Genesis

O.K. one more week to go in this series and I feel like we have barely scratched the surface. I have some ideas of where I'd like to go this next week, but I am really interested in what you would like to talk about. Some of you have suggested talking about some more of the cultural things... ie. Wicca, OuiJi Boards, Horoscopes, New Age teaching etc. Some of you have suggested different books and Scriptures to dig into. Please share what you think?

In review of today, some quick points...

- Faith should not be merely an academic excercise it should define you.

Faith in theory and faith in practice are two different things

Faith is our first line of defense against Satan

Faith is only buit through relationship.

The key passages we walked through today were, 2 Kings 6:15-; Ephesians 6:10-18; Genesis 3:8-

May we all be on our guard, stand our ground and rooted in the truth.

pastor ben

Today was a deeper look at Ephesians six and some talk about the Belt of Truth and the Breastplate of Righteousness. Some key thoughts..

Please don't lose any sleep over this, though we have an adversary who is real, we know the victor who is more powerful.

- Truth exposes and Truth sets free

- The only Righteousness (Right Standing) we can possibly have will never be earned by what we do, say or are, but only as Romans 3 says by the righteousness of Christ.

- That is our surest defense against an enemy that wishes to condemn us. That is what destroys his power of death and us.

Next week we'll dig into the shield of faith and talk more about Angels.

Please share any thoughts, comments, experiences here.

Here's a few thoughts to chew on:

Remember Jesus' encounter with Pontius Pilate? Pilate was looking in the eyes of truth, and yet Pilate asked Jesus, "What is truth?"

Under every war, decision and relationship, truth serves as the axis. Everything is done either according to the truth or against it? Is it true that in America, Satan and his demons are destracting us from the truth? So we collect possession, build bigger houses, watch more television, eat more food, drink more wine, chase celebrities and maintain our consumer lifestyle. What does this say about the involvement of demonic forces. So does Jesus TRULY mean we should sell all our possessions and give to the poor? Do you see angelic and demonic forces in America?

Kevin Spacey's quote says a lot doesn't it? "The greatest trick the devil every pulled was making the world believe he didn't exist."

Why was Jesus so forceful in revealing the truth?

Let the chewing begin.

Vicar Matthew

Please continue to pray as we go through this series. I think there are people that fall just about everywhere on this topic. Some that see Angels and Demons involved in everything, others that wonder if they're even real let alone active. Still others that believe in them, but have a hard time discerning what is right and real. Hopefully this series will help us all to see the reality of this spiritual world and its affect on us. One thing is for sure, there is a significant difference in how much Scripture talks about spiritual warfare and how much we (even in the church) talk about it.

Some main thoughts from today. We are living in the battlefield, in fact, we are the battlefield. We are not meant to be comfortable there. We are meant to take a stand, to as Paul says, "fight the good fight". Secondly, though we have an adversary who is powerful we have a God is not only stronger, but the victor. Satan's weapons are fear and deceit, ours are faith and truth. Stand firm then.

In the next couple of weeks we'll continue to go through Ephesians 6 and talk specifically about spiritual war.

Please feel free to comment and as we did in the services today, I invite you to share your questions, personal experiences, stories and insights here. Let the discussion begin.

ben