Original Blessing-Virgil Grant

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPTION: 

Well, good morning. So we’re going to start this morning off with a brand-new song. So if you would stand and join us this morning.

My name is Brandon, and I’m one of the leaders around here. I just want to go ahead and welcome you guys. And I want to welcome all those watching online with us this morning. First, I just want to take a moment to thank you guys because you guys have continued to wear your mask during in the worship service and just to be accommodating because our goal as a church right now is just to keep these doors open. And you guys have been a huge help. So thank you so much. First, I want to welcome anybody that’s new this morning.

Or maybe you still haven’t gotten connected yet. Our hope is that you will feel known and loved when you walk through these doors at this church. We ask that you take one step, and that is to text new to the number on the screen.

Text NEW to (765) 744-1562 

We’ve got a team ready to get connected with you, to meet you, and to hear your story and all you have to do. Like I said, just text you to the number on the screen. So I have a couple announcements for you guys this morning before we continue in worship. The first one is we are starting a new sermon series called Double Blessings. I know Pastor Virgil is super excited to share with you guys this morning and what God’s put on his heart. Secondly, we have Sunday nights tonight. Can you give it up for that? We’re super excited. And if this is your first time here about Sunday nights, or maybe you have heard it before, and you don’t remember what it is, Sunday Nights is a student-led worship and student service. You know, one of the things that we realized back last year is that the students don’t really have anything going on much at Madison County. And our heart was that we wanted to give them something. So we’re continuing that tonight at 6:30. You guys will notice you guys got the communion cups in your seat today. Towards the end of the service, we’re going to be examining communion, and anyone that’s watching online, go ahead and step away and take a moment and get your you and your family some elements. And we’ll continue to do that towards the end of the service. The last announcement is if you guys do not have kids and your kids today, we’re still asking that you guys exit from stage right, stage left, and that, like I said, it just continues to keep the church doors open.

So I’m going to pray that we’re going to continue worship. So, Father, we just came to you this morning, and we are so thankful that the gathering is still happening. We have people here on campus. We have people online. And God, we’re just so thankful. And we just pray that you allow us to keep having this opportunity to gather together, God, to pray for everyone here, that they would just lay down the burdens, open up their heart and their mind for what Pastor Virgil has to share this morning. God, we love you for all this. Your name and. Well, as we continue to worship together, I just want to encourage you to take this time to really think about how much God loves you.

(Worship)

Pour down on the feet of Jesus. I devotion to the. Nothing. Should I Devotions for now. Peter. Jesus. Oh, how we. Do either. Jesus. And Jesus was. You sing, and you are the. Hard to. Lord, we just give you all the praise in all the glory this morning. Because we are children of you. You are our father. And no matter what we’re going through, you are always there to pick us up to dust us off. To give us strength. And so this morning, we just give you all the praise. We love you so much for all that you do for us. Lord, I just ask. That as Pastor Virgil brings your message that we’re able. To just listen. To listen for your voice. And hear what you have to say. All this in your name. Mean, you guys can go ahead and have a seat. Well, welcome to Isaac Community Church. My name is Virgil Grant, and I’m one of the leaders around here at East Side. And before we jump into this new sermon series called Double Blessing, what I’d like to do is like to just take a moment and like to extend my gratitude and Thanksgiving to each and every one of you who’ve been praying for my family and me as we have been dealing with COVID and dealing with some other family issues. And I just want you to know that your love and prayers are greatly appreciated. And from the bottom of our hearts, we want to say thank you. Now, this morning, if you have your Bible, turn with me to the Book of Genesis, the very first book of the Bible. And in a moment, we’ll get there. But I want to begin today by telling you about Greek mythology.

There’s a legend about a labyrinth that was inescapable. Those who entered never existed, for within that maze meandered a fearsome creature that was half man, half bull. And every nine years, the evil king of Crete demanded that the Athenians sin. Seven boys and seven girls to be sacrificed to this half man, half bore to this minotaur. As you might imagine, the Athenians did not take to this tradition very well, and on the occasion of the third-minute board games, Theseus, the Prince of Athens, volunteered himself as a tribute. When Theseus landed on Crete, the daughter of the King, Princess Ariadne fell head over heels in love with Theseus. And she knew, however, that no one who had ever ventured into the labyrinth had ever found their way out. So she devised a rather ingenious plan. She gave Theseus a sword by which to slay the militant and move, but more importantly, a ball of thread. Theseus taught one end to the entrance. Then he unwound the ball of thread as he meandered through that maze. And after slaying the minister with the sword, Theseus Moon walked his way out of the labyrinth. Now love is a labyrinth full of relational twists and occupational turns that we do not see coming. We zig through big decisions. We zag through bad decisions. There are situations we get ourselves into, but we do not know how to get ourselves out. And we’ve all encountered similar tors along the way in life. Some of you actually work for a mentor, someone who’s half man and half bull rat. No, I think we bring our way through. Difficult seasons of love can feel like we’re lost in the labyrinth. You know, just think about how depression can feel that way.

Addiction can feel that way. Grief can make you feel that you’re lost in a labyrinth. And especially this season of COVID-19 has many, many individuals feeling as if they are lost in the labyrinth. But I want you to know that this weekend I have great news for you. There is a way out. There is a ball of thread, but we’ve got to go all the way back to the very beginning to find our way forward. And so this is where we’re going to pick up in the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter one, verses 26 and 27. Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness. Now I want you to notice the plural pronouns there. I want you to notice that this is a collaboration between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And so God created mankind in His own image. In the image of God, He created them, male and female. He created them. Now, I don’t know if you noticed that or not, but there’s a double emphasis on the image of God. Now, why is that important? Now, if we don’t understand whose image we’re created in, then it creates double trouble for you and for me. It is essential that we understand that we are invaluable and irreplaceable. It traces itself all the way back to the. Very beginning of this ancient truth, this fundamental fact that we are made in the image of Almighty God. Now, I don’t know about you, but maybe it’s just me, but there are just some people that I don’t like. Is there anybody else in the room that would admit that they are? There’s just some people they don’t like? I mean, these people, they’re just kind of different.

You know what I’m talking about? They’re not like me. They don’t look at life like I do. And the question becomes, how do you love someone who you don’t like who’s different than you? And I think the answer is right here is that we have to remember that they are created in the image of God. This goes way far beyond political affiliation. This goes way beyond racial identity. This goes way beyond socioeconomic status. This is to remember that you are the image of God. Now, let’s continue with the story. Genesis chapter one. And this is where it’s going to get really, really good. So please, please pay attention. Then there is this really 28 verses into the opening act of creation. We’re still in the hospital. In fact, we’re still in the delivery room. In fact, the umbilical cord hasn’t even been cut yet. And what does God do? What does God do? What is the first thing that God does? Notice what he says in verse 28. Then God bless them. Now I’m going to stop right there in mid-sentence. And I want you to hear about what I’m about to say. Did you hear what God did? God created them in his image. And the very first thing that God does is that God blesses them. Now, here’s an important truth. Before original sin, there was an original blessing. Now, that’s why the significance of that is so important. If we get the sequence off, then the whole algorithm is off. It’s important for us to understand that, that we were blessed first, then we were a sinner. And here’s what happens if we get the sequence off. Then our identity is off. We begin to question the goodness of God, and we begin to relate to God for all the wrong reasons, folks.

You have to understand before original sin, there were original blessings. And the blessing is God’s most ancient instinct. Blessing is God’s first and foremost reflex. Blessing is God’s default setting. Did you hear me, friends? No. And please understand that God’s not going to bless disobedience. God’s not going to buy sin. He’s not going to bless pride, greed, or laziness. We know that is that he loves us too much to bless us for those things. But we, as individuals, we can develop healthy habits of highly blessed people. But here’s the big picture. Here’s the big deal, it’s that God wants to bless you beyond your ability to ask or imagine. God wants to bless you in categories you cannot even conceive of. And this is what I’m praying for, for you and for me and for our community. As we begin this new season of life, as we begin this new sermon series. Now, I want to get really practical. But in order for me to get really practical, I’ve got to step back and get a little theological with you. Now. Now. You have to admit that, like myself, this concept of original blessing is a little foreign to most of us. And the reason why it’s foreign is because this concept of original sin has taken precedence. It takes precedence over the original blessing. No. So how did that happen? Well, I don’t know how I missed this in seminary and then doing my doctoral work, but in reading the book by Mark Patterson, by the same title, Double Blessing, he outlines the very first time that original sin is mentioned in church history. And it was mentioned for the very first time in the second century by an individual named Irenaeus. Now, Irenaeus was a key player in defending orthodox beliefs and trying to somehow or another to rule off or to fend off heresy.

And so Irenaeus was the bishop of lands, but he was originally from some Smyrna, one of the seven churches that you find in the Book of Revelation. And there in the Book of Revelation is the Smyrna. And the Bishop of Smyrna is Polycarp. Now, Polycarp was known as the 12th Martyr in history when Polycarp was dragged into the Roman Coliseum and told to recant his faith. He said this 86 years, I have served God, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my king and my Savior? Then Polycarp Caap, according to ear witnesses, heard a voice from happened that said, Be strong, Polycarp, play the man. Now, folks, you were told that story. But there’s some other back story that you need to hear. Polycarp was a disciple of John the Apostle, and John the Apostle was a disciple, but Jesus Christ himself. So there’s Jesus, and there’s Polycarp. There is then Irenaeus. So Jesus, John Polycarp, then Irenaeus. It was in the second century when we were first introduced to this whole concept of original sin. Then in the fourth century, a theologian named Augustine took it and began to develop it even more. And then we had the Protestant reformers John Calvin, Martin Luther, and others who picked up on this idea of original sin, and they took it to the ninth degree. And that’s when the original sin overshadowed the original blessing. Now, please hear me. I don’t doubt original sin. I have children. But we have to be able to understand that we are a blessing first and a sinner. Second, see if we see ourselves as a sinner first and a blessing second. Then it creates all kinds of identity issues. And I don’t doubt the sinful nature, for all have fallen short of the glory of God.

But sin is secondary, and blessing is primary. Now, why is all of this important now, folks? Because really, there are a lot of different ways that we can come from this. But in philosophy, they have this principle that is called the first principle. It’s called a basic assumption. It’s called a found foundational truth. Aristotle said a first principle is the first basis from which a thing is known. So if you, if you want to know first and foremost that you’re blessed by God, then you will live from that. But I want to take it a step further. Not only is the first principle, the basic assumption, the first foundational truth that you’re blessed by God but you’re blessed by God to be a blessing to others. Now there’s a counselor that is named Alfred Adler, and he has this signature move that he does with all of his first-time patients. He will sit down with his first first-term patients, and he’ll just ask them one question. And the question is, what is your earliest memory? Now, no matter how the patient replies, Adler would say, And so Life is. Adler believes that our earliest memories leave a profound imprint on the soul. And I think that is right, my friends. Is that your earliest memory, your first principle, your first basic assumption you’re found? No truth determines the course of your life. Now imagine Adler asking Adam the question, What is your first memory? And I think that Adam would go, Well, there’s a lot of unquestionable moments and memories. There is the roaming of the garden. There’s the naming of the animals. There’s the rib surgery. But none of those represents his earliest memory. I think Adam would say to Adler. My first memory is being blessed by God because blessings set the tone sets the table.

Blessing established the emotional baseline and spiritual tree and line of Adam’s entire existence. Yes, Sin enters the equation. Dysfunction, Pain. Imperfection came into play, but none of that changes the fact that we are created in the image of Almighty God, that we are blessed by God himself, and blessing is our earliest memory. And that’s why I believe that blessing is our deepest longing. There’s a longing within each one of us to be blessed, to be celebrated for who we are, to be accepted, for who we are, not to be loved with no agenda, no strings attached, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. You are loved as is. Did you hear me, my friend? You earn love as is because you’re created in the image of God. You’re God’s workmanship. You are the apple of God’s are. It has nothing to do with what you’ve done or not done. It’s simply you are made in the image of God. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve been a lot of accomplished people in my life. I know some people who’ve accomplished more experience, more, done more, made more money than I would ever make in three or four lifetimes. I don’t know if anybody else if you’ve ever experienced anybody like that. But a lot of the people who’s an experience more made, more done, more than I would ever do in three or four lifetimes is that most of those individuals that I know are insecure and so lonely, I think that they would trade everything that they have accomplished for their mother’s love or to be the pride of their fathers’ eyes. They never got a blessing. And it is as if it leaves a gap. It is as is an ancient instinct.

As we go all the way back to the beginning of Scripture with Esau in Jacob, remember how Jacob stowed Aesop’s birthright? And after still this birthright, his soul went to his father and was pushing and crying and was begging. His lips were quivering for a blessing. And notice what it says. In Genesis 2738, Esau said to his father, Do you have only one blessing, my father? Is there just one somehow there that you could just give to me? Bless me, to my father. Now, this is after Jacob has blessed has been blessed by his father, Joseph. And so and so, he’s just begging for one. And then it’s all wealth allowed because there is no blessing that was left. And what happens when you don’t have the blessing when you don’t feel the impact of the original blessing? Well, I think this happens. Look, in Genesis 27:41, Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. So many other emotional issues are greed, our lust or anger or pride, or jealousy. They come from this place of woundedness, this place of emptiness. And it’s something that only God’s blessing can heal, that only God’s blessing can make coal. See, your family of origin may have left. You left a big gap in your heart and in your life. And you go, Well, how can I ever trust God? How could I ever feel blessed by God? Because listen to me, my friends. God’s most basic instinct, His first principle, is that of a blessing. And Paul reminds of reminds us of this in the New Testament. Look with me. Romans Chapter Eight. I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the president nor the future, nor any powers, nor has, nor death, nor anything else in all.

Creation will be able to separate us from the love of God. That is in Christ, Jesus, our Lord. And then in First Creed, these 13. These three things remain faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. See, folks, love is the first principle. Love is the default setting. Love is our fallback position. Now, as we close out the message, I just want to talk to you just for a moment about what is a blessing and what is not a blessing. And this just comes right out of Mark Patterson’s book here. And he talks about three things that a blessing is not. He says, first of all, a blessing is not good luck. Blessing is not winning the lottery. God doesn’t bless us to raise our standard of living. God blesses us to raise our standard of giving. See, folks. Sometimes our greatest asset becomes our greatest liability. If you don’t believe me, just go back and read the story of the rich young ruler. So blessing is not good luck. Blessing is not health, wealth, or prosperity. It’s none of these things. Now, these can be byproducts of God’s blessings. But if we do that, then we reduce God’s blessings down to things in material terms. And folks, we don’t want to devalue the blessings of God, the blessings of God. It’s not some wonderful, expensive car with a hashtag being blessed or some exotic vacation spot. Hashtag blessed beyond, you know, our wildest imagination. It’s none of that. See, folks, the blessings of God is intangible. The blessings of God. It’s joy unspeakable. It’s a peace that passes all understanding. It knows that your past mistakes do not define you because your sin is forgiven and forgotten. It does not know what the future holds.

It’s no one who holds the future. And the fact that he’s going to prepare you for good works in advance. So what is a blessing? Blessing is not good luck. It’s not health, wealth and prosperity, and blessing. It’s not zero gravity. In other words, blessings are not problems. That’s impossible. Jesus said, In this world, you will have trouble. Now, gratefully, he doesn’t end it there. Right? He says, Take heart. Because why is that? I have overcome the world. But everyone walks through the valley of shallow shadow of death. Everyone works through and walks through grief. Everyone will get hurt. In fact, the more you love, the more it hurts. Life is not fair. But God is good, and his grace is sufficient. So that’s what blessing is not. So the question becomes, what is a blessing? And according to Mark Madison, it is God. It is God with us. It is God for us. And it is God in us. And my friends, that is the blessing of God is that God is with you. He’s for you, and he’s in you. And his original blessing was to bless you above everything else. And when you live from that first principle, that first basic assumption, then what happens is, is that you get the sequence right. Then it changes everything about your perspective. It changes everything about life. And see folks, this is really the heart. This original blessing is the heart behind our compassion project. See, folks, when we understand that we have been blessed by God, that He’s with us, for us in us, that he is blessing us so that we cannot just raise our standard of living, but raise our standard of giving and be a blessing to others. Then you know what? We understand that basic assumption.

That first principle then will live from that sequence, will live from that algorithm, and we will make. A huge difference in the world today. And if you’re just tuning in for the first time, maybe this year, and you haven’t heard anything about our Compassion project, let me just quickly tell you what we’re doing is that there’s a basic passage from ACT chapter two. The that we built our church upon is the early church, and it’s how they met and how they gathered. And one of the things that they do in verse 44 of that chapter is that they pool their resources together. And we believe as a congregation that the need in our church and in our community in 2021 is going to be greater than ever before. And so we want to make preparations to begin to meet the needs of the people in our congregation and the people in our community. And so what I’ve been asking people to do is just to join me in praying. A prayer is found in First Samuel chapter three, verse nine, and it says, Lord, speak for your servant is listening. And it’s just seven simple words, but it’s a life-changing prayer, and we’re just inviting people. Would you just be willing to pray that prayer? And then whenever you whisper that prayer to God, whatever God whispers back to you, would you be willing just to respond? And we’ve just been asking people to just respond to the kindness and the goodness and the blessings of God in their own life. And to do that financially. And so far, we’ve had over 40 families to respond. We’ve had over $35,000 already committed to helping people in our church and in our community this year, with housing, with rent, with utilities, with groceries, and whatever we can help someone with.

We want to do that. And so what we’ve been challenging people to do is for some of you is that God really bless you in 2020, and you had an exceptional year financially, and for some of you, you’re just going to write a one-time check, and you go make a one-time donation. And when you make that one-time donation of 500, 5000, or 50,000, it doesn’t make a difference. We’re going to take it, and we’re just going to put over here in a Compassion Project fund for some of you. You’re going to increase. You’re giving this what Rosanna did. We increased our giving, and the increase of giving that we’ve given this year for the entire year, the increase that we’ve given is going to go to the Compassion Project. So let’s just use a simple mathematic equation. If you’re here today and you increase your giving by $10 for the next 49 or 48 weeks, is that $10 or $480 a week times 48 is going to go to the Compassion Project for some of you. You’re going to sign up, and you’re going to join your online giving team. And this is going to be your very first time of stepping into generosity. And here’s what we’re going to do When you sign up to be a part of our online giving team. How you do that is you go to our website, Issaquah Dot Church Forge, Slash Guilford, you set up a profile, you set up recurring, giving you select amount, and you select, you know, is it going to be weekly every other week, twice a month, once a month, And then you pick the amount that you want to give and then hit save. And the first three months of whatever you give on the online giving platform as an online giving team member, the first three months of your giving is going to go to the Compassion Project.

And so far, we’ve had $35,000 that’s already been committed, and we’re going to use that funding to meet the needs of the people in our church and in our community. And somebody asked me the other day how, you know, what what’s the amount that we’re going for, folks? We don’t have an amount. Here’s, the goal is not to turn anyone away this year. And this is not going to be for us to be rude or cruel. We want to be loving. We want to bless other people because God has blessed us. And so we encourage you, if you haven’t been praying that prayer, pray, pray the prayer. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening, and pray that prayer responds to whoever God would lead you to respond. And so we’re looking to continue the Compassion Project for a couple more weeks, and after that, then we’re going to move on. But this is an opportunity for you to understand the whole concept of original blessing and being a double bus, and God bless you so that you can be a blessing to others. Now, as we close today, I would like to invite you to the Lord’s table. And at the end of his earthly Life, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples. Now, you remember that the celebration, of course, was of Israel’s exodus out of Egypt. It was a sacred celebration. But there is a plot twist in the Gospels, and Jesus redefines what it means. In the upper room, he says. It says he took the bread, gave thanks, and broke it. Then he said something that made no sense until about 24 hours later. He said This is my body. It will be after supper. He took the cup and said, This cup is the New covenant in my blood.

And then, that same night, Jesus was betrayed by one of his disciples for 30 pieces of silver. Now, we really don’t know how to calculate that 30 pieces of silver because the high priest paid Judas to do that. So we think it was probably the century shekel that he was paid with. And so the shekel will be $0.72 apiece. And so the mathematics is really hard. But Jesus was betrayed for 20 spots. And even though Jesus might have been worth $21.60 to Judas to Judas, Judas was worth the cross to cross. It’s worth self-worth comes from. It’s about what Christ was willing to do so that we could experience his blessing. And this weekend, we celebrate communion. In fact, for the next three weeks, we want to celebrate communion each week. Because why is because when we celebrate communion, it brings us back to the foot of the cross. It brings us back to the cross. And maybe you’re here today, and maybe you’re dealing with the curse of criticism. Maybe you’re dealing with the curse of mistakes that you’ve made. Maybe you’re dealing with the curse of trauma inflicted on your life. The cross is the place where the curse is broken. The cross is the place where sin is forgiven. The cross is the place where chains are broken and where the blessing is bestowed. Will you pray with me? Father. Right now. We’re grateful for your original blessing upon us. And for that, we’re grateful that that is your basic instinct. It is your default setting. And Lord, we’ve lost perspective of that. We’ve lost perspective of the fact. That your basic instinct is that of love. And Lord, we’ve allowed original sin to overshadow. Original blessing. And today, as we come to the table.

As we come to take the bread and the cup. And as Micah and Brendan Bunch lead us now in communion. May we be reminded? Of your goodness and of your original blessing. In Jesus’s name, Amen. All right. Go ahead and grab your cup, and you may remove the top of the film. I’ll give you a couple of minutes. It’s kind of tough getting. All right. Let me pray. Father, thank you so much for the opportunity. To take this in remembrance of what you’ve done, not just for me, but for the people in this room. Father, thank you so much for the grace that’s already given to us. God, it was already given to us the moment that we were born. God, thank you so much for sending your son to die in my place and a place of the people here. God, we take this bread in remembrance of you for all that’s in your name. Amen. We take the bread. As we continue this morning, you guys can go ahead and remove that second layer. And I’m going to take the time and pray over the cup. So, Father, we just come to you this morning. God, we fully surrender and are aware this morning, like Scripture says, without the shedding of blood, there’s no forgiveness of sins. So, God, we thank you this morning for your blood and what this cup represents. The God. Now we can live in redemption and in grace because of what you did on the cross. Father, we thank you for all that you do. We thank you for your son. Your name? Amen. May drink the cup. And this morning, as we continue in worship, I’d like to encourage you guys to your attention up here to the front on the screens as we are going to examine baptism this morning.

If you would stand and worship with us.

(Worship)

Jesus Christ. Well, I don’t know about you all, but I have had a great time worshiping with you this morning.

Being able to see a high school student give her life over to Christ and just be baptized this morning is so amazing. And I wanted to let you all know that it’s through your generosity that we’re able to offer these experiences for students, things like Sunday nights where they get a service just for them, to offer them life groups and a chance to serve and special occasions, things that will help them grow. Little by little, I got closer to God. And so, if you haven’t yet, take that, taking that step in your journey to step into generosity. Eastside has made it so easy to do. You just have to go to EastSideKY.church/give, and you can sign up there. It really does have an impact on the lives of so many. Well, next week, we’re going to continue on in the sermon series Double Blessing, and Pastor Virgil will be back next week to bring us a week to, yes, Praise God. Before I dismiss you, I just want to remind you if you have kids to pick up in kids, you can do that at the end of the service. If not, you would exit to the right or left side of the stage. That would be great. I’m going to pray for us, and then you guys will be dismissed. Father, I just thank you for this morning. I thank you for this opportunity to come together and worship you that no matter what’s happening in the world, no matter what chaos is going on, you’re always there, and your blessings are for us, each and every one of us. So I ask that as we go throughout this week, we are able to see you in everything.

And so we thank you for all that you’ve done for us. I put all this in your name. Amen. We’ll see you back here next week for week two of the double blessing. I believe that the future is bright. I believe in his promise for me. The best. The best is yet to come. I know he makes the actions courageous. I know. Gimme the doubters be. I know he’s not done working, and he’s got. The best. The best is yet to come.