By Derek Westmoreland Senior Pastor of Hopewell Baptist Church, Savannah Focal Passage: Genesis 1:1-5, 6-31; 2:1-3 I. God did the creating. God was not created in the beginning (Genesis 1:1). God was in the beginning creating all that we read in Genesis 1 (John 1:1-1:3, Hebrews 1:2-3). The word translated “God” throughout Genesis 1 is the Hebrew word “Elohim.” It means “Creator.” It is not until 2:4b that the name

Troy Styer Pastor, First Baptist Church, Grand Junction Focal Passage: Revelation 21:1-7 John moves from a vision of doom and gloom in chapter 20 to a vision of glory in chapter 21. I don’t take great pleasure in attending weddings. I usually only attend if I am forced to or there is the promise of good food. One wedding that I have already made sure I will be attending is

Troy Styer Pastor, First Baptist Church, Grand Junction Focal Passage: Revelation 9:1-12 John opens up chapter nine by sharing with us what is found when the fifth trumpet is blown. He shows an army of locusts, the actions of the locusts, the appearance of the locusts, and the angel of the locusts. Yet, these are no ordinary locusts but rather demons on a mission. As John describes these various things,

Troy Styer Pastor, First Baptist Church, Grand Junction Focal Passage: Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26-29; 3:5, 12, 21 There once was a man had trouble communicating with his wife. He thought she was having trouble hearing so he devised a test. He sat on the other side of the room and asked “Can you hear me?” and there was no response. He moved a little closer twice and asked but

Troy Styer Pastor, First Baptist Church, Grand Junction Focal Passage: Revelation 1:1-8 One thing my father instilled in me when I was growing up was to finish what I started. One time I started to play a sport in school and soon discovered that I hated it. I wanted to quit but my father reminded me that we finish what we start. So I had to suck it up and

Troy Styer Pastor, First Baptist Church, Grand Junction Focal Passage: I John 4:7-21 Many years ago there was a secular rock song entitled “I Want To Know What Love Is.” If that artist really wanted to know he should have checked I John 4:7-21 for the answer. John “the beloved” defines in absolute terms what love really is for his readers. However, centuries later we still really don’t know the

Troy Styer Pastor, First Baptist Church, Grand Junction Focal Passage: I John 4:1-6 The old Verizon phone commercial asked people the question, “Can you hear me?” The question that John wants his readers to ask is, “Should we hear you?” John wanted to prepare his readers to be able to discern between those who taught the truth and those who did not. They needed to have their spiritual antennas up