The Christmas Story
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas this year! Watching this telling of The Christmas Story by Pastor Willie George is an annual tradition for our family. I hope you enjoy it too!
The Christmas Story
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Tag Archives: Story of Jesus
Overview of Christianity
Overview of Christianity
I’ve recently put together a resource page for “New to Faith?” on my site, to which I will add this post. I sometimes fancy myself a curator of resources, and I wanted a landing place for people who might need a jumping off point as they start (or restart) their walk with God. As I meet new friends, I’m finding that there is also a need for some very basic biblical literacy information for those who are unfamiliar with Christianity and/or the Bible. Thus, the reason for this post. It’s a very, very abbreviated overview of Christianity (with an even more abbreviated video at the end of this post).
My hope and prayer is that this will serve as a helpful resource for those wishing to learn more as well as a resource for others to save and/or share.
Christianity: One true God, our separation from him, and a way back to him
In Christianity, we believe in only one true God, and that He exists as a Trinity: God the Father, the Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. We believe that God is the author and creator of all things and is all-powerful, all-knowing, completely loving, and eternal.
We believe that we are eternal beings and that our time on earth is only temporary. After death we will still exist eternally—either with God or forever separated from God. Sin separates us from God, yet none of us are without sin (Romans 3:23). We have ALL sinned. Sin is really just following our own path and doing things our own way instead of God’s way. It’s defining right and wrong on our own instead of relying on God’s definition.
So how then can we reconcile this sin that will eternally separate us from God? There is absolutely nothing that we can do in our own effort to earn this reconciliation or to make up for our sins because we are imperfect and will always mess up. In Christianity we believe that all humans are sinners in need of a Savior. The foundation and story of Christianity is just that…a world in need of rescue, and that rescue comes in the form of a savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is the only way to be reconciled back to God (John 14:6).
We can see this story of our faith throughout the pages of scripture. We believe that the Bible is true and that it is God’s Word, inspired directly by him, written by holy men (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible is our guide to know about God and to live a life that is pleasing to him. In the Bible you can find the foundational truths of our faith.
The Story
The Bible Project: Biblical Story
Creation
In the beginning God created EVERYTHING, including humans. Everything God made was good (Genesis 1:31). In fact he made humans in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). The first humans were Adam and Eve. God then put humans in charge of the earth, or gave them “dominion”. However, he gave humans (Adam & Eve) some parameters: Eat from ANYTHING you want…EXCEPT this tree, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Notice that they had more freedoms than limits.
There was perfect harmony with God, with creation, and with each other. Perfection and peace didn’t last though.
Enter Satan
Why Losing Doesn’t Make You a Loser—Part 2
Why Losing Doesn’t Make You a Loser—Part 2
Last week we discussed how sometimes we learn more in losing and how sometimes a win is disguised as a loss. I shared some personal examples of situations where it seemed like I was losing, but it ended up being a “win” in the end. There were so many times in my life where I actually won from losing. Thankfully, I’ve been able to recognize those wins by taking some of the practical steps that I shared last week. This week I’d like to share some examples from the bible of winning from losing, and I will share some more practical steps that have helped me to realize that losing doesn’t make you a loser and how not to lose hope.
There are examples throughout the bible where God turned losing into a win. My pastor calls it “turning the tables on the devil”. There are stories in scripture where it looked like they lost but they really won—a bigger “win” than if they never “lost”.
Starting in Genesis 37, you can read the story of Joseph (this is one of my favorite bible stories!) and his circumstances of seemingly losing over and over. First his brothers were jealous of him and hated him. They originally made plans to kill him but ended up selling him into slavery instead (telling their father that he had been killed by wild animals). He then worked as a slave in Egypt (Genesis 39) and was eventually put in charge of the entire household, but he was later falsely accused of rape and sent to prison. There he was favored and put in charge of all the other prisoners. Ultimately he ended up interpreting some dreams for Pharaoh and ended up being made ruler of Egypt only being outranked by the Pharaoh (Genesis 41). His brothers who had first meant him harm wound up humbling themselves and bowing before him. In the end, Joseph was in a higher position than he could have ever achieved without “losing”, and he was able to save his family and the lives of many others through the process.
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Genesis 50:20 (NIV)
Have you had someone hate you, betray you, falsely accuse you or forget you? Remember Joseph.
In Daniel 3 you can read the story of Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and what appeared to be “losing” for them. Continue reading