Good morning,

This week we will begin a ten week series on the Old Testament foundation stones. These are the bedrock for what we believe. Without an understanding and obedience to these teachings, no one can correctly understand the rest of the Bible. Including our salvation.

Our study will encompass the whole book of Genesis 1-50 and Exodus 1-12.

We begin with an introduction to the Old Testament, things to know about the Old Testament, and the eight foundation stones.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Genesis 1:1

INTRO:  OT books are the foundation for our understanding of the NT.

MAKEUP OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

1. 39 books

Pentateuch (First 5 books: Law-Redemptive-Historical)

Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy

Last 12 books Historical

Joshua Judges Ruth 1-2 Samuel 1-2 Kings 1-2 Chronicles

Ezra Nehemiah Esther

         b. 5 Poetry (Experiential-personal, dealing with the human heart)

            Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Solomon

        c.  17 Prophetical (5 major 12 minor prophets)

Major Prophets: Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel

Minor prophets: Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi

2. Things to know about the OT

         a. Inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16) All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

        b. The OT was written mostly in Hebrew with a few passages in Aramaic

         c. Testament means covenant.  Old covenant is of the Law.

         d. 929 chapters, 23,214 verses, and 592,439 words.

         e. Middle book Proverbs, middle chapter Job 29, middle verse 2 

             Chronicles 20:17

3. What we will be studying

       a. Week 1: Genesis 1 Creation In the beginning God… (Gen 1:1)

       b. Week 2: Genesis 3 Fall of man …and he did eat (Gen 3:6)

       c. Week 3: Genesis 6 The flood And the Lord said, I will destroy 

            man… (Gen 6:7)

       d. Week 4: Genesis 12 Abraham So Abram departed (Gen 12:4)

       e. Week 5: Genesis 24 Isaac And the Lord appeared unto Isaac…

          (Gen 26:24)

       f. Week 6: Genesis 28 Jacob And, behold, I am with you…(Gen 28:15)

       g. Week 7: Genesis 37 Joseph And the Lord was with Joseph…

            (Gen 39:2)

       h. Week 8: Exodus 12 …and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door,…  

            (Ex 12:23)

       i. Week 9: CONCLUSION

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

This week we will begin a ten week series on the Old Testament foundation stones. These are the bedrock for what we believe. Without an understanding and obedience to these teachings, no one can correctly understand the rest of the Bible. Including our salvation.

Our study will encompass the whole book Genesis 1-50 and Exodus 1-12.

We begin with an introduction to the Old Testament, things to know about the Old Testament, and the eight foundation stones.

Things to know about the OT

         a. Inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16)

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”

        b. The OT was written mostly in Hebrew with a few passages in Aramaic

         c. Testament means covenant.  Old covenant is of the Law.

         d. 929 chapters, 23,214 verses, and 592,439 words.

         e. Middle book Proverbs, middle chapter Job 29, middle verse 2 Chronicles 20:17

“Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.” (2 Chronicles 20:17)

What a great verse for the middle verse of the Old Testament. God is with us in all our battles. He protects us, encourages us, and sustains us in every situation.

God inspired His word. He expects us to use it. When we do, we will understand His word, we will know when we have done wrong (reproof), we know how to correct our error, and we will understand what it means to be righteous. We will be fully armed for whatever the devil throws at us.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

This week we will begin a ten week series on the Old Testament foundation stones. These are the bedrock for what we believe. Without an understanding and obedience to these teachings, no one can correctly understand the rest of the Bible. Including our salvation.

Our study will encompass the whole book of Genesis 1-50 and Exodus 1-12.

We begin with an introduction to the Old Testament, things to know about the Old Testament, and the eight foundation stones.

MAKEUP OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

1. 39 books a.17 Historical

Pentateuch (First 5 books: Law-Redemptive-Historical)

Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy

Last 12 books Historical

Joshua Judges Ruth 1-2 Samuel 1-2 Kings 1-2 Chronicles

Ezra Nehemiah Esther

         b. 5 Poetry (Experiential-personal, dealing with the human heart)

              Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Solomon

          c.  17 Prophetical (5 major 12 minor prophets)

Major Prophets: Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel

Minor prophets: Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi

If you have never read the Old Testament, I would encourage you to do so. Besides the Foundation Stones, there are great stories of love, war, kings and queens, obedience and disobedience to God, and pictures of the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. A man is swallowed by a whale and lives. A man loses his family, wealth, and possessions in one day. He suffers physically, he is berated by his wife and friends. In the end he is given double what he lost. A king who committed adultery and is called a man after God’s own heart. A Moabite woman marries a Jewish man and in a few generations the Messiah Jesus is born.

The Old Testament is a book of excitement and wonder.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

Many shows we watch on TV are not friendly to origins of man. Some claim that it took billions of years for the world and mankind to come into being.

I hold in my hand the testimony of the Creator. God tells us step by step how the world came into being. The process was simple. God spoke it, Jesus made it, and the Holy Spirit breathed life into it.

If we do not know the truth, we could easily be persuaded to believe the lie of evolution.

This week we will look at the Creation of our world. We will look at who God is and how He completed His creative work.

What did God do?

Made fowls of the air and sea creatures (1:20-23) (Day five)

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.²¹ And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. ²² And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.²³ And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

Made cattle, creeping things, man and woman (1:24-31) (Day six)

²⁴ And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.²⁵ And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.²⁶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.²⁸ And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.²⁹ And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.³⁰ And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.³¹ And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

We learned yesterday that God created an infrastructure to sustain His created beings.

Today we learn about those created creatures. All forms of living creatures. Animals, sea life, fowls of the air, and man and woman.

God completed all His creative acts in six literal 24 hour days. Then He rested.

God rested and blessed the seventh day (Genesis 2:1-3) (Day 7)

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ² And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.³ And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”

God’s word is the truth. Please do not allow unbelievers or believers with corrupted doctrine, to turn you away from the truth of creation according to Genesis 1.

God said it and that’s good enough for me.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

Many shows we watch on TV are not friendly to origins of man. Some claim that it took billions of years for the world and mankind to come into being.

I hold in my hand the testimony of the Creator. God tells us step by step how the world came into being. The process was simple. God spoke it, Jesus made it, and the Holy Spirit breathed life into it.

If we do not know the truth, we could easily be persuaded to believe the lie of evolution.

This week we will look at the Creation of our world. We will look at who God is and how He completed His creative work.

WHAT did God do?

Made a firmament and called it heaven (1:6-8) (Second Day)

“And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.⁷ And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.⁸ And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Called the dry land Earth and the water seas God said let the Earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding its fruit after his kind (1:9-13) (Third day)

“And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.¹⁰ And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.¹¹ And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.¹² And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.¹³ And the evening and the morning were the third day.”                                                                                                 

Made the sun, moon, and stars (1:14-19) (Fourth day)

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:¹⁵ And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.¹⁶ And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.¹⁷ And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,¹⁸ And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.¹⁹ And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

God creates infrastructure on days two through four.

Day two He creates the atmospheric heaven.

Day three the earth, seas, grass, herb yielding seeds, fruit tree yielding fruit. Nourishment for the animals and the humans He will create on days five and six.

Day four the sun, moon, and stars. This enabled His creation to see, plant and harvest crops, and determine time. The phrase “And the evening and the morning were the…day.”, denotes a measure of time.

So far God has created everything to sustain life.

Next God creates sea life, wildlife, man and woman.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

Many shows we watch on TV are not friendly to origins of man. Some claim that it took billions of years for the world and mankind to come into being. They have all sorts of theories, but no real evidence.

I hold in my hand the testimony of the Creator. God tells us step by step how the world came into being. The process was simple. God spoke it, Jesus made it, and the Holy Spirit breathed life into it.

If we do not know the truth, we could easily be persuaded to believe the lie of evolution.

This week we will look at the Creation of our world. We will look at who God is and how He completed His creative work.

CREATION

GENESIS 1:1-31

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Genesis 1:1

INTRO:  In the beginning GOD…

WHO is God?

1. Elohim=supreme, mighty EL=strong

2. Elohim is a plural word.  The Godhead:

     a. Father

     b. Son

         While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; Prov 8:26-30

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:1-3 and 14

     c. Holy Spirit V2 …the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters

3. Omnipotent=all powerful       He creates Gen 1:1-31

4. Omnipresent Eternal He had no beginning

5. Omniscience He knows all

WHAT did God do?  Created everything by using the action verbs:

     Created, said, saw, called, made, set, divided, blessed

     V1 created the heavens and the earth

     V2 the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters

     V3 let there be light (Jesus was the Light)

     V4 divided the light from the darkness

     V5 called the light Day and the darkness night (End of day one)

WHAT did God do?  Created everything:

     V6 -8       made a firmament and called it heaven (End of second day)

     V9-13     called the dry land Earth and the water seas

                    God said let the Earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed,

                    and the fruit tree yielding its fruit after his kind

                    (End of third day)

     V14-19   made the sun, moon, and stars (End of fourth day)

     V20-23   made fowls of the air and sea creatures (End of fifth day)

     V24-25   made land animals and insect life

     V26-30   made man and woman and gave them direction

                    Let US… reference to the Godhead

          Gives them dominion over the fish, fowl, cattle, over all the

          earth, and over every creeping thing

          Created man in his own image, in the image of God

          Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth

          Gave them food to eat

     V31        Everything that GOD made was very good (End of sixth day) 

WHERE did God do this? 

                    Since no place existed, answer unknown

WHEN did God do this?

                    In the beginning. 

                    REMEMBER there was no concept of time

WHY is this a foundation stone?

                    Without God there is nothing.  This truly is the foundation of all

                    existance

                    God created all the elements to sustain man

                    God created all the elements to sustain man outside the Garden

                    of Eden

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

Many shows we watch on TV are not friendly to origins of man. Some claim that it took billions of years for the world and mankind to come into being.

I hold in my hand the testimony of the Creator. God tells us step by step how the world came into being. The process was simple. God spoke it, Jesus made it, and the Holy Spirit breathed life into it.

If we do not know the truth, we could easily be persuaded to believe the lie of evolution.

This week we will look at the Creation of our world. We will look at who God is and how He completed His creative work.

What did God do?

Created everything by using the action verbs:

Created, said, saw, called, made, set, divided, blessed

Created the heavens and the earth (1:1-2) (First day)

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.² And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Let there be light (1:3-5)

³ And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.⁵ And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Yesterday, we looked at who God is. It was crucial to establish this because only God would be capable of creating this world.

When we speak of light, we think in terms of light coming from the sun, moon, or stars. God does not create these till day four. John 1:3-5 tells us who is the light.

“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life; and the life was the light of men.⁵ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

Jesus is the light. He states in John 8:12 that He is the light of the world.

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

God the Father spoke, God the Son made, and God the Holy Spirit moved upon the face of the waters. The triune God working in unity.

Day one includes God’s creating the heavens and earth. He establishes Jesus as the light and divides it from the darkness. This established our concept of time. The first day.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

Many shows we watch on TV are not friendly to origins of man. Some claim that it took billions of years for the world and mankind to come into being. They have all sorts of theories, but no real evidence.

I hold in my hand the testimony of the Creator. God tells us step by step how the world came into being. The process was simple. God spoke it, Jesus made it, and the Holy Spirit breathed life into it.

If we do not know the truth, we could easily be persuaded to believe the lie of evolution.

This week we will look at the Creation of our world. We will look at who God is and how He completed His creative work.

 WHO is God?

1. Elohim=supreme, mighty EL=strong

2. Elohim is a plural word.  The Godhead:

    a. Father

    b. Son

         While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; Prov 8:26-30

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:1-3 and 14

     c. Holy Spirit V2 …the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters

3. Omnipotent=all powerful       He creates Gen 1:1-31

4. Omnipresent Eternal He had no beginning

5. Omniscience He knows all

The Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, working together in unity to create the world.

This is not a manmade god, but the God of all eternity. No beginning and no ending. Holy, perfect, with all power and wisdom. Only God could create this world.

This knowledge in itself should be enough to reject any other creation theory. The Bible account is true, precise, and honest!

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

John 15 is about abiding in Christ. We will learn about vines, branches, and why it is important for the branches to abide in the vine. We will also learn God loves us, calls us His friend, we will be hated by the world, and that Jesus will send us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit of God.

Christians will be hated (15:18-25)

“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.¹⁹ If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.²⁰ Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.²¹ But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.²² If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.²³ He that hateth me hateth my Father also.²⁴ If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.²⁵ But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.”

The Christian life is not pain free. If we are abiding in Christ, doing His bidding, witnessing for the Lord, and living for Christ, then we should expect to be persecuted. The world does not believe the Bible or that Jesus existed. They put believers in Christ down and make fun of them. How we react tells a lot about who we are in Christ. Do we have a humble spirit or fight back? Do we love the unlovely or do we hate? It should be our heart attitude to follow Jesus example.

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:⁶ Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:⁷ But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:⁸ And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8)

Coming of the Holy Spirit (15:26-27)

“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:²⁷ And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.”

Soon Jesus would be gone. The disciples, although warned, did not comprehend all that was about to happen. Jesus made them a promise to send the Comforter to them. The Comforter (Holy Spirit) would bear witness to all Jesus taught them.

Abiding in Christ comes with a cost. We must be willing to suffer and be rejected. We must be humble as Jesus. We must be sensitive to the moving of the Holy Spirit, who lives within us, to lead and guide.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

John 15 is about abiding in Christ. We will learn about vines, branches, and why it is important for the branches to abide in the vine. We will also learn God loves us, calls us His friend, we will be hated by the world, and that Jesus will send us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit of God.

Christians are friends of Christ (15:12-17)

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.¹⁴ Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. ¹⁵ Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.¹⁶ Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.¹⁷ These things I command you, that ye love one another.”

Jesus teaches us three principles.

First, we are to love one another. This is not a request, but a command. Before we were saved, Jesus loved us. God sent Him to earth, in the form of a man, to pay the sin debt we owed.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

Second, Jesus calls us His friends. He saw us as “friends” before His death. He laid done His life on the cross for us, His friends. He tells us we are His friends, if we follow His commands.

When we think of Jesus, we think of Him as God the Son, the creator of all things, the Savior of all mankind, the babe in the manger, the man on the cross, or the man resurrected from the dead. But friend? What a relationship we have with God the Son, for Him to call us His friend.

Third, He reminds us that He has chosen and ordained us to go and bring forth fruit. Soul winning and discipleship go hand in hand. When God allows us to see someone come to know Christ, our responsibility has just begun. Discipleship produces fruit in the person’s life. Character, obedience, reading and understanding the Bible, and church attendance, is the fruit of a person who witnesses for Christ.

This passage is challenging.

Do we love as Jesus loves? Do we call the unlovable our friends? Are we witnessing and discipling others, so they can bear much fruit?

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001