Matt was going to preach that Sunday night. He decided to on God's love for us. He was really excited to preach on it. The writing was just as encouraging as preaching it.
They decided to do a study date. Basicaly They hung out in the living room of his parents house. They just studied. They bearly spoke.
She was writing a paper. He was working on his surmon. She wore a green t shirt ,denim skirt and was barefoot. He occasionally asked her a Greek or Hebrew word.she almost always knew it. She asked him his fundmentilist interpretation.
"Jill says we are the weirdest couple. "She said. "I am fine being weird. "He said. She laughed.
They had studied for three and a half hours without saying a word to each other. "Mom says dinner will be ready in fithteen minutes. Oh mom says that your staying for dinner Abby."his sister Gracie said. "Ok thank your mom for me. "She told her.
He tried to get fithteen more minutes of studying. Abby took a peace of paper and made a paper airplane.she tried to hide it.s He fleew The plane into him. "Realy abb! This is study time!"he said. "We have studied for three and a half hours. We can pause for an air plane break. " she said.
"In that case!" she tried to send an air plane in her direction.her second plane collided with her. The two plag fell. "Missed me!"she said.
After dinner they sat on the steps. "You should come to the evening service on friday. Come and hear me preach. "He said. "Me at a fundy church. Won't I melt"? She asked. "No your not going to melt. You sure you won't came. "He asked.
"I don't know. I will think about it. No promises. " he told her. "Ok. I would love for you to come!"he told her.
On Sunday he started the service.he was sad that she was not there. He decided to start the service. Then he saw the door oppen. It Was Abby.he tried not to smile too much . it was hard for him not to.
"We are told that God is love. It is part of his nature. He is one hundred percent love. His love does not cancell out his other attributes. "
"He is a God of order. That was why he gave the children of Israel such an intricate law. Some have asked why did God just not forgive Adam ad eve? He could not because of his holiness. His holiness defended sin be punished. That does not mean that God did not love humanity or Adam and eve"
"The first sin did not take the Lord by surprise. He knew that his prized creation would break his heart. Why did he create us? A theme of scripture is God is faithful even as man is not. I believe that the cross was on The mind of God from the beginning."
"The cross was not plan B.the criss was always plan A. We see love even hear in genesis three. He could have destroyed mankind right then and there. Lamentations says that it is by God's mercy that we are not consumed. "
"God could have destroyed mankind when they got so evil. He did not have to spare Noah and his family. His grace ,his unmerited favor. Noah did not earn this favor. He found Grace I the eyes of the Lord.we see Noah did not end well. Noah got drunk and he grandson saw him and acted inapropriatly. God was faithful to Noah despite his failure. "
"We see that Abraham was a recipient of God's grace. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Abraham is called The friend of God. They had a close relationship. ".
"A question that is asked frequently is how can a loving God send people to he'll?why was the Lord so violent in The old testament. Why did he order the total destruction of the nearby nations? As I said earlier God is one hundred percent love but it is not his only attribute. He is one hundred percent holly. He is one hundred percent just. "
"Sin has been described as missing the mark. It is like a bullseye.anything less then hiring the Mark is off. God is the mark. He is the slandered.anything that is off is contrary to his nature. Romans 3:23.sin is agents his nature. He cannot tolerate sin. The children of Israel were to be a special people. They were God's chosen people. He did not want them influenced by the sinful ways. This seams harsh.we are told in genesis 13 that God delayed Abraham fully setiling in because the sin of the amorites was not at the point of punishments . they were given time to repent but They did not."
"Though God allowed Israel to go into exile ,he set it for seventy years. After he slowed them to return.he could have been done with Israel. He had never rescinded his promise to Abraham. He has made it clear that he will not rescind that promise. "
"As we conclude tonight I want to make it clear that God is a God of love. It is a perfect love. It is an unselfish love. He is a consistent love. It is unchanging. "
"It is a love that is consistent with God's character. He does not just excuse our sins. If he excused our sin without the cross,it would not be consistent with all of his attributes.the cross satisfied all y He demands of his character. "
After the service he shock hands and greated people. The church people hoped that he would serve the Lord. During the last few years he started to get really involved in the church. He became his dad's right hand man. The church appreciated him. They felt he was called to be a pastor.
He hoped Abby would stay after.he feared She might sleek away. He wanted to talk to her.
After most everyone had left,he saw her. He hugged her. "You came?"he said. "I was always coming. I just wanted to surprise you. "She said. "I was hoping that you would come." he said.
He kissed her. That had not kissed sense the time a few days earlier. 'Are you supposed to do that?"she asked "probably not. "He said. They laughed. "By The way that time you kissed me. " she said. "Ok!" he said.
Later that night they Sat at the swings on the porch. "Is that how you see the lord? The way you described him tonight?"she asked.
"Yes absolutely. He is perfectly balanced but complete. He is love and holiness and justice. He is all those things. "He said.
"I have not seem him that way. I understand that he is love holly mercy I gues that I saw his holiness as a need for social justice.a need to feed the Hungary. There is more to it. "She said.
"There is. Feeding The Hungary is important. It is part of it. You cannot. Dismis that God is holly and any sin is an a front to his nature. Sin is a violation of who he is. It has to be covered."he said. "I get it now. It makes sense. " she said.
End of part 13
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