creation, part 2

Good morning brothers and sisters,
Please remember that our annual meeting is this coming Sunday after worship in Christler Hall. If you want to serve on session or have someone in mind who would be a great elder, feel free to let a member of the nominating committee know (you can email me or get in touch with Susan Dennis, Scott Fralick, Linda Marshall or Carolyn Rowell).

Today we read about the fourth, fifth and part of the sixth day of creation. Creation has become quite a controversial topic in public life. Some Christians feel that this story can't be reconciled with scientific stories of the Earth's beginnings like the Big Bang or evolution. I don't think that this needs to be a conflict. The purpose of the creation story is to remind us that God created the universe and that in the beginning the world was good. This wasn't written to teach science or history. There's no reason God couldn't have created the world through the Big Bang or developed animal life through evolution. This creation story reads like a poem; it is beautiful and orderly. It reminds us of the amazing beauty and variety of God's creation, and it reminds us that the source of all life is God.

God bless,
Sam

Genesis 1:14-25

14And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16God made the two great lights — the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night — and the stars. 17God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.



20And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” 21So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 22God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.


24And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. 25God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.