, I do believe the documentary as a whole presents some startlingly finds.

Thursday, April 21, 2016

April 17, 2016 | The Clarity of Scripture

Here is the sermon from Sunday evening on the clarity of Scripture taken from 2 Peter 3:14-16.
14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

Audio
Notes


For more:
April 3, 2016 | James 1:19-21 - How to Receive God's Word
April 10, 2016 | James 1:22-25: How to Obey God's Word
April 17, 2016 | James 1:26-27: How to Live God's Word 
April 3, 2016 | The Battle of the Seeds
April 10, 2016 | The Inspiration of Scripture
April 17, 2016 | The Clarity of Scripture 

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

April 10, 2016 | The Inspiration of Scripture

I'm a little late in posting this, but here is the sermon from last Sunday evening taken from 2 Timothy 3:16-17 on the inspiration of Scripture.
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

Audio
Notes


For more:
April 3, 2016 | James 1:19-21 - How to Receive God's Word
April 10, 2016 | James 1:22-25: How to Obey God's Word
April 3, 2016 | The Battle of the Seeds

Monday, April 18, 2016

April 17, 2016 | James 1:26-27: How to Live God's Word

Here is the third and final sermon in our brief series from the end of James 1 this one taken from verses 26-27.
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Audio
Notes


For more:
April 3, 2016 | James 1:19-21 - How to Receive God's Word
April 10, 2016 | James 1:22-25: How to Obey God's Word
April 17, 2016 | James 1:26-27: How to Live God's Word 
April 3, 2016 | The Battle of the Seeds

Monday, April 11, 2016

April 10, 2016 | James 1:22-25: How to Obey God's Word

Here is the sermon from Sunday morning taken from James 1:22-25.
22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

Audio
Notes


For more:
April 3, 2016 | James 1:19-21 - How to Receive God's Word
April 10, 2016 | James 1:22-25: How to Obey God's Word
April 3, 2016 | The Battle of the Seeds

Friday, April 8, 2016

EFBC and the Kentucky Safe Haven Law

The battle cry of abortion is the opposite of the gospel. In the gospel, Christ declares, "I will die for you." The abortion culture, on the other hand, says to the most innocent among us, "You will die for me." (HT: Matt Smethurst) The gospel, then, is a prophetic voice to the abortion culture. The saving message of Christ, rooted in the victorious resurrection of Jesus, celebrates all of life - it does not fear it. Furthermore, the gospel brings restoration where there is brokenness, sin, despair, and yes, even the sting of death.

It is for this reason I want to publicly endorse a bill which will likely soon be signed into law by Governor Matt Bevin known as the Kentucky Safe Infants Act. The new law will be an expansion of a 2002 law which, according to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services website:
The Kentucky Safe Infants Act allows parents to leave babies younger than three days old at a safe place. No one will call the police, and no one will ask for your name.

So if you are pregnant and feel that you can't keep your baby, don't leave the baby in a dangerous situation.  There is help!

If you leave your baby in a safe place, the baby will get medical care and be placed with a family for adoption. If you do not contact the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services within 30 days after leaving your baby in a safe place, the cabinet will begin the process of ending your parental rights.
The expanded law extends the time frame a new parent can leave infants at certain locations from three to thirty days and adds churches to those locations. Currently, new parents can leave their child at EMS stations, fire stations, police stations, and hospitals. Once this bill is signed into law, they can knock on the door of a qualified local church and surrender custody of their child.

Such a law, I believe, is pro-life as it, hopefully, deters abortions. If a mother feels she cannot, for whatever reason, raise a child, the temptation to end a pregnancy is great. This expanded law now gives a new mother 30 days after giving birth and allows qualified churches to serve as Safe Haven locations.

As a pro-life minister of a local church, I celebrate this expansion. The local church ought to be safe place for infants, mothers, families, and anyone - anyone - struggling in our fallen world. We are all broken and thus need the hope found exclusively in the gospel. As a Christian, adopted by the Father into the family of God, I believe adoption to be a better option than abortion and this new expansion reflects that.

I am wanting to challenge East Frankfort Baptist Church to seriously consider becoming a Safe Haven location. This opportunity does require several things from us. First, we must promote ourselves as a Safe Haven location. This, to my understanding, would involve signage informing new mother's that East Frankfort Baptist Church is a safe place for them. Secondly, we would need to set certain hours for these mothers. These hours are not set yet, but we currently have two staff members (myself included) here every morning. If, for some reason, either of us are not able to be here during the agreed-to time, we would need a member to temporary be available in case a mother gives up custody of her newborn.

According to WDRB, "Since Kentucky's original Safe Haven law passed in 2002, 38 infants have been legally left behind." That means that in its fourteen year history, an average of 2.7 mother's gave up custody of their children at Safe Have locations per year. Whether this number will remain the same going forward remains to be seen, but when given the opportunity to protect the innocent and serve our community, we unquestionably should. The gospel is not merely a message we receive and keep to ourselves. It changes who we are and propels us into our community. This new law invites churches like ours to impact our community for the better. It is pro-life, pro-baby, pro-mother, and pro-gospel. It is my hope that we as a church will take advantage of this ministry opportunity.


Links:
WDRB - Lawmakers add churches to Kentucky Safe Haven Law
KY.gov - Kentucky Safe Infants Act  
Baby Safe Haven Website   

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

April 3, 2016 | The Battle of the Seeds

Below you will find the sermon audio from Sunday evening's sermon taken from various passages. In it, we traces the story line of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The key verse is Genesis 3:15:
To the woman He said,
“I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth,
In pain you will bring forth children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And he will rule over you.”
Listen/Download sermon here.

Monday, April 4, 2016

April 3, 2016 | James 1:19-21 - How to Receive God's Word

Here is the sermon from yesterday morning taken from James 1:19-21.
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Audio
Notes