Sunday Ministry Recap (Mar. 11)

Scripture Focus:

Genesis 19 - The Destruction of Sodom

Key Thoughts Shared by Various Brothers:

"And Lot sat in the gate of Sodom" (19:1) ... the gate being the place of influence and governance. Note Lot's progression ... first he looked at Sodom, then pitched his tent toward Sodom, then moved into the city, then apparently became a person of note in the city, and finally had to be pulled out of it. We need to remain "tent" dwellers, like Abraham, and not become too much at home in the world.

Homosexuality is repeatedly referred to in Scripture as an abomination to God. It is not only wicked, but is a measuring stick of a society's decadence. This sin so completely extinguishes every glimmer of moral light God has given even the natural, unsaved man (see Romans 1), that it plunges a society that embraces it into moral confusion.

We need not fret when the wicked seem to prevail and prosper ... God is still the sovereign Judge and will take care of things. Sadly, the raining of fire and brimstone in this passage is merely a foreshadowing of the more fearsome enternal judgment to come on the wicked.

"Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one. Oh, let me escape there (is it not a little one?)" (19:20). We must be careful of "negotiating down" with sin and with the Lord ... using the extreme evil of one thing as an excuse for settling on a lesser evil ... for instance, justifying watching a questionable movie because it is "not nearly as bad" as another one.

"Abraham got up early ... and he looked toward Sodom." (19:27,28). As Abraham saw the smoke rising from the ruins of Sodom, it appeared as though his fervent intercession from the previous day was all for nothing. But this never is the case. God often will: (1) Answer our intercession in ways we won't know about till we get to heaven (Abraham found out later that Lot had indeed been spared); or (2) answer in a way different than what we asked (Abraham asked for the sparing of the cities; God brought Lot out instead). Even when our prayers appear to be in vain, God may have used them in a powerful way.

"God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow" (19:29). In this Abraham is a type of Christ. God remembers Christ and saves us.

Next week: Steve Atkerson.