North Main Street Church of God
Evil Unveiled
1201 North Main Street Ext. Butler, PA 16001 02/18/2023
Locations & Times
North Main Street Church of God
1201 N Main St Ext, Butler, PA 16001, USA
Sunday 10:30 AM
Sunday Morning
Join us on Sunday Mornings online where you can Check-in/Connect, Give, and Watch along with us.
https://northmaincog.org/online/Know Christ intimately,
Grow in Christ continually, and
Go for Christ daily
Check-in Here
Thanks for joining us! If it's your first time here we'd love to connect with you! Fill out the form below. <br> For our regular attenders, please check in with your name and email, if you need to update information
https://northmaincog.org/online-connection-form/Joining us online?
Thank you for joining us today! Please check in here:
https://northmaincog.org/online-connection-form/
Newcomers to North Main
If you are a newcomer, we’re so glad you’ve joined us! If you’re here in person, make sure to stop by the Welcome Center where we have a gift bag for you with some information about us and some delicious homemade chocolate chip COOKIES. <br> For those online please visit the website below and make sure to click the COMMUNICATION CARD button and fill that out so we can send you a free gift!
https://northmaincog.org/onlineChurch Mobile App
Did you know North Main has a church mobile app? Access videos anytime from your device and never miss a sermon. Securely and easily give your tithes, offerings, and donations. Instantly register for upcoming events, and stay in the know of what's happening. Contact Us at any time with a simple message. Find others in the North Main directory. To download go to:
https://northmaincog.org/app/Bible Reading Plan
Join us in 2024 as we read through the Bible in a year and highlight evidence of “GOODNESS” throughout our daily Scripture readings. Reading Guides and PURPLE highlighters are available at the Welcome Center. You can also access the resources digitally on:
https://northmaincog.org/bible/
Events
For more information about events at North Main such as our upcoming softball games, women’s hikes, classes, and groups, please make sure to stop by the Welcome Center or visit our website at
https://northmaincog.org/eventsDon’t forget to bring your Meals-on-wheels dessert donations in Next Sunday! We’ll have carts by the Welcome Center for you to put your labeled and ready-to-freeze desserts on.
If you have any testimonies from your ongoing 60:60:60 experience, we’d love to hear it! You can submit your testimony at northmaincog.org by clicking on the 60:60:60 image or email us at info@northmaincog.org.
Baptisms
Our next baptism service will be held in just a few weeks on March 31st! If you are ready to take this important step in your walk with Christ we’d be honored to come alongside you in this journey. There is a mandatory baptism class that will be held at 9am the week prior, which would be March 24th. Please visit the Welcome Center or our website NORTHMAINCOG.ORG/BAPTISMS to sign up.
https://northmaincog.org/baptismsGive
We thank you for your faithful gifts. You can give online and, of course, on Sundays by using the secure drop boxes located outside the doors of the Sanctuary. THANK YOU FOR YOUR FAITHFULNESS.
https://northmaincog.org/give/
(Genesis 2:18-25)
Yearly Theme: “Goodness is… Great”
Series Title: “Breaking Bad: The Consequences of Sin”
February 11th, 2024
Evil and darkness pervade this fallen world. There seems to be tragedy and heartbreak around every corner of the world. And we have to ask, is there any end in sight of our current maladies? Is there any hope beyond the broken? To that, the answer is a resounding, “Yes!” Christ came once and for all time to deal with the problem of evil by taking the world's sin upon His shoulders and receiving the punishment and wrath for humankind. However, there is often another question that persists: “What is evil and where did it come from?” Did GOD create it? Is it really just an illusion?
If you remember from last week, we read in Genesis 2:9, that GOD warned Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The actual Hebrew word in this verse for evil means: “the quality of being morally wrong in principle or practice.”[1] How evil entered the world, as we shall see, is a direct result of the first humans’ violation of GOD’s directive not to eat this particular fruit from this particular tree. Their violation of GOD’s command was morally wrong in principle and practice. Let’s take a look:
[1] Lexham Research Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible.
The line between good and evil is doubt in GOD that leads to active rebellion to His will. The following observations in this passage are, what I believe to be, universal steps in crossing that line:
Genesis 3:1-2 (NLT), The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied.
Genesis 3:3 (NLT), “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’ ”
Genesis 3:4-5 (NLT), 4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
Genesis 3:6 (NLT), The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.
Genesis 3:7-11 (NLT), 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
Paul writes in his letter to the Romans that “All have sinned and fall short of GOD’s glorious standard.”[1] This statement in and of itself leads to great despair. If this is true, that all people have sinned, then we must come to grips with the fact that all people have committed evil in some form or fashion by the sheer fact that they have rebelled against GOD’s good commands. All of us have at one time, like the first man and woman, felt guilt and shame because of the wrongs we have committed. All of us stand guilty before an all-Holy GOD. What hope does any of us have? Our only hope is that GOD so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son (Jesus), so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but receive everlasting life.[2] And we can see this kind of love from GOD even in the beginning of time; even after the first humans failed GOD by rebelling against Him.
Not long after they had sinned against GOD, we read in the same chapter of Genesis that…
Genesis 3:20-24 (NLT), 20 Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live. 21 And the .
22 Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” 23 So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. 24 After sending them out, the .
GOD’s goodness, even in punishment, provides a way for us rebellious people.
[1] Romans 3:23.
[2] John 3:16.
Do you stay on guard against the reality of Satan? How often do you consider this personal enemy of God? How does the Bible instruct us to respond toward him?
How can you personally grow in your knowledge and trust of God?
What are some ways that the world tries to answer the question of why human beings do evil things? Is all sin caused by Satan?
Where does personal responsibility come into play concerning sin and sinful nature?
Is God, through conviction of the Holy Spirit, calling you to address an act of sin or an area of the sinful nature in your life? If so, confess and repent.
Past Sermons
To view past sermons, please visit our website below.
https://northmaincog.org/media-resources/sermons/Contact Us
If you would like to update your information or have a prayer request, please fill out the link below.
https://northmaincog.org/media-resources/contact-us/North Main Street Church of God
1201 North Main Street Ext.Butler, PA 16001 (724) 285-4214 info@northmaincog.org
http://www.northmaincog.org/Give
We thank you for your faithful gifts. You can give online at NORTHMAINCOG.ORG/GIVE, text "give" to (724) 313-2211, and, of course, on Sundays by using the secure drop boxes located outside the doors of the Sanctuary. THANK YOU FOR YOUR FAITHFULNESS.
https://www.northmaincog.org/giveMonday - Thursday
9:00am - 4:00pm
The office will be closed all day on 2/19.