{

RETURN TO GOD…COME TO JESUS…Why Old Stories have meaning in a New Age

What’s the purpose of the Old Testament?

Why not just the New Testament?

Romans 15:4

4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

Why the Old Testament?

Which is why it is so important to constantly return to God’s Story itself.

It’s been said that modern generations have the most access to the Bible, yet we are the most biblically illiterate. We’re busy. It’s easier to read an article or listen to a sermon than go to God’s Word ourselves. When we actually do read the Bible, we tend to skip over aspects we find hard to understand or difficult to deal with.

This term is the twelfth most common word in the OT. (4) It has a basic sense of "to turn," "to turn back," "to go back," or "to return." (5) In the vast majority of its uses it refers to literal changes of direction.

Of its 1,056 OT uses only 203 occur in religious contexts. (6) In all but one passage those religious uses refer to Israel or God turning toward or away from one another. (7)

Shûb

Adam lived in a perfect world and had a perfect relationship with God. His needs were met; he had everything. But he fell to Satan’s deception.

Adam

Noah and his family had survived the flood and the whole world was theirs. They were prosperous, and life was easy. Noah shamed himself by becoming drunk and cursed his son Ham.

Noah

Because of his anger at the people, Moses struck the rock to bring forth water instead of speaking to the rock.

52 Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”

Moses

God had given Israel the promised land – rest at last with no more wandering and no more slavery. But as soon as brave and faithful Joshua died, they fell into the idolatrous practices of the Canaanites.

Nation of Israel

One of the greatest kings with a heart after God, allowed himself to be seduced by Bathsheeba and murder her husband.

David

Solomon truly had it all: power, wealth, fame, and wisdom. But his very abundance was the source of his downfall. He loved his pagan, idolatrous wives so much that he allowed himself and Israel to copy their detestable religious rites.

Solomon

13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

Genesis 3

5 The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the LORD said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them. ” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.

After witnessing plagues of:Blood, Frogs, Gnats, Flies, Livestock, Boils,

HailLocusts, Darkness, Death of Firstborn

Israelites delivered from EgyptObserved the parting of the Red Sea (and walked through it)Provision of Water in the DesertProvision of Manna and Quail

The Israelites complainHardshipsLack of meatBeing stuck in the desertFacing the GiantsLack of water

Numbers

11 Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. 2 When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the LORD and the fire died down.

Numbers 11

10 Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents. The LORD became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. 11 He asked the LORD, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their ancestors? 13 Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me —if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.”

Numbers 11

8 When Samuel grew old, … his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead [b] us, such as all the other nations have.”

7 And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle[c] and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you in that day. ”19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”

14 That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt? ” 4 And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt. ” Numbers 14

Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?

????????????????????????????????????????????????

11 The LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.”

Numbers 14

Moses pleas with God to save the Israelites despite their disobedience.

20 The LORD replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, 22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times — 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.

Numbers 14

26 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: 27 “How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. 28 So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: 29 In this wilderness your bodies will fall —every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. 30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Numbers 14

 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.[a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

10 When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, …12 be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Deuteronomy 6

15 So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. 16 When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the LORD your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you.

Deuteronomy 9

26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse — 27 the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; 28 the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.

Deuteronomy 11

Disobedience and Defeat 6 After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to their own inheritance. 7 The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel. …

10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. 12 They forsook the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the LORD’s anger 13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

14 In his anger against Israel the LORD gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. 15 Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the LORD was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.

3 The LORD said to [Solomon after buidling the temple]:…4 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’

6 “But if you[a] or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you[b] and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 8 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All[c] who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 9 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the LORD brought all this disaster on them.’”

9 The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’s command. 11 So the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. 12 Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

1 Kings 11

RETURN TO ME

2 Chronicles 30:9If you return to the LORD, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.”

Job 22:23If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent

Isaiah 31:6Return, you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against.

Isaiah 44:22I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”

Lamentations 3:40Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.

Lamentations 5:21Restore us to yourself, LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old

Zechariah 1:3Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the LORD Almighty.

Malachi 3:7Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

Jeremiah 24:7I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

We forget quickly.God created meals, feasts, altars, events and activities to remember His great works for His people.

God desparately wants us to Return to Him.

Jacob – a deceiver -- father of IsraelJoseph – a slave – saved his familyMoses – shepherd in exile – lead Israel out of bondageGideon – a farmer – deliver Israel from MidianJephthah – son of a prostitute – deliver Israel from AmmonitesHannah – a housewife – mother of SamuelDavid – shepherd boy, last born – Israel’s greatest kingEzra – a scribe – led return to JudahEsther – slave girl – saved her people from massacre

God uses Common People

New Testament Themes

Come to Jesus…and Repent…

Shows us the relationship between God and man from the beginning.

Prepares the way for Christ.

Old Testament

Hebrews 8:13

13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one [Old Testament] obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.

Mark Stearns

Alcoholic ParentsAbusive HomeExpelled from School in 7th gradeAlcoholism began at Age 12Drug Use/Addiction began soon

thereafterDrug Dealer by 16

Matthew 4:19“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

Mark 1:17“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

Matthew 11:28“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 19:14Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Mark 10:14When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Luke 18:16But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Matthew 19:21Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Mark 10:21Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Luke 18:22When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

John 6:35Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

John 6:37All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

John 6:44“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

John 6:45It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.

John 6:65He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

John 7:37On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.

John 14:6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Mark 1:15“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Luke 17:4Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

Acts 2:38Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 3:19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

Acts 26:20First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.

Revelation 2:5Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.

Revelation 3:3Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

Revelation 3:19Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.

Luke 6:47-48As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.

Luke 14:26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.

Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma

Catarina

Acute Myelogenous LeukemiaM1 type

Mark StearnsAlcoholic ParentsAbusive HomeExpelled from School in 7th gradeAlcoholism began at Age 12Drug Use/Addiction began soon thereafterDrug Dealer by 16

GEDUniversity of Alabama graduateWalk-on for Bear BryantMarried for 35 yearsSeveral children and grandchildrenSister

Director of Lincoln Village Ministries

Mary – peasant girl – mother of JesusMatthew – tax collector – apostle and Gospel writerLuke – Greek physician – companion of Paul, Gospel writerPeter – fisherman – apostle, early church leader, wrote 2 NT lettersCatarina…Anna …Mark…You…

God uses common people

I’ve decided to Come to Jesus. Now what happens…now what do I do?

ACTWhat should we do?

M.O.A.

PraiseRememberKnowBe FilledLive worthyBe Humble and GentleBe PatientBear with One AnotherKeep the UnityGrowMade NewWork…do something usefulBuild others upBe Kind and CompassionateForgive each otherFollowBe carefulSubmitLoveObeyHonorBe StrongStand FirmPrayEphesians

FulfillDoHoldingRejoiceBewarePress on…Forget…Press TowardRejoiceMeditateLearnI can do all thingsGreet

Philippians

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Matthew 25

Show Them JesusPoint Them to Jesus

The Lost

13 Now all has been heard;    here is the conclusion of the matter:Fear God and keep his commandments,

    for this is the duty of all mankind. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,     including every hidden thing,     whether it is good or evil.

Ecclesiastes 12

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22The Greatest Command

1 Have mercy on me, O God,    according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion     blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity    and cleanse me from my sin.3 For I know my transgressions,    and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned     and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict    and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth,     sinful from the time my mother conceived me.6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;    you taught me wisdom in that secret place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness;     let the bones you have crushed rejoice.9 Hide your face from my sins     and blot out all my iniquity.10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,    and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence     or take your Holy Spirit from me.12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation     and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.