Introduction

• As good as fried chicken is, believe it or not, there is a way to bake chicken that makes it taste even better.

* That’s not a lie.  And this is coming from someone trained in the culinary arts.

* Now, I know you think I’m lying but it’s true.  My mom’s Baked Chicken is better than fried.

• Story

* Dad needed to lose a few pounds so Mom stopped frying chicken.

- Which was a shame because it was really good.

* Anyway, Mom switched to baking chickens.

- The first few weren’t really good.  Edible but nothing to write home about.

* Then, she got it locked it.

- Finger licking good baked chicken, I’m not kidding.

• Moms know exactly what to provide and adjust as the situation warrants.
• Bridge to God – God provides.

Genesis

• Obviously, beginnings are important.
• What we find at the beginning of Genesis is a systematic accounting of how God created the universe.

* But, right at the outset, it begs the question, WHY?

* WHY did God create?

- We can’t answer that fully but we can definitely see that creation is linked with us.

- We are created.

- But, beyond that, ALL OF THIS was created for us.

• The story in Genesis goes from creation to delegation.

* That’s right, look closely at Genesis one and you’ll find that the whole introductory

narrative ends with God granting us stewardship over all creation.

* All of the things necessary for robust survival are here on Earth.

* Now, imagine, they might not have been.

• God provides us through the Earth with everything we need

* Food

* Shelter

* Medicines are manufactured from the stuff of this earth that we now can create.

* Each other

- This isn’t a solitary existence.

- We NEED other people to both survive and to thrive.

Ron’s Mom

• My friend Ron – UBER genius
• Kind of eccentric but not in a terrible way, it just took a little to get used to his candid honesty.

* The dude just tells no lies.  It’s part of his way.  He’s not being mean; he just doesn’t understand like human conventions.

• Anyway, Ron’s Mom knew what he was like.

* She met a girl through and just knew, this was the one for Ron

* Problem -Ron didn’t want a girlfriend.

- My understanding is that Ron’s Mom spent years arranging for the two to be together at events and such.

- It eventually “took”.

- They’ve been married a decade now and have kids younger than ours.

* He started even later with family than I did.

• God knows we need people.

* Genesis 2:18 – “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’”

* God knew right at the beginning we needed others.

- Makes sense.

- God is social, triune, three persons, one God.

- So, God gave us families.

* These are blessings.

- God in Christ also provided us with our church families.

* Jesus, drawing together a band of followers, sent them on a mission, to convert the world to faith in the Lord.

- That mission is still ongoing; we are a part of it.

- And to that end, we get this wonderful family of faith which provides for us so richly when times are difficult.

Forgiveness

- What we need the most.

- Green disc story.

* Lost a friend who had just moved away.

* A cat we’d tried to adopt was causing me too many asthma problems and we’d just had to give it away.

* Mom knew my heart was hurting and she didn’t drop the hammer.

- She knew what I needed most to turn around wasn’t condemnation, it was forgiveness.

- Sound familiar?

* Romans 5:8 - “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

* Jesus died on the cross to ensure salvation for us.

- The penalty of sin is gone.

- By the waters of your baptism, you are REALLY FORGIVEN!

* That means that your life isn’t just a collection of mistakes and errors, it is instead a blessed, abundant life.