Sermon 34: A Fleeting Glimpse of Paradise

Adam was given paradise on earth, The Garden of Eden. This shows us that God is perfectly capable of creating a heavenly existence for His creatures, proof positive that Heaven does await. And God wanted to give us Paradise immediately, another proof of God’s love for us. God even determined that Adam needed a companion, Eve. This is another reminder of how important other people are to us. Even the Garden of Eden was not considered a Paradise for Adam until he was no longer alone.

But, instead of accepting Paradise on faith and appreciating God’s gift to them, Adam and Eve decide to follow the path to temptation. It shows us exactly what we know of human nature, we do not appreciate what we do not earn. By desiring and, then, gaining the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve reject the trust of God and, as punishment, Heaven was taken away. Thereafter, Adam is tasked with nurturing the land and Eve is tasked with nurturing Humanity. This is how God expects you to learn the lessons necessary for the next Paradise, Heaven.

The story of the Fall of the Garden of Eden fully explains what we need to do to regain Paradise for our eternal life. We must learn to choose to ignore temptation, not to covet what God says we should not have, and not to wonder why. We must gain such an abiding love, trust and faith in God that we will never question His commands again. We are to prepare ourselves for the Paradise that is to come by taking care of the land God has given us and taking care of each other, and learning to accept the goodness of both. We must ultimately prove to God that we will not throw away Heaven again.





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Sermon 33: And the Rest of the Creation Story

Continuing with the first chapter of the Bible, we learn other important things as God goes into greater detail regarding the creation of the earth we now inhabit.

Right away, an amazing declaration is made. The very next sentence tells us the universe begins as a void. This is another concept that leads us to believe that these Biblical writings were divinely inspired. There are many ways the story could have described the way the universe began, like for example, formed out of clay by God’s hands or some other such notion. And yet, eons before people had even come up with the idea that some stars were planets, these ancient writers already knew what science has recently proven. The universe did begin as a void. And as God says “Let there be light”, and the primordial molecules are set into perpetual motion, we see the Big Bang Theory spring to life, effortlessly merging science and God.

The next Biblical paragraphs, explaining the six days of molding the rest of creation, besides reinforcing the idea that we are ruled by a powerful God who can perform tremendous feats in the course of a single day, tells us that God loves what He has made. We are told repeatedly that God looked down upon all He had done, and He declared that everything was good. That included the dark as well as the light. This is an attitude that we all must attain and is part of our necessary lessons for Heaven. The ability to see everything is good, even as imperfect as it is. The ablity of having faith that all is right with God’s world, to understand that what we are going through has meaning and purpose.

Another thing that can be inferred from God’s opinion of this world as good is this: if we think the world is bad, it is entirely our doing. So, by either changing our perception, changing our personal scale of what we perceive as bad, or by changing our deeds, setting the example that will influence othesr to change as well, we have the ability to keep God’s creation good. In fact, it is clear that it is really our responsibility to do right by God and have respect for all He did. We can deduce that it is our purpose to do so, to take care of our universe.

The next chapter of the Bible continues that, after creating man in His image, God rested on the seventh day. Already we are introduced to the powerful idea that we are similar to God, and that we should follow His lead by not toiling constantly. He gives us the helpful hint that our bodies and minds need recharging, something else that has been studied and proven. This rest break gives us a chance to appreciate and put into context what’s been accomplished, and to choose the next direction to proceed in. This indicates that work is not our only focus in life, that there is time for God and time for ourselves. And, it is interesting that long before the Ten Commandments were introduced, God has already told us to have a day of rest. That no work is so important that you can’t give yourself a break from it.

And by passing on His creation to man’s dominion, God lets us know of His great love for us, much in the same way a father passes on an inheritance to a child. God created us out of love. Therefore, you must realize that it is God’s desire for people to love more than just God and God’s earth. It is God’s desire that you love other people and that you love yourself. Treating all these areas of life as the most important ones will let you achieve your true purpose, Heaven, with the least amount of painful lessons. We have learned most of what we need to know already. The final piece of it can be learned in the Garden.



Thank you for reading our sermons and we hope they will help you find easier ways to cope with “bumps” in your life’s path. If you would like more personalized direction in an area of difficulty, please email us at candylovespop2@yahoo.com.

Sermon 32: In The Beginning . . . Wow!

The Bible opens with ten simple words. “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.” This is the most powerful sentence ever written, magical in its simplicity, and will never be topped as an introductory statement. It informs us of some of the most important things we will ever need to know.

First, God has clearly answered the question of “Who made all this?”. God doesn’t intend for us to do a lot of wondering about our existence. He lets us know that, before the start of any existence, there was God. We are told that He is the Creator, Our Father. We also know right off the bat that there is an all-mightiness in control of things. That we are not in the midst of randomness and chaos. So, why do we still sometimes feel that the world is spinning out of control? It is because we are in the midst of a power we will never be able to fully comprehend. This sentence tells us so. As the Maker, God is obviously much more than we are. Therefore, we can hardly trust our human perception to make any sense of the universe. Because we are in the hands of God, this sentence means that we should trust God and have faith in His reason for starting it all. God’s complete understanding of His own plan naturally leads us to believe that His motives and purposes do not need to be questioned.

This forceful opening line also mentions heaven and earth, a big clue as to how important they are. God begins his task by creating two distinct entities or planes of existence. Heaven is ascribed the greater importance as it is listed first, but as the Bible continues, no more detail is given regarding what God created in Heaven, only how He populated the earth, its skies, its oceans and its creatures. This is deliberate. The Bible is a guide for explaining the part where we are now, the earth. We can infer from this that heaven comes next. We can further be led to believe that existence in heaven will be in contrast with existence on earth. Earth a struggle, Heaven a breeze. How can we leap to that conclusion? It is proven by what we now understand to be the dichotomy of life, the dark and the light, the good and the evil, the yin and the yang, point and counterpoint. Can’t have one without the opposite. We experience this on a daily basis as we make our choices at forks in the road and as we battle between the rational and reckless sides of our natures. Science already knows that we have two distinct sides of our brain, the logical and creative sides. In studies on aging, older people have been shown to have a greater satisfaction with life and it is because over the years, use of both sides led to a harmony between the hemispheres, letting decisions be made with the heart and the head, not one absolutely. This is proof that balance is the key to peace and contentment, not trying to achieve the perfect.

Only ten little words, and yet they are quite a mouthful. In fact, this sentence tells us what we’ve always wanted to know. The answer to it all. Even the words have power, it is why the Bible has such staying power. This sentence will move you, will call forth emotions greater than an evocative phrase of a poem or a song is building to its crescendo can. It is because opening the Bible and reading this first sentence can actually make you feel stirrings of faith. We can believe that it is the truth and that it is truly a message from God.



Thank you for reading our sermons and we hope they will help you find easier ways to cope with “bumps” in your life’s path. If you would like more personalized direction in an area of difficulty, please email us at candylovespop2@yahoo.com.

Sermon 31: Explaining the Unexplainable

Temptation and salvation are concepts that are unexplainable by cause and effect from a purely scientific point of view. Even though we are positive they exist, and every individual’s experiences in life can easily prove these concepts, their reason for being can not be scientifically quantified in an adequate manner. The only way to explain temptation and salvation is by understanding God’s will.

On the day you decide to quit smoking, people are lighting up all around you, they’re shaking their pack at you, offering you their cigarettes and the store is having a half-price sale on your usual brand. On the day you start a diet, your favorite cake is served at an office birthday party, and, later, your husband surprises you with an impromptu dinner at a restaurant you’ve been dying to try. A repentant alcoholic will be offered one on the house and a drug addict trying to clean up will no doubt be offered the first hit for free. The food you’re allergic to is the one you wish you could eat. The perfect person comes along, but they’re already married. Everyone goes through this process of being thwarted just as you are trying to change. A usual occurrence, unexplainable by science, but necessary for achieving your purpose on the path to Heaven.

On the other hand, if we look closely at our incredibly complex world, you’ll also see that near misses happen more often than not. Look at how much can go wrong simply driving to work, and yet most days we make it there in one piece. Children are constantly escaping injury, even in the most troubling chains of events. It’s pretty amazing that more things don’t go wrong when you consider just how much is going on at the same time, when you consider that science is behind the curve in explaining the things they have already put into use. The world should be out of control and yet God loves humanity too much not to save us when we are close to ruining things. God, not science, guides our heroes.

God is responsible for temptation and salvation. Making the correct choices when faced with temptation is a lesson that must be learned before reaching Heaven. Right at the beginning of the Bible, we are told that Paradise was lost due to temptation. This naturally leads to knowing that Paradise can be found by overcoming temptation. A universe driven purely by science would not throw obstacles in front of our quests for improvements in the same way it would not be so forgiving of our mistakes. Science doesn’t care if we learn anything while we live or not. God does. For good reason.




Thank you for reading our sermons and we hope they will help you find easier ways to cope with “bumps” in your life’s path. If you would like more personalized direction in an area of difficulty, please email us at candylovespop2@yahoo.com.