North Avenue Church Podcast

What exactly is the "old earth" vs. "young earth" debate among how Christians interpret Genesis 1?

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If the title seems hard to believe, please give some time to listen to the message with an open Bible nearby!

Those who deny this passage teaches *unconditional election* to salvation have *two main ways* by which they seek to avoid this conclusion:

1) One is to say that this passage is about temporal blessings and judgments on *nations in history* — rather than the salvation of individuals.

2) The other is to say this passage is about individual salvation, but that God makes His choice based on *human free will decisions* to believe.

In contrast to these views, why do we hold that Paul really does teach *unconditional election to salvation* in this important and humbling chapter?

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Here are the three points from Scott's message:

1. God’s sovereignty
2. Naomi’s bitterness
3. God's sovereignty and goodness in our suffering

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You can watch this message here.

This is the second week as the team continues to introduce the basic themes of Genesis, especially as regards to God as the Creator.

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Paul anticipates that his listeners will wrongly draw the conclusion that his doctrine of unconditional election is unjust. However, this misunderstands what mercy and justice really mean.

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Here are the three points of the message:

1. Famine and faithlessness
2. Suffering
3. Return

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You can watch this message here.

This past Sunday, Greg Rentz and Zach Hutzell began a new Sunday school series in the book of Genesis.

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Here are the six points from the message:

1. The offer of the gospel is universal (v 38-39)
2. We must personally believe in Jesus to be forgiven (v 38-39)
3. We are responsible for all our sin, including unbelief in the gospel (v 40-41, 45-46, 50-51)
4. We as Christians are the primary means God has chosen to bring unbelievers to faith (v 47; 14:1)
5. Our faith is owing to God's appointment (v 48)
6. We can identify the elect only when they respond positively to the gospel (v 48)

Why evangelize if the doctrine of unconditional election is true?

1. Guaranteed success!
2. Motivation for prayer
3. Perseverance in the face of discouragement

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In our last week in 1 Thessalonians, we lingered on the issue of how we are to think about prophecy in the church today.

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In this last sermon on the Golden Chain, we spend time working through each of the five terms. We linger especially on the first three which most closely relate to the issue of God's sovereignty in salvation: Foreknown, Predestined, and Called.

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There is no such thing as a "boring" testimony!

 

The more desperate our plight the more glorious our conversion! And we are *all* born morally unable to come to Christ because we are by nature willingly enslaved by our 1) love of darkness; 2) hatred of God; 3) spiritual blindness; and 4) spiritual deadness. [For more on these points, see John Piper's excellent sermon that Mark said he adapted these points from.]

 

Only sovereign grace could overcome each of this and transform our hearts to make us willing to believe!

 

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We could all use more joy and gratitude, along with a more consistnent prayer life!

 

Don't miss toward the end when Jerry is asked about how the Lord kept him from despair in the hosptial in the months following his spinal cord injury nearly 43 years ago, at the age of 17.

 

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This was our last Table Talk for this summer! We focused on how all that we have is a gift from God that we must use for His glory.

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