January 27, 2018 - Church at Worship

Sermon: "The First Word: God" The Ten (part 1 of 10) by Randy Roberts

Pastoral Welcome: Adrian Pressley

Children's Feature: Doug Mace

Child Dedication: Levi Brooks and Malachi Mendez

Scripture Reading: Exodus 20:4-6, TNIV read by Marlin and Sharon Dolinsky

Sermon Notes:

The Ten Commandments continue to stir reactions within us, becoming the basis for thought, comparison, rejection and embrace. Ronald Reagan, for example, said, “I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress.” Yvonne De Carlo, an actress who appeared in the movie of the same name, quipped, “I enjoyed being in The Ten Commandments. That was a great experience— to suddenly become one of those holy people. I was holier than thou!” The American journalist H. L. Mencken once said, “Say what you will about the Ten Commandments, you must always come back to the pleasant fact that there are only ten of them.” And the Christian speaker and writer, Edwin Louis Cole, stated, “The Ten Commandments have never been replaced as the moral basis upon which society rests.”

For millennia, the Ten Commandments have been a source of interest, guidance, guilt, conflict, and, no doubt, many other emotions and experiences. They form an enduring legacy which continues to affect and influence modern life, both personally and corporately. The scene of the children of Israel, camped at Sinai, while Moses climbs the mount to receive the stone tables from the hand of God is one of the enduring stories of Scripture. But it is also one that raises innumerable questions, questions such as these:

• How can a law given millennia ago still have relevance now?

• Didn’t law come to an end in Jesus?

• What is the relationship of this Old Testament law to the New Testament command of Jesus to love?

The bottom line might simply be to wonder where and how the Ten Commandments intersect with your life and mine today. It is to such questions that we turn our thoughts as we begin this journey today.

Join us! It may be that through an old law we will learn more about loving God and loving others, just as Jesus calls us to do.

Randy Roberts

Senior Pastor