Occasionally, people ask really, really good questions.

On Sunday, we talked about God’s unconditional love for us despite our sin... If you missed it you can download it here. We looked at the life of Jacob a little bit, and we concluded, based on Genesis 27 and Deuteronomy 7:6-8 that “it was simply that the LORD loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. In other words, He loves us because He loves us!



On a response card, someone asked the really great question... “If God loves us because He loves us, then why did he reject Esau?”

I think this is a great question. I was talking with a friend about it on Sunday afternoon, and I pointed back to the passage in Romans that we had looked at earlier that day in the service...

Romans 9:11-16
But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.” In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”
Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”
So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.

The point being that God DIDN’T choose to love everyone equally! He chose to love Jacob and he chose to reject Esau. Esau was outside God’s promise to Abraham.

Well, this did NOT sit well with my friend. She said “I just don’t like that. I can’t believe that my God would love some and not love others. That just makes me mad.”

“But,” I said, “don’t forget that God CREATED us to represent HIM on the earth... To reflect HIS glory and to be in relationship with Him. But God didn’t break that deal... WE did. We broke the deal when we chose to rebel against him by sinning in the Garden of Eden. We rejected God. At that moment, ALL of us were guilty of being criminals against God, and we fell under the death penalty. None of us any longer deserved God’s love at all. But God chased after us by CHOOSING to love one people among this world of sinners. He called Abraham and promised that the entire world would be blessed through his offspring. That line of offspring went from Abraham through Isaac, to Jacob, and then to all of Jacob’s children, who became the 12 tribes of Israel. Israel was the chosen nation... Unique in this world because they were loved by God.

And then it happened. The fulfillment of the promise as God wrapped himself in flesh and became a Jewish man, living without sin while here. He took my punishment and opened the door for me to have a relationship with God. That same passage goes on to say:

Romans 9:25-26
“Those who were not my people, I will now call my people.
And I will love those whom I did not love before.” And,
“Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ ”

So, in the Old Covenant, you were born into God’s promise and His love. In the New Covenant, you are BORN AGAIN into His family!

Romans 10:9-10
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

This past Sunday, we talked about moving in the patterns of God’s timing. The big key was that “the servant’s obedience put him into position to receive God’s blessing.” In Matthew 5, Jesus preached his famous “Sermon on the Mount,” where he described what the Christian life looks like. His message starts off with specific characteristics of movement in His timing. He gave clear instruction on how to step into the blessing that He desires to give. Have a look!

Matthew 5:3-10 (NLT)
3  “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
4  God blesses those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5  God blesses those who are humble,
for they will inherit the whole earth.
6  God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,
for they will be satisfied.
7  God blesses those who are merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8  God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
for they will see God.
9  God blesses those who work for peace,
for they will be called the children of God.
10  God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

I think this “Epic Life” flashback series that we’re doing right now is one of my favorites. If you haven’t been around for it, you can listen in right here. It is cool, because each message kind of builds upon each other, and it is all tying together very nicely.

I really got a lot of comments on this past week’s message, called “Epic Life: Work.” In it, we talk about the difference between our JOB and our WORK. It was really a good one for me, personally. One great passage that we didn’t get to this past week, but that we’ll be touching on this coming week is found in Colossians, where Paul gives us some really very practical ways to represent Christ in this world. If we can bear God’s image in these ways I think it would result in some amazing life change!

Colossians 3:16-4:5
Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly.
20 Children, always obey your parents, for this pleases the Lord.
21 Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged.
22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord.
23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 24 Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. 25 But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites.
4:1 Masters, be just and fair to your slaves. Remember that you also have a Master—in heaven.
2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart...
5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.
6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.

So, I have to ask the question... How am I representing God in Gilmer County this week? What about in my family? Am I loving as a representative of God? Am I working and obeying as a representative of God? Am I devoted to prayer? Do I live wisely? And who’s life is being changed as a result?

We just finished up “Epic Gift,” a mini-series in our “Epic” study through the book of Genesis. This walk through the life of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph began back in September when we moved into the Elementary School for Sunday morning worship. We started in Genesis 12 with God’s call to Abraham to “get up and go” and we have just witness the culmination of his learning to trust God with the near-sacrifice of Isaac on the altar in Genesis 22. I am really enjoying this story so far. What do you think? Send me an email to let me know what you’re thinking about this series so far.

We have the rest of Genesis tentatively mapped out... It goes like this:
Epic Life (January-Feb)
Epic: The Next Generation (Feb-Mar)
Epic Family Issues (Mar-April)
Epic Dreams (May- June)

As always, God reserves the right to change our plans at any moment, so you may not want to put these in your calendar.

I hope you are loving the EPIC series that we’re doing in Genesis! We’ve learned about God’s promises, our obedience, His consistency, and who Melchizedek represents in our lives today!



The rest of this EPIC journey of knowing God is broken up into epic miniseries. The first one starts THIS SUNDAY, and in it we’ll ask the question, what happens when we FAIL at what God has called us to? How should we respond to our own failure, and how does God respond to it? Join us as we look deeper into the story of Abram, and see how it parallels our own.

If you need to catch up on our series to date (we’ve had SIX in the series so far) you can hear them all on our podcast page.

We’re off to a great start in our new meeting location, and our new message series through (most of) Genesis is going to be great.



So, several people have asked me, “If you’re going to do a study on Genesis, why begin in chapter 11, instead of... You know... At the beginning?” I say, “Great question!” I usually give a short, fairly concise answer... But the truth is a little more complex.

The PENTATEUCH, what we know as the first five books of the Old Testament, (also known as Torah) were penned by Moses originally as a single story with basically five chapters. It was much, much later that we further subdivided them down into chapters and verses as they are today. The Pentateuch is the foundational teachings of the Hebrew faith. The first section, “Genesis,” is really the BEGINNING of the redemptive work of God in humanity.

Typically, when we think of Genesis, we think of the act of creation, Adam and Eve, and the Garden story. But the real story of Genesis begins with the call of Abram in Genesis 12. (45 out of 50 chapters in Genesis are NOT about creation.) All of Genesis 1-11, including Cain & Abel, Noah & the Flood, the Tower of Babel... All of it should be regarded as PREFACE, or SETUP for the story of Abram, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Their story is our story. It is all about a group of people trying to stumble their way through a relationship with God.

That’s why I’m excited about this series. I think we’ll find a lot about ourselves, and about how God works in and through us right here in Ellijay. I hope you’ll join us for it.

What can I possibly say after that? God moved. It was INCREDIBLE to see how SO many people pulled together to make this past Sunday’s FIRST SERVICE in the Elementary School happen. EVERYTHING was fantastic... From the signage, to the Children’s Ministry, to the worship service. What a blessing!!



We also had a BUNCH of first-time guests as well! And FOUR people turned their lives over to Christ for the first time! God is at work at The Orchard Church, and I am just thrilled that I get to be part of it. Bring it on!

It’s here! The awesome trailer for our new “EPIC” series that begins on September 12! Show it fullscreen to all your friends!