Author: Wesley Fryer

In the east, story is always an invitation to join in
– we are all invited to join in not as observers, but as participants

How Big is Our God?

Western question: How did they build the pyramids?
Eastern question: Why did they build the pyramids.

We are going to look at “The God Story” as it is rooted in Egypt

Now looking at Karnak Temple in city of Thebes
– easterners preferred to experience their stories through pictures

MY THOUGHT: WITH LESS ACCESS TO TEXTS, PICTURES AND SCULPTURES WERE MUCH MORE ACCESSIBLE. ALSO, THEY ARE MORE EFFECTIVE WAYS TO COMMUNICATE WITH AN ILLITERATE POPULOUS.

Pharaoh’s job was to maintain order
– Mat means order
– if Pharaoh does his job, the gods were believed to do what they were expected to do: bring rains, floods, new life through birth, etc.

Shepherds crook and flail are always in Rameses hands in sculptures, shows his roles, authority and power

Now in Hypostyle Hall
134 columns, biggest over 70 feet high

Daily journey of the sun was a key part of the separation between order and chaos

Pharaoh mediated the gods for the ancient Egyptians

MY THOUGHT: I NEED TO GET A DESCRIPTION TO STEVE FOR THE FALL WEDNESDAY NIGHT CLASS I WANT TO LEAD: “DIGITAL WITNESSES FOR CHRIST”

Pharaoh did all the religious rituals in Egypt, to keep the gods happy
– there were thousands of temples in Egypt, so he couldn’t do all of them
– rituals are always carved in stone to represent Pharoah doing them

gold is called “the skin of the gods” in the Egyptian world
– they didn’t think the statue was the god, it was rather a marker to tell go where the god lived/lives
– this is similar to the Israelites who built The Temple in Jerusalem

Exodus Chapter 12: God says he will execute judgement on the gods of the Egyptians
– there was power here, it wasn’t all just story and myth

Deuteronomy 32

Don’t forget there is demonic power behind these rituals, sacrifices, beliefs Te Egyptian story has a price tag – they believed nature was/contained the gods
– that system glorifies and eventually deified the human
– morality is what the human says

That is the opposite of God’s Story

Our culture today has bought into the wrong story

Genesis tells us nature is NOT God

Hang on to the story!

Sent from my iPad

The setting was Cappadocia, in modern day Turkey. I visited Cappadocia in 1984, so this was a particularly powerful segment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappadocia

Ray used a verse from Paul’s letter to the Colossians to discuss the question of why we suffer as Christ’s body.

Colossians 1:24
“I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church.”

See it at YouVersion.com:
http://bible.us/Col1.24.NLT

Colossians 1:24
“I want you to know how glad I am that it’s me sitting here in this jail and not you. There’s a lot of suffering to be entered into in this world-the kind of suffering Christ takes on. I welcome the chance to take my share in the church’s part of that suffering.”

See it at YouVersion.com:
http://bible.us/Col1.24.MSG

While each of us may not be suffering today for the cause of Christ, we ARE suffering as a Body. We need to not only remember and not forget the suffering of our Christian brothers and sisters in the past, but also pray for those today who suffer.

This series today reminds me of the project, 3 Minutes About Jesus:
http://3minutesaboutjesus.org

It is so important to listen to the testimonies of others and share our own about God’s acts in our lives. Past generations of Christians suffered so they could pass on the faith to us. We need to take up that torch and work intensely to pass on our faith. We must tell our stories. We must listen to the stories of others. We should not “dabble in discipleship,” as Ray exhorted us in this video today.

We need to be full time face-to-face and digital witnesses for Christ.

Sent from my iPad

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/13/my-take-why-were-drawn-to-harry-pott…

J.K. Rowling is a wonderful author and writer, but not a good source to turn to for theological lessons.

We live in a world filled with seekers, and even some who claim to be “found” and to have discovered “the way” remain lost. I pray each of us will find our way. Jesus is the light, and His words are the ones we should follow to find our way home.

If you don’t hear any discussion about Jesus when someone claims to be talking about Christianity and speaking for God, be suspicious. Jesus is the way. Many post-moderns would obfuscate that truth and lead us down a different path.