Christians and Environmentalism
I don't have a sermon to post from Sunday because I didn't preach. I listened. And it was glorious. ^-^
Pastor Ed Brown preached. He's with an organization called Care of Creation. They work to encourage Christians to take our stewardship of God's creation seriously.
Ed made a number of insightful points during his 15 minutes at Intl Church. Here are a few...
*From 1 Corinthians 3 we can see that God will not take lightly to anyone who abuses or otherwise defaces his "temple". In context, he's referring to the church. But Ed extended the teaching to include ALL of God's creation.
*Ed contrasted the commands in Genesis 1 and 2. As human beings we have dominion (or authority) over creation. AND we have responsibility to cultivate (make flourish) the world God has put us in. At some levels these might seem contradictory, but they are not. They are complementary points when taken properly.
*The analogy of a school teacher who has authority in his or her classroom. But that authority is in service to the mission of cultivating responsible, knowledgeable, educated children.
*When the two come together (authority and cultivator) the end result is a movement towards shalom (peace, harmony and beauty).
Christians ought to be at the forefront of working for shalom in our world. At Intl Church we talk in terms of "Advancing the work of Jesus". That's what we mean. Working for shalom.
Pastor Ed Brown preached. He's with an organization called Care of Creation. They work to encourage Christians to take our stewardship of God's creation seriously.
Ed made a number of insightful points during his 15 minutes at Intl Church. Here are a few...
*From 1 Corinthians 3 we can see that God will not take lightly to anyone who abuses or otherwise defaces his "temple". In context, he's referring to the church. But Ed extended the teaching to include ALL of God's creation.
*Ed contrasted the commands in Genesis 1 and 2. As human beings we have dominion (or authority) over creation. AND we have responsibility to cultivate (make flourish) the world God has put us in. At some levels these might seem contradictory, but they are not. They are complementary points when taken properly.
*The analogy of a school teacher who has authority in his or her classroom. But that authority is in service to the mission of cultivating responsible, knowledgeable, educated children.
*When the two come together (authority and cultivator) the end result is a movement towards shalom (peace, harmony and beauty).
Christians ought to be at the forefront of working for shalom in our world. At Intl Church we talk in terms of "Advancing the work of Jesus". That's what we mean. Working for shalom.
