Needless to say, this caused a major shift in the way most Christians looked at their world. Obviously, devout Christians could not buy the atheistic idea that there is no God and that everything that we see in the world today is a result of a cosmic explosion called the Big Bang. So, generally speaking, Christians have accepted one of four explanations for the origins of the world.      

      1- THE GAP THEORY – proposes that millions of years of creation happened in the “gap” between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. Gap theorists believe that the “was” at the beginning of verse 2 should have been “became.”  So Gods original creation BECAME “without form and void” or ruined when Satan and his demons fell to the earth and caused major destruction. The 6 Days of Creation in Genesis 1 are actually a re-construction of the world by God. This view was made popular in the Scofield Bible published in 1945.   

      2- PROGRESSIVE CREATION – Each creation day in Genesis 1 is not a literal 24 hour day. Each day stands for a period of time that may have been millions of years long. In these periods of time, God created the various life forms that we see today.

      3- THEISTIC EVOLUTION – The sequence in Genesis 1 is very similar to the evolutionary time line taught by many scientists. The only difference is time. God used long periods of time that He called “days” and evolution as His method for developing life on earth.

      4- YOUNG EARTH CREATIONISM – YEC’s believe in a literal interpretation of of the Bible in general and Genesis 1 in particular – that God created the earth in 6 (24 hour) days – and that the earth is roughly 6000 years old.  

      On Wednesday night, we will be talking about these ideas and why they matter.  But to get ready for this study, please participate in the following poll:

      In worship, we sing familiar Hymns like   – “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty… God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity !” – and the Doxology – “Praise God from whom all blessings flow – Praise Him all creatures here below, Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts – Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.”

      Believing in the Trinity is basic Christianity. Doubting the Trinity is considered heresy…  part of the definition of a cult.  

      But how do you describe  – how do you explain the Trinity to yourself, to other believers, and to unbelievers. Down through church history, various people have tried to develop illustrations, analogies, and metaphors to help people understand. From the list below, please select the illustration that best helps you understand the Biblical idea of Trinity.

      Somewhere in all the news commentary about the Presidents address, someone referred to Jesus as “the first socialist.”  A Google search on “Jesus first socialist” yields over 13 million results! Now before we accept or reject the idea without any consideration – maybe we need to define socialism and then look at the teachings of Jesus from the New Testament.

      Socialism in the American Heritage Dictionary is “a social system in which the means of producing and distributing goods are owned collectively and political power is exercised by the whole community.” Socialism is a relatively new theory. It began in the 19^th century in response to some of the negative aspects of capitalism and industrialism.  Capitalism without any regulation tends to separate society into 2 groups – the “Haves and the Have Nots” – the Rich and the Poor. Socialism was a reaction against that. Socialism was designed to redistribute the wealth of the rich and improve the lives of the poor.

      Obviously, since Jesus lived 1800 years before someone thought of socialism, we cannot technically call Him a socialist. But with all that in mind, please look at the references below and see whether Jesus’ teachings were socialistic.

*Mat 19:17-27 – Jesus told the “Rich Young Ruler” to sell all his possessions and give to the POOR.

*Mat 4:23 – Jesus showed compassion & offered “universal healthcare” to the SICK 

*Mat 25:31-46  Jesus teaches His followers about caring for the “LEAST of these”

*Mar 7:9-13 Jesus cared for the ELDERLY

      After the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Apostles and early Church leaders remained committed to His teachings concerning care for the poor.

*Act 2:44-45 “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.”

*Jam 2: 1-7  James refers to the teachings of Jesus when he warns the church about showing favoritism toward the rich and disrespect toward the poor.

*Paul in 1 Cor 11:17-22 – warns the church about division between the “Haves and Have Nots” observing the Lords Supper.

Disaster Relief is a ministry-based approach to impacting people for the Kingdom of God through one of the five following areas of ministry:  Chaplaincy | Child Care | Clean-Up & Recovery | Communications | Feeding
Everyone involved in this ministry must be “Phase 1″ trained.

To register contact Paul Wingo, Horace Fortner or the church office.  For more information about the GBC disaster relief ministry click here.

      As Baptist, we believe that the Bible is “truth without any mixture of error… & is totally true and trustworthy” (Article 1, Baptist Faith and Message). Since the Bible is True and since Proverbs 22:6 is in the Bible – many parents assume that Proverbs 22:6 is a Parenting Guarantee from God that IF I raise my children in the church, then they will grow up to live good and godly lives. However, most people who live long enough to be adults realize that there are many exceptions to that rule. Everyone knows someone who tried their best to bring up their children in the “training and admonition of the Lord” (Eph 6:4) only to watch their children get hooked on alcohol or drugs or get involved in sexual immorality or live the life of an atheist.  What are we to do with these exceptions?

      Some say – The Bible is true, so behind the scenes, when they were not at church – these parents did NOT do a good job with their training. 

      Others say it has to do with the phrase “when he is old” – the children may get off the path when they are young (teenagers) – but when they are old they will come back to the faith.  

      Others say, Proverbs 22:6 is NOT a guarantee. It is a general rule. It is wise advice that works in most cases and that the occasional exception proves the rule – that most of the time – if you train your child right, he will grow up and live right.

      What do you think?

      1 Peter 3:15 says (NIV) “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”.   How do you answer their question?  First of all, do you accept their premise?