Parker Ford Church's Podcast

The Bible did not, in fact, fall from the sky. Nor was it delivered by an Amazon drone. The Bible was composed by many different human authors over the course of many different centuries. The process and development of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) is an amazing, surprising, and miraculous story. 

Last week we launched our new series on the Bible asking the question: Why should we read the Bible? This week we are following up with a similar, but vital question: What is the purpose of the Bible? If we want to utilize the Bible in the way God intended, then we need to understand what its intention is. Unfortunately, the Bible has at times been misused and abused throughout church history. Much of this can be traced back to a misunderstanding of the purpose of the Scriptures. So, let's ask together: What is the intended purpose of the Bible? 

The Bible is the world's best selling book and arguably the most influential resource in human history. It is also very old, written from a different cultural perspective, composed in a different place in the world, and written in several foreign languages. Since the Bible is old, hard to understand, difficult to interpret...Why should we read the Bible? Join us as we ask this question and launch into an important new series on the Bible.  

The Lord has always desired an interactive relationship with His creation. In Genesis 2 we read that the Lord walked in the cool of the Garden with Adam and Eve. This example was just a tiny foretaste of the level of connection and intimacy that God desires with humanity. The Incarnation is the ultimate exclamation point on this idea. Jesus not only took on human flesh, He can relate to us in every way –in sorrow and in joy. God relates, He rejoices. 

The Lord has always desired an interactive relationship with His creation. In Genesis 2 we read that the Lord walked in the cool of the Garden with Adam and Eve. This example was just a tiny foretaste of the level of connection and intimacy that God desires with humanity. The Incarnation is the ultimate exclamation point on this idea. Jesus not only took on human flesh, He can relate to us in every way – even in sorrow. God relates, He weeps. 

New Testament theologian N.T. Wright has often said that the resurrection of Jesus was God’s first act of new creation. We may not be able to fully see it (“now we see in part”), but God has already begun his grand plan of renewal. God’s recreating work began with the life, example, teaching, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. We don’t know, specifically, how and when God’s work through Jesus will culminate in the recreation of all things. But we can be sure of Jesus’ intentions to make all things new. Jesus said, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Rev. 21:5). God is renewing the world. 

Today we will be looking at the profound act of forgiveness. One of the central characteristics of God is to forgive. Therefore, we are all called to forgive.   

The character of God is revealed through His self-sacrificial, covenantal love and mercy. And His justice and righteousness are satisfied and fulfilled through His self-sacrifice. A lamb was slain to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve following the Fall. That first sacrifice, and every animal sacrifice that followed, pointed toward a future sacrifice - a once-for-all-time, perfect sacrifice - Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. God’s sacrifice is still sufficient. 

This week’s mid-week teaching looks at God Indwells—What does it mean for a holy God to live within sinful man? We use Eph 1 to look at the purpose behind His indwelling nature and Romans 8 to explore what our response should be to his indwelling. 

The first thing we learn from the Scriptures is that God is a creative God. The Bible begins with the words, “In the beginning God created.” God is a creator. All His various characteristics and attributes are revealed in His creative works, and the very act of creation itself reveals the character of God. God is still creating and He has called us to be His co-creators. 

Right at the beginning of the Bible we learn that God is a God who creates and who speak speaks. Specifically, He creates by speaking. God has not left His creation without revelation but has revealed the purpose of creation through His Word. God is still speaking today. 

This week’s focus is God’s love. We work primarily from 1 John 4:8-10 to define love and look at the difference between ‘first’ and ‘second’ love. How do our human attempts to love differ from God’s? And what should be our response to this love? 

The Bible teaches that God is able to be in all places, at all times, and is holding all things together. In fact, this is a repeated theme of the Scriptures throughout both the Old and New Testaments. God is omnipresent. The Psalmist asks God, “Where can I flee from your presence?” And the resounding answer is: nowhere! 

This week we are focusing on the omnipotence of God. It’s another big word but simply means “all powerful”. We’ll see from Scripture that all power and authority belong to God. God Almighty is both sovereign and omnipotent, and because He is good, His power and sovereignty can be trusted. How can you draw strength from our God who is all powerful?   

This week we are studying the omniscience of God. Omniscience is a big word that simply means "all knowing." The Scriptures teach that God knows everything and is the source point of all truth, knowledge, and wisdom.  We hope you'll join us this week as we continue our midweek series on the Character and Attributes of God.  

“God is Immutable (He is the Same Yesterday, Today, and Forever)” God doesn’t change. He never differs from Himself. He is rock solid, unchanging. And this is a very good thing, because, one of the main characteristics of God is this: God is love. And that basic truth, as with all the truths of God, never changes or shifts. Join us for this week's midweek teaching as we continue our series on the Character of God. 

God is the source point of all that exists and is completely sufficient within Himself.  He doesn’t need anything. And yet, from an overflow of His love He created all that exists for His glory and for relationship. Join us for this week's midweek teaching as we continue our series on the Character of God.  

God has chosen to reveal Himself through three primary forms of personal, self-revelation. God is Father. God is Son. God is Spirit. To know God is to know Him as Father, Son, and Spirit. To know God as Father, Son, and Spirit is to enter the incomprehensible mystery of God and to begin to grasp the character and nature of God through His self-revelation. 

"God Incomprehensible" What is God like? Well...He's not exactly like anything else. He is the source point. God is the Creator of all that exists. He alone is infinite, everything and everyone else is finite. Though we can know God in the sense that we can learn about Him through His self-revelation, God is ultimately incomprehensible. Finite humans cannot fully comprehend our infinite God. At the beginning of our Character of God series, the first attribute we take time to explore is this truth: God is beyond comprehension. 

"Thinking About God" (How we think about God is...super important)A.W. Tozer famously wrote, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." The implications of how we think about God have a holistic effect on our lives, ultimately giving shape to how we live. As we begin our new "Character of God" series, we start by defining theology and the importance of thinking well about God.