Call to worship:

May God be gracious to us and bless us
    and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
2 that your way may be known on earth,
    your saving power among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
    let all the peoples praise you!
Psalm 67:1-3

Questions for reflection:

In what ways do I, like Eve, diminish, add to, or soften the word of God?

Where are we tempted to invite, “Did God really say?,” into questions around our own existence and decisions of life?

Do I know I have a bias? Do I have friends to help me see my blindspots? How can I sharpen my sword?

Corporate Prayer:

Father,

Make us understand the way of your precepts, and we will meditate on your wondrous works. Grant us vision to see your Son and the grand work of redemption yesterday, today, and forever. Give us ears to hear and a heart to obey all that the Spirit would will for our lives.

May you increase as we decrease.

In Christ we pray.

Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Reader: Genesis 3:1-5 - Linda B

Title: Did God Really Say?

“My feelings as a Christian point me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded only by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them.... In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and of adders. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison!”

- Adolf Hitler

“Satan is subtle. He does not directly deny God’s word, but introduces the assumption that God’s word is subject to judgement.”

- Derek Kidner

“If the inner psychological life of the individual is sovereign, then identity becomes as potentially unlimited as the human imagination.”

- Carl Truman

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37–40)

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. (Luke 23:34)

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. (John 15:9)

20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

(Revelation 3:20)

Food for thought:

Bias

Blindspots

& Swords