Michael McEntyre 4/25/2021 The Good Life: Creation's Invitation, First Baptist Church Columbia, MO
Apr 25, 2021
Summary
This sermon is a part of a series entitled, The Good Life, Practices for Abundant Living. The Bible has much to teach us about our invitation to care for Creation and why it is important. By looking at the Hebrew origin stories in Genesis 1 and 2 and God’s offer to join in the re-creation of humanity’s relationship with our Creator in 2 Corinthians 5, this sermon will explore how caring for creation honors God. Additionally, by applying the lens of Practical Theology to the conversation, this sermon will draw from an understanding of Ecology and how ecosystems work to bring light to the Year of Jubilee passages found in Leviticus 25 to recognize how our care for Creation also fulfills the second part of the Great Commandment to “love our neighbor as ourselves.” Creation care teaches us that the good life and abundant living is dependent on caring for the entire system, not just the individual. When we see the interconnectedness of God’s creation, we see that God’s command to love our neighbor as ourselves in not just an altruistic aspiration. My good and abundant life is connected to the good and abundant life of my neighbor. An ecosystem that is out of balance brings harm to the entire system, even the ones that are seemingly benefiting. So, my good is a shared good and that is by God’s design.
Detail
This sermon is a part of a series entitled, The Good Life, Practices for Abundant Living.
The Bible has much to teach us about our invitation to care for Creation and why it is important. By looking at the Hebrew origin stories in Genesis 1 and 2 and God’s offer to join in the re-creation of humanity’s relationship with our Creator in 2 Corinthians 5, this sermon will explore how caring for creation honors God. Additionally, by applying the lens of Practical Theology to the conversation, this sermon will draw from an understanding of Ecology and how ecosystems work to bring light to the Year of Jubilee passages found in Leviticus 25 to recognize how our care for Creation also fulfills the second part of the Great Commandment to “love our neighbor as ourselves.”
Creation care teaches us that the good life and abundant living is dependent on caring for the entire system, not just the individual. When we see the interconnectedness of God’s creation, we see that God’s command to love our neighbor as ourselves in not just an altruistic aspiration. My good and abundant life is connected to the good and abundant life of my neighbor. An ecosystem that is out of balance brings harm to the entire system, even the ones that are seemingly benefiting. So, my good is a shared good and that is by God’s design.