Muskoka Lakes Ministry of Knox, Port Carling & Zion, Torrance
Sunday April 18, 2021
Message: In the Beginning, God
Reverend Glynis Faith
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Announcements
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• The Story Bible study begins Monday at 7:00 pm via Zoom
• Lectio Divina, Thursday evenings at 7:30pm via Zoom
• The Earth Day community spring cleaning hosted by Zion has been postponed. Please keep your work gloves at the ready, and we will let you know when a new date is set.
• Joint meeting of Session Tuesday 7:00 pm
• Music in the Sanctuary Tuesday 2-3 pm
• Margo and John-Peter Murley are cleaning out and reorganizing the Sunday School storage at Knox. They need some paint, clear boxes & labels and an assortment of fresh supplies. Please lend them a hand by making a donation to “Knox Sunday School Supplies.”
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Prayer of Adoration & Confession
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Omniscient God, before You spoke the Words to call creation into being, You knew it would be good – really good. Your good creation calls out Your praise – it speaks of Your glory – it points us to you.
Loving Creator, creation is indeed good and it does help us to see and know You. Yet despite it’s beauty, power and resources, creation is not made in Your image. Through Christ and from creation You crafted humanity – those who could walk with You and talk with You – a created one, who like the creator, could themselves create. You gave those created in Your image life – breathe – creativity – reason and choice and You walked with them.
Merciful Lord, You are the source of grace, and we give You thanks for the gift of Your mercy and grace. Before we took our first breathe You knew every sin we would commit. Sins stemming from desire, from anger, from jealousy and resentment, sins grounded in power struggles – sins against nature, against neighbour, against You, Lord.
Forgiving God, we place our sins before You now – hear the sins we confess quietly in our hearts ( ) Lord forgive our sins we pray. AMEN
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Words of Assurance
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God is slow to anger and quick to forgive. Thanks be to God. AMEN
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Prayer of Intercession
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Loving and Compassionate Creator God, we bow our heads before You as we bring forward our prayers of intercession.
Comforting God we lift Sharon Donald in our prayers, and we ask for Your Spirit of Peace to walk with her as she mourns the loss of her mom, Betty. Give her added strength as she says her final farewell at the funeral tomorrow.
We continue to pray for everyone working in healthcare settings, especially those working exhausting hours in the COVID units. Revive their bodies, minds and spirit as they help people fight for their life.
We pray for those in hospital fighting the coronavirus, praying for quick recovery.
For pray with those whose surgery has been cancelled, and for people who need medical attention but are afraid to go into hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices for fear of contracting COVID.
And Lord, we pray for level heads as we face further lockdown restrictions. May we put into practice our call to love our neighbour as ourselves, as we continue to encourage and motivate people who are lonely, tired and frustrated.
These things we pray in the blessed name of Jesus, AMEN
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“ In the Beginning, God ”
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“In the beginning God” . . . Genesis 1:1a
Think about these first four words of the Bible. In the beginning God.
The first four words of the Bible point to the One from Whom all things come. These first four words spell out the One to Whom all praise, glory and honour belong. These first four words of the Bible should serve as a reminder that there is nothing before and nothing after God.
“In the beginning God” . . . you the reader or you the listener have now been introduced to the main character of Scripture. “In the beginning God”
And what does Scripture tell us about the main character?
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
Before the story is told, the very first verse tells it all – everything we see, hear, feel – every breathe we take – comes from He who was in the beginning.
Take a moment and think about your favourite view, the most beautiful sunrise or sunset you have ever seen, the love that wells inside of you for your family, the joy of friendships, the refreshment of a glass of cold water on a hot day, or the sensation of a relaxing swim in Silver Lake on a hot summer day. Picture a great mountain or a field of heather, hear the melody of the songbirds or the chorus of spring frogs. Anything and everything wonderful that you can bring to mind exists because God willed it to be. It is all God’s gift to YOU!
This is where we begin. With the author of Creation. In the beginning God created the heaves and the earth. . .
Now, did God create in 6 literal days as we know days? Was there a thousand years between each movement in creation? Do the two creation stories found in Genesis conflict? WAIT! WHAT? 2 Creation stories?
Yes, if you read closely in Genesis you will notice chapter 1 vs.3 through to chapter 2:2 forms the first creation story and chapter 2 vs. 3 to 25 forms the second creation story. If you are not familiar with there being two creation stories, I encourage you to read Genesis chapters 1-3, noting the break that occurs in the first few verses of chapter 2.
So, are the origin stories of Genesis meant to give us an accurate historical account of how, when and why God created, or are they meant to open our eyes to the over-arching story – the The Story?
I would suggest the Creation stories enable us to have a clear picture of God – to realize God is the Alpha – the beginning – that neither creation or You are an accident; but rather purposefully created.
“In the beginning, God created . . . “
Perhaps the creation story can tell us a little more about God . . . “Then God said, “Let us make human beings so that they are like us.” Genesis 1:26
Like us!!! The creation story points us to the community of God (like US). There is no me or I; but rather, there is US. Over time we learn through reading Scripture that the community of God consists of the Trinity - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, but the creation story sets the stage for the community of God “Let us create human beings so that they are like us.”
Genesis 1:26 is a rare jewel in the origins stories, because the author of these stories held a monotheistic viewpoint – One God. The idea of God as a Trinity – God in three persons would become a New Testament understanding with the witness of Jesus Christ the Son. Yet here it is, 26 verses into the first chapter and the author has stated what he could not yet understand - . “Then God said, “Let us make human beings so that they are like us.” Genesis 1:26
“So God created human beings in his own likeness.
He created them to be like himself.
He created them as male and female.
God blessed them. He said to them, “Have children so that there will be many of you. Fill the earth and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the seas and the birds in the sky. Rule over every living creature that moves along the ground.”
Then God said, “I am giving you every plant on the face of the whole earth that produces its own seeds. I am giving you every tree that has fruit with seeds in it. All of them will be given to you for food. I am giving every green plant as food for all the land animals and for all the birds in the sky. I am also giving the plants to all the creatures that move along the ground. I am giving them to every living thing that breathes.” And that’s exactly what happened.
God saw everything he had made. And it was very good. There was evening, and there was morning. It was day six”. Genesis 1:27-31
You and I are created in the image of God. The Creator blesses us and provides for our needs – every plant and seed-bearing fruit for food is given to us. The community of God also gives us responsibility for the care of His creation. And finally, God gives us the gift of choice.
“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man,’ “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” ‘ Genesis 2:15-17

We learn from the story of Adam and Eve that there are consequences to our choices, consequences that impact others, our family, friends, community and the world. Adam and Eve lost paradise and their close relationship with God. And a poor choice would one day cost them a son….
“Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.”
Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘“Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” ‘ Genesis 4:2-7
The first choice we see in this story is what we present to God. Cain gave ‘some’ of his harvest and Abel gave from the ‘first born’ of his flock. The story does not tell us that God rejected Cain, only that he showed favour on what Abel brought. Instead of learning from the experience and deciding to offer God his best in the future, Cain chooses to resent his brother and to be angry.
The third choice is to take control of your emotions. Cain is angry and downcast. Jealousy and resentment are swirling around in his head and his heart, so God reminds him to make a wise choice, saying, “sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” God reminds Cain that he has a choice. Holding on to resentment, jealousy, anger, frustration or any negative emotion is to allow that emotion to rule over you. Cain’s choice to hold onto his anger led to his next choice, to lash out at his brother – to strike him dead.
Choices have consequences, and negative choices can spread like wildfire, until . . .
“This is the account of Noah and his family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[c] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[d] 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[e] high all around.[f] Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” Genesis 6:9-22
With the wildfire of sin out of control, there is only one family on earth remaining faithful to God, so God instructs Noah to construct the ark, fill it with his family and two of all living creatures and close the door, because consequences are set to rain down heavily upon the earth. . . /////
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In the beginning God created. . .
And Eve took of the fruit and she ate, then she gave it to Adam and he ate, and their eyes were open – they realized their nakedness and they hid from God.
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I would like to point out one more detail found in the origin stories:
“The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” Genesis 3:21
Adam and Eve covered their nakedness with a fig leaf, but a leaf could not cover their shame. God replaced the leaves with the skin of animals, foreshadowing of the cost to cover our sins . . . pointing us to Jesus on the Cross and the price the community of God was willing to pay to restore what was lost through sin….
Friends, if you remember only one thing from today’s message, let it be this… In the beginning God - - -
We are embarking on a 31 week journey to learn more about the One who created us, the One who loves us, the One who will never leave us, the one who paid the price for our sins. My prayer for you is that during our journey you will better understand God and the love poured out on you – that you will know you were created for a purpose and that you will deeper your personal relationship with God and God’s creation.
Please pray with me:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, walk with us over the next 30 weeks. Open our eyes to Your love poured out on the pages of Scripture, and help us to be attentive to Your presence in all of creation. Father, we thank you – Jesus we praise You – Holy Spirit we welcome you on our journey. AMEN
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Prayers of Thanksgiving & Lord’s Prayer
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God, in the beginning, You created, and we give You thanks for all of creation.
Father, in the beginning You gave us the gift of choice. We are free to choose – free to worship – free to sing Your praise – free to give ourselves fully – free to love and be loved. We thank you for this freedom – we thank you for the gift of choice.
Living Word of God, all things came into being through You – we praise you precious Word of God.
Spirit of God, You hovered over the darkness – the emptiness – the chaos. Spirit, you were present in the process of Creation.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are the community of God and You are the Image in which we are created. Blessed Trinity we honour and praise You, and we welcome You into our worship.
Bless us now as we repeat together the words Jesus taught us to pray: , “our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. AMEN