North Avenue Church Podcast

God has purposes for all of our suffering:

1. To remove our earthly props — Isaiah 6:1
2. To reveal our sin — Psalm 119:67, 71
3. To make us willing to serve Him — Isaiah 6:8
4. To position us for service — Genesis 50:20
5. To test and refine our faith — 1 Peter 1:3-9
6. To nurter a patient and growing appetite for heaven — 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
7. To deepen our dependence on Christ — Romans 8:28-39
8. To enable us to comfort others — 2 Corinthians 1:3-6

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You can watch this message here.

You can watch this message here.

The doctrine of reprobation addresses the question: Why doesn't God save everyone?

 

Wayne Grudem writes, "In many ways the doctrine of reprobation is the most difficult of all the teachings of Scripture for us to think about and accept."

 

Why does God pass some sinners by, hardening them in their sin and withholding saving mercy? The answer Paul provides, at bottom, is not "human free will" but rather something radically God-centered.

 

God hardens human hearts:

1. Sinlessly
2. Unconditionally
3. Purposefully

(Under the second point, Mark adapted the subpoints from John Piper's excellent sermon on this passage here.)

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Here are the four points for Scott's message:

1. The Providence of God
2. The Godly Character of Boaz and Ruth.
3. Seven Kindnesses from Boaz to Ruth
4. Naomi’s Bitter Heart Softens

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We will not be able to understand the God of the Bible until we understand that He is a God-centered God! (And that this is good news!)

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The early church is sometimes wrongly used to support Old Earth Creationism. When we examine what was actually said, the case is just the opposite! Greg and Zach also look at the Reformed confessions and Genesis 1 itself to defend the six literal day creation view.

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This week we covered seven theological distinctives of our church:

1. Baptist theology
2. Reformed theology
3. Cessationism
4. Progressive Covenantalism
5. Complementarianism
6. The relationship between God's glory and our joy
7. Confessionalism

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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?

You can watch this message here.

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

You can watch this message here.

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

You can watch the message here.