Genesis 2:4-7, 15-17; 3:1-8

This Sunday we begin our preaching year. I enjoy the Narrative Lectionary
because it pays attention to the development of God’s story in a chronological
order. With the theme “Promises, Promises” as we develop the Old Testament
texts, we can see the attribute of God as the Promise-making and Promise-keeping God. And because we have that kind on God, we can live our lives with the assurances of the certainty of God’s promises.
This Sunday we hear the strange story of a talking snake and a forbidden fruit.
Though God does not make a specific promise within this story, God does tell
humans the consequences of their actions. We cannot call God unfair because we experience the conditions God warned about in this metaphorical account of
humans’ choices to obey God or not.
As we go into this passage, let us pay attention to the lessons given to us here; the understanding of ourselves and the way we fit into the created order; then the responsibility that comes to us when we have the knowledge of good and evil.
As we understand the promises of God, we grow in our relationship with God.
Prayer is one of the vital ways to deepen that relationship. So, continue to be a part of our prayer journaling as a congregation. Pick up your copy of the prayer journal and the prayer guide in the foyer.
Pastor Greg