Separation Of The Water Week 1: Separation Of The Water Genesis 1:6-10 (NIRV)

Hebrew poetry often pairs two things, either repeating the same truth, or stating opposing truths. i.e. The Lord is my shepherd. He gives me everything I need. He guides me in the right paths … Even though I walk through the darkest valley See also the book of Proverbs!

Genesis 1 is a Hebrew poem Genesis 1 is a Hebrew poem. It has this rhythm of twos: Heaven/earth Light/dark Water/land Plants/animals Sun/moon Birds/fish … Man/woman It is also a theological poem, written primarily to tell us about God. The question it wants us to ask is this: What do you learn about God as you read?

God said, “Let there be a huge space between the waters God said, “Let there be a huge space between the waters. Let it separate water from water.” And that’s exactly what happened. God made the huge space between the waters. He separated the water under the space from the water above it. God called the huge space “sky.” There was evening, and there was morning. It was day two.

God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place. Let dry ground appear.” And that’s exactly what happened. God called the dry ground “land.” He called all the water that was gathered together “seas.”

And God saw that it was good.

What do we learn about God What do we learn about God? This should be a group exercise, for I will surely miss some of the richness here. God’s people have been mining this text for millennia. What do you see??

God is present. God is intentional. God is not silent.

God takes chaos, and creates order. God takes order and makes it useful. God gives life and makes it prolific.

Even as creation grows ever more complex, God is still in charge.

From chaos, God brings order, usefulness, and life. God is in charge From chaos, God brings order, usefulness, and life. God is in charge. -- Genesis 1 Take heart! Get up! God is calling you! Be an encourager. Choose service. Keep walking. -- Mark 10 These are themes from our sermon texts over the last two weeks, and I think they are good words for our church at this point in time.

Another word I want to introduce to this discussion is this one: adoption. For some years now, LCPC has held on to the hope that we could build our church family the traditional way, with younger families joining this church as they did in the past. We celebrate all who have come! But somehow the rooms we built for those kids have remained surprisingly empty. We have done nearly everything right, and it still has not happened.

We may need to build our ‘family’ a different way We may need to build our ‘family’ a different way. What if we ‘adopt’ another congregation, sharing our worship and Sunday School space with them? There is a church in Lake City who has asked us to consider it. The analogy breaks down a little here, because most adoptions are very costly for the parents. This one would make a significant contribution to the family income.

Our anticipated income for the next fiscal year is somewhere between $25,000 and $38,000 short of the money we budgeted this year. This means significant changes in how we do business. That is one option. Right-sizing is painful, but can be productive. Or, we can entertain this possibility of ‘adopting’ a large church of young families who will love and serve God in this place just as we dreamed they would.

OR There is a vibrant young PCUSA church that currently meets in Laurelhurst. They have expressed interest in adopting US. When I first spoke with them, I thought they were interested in moving to our building. That might still be a possibility. But their most recent invitation was for us to join them!

Maybe the family analogy here is the parents moving in with the kids Maybe the family analogy here is the parents moving in with the kids?? It is a surprising idea! Given the enormous sacrifice that went in to building this church, it isn’t an option we would undertake lightly. However, this strong, young church could benefit as much as we could from a partnership of some sort. Who knows what God is doing??

These conversations are too big for session to have without your prayers and eventual input. Please pray! --For our income and budgeting process. Finance committee is recommending we adopt a status quo budget for 3 months of the next fiscal year while we discern the other options. --For wisdom about sharing our building, or sharing another building.

Ephesians 1:2-6 (NIRV) May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. … God chose us to belong to Christ before the world was created. He chose us to be holy and without blame in his eyes. He loved us. So he decided long ago to adopt us. He adopted us as his children with all the rights children have. He did it because of what Jesus Christ has done. It pleased God to do it. All those things bring praise to his glorious grace.