Thanks for listening to the His Hands Church podcast. If you're using the His Hands Church mobile app, please turn off the auto lock on your phone's general settings so that you can listen to the message uninterrupted. And thank you for being part of what God is doing at His Hands.

Good morning. Glad to be back. My name is Bill, and if it's your first time here, we are so glad to have you. Hope you uh recognize that this is a place where you can totally be yourself. Um just be comfortable and know you're loved. If it's not your first time here, I hope you realize you can just be yourself and know that you're totally loved. So um a couple of quick announcements. Um our motorcycle motorcycle group uh is meeting this morning. There they are. Um they're meeting this morning in classroom two, right after the uh the message and the song. Um if you like motorcycles, you ride a motorcycle, or if you just think motorcyclers are cool and you want to join, everybody's welcome to uh to go back there and be a part of that. Um Steve will be back next week. He's uh he's been missing us and we've been missing him, so we're excited to have him back, and he'll be excited to be back. That's right. And um for most or many of us, I should say, um, this week gets uh back to normalcy, right? Back into routine, right? School starts, who's excited? Yeah, I think there's a lot of mom and dad shouting. I know that's that's how my wife and I are. I'm not sure the kids are quite as excited about it. Um but that's uh what's going on. Uh in lieu of that, um, this Wednesday night, 7 p.m. in the arena, which is on if you're driving in the right hand side of the building, over here right now to I guess your right hand side also, my left, um, they will be meeting at 7 p.m. our high schoolers. High schoolers, are you out there? Oh man, that I was surprised. I thought I'd be a lot more excited about it. Well, they're getting we got an amazing group of uh high school kids here, and uh they are um just on fire for Jesus. And anyone who wants to come, it's a place where they can come and again they can just totally be themselves, make friends. Um, a totally awesome group of uh of young people we have here, and so 7 p.m. Wednesday night um for the rest of the school year, they'll basically be meeting. Um our family has that's a lot of fun that we get to participate in is Cub Scouts. Um we have a Cub Scout pack here at his hands that meets on Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. So they start day after tomorrow, the 6, also in the arena. You drive around the side of the basketball courts. If you have a uh boy in ages first through fifth grade, um they would be uh totally welcomed to join our Cub Scout pack. Um it's uh it's a great way for boys to kind of just you know learn some uh independence and and some character trades and stuff like that. At the same time, we also have a Boy Scout troop. Um they meet in classroom two on Tuesday nights, also at 7 p.m. And that's gonna start this week. It's been ongoing through the summer, but they're kind of kicking off their school year this uh this year. And that's basically for any boy age 11 and older who wants to get into scouting. Uh Lee Torbush is our scout master. He's a great guy. He helped getting uh he helped get Cub Scouts uh started here at His Hands about four years ago. Um there were a group of us that kind of knew that this would be an awesome place to have scouts, and specifically Cub Scouts. Um the facility was uh uh perfect, it's really, really big and comfortable, and um its loving environment was just a perfect partner for scouts. And so uh Lee really kind of, there he is, he's right back there, look at there he is. Um he really kind of steamrolled this process of getting a Cub Scout pack founded here at his hands. Um it's not the easiest process in the world. It's got some complexity and challenges to overcome. And uh together he, along with a whole bunch of others, um really headed that up. And now we have, I think, 70 to 80 boys, if you count everybody that's here on a on a Tuesday night, that are developing independence, building those character traits, and most importantly, getting poured into by awesome loving leaders. Um just a couple weeks ago, I was uh one of those leaders. I've been the Cubmaster for the last two years of the Cub Scout Pack. I was volunteered for the position, and I was told it's only an hour a week. Don't worry about it, it's not not really the case. And um, I, along with a couple other volunteers, took 19 third through fifth grade boys to summer camp. Um yeah, three nights ago. There they are. Um we had a blast letting these little guys just have their first real taste of independence. You know, they're for the first time for a lot of these kids are away from mom. You know, they're away from their bed. Um they got to have adventures. It's a totally safe scout reservation, and we let them get on their bikes and just go away, you know, for half an hour to an hour, and they and trust them to come back on time, and they do. They did a great job. You know, they learn valuable lessons. And honestly, they they could get just right, downright silly at times, which is is half the part of being a kid. And um, one of the things we did I wanted to share with everybody here this morning. Now, I I I need you guys to humor me for a minute. Um to preface this, I actually had some reinforcement this morning, which is just what God always does. Miss Candy over here says she likes to have fun and act silly. I am a guy who totally values fun and silliness. You can't be a cubmaster to some degree without just highly uh valuing fun and silliness. And I am really not afraid to make a goof of myself in front of a large group of people. So um that's gonna happen here in just a few minutes. Um but in order for it to really work, I need everybody else to buy in for a few minutes. Now, I know that's not everybody's kind of thing. Um, but just for a minute, if we could just picture ourselves in kind of that place when we were a young child. You know, that eight, nine, ten-year-old boy or girl. You know, when the hardest parts of our life were when we had to deal with homework or cleaning our room, and it was raining outside. Those were the bad days, right? Little bit before popular existed, where any kid was your friend, regardless of what they looked like or talked like, it doesn't matter. It was just about fun. Can everybody how how awesome would it be to be that kid just for a couple minutes? Yeah. Can we try it this morning? I wanna I wanna try something. So, what what we did at Scouts this year is we learned a song, and I need some help, actually, and he didn't know I'm gonna do this, but Will, would you come up here for a second? This is my son Will, he was one of the guys. Um he's actually missing, he's actually missing, look at this. He's actually missing the team five uh room upgrade tonight just to hear his dad talk. Um he's one of our Cub Scouts, and we learned the banana song. Oh yeah, oh dear is what he just said. At Scouts. And I need everybody to stand, because we're all gonna learn the banana song. It's really complicated. It has five total words in it, all right? We're gonna kind of demonstrate it just up front, and like I said, for the next 60 seconds, you are not a grown-up. You're a kid. Just a total kid, all right? All right, and what you're gonna do is we're gonna say, I'm going to say, bananas of the world unite. All right? And then what do you what do we do? We do this, okay? And then we say, peel banana, peel, peel banana. And we peel our banana, and then we do it for the other side. Peel banana, peel, peel banana. And then we just say, go bananas, go, go, bananas. And that's the song. All right? All right. So, are we ready? Are we ready? All right, bananas of the world unite. Oh, that wasn't good. Put them down. All right, try it again. Bananas of the world unite.

Wow, that was better. Alrighty, peel, banana, peel, peel, banana, peel, banana, peel, peel, banana, peel, banana, peel, peel, banana, peel, banana, peel, peel, knock, bananas.

Go bananas, go, go, bananas, go, bananas, go, go, bananas, go, bananas, go, go, bananas, go, bananas, go, go, banana. That's it. Yes.

Now, who thought they would be doing the banana song this morning at church? Yes. How awesome is it just for just to let go. To let go. Oh, I need a second. I really take that seriously.

Woo!

All right. I'm gonna find out where I'm at. All right, here we go. Well, awesome job. Um, thank you for humoring me. Um you're probably wondering what that may have to do with this morning, and I promise at some point I'll get there. Um this morning I uh Steve asked me, and I really am excited, because I'm gonna share one of the things I'm most passionate about in God's Word, and it's it's found in the most unique chapter in all of the Bible. The most unique chapter, um, Genesis chapter one. Genesis chapter one. Now you may know that Genesis is a derivative of a Greek word that means origin. Origin. And Genesis is the only chapter in the Bible, Genesis 1, excuse me, is the only chapter in the Bible that is written without any human perspective involved. Genesis 2 through the end has some sort of human input, some sort of human involvement. Humans are mentioned in Genesis chapter 1, but it's from God's perspective. He was the only one around to really know what was happening. And this morning, we're going to focus specifically on Genesis 1, 1. You've probably heard of it. It's in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. What an awesome way to start a book, right? I want to know more. Um now it's widely believed that this was written by Moses somewhere around 5,000 years ago. All right? It's only been 2,000 years since Jesus walked. This is 3,000 years before that. Um at this time in history, humanity is really just coming out of the Stone Age and entering and kind of getting invested in the copper age. This is a long, long time ago. Um here we have this Jewish man Moses writing inspired words from God. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. To make it even more kind of interesting for us, um, Genesis 1.1's word beginning, the translation of that word beginning, is different from other Hebrew variants of beginning. It's unique. It means Ba Shari Ba Rishit. I don't speak Hebrew, but that's my best effort at it. Um and it's more accurately translated to an absolute beginning. As in, nothing happened before this beginning event. And then God created the heavens and the earth. Now, if we want to fast forward to a period of human history that we can more easily relate to, the mid-1900s, about 50, 60 years ago. Human philosophy, science, technology are far, far beyond what Moses' time could ever, ever and even imagine. Um, yet through this point, not religion, not religion, but philosophy had really guided this kind of scientific, if you want to call it, understanding of the origins of the universe. Um there was a theory in place, and it was it was formally recognized and accepted somewhere in the early 1900s, but it had really been in place for hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of years prior to that, as kind of the thought process behind what the universe was. And that was called steady state theory. Um, steady state theory basically stated that the universe was eternal. Um, it's kind of variation off of reincarnation and some of those kind of things. That there is no start, there is no end, it just it always is, and it kind of recycles itself, and that's where the universe, that's where it is and what it is. Um that it just was. It just was. But somewhere in those same early 1900s, there was this guy, you probably have heard of him, his name's Albert Einstein, he's pretty well known. Um, he was helping and just really setting the groundwork for another foundational scientific theory called the theory of relativity. Now, this new theory would kind of focus scientists on this new path of understanding toward, you know, a development for a new model, a measured model, a measurable model of where the universe came from and the origins of this universe. In 1965, that's relatively not that long ago, steady state theory was basically abandoned by the scientific world. This new theory that the theory of relativity assisted with was now going to be the foundational kind of go-to model for the origins of the universe. You've probably heard of it. It's called the Big Bang Theory. It's on TBS every Tuesday. No, I'm just kidding. The Big Bang Theory. We've all heard of that. We've all heard of that. And that is kind of the go-to scientific model for the origins of the universe. Now, this morning I'm not here to discuss the merits of modern science versus the Bible and try and compare and contrast and all that kind of stuff. The point is to show how 5,000 years ago, Moses, a man inspired by God, wrote three simple words that are just really recently agreed to as scientific fact. All the all the entire universe, all space and time, had a beginning. Had a beginning. You see, we live in a physical world where everything we we experience is based on this thing called causality. There's nothing in creation where cause and effect aren't in some way, shape, or form related. So if we live in a universe that has an absolute beginning, as stated both by Moses 5,000 years ago, and now by modern, well-tested science, what was its cause? Well, Genesis 1 tells us, doesn't it? But to ask a bigger question, why? Why was it caused? Why was it done? Now we're getting kind of deep, right? What is the purpose of everything that exists? Now you see why we started off with a banana song. You know? A nice little bit of Sunday morning conversation. The purpose of everything. Well, don't worry, there is an answer. There is an answer. There's another section of Genesis that's another section of Scripture that starts in the very same manner as Genesis 1. And it's in John chapter 1. It says, In the beginning, the word already existed. The word was with God. The word was with God, and the word was God. And he existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The word gave the life to everything that was created. And his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. Now, not unlike the version of Hebrew in Genesis, there's a loss in translation to some degree. We don't have the words in English that directly translate as effectively. The word was in Greek specifically, in the beginning, was the word. And that word in the Greek has no association with time. If I say I was at the store, you know that prior to this point in time, I was, or I had been at the store. This word was has no connection with time. It basically is trying to say that all causality, all time and space, nothing happened. That was before the beginning. It's a timeless expression. And then if we move to verse 14 in that same chapter of John, we find this. We find the answer to what we're looking for, the purpose. So the word became human and made his home among us. And he was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son. It's talking about Jesus. It's talking about Jesus. You see, when we get into the the nitty-gritty of it, all creation, all creation points to Jesus. He is the complete purpose of everything. Now, John 1 is kind of an odd passage in a way. It can be, at least for me, it's tough to kind of wrap my brain around or try to understand completely. We're dealing with this term word. In the beginning was the word. It involves a poetic kind of phrasing to describe the entirety of an infinite God. That's not easy to understand. How can we possibly even try to comprehend that which is incomprehensible? It's frankly impossible. But one thing I do, at least, that that that I can helps me is I substitute characteristics of God that I can better relate to from other parts of the Bible that we know about God to be part of his personality. Can we all today, at least for the sake of just the message here, agree that God is love? Yeah. In fact, in verse 14 we just mentioned, it said he was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. So God is love. Will we all recognize that God is truth? Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the light. So God is love, God is truth. Why don't we, you know, kind of substitute those in a paraphrased way into that passage? Say, in the beginning was love. And love was with God, and love was God. And love became human. Makes you think of Jesus a little differently, doesn't it? Or in the beginning was truth. And truth was with God, and truth was God, and truth became human. You see, by taking an understandable characteristic of God and narrowing our phrasing slightly, at least I'm better to draw a personal connection to who he is and why he came. You know? I know Jesus. That's now talking about a person, not just an infinite God. He is the purpose of everything. Now, my personal way I love to say this, I've I've taught on this in it before, and I like to say it this way. In the beginning was the plan. The plan was with God, and the plan was God, and the plan became human. You see, the Bible clearly tells us that God has a plan. And that plan had an absolute beginning, as we read in Genesis. It tells us in Psalms that the universe is stretching, like a tent, and it tells us there will be an eventual end in multiple places. Guess what? Today's most really well-researched and tested cosmological models tell us that the universe had an absolute beginning, that the universe is stretching, and that there will be an eventual end. He got it right way before we did. Shocking. See, it's all part of God's plan, and it all points to Jesus. In the book of Ephesians, Paul, who was this really religious guy, he was by the book religious, you know, rules, rules, rules, rules, rules until he was radically transformed. And he's imprisoned, and he's trying to reach out to the church of Ephesus and kind of give them the foundation of what it's really about, what this life of following Jesus is really all about. And he sums it up really eloquently in chapter three, starting with verse six. He says, and this is God's plan. Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the good news share equally in the riches inherited by God's children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they bel because they belong to Christ Jesus. By God's grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this good news. Though I am the least deserving of all God's people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning. God's purpose in all this was to use the church, us, to display his wisdom and its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was his eternal. Eternal plan which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord. You see, the plan is, was, and will always be us connecting with Jesus. Albert Einstein said this. He said, I want to know how God created this world. I'm not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum or this of that element. I want to know his thoughts. The rest are details. You know, I'm a guy that has my entire kind of adult life kind of oscillated between logic and faith, and how do they fit together? And, you know, can I can I believe well-founded scientific truth and also be a man of uh running after Jesus' heart? Can I be both? And the truth is absolutely. And not only does it help, it reinforces itself time and time and time again. And if that sounds like something you have ever thought or questioned, you ever had a science class or ever watched a discovery program or something like that and gone, what? I don't get it. Well, there's gonna be a class starting on September 4th. Groups and classes are starting in September 4th. There are little sheets and flyers outside the doors. There's also all sorts of good groups and classes, but I'm gonna be leading a Bible study on Genesis chapter one. We're gonna take eight weeks and go through that. Um, it's a great way to reinforce the truths of God's creation, always pointing back to this relationship with Jesus. I call it a faith-strengthening Bible study. And if that sounds like something you want, you're welcome to join. Anybody's welcome to come. I also started this morning off talking about Cub Scouts and our pack and how we founded it four years ago. Um, it did not happen overnight. It took time, effort, energy, vision, and most importantly, it took a plan. It took a plan. But plans are nothing without purpose. In scouting, um, there's this kind of unique way in which they structure their units. Um, all PACs and troops are literally owned by a thing called a chartering organization. And in our case, his hands, we own PAC 6410 and Troop 6410. Together, every one of all of us, us, we own those units. We are collectively responsible for the care and investment of each of our scouts. We have been given authority and accountability to share God's love and teach and bring each one of them up in kind of the structured way of scouting. Without this church, our scouts would not have a place of refuge. Not dissimilar. This world is nothing without purpose. You know, without a spiritual refuge. And that can only be found in one place, and that's Jesus. Why don't we stand up if the worship team wants to kind of head back up this way? You know, the truth is life, the life can get hard. I mean, there are real life problems, right? We have finances, relationships, work, school, health, politics, personal mistakes. And it's easy sometimes to get lost and forget that there's a purpose behind all of it. A purpose. When we ask ourselves, I've caught myself asking, why is this happening? Um, will things ever get better? Is there really a plan behind this? This morning, Candy, I mentioned her earlier. Um, today is Bill's three-year cancer cancer uh fight uh anniversary, right? Is that what it is? Three years. Huge. Huge. I mean, can you imagine going through that fight, though? They know it intimately. We can all experience it in some other way. But you ask yourselves through those battles constantly, why? What's the plan? What's the purpose? The purpose isn't here. There is a fact. This is the fact of the matter. There is a plan and you are part of it. There is truth, and the truth is that Jesus is real and he loves for you and he cares about you. In Ephesians chapter 2, it says this: for we, for you, are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. You are a child of God. It is really, really good. I'll tell you, it's really, really good. And I wish I'd do it more, to go to him regularly and say, take care of me, dad. Just take this weight off of my shoulders and just let me be a child and just have a childlike spirit, no matter what I'm going through. Only Jesus can offer that freedom. And that freedom is only found in one place: eternal hope. Hope beyond here. Hope forever. Steady state hope. God is steady state. This world is temporary. God is eternal. You know, we can do that by asking Jesus to come in our heart with this really formalized prayer. Or you may just want to do it silly and raise your hands and sing the banana song to God. There is not a formula. There's not a formula. It's a personal relationship. It's your heart's desire to reach out and grab the Creator with both arms and give him a big hug. Why don't we pray? God, thank you so much for a plan and for giving us purpose and hope in this life through your son Jesus. Help us to just lean on you every day and to live life light and free no matter what's going on around us. God, just bless us in our walk with you. Give us joy in our hearts as we go through our week. And give us moments to just stop and be your child. And to just lift our hands up and recognize the love you have for us. Keep us safe and protected as we go about our days today. Just make it a wonderful day for everybody. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you.