Pastor Scott's Musings

Sermon for Milledgeville and Whitestown UMC  The First Murder: Cain Kills His Brother, Abel Corruption (Gen 4:1-5:32; 6:3, 5-6) Adam was walking with his two sons, Cain and Abel, when they passed by the flaming sword of the cherubim guarding the entrance to Eden. The boys ask, “what’s that?” Adam says, “Oh. That’s where your mother ate us out of house and home!” How long did Cain hate his brother? As long as he was Abel. We continue the story of the Fall of Humankind. Genesis 2 showed us what life was meant to be like in a paradise-like relationship with God. Adam had purpose serving God and watching over the things of God. God gave Adam and Eve peace and plenty. But they listened to the serpent and ate what God forbade. Paradise was lost. Today we learn what life is like outside of the Garden: hard work on a cursed ground, painful toil, just to eat. And sin corrupts everything. Cain murders his brother in jealous resentment. And the long life given to Adam diminishes thro...

A sermon for Milledgeville and Whitestown UMC Bible Stories: The Garden ( Genesis 2-3 )   When was the first math problem in the Bible? When God told humans to go forth and multiply.     What was the longest day in the Bible? The day Adam was created… because there was no Eve.   Today we are digging into the Garden, a story that illustrates human nature. Genesis 1 tells us that humans are made in God’s image. The garden story depicts the creator breathing life into lifeless dirt. Something of God gives life to the man made from dirt. The Hebrew language plays on the words. Adam ( aw-dawm ) comes from the ground ( adama) . This wordplay implies that humans are earthbound, yet we have this longing for something more. Later in chapter 3, the Lord will remind us, “You are dust and to dust you shall return.” (Gen 3:19)   God places Adam in paradise. Eden means pleasure. It is a walled garden – protected like the gardens of kings. One of the seven won...