Teaching & News From Eastgate PCB Rob Woodrum & Others

Robbie and I were watching a movie some time ago. It was a popular film based on an equally popular novel called “Water for Elephants”. When it was over, Robbie quietly said, “I didn’t like that movie. They never gave that elephant water even once!”
“So you felt misled?” I asked between chortles.
“Yes!” she said, “I waited through that whole movie for them to give that elephant water and they never did, they only gave it whiskey!”
“Hmmm, you have a point. Maybe they should’ve titled it ‘Whiskey for Elephants’, or ‘The Pickled Pachyderm'”?
It really illustrates the point that the expectations we have when watching or reading something really play a huge role in informing our understanding of the work. Robbie has very literal expectations based on the title of that film – but the film had other intentions in mind. That’s the real struggle for us when it comes to Scripture as well. It’s very difficult to set our expectations or pre-loaded assumptions about its meaning aside and let the text say what it wants to say. That is never more true than it is for the first book of the Bible, the Book of Beginnings.
This Sunday we’ll be continuing our study in the opening of Genesis, and we’ll be reading chapter 2:4-7.
Verse four is a “hinge” verse – it concludes the happy picture of chapter 1 and opens the story of chapter 2. You’ll notice a reversal of the order of the subject matter half way through the verse. Take a moment to consider why that might be.
In the opening passage (v5-7) we are presented with a new creation narrative. It begins with disorder – but something is different from chapter 1:2 – in both accounts there is a state of disorder, but in chapter one there’s too much of something and in chapter 2 there’s not enough. What is it, and what might be significant about that?
We’ll dig in to why there seems to be two different creation accounts between chapter 1 and 2.
When we come to the formation of Adam (Hebrew for man or human), we really have to work hard at setting aside all the children’s books we’ve read and pictures we’ve seen represent this, and really meditate on what the text is saying.
We’ll contemplate the nature of humanity, based on this text. We’ll consider God’s activity and motives – and I think we’ll find it very encouraging and challenging as well.
I hope you can join us this Sunday as we take a deep dive into the ancient realm of Genesis!
Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.

I have a daughter who is 11 now and one of her jobs when she gets home from school is to take her lunchbox and put it by the sink. Then later that night, I’ll wash it and it will be clean and ready to go for school the next day. It’s a pretty simple system, that is I thought it was simple until I realized it was never ever happening. It was like pulling teeth to get this girl to remember the simple job of putting the lunchbox by the sink.
One afternoon, Sammy had a particularly busy day out of the house, and I saw the lunchbox on the living room floor and not in the kitchen like it should have been. Normally I would remind her when she got home, but I thought, eh she’s busy and this would be a nice thing I can do for her. In a rare instant of compassion, I chose grace over nagging. So I got the lunchbox, washed it, and set it up for the next day.
The next morning before school my daughter came into my room and said, “Mom! Look at this!” She showed me her clean lunchbox and how it was where it was supposed to be. 
Waving the clean lunchbox around and with a wide smile, she said, ‘The lunchbox is cleaned and ready to go. Aren’t you proud of me?”
Now listen, in my defense, I’m not a morning person. I was hardly awake and I had zero coffee in me. I squinted at what she was showing me, and trying to understand, I said, “What exactly is it that you think YOU have contributed to this situation?”
Still smiling and holding the clean lunchbox she said, “I put my lunchbox away yesterday and now it’s clean today. I finally followed the system!”
Leaning forward and with a sigh, I said, “Sammy, you left it on the floor yesterday and I was the one who cleaned it and put it where it should go.”
She stopped waving the lunchbox and shrugged saying, “Oh that’s funny. I really thought it was me.”
When it comes to our relationship with God, I believe there is often a misunderstanding of what we believe to have contributed to the relationship. We walk around waving God’s gifts in his face and find ourselves confused when God doesn’t applaud us for doing so. Life changes when we realize that the gifts and good things that we have in life are a gift from God and not a result of our sweet, although misguided, efforts. 
This Sunday we are going to continue our study in Genesis and we will finish up the creation story by discussing the 7th day of creation and the gift of rest that God models for us to follow. I know for me, taking time off and resting has often felt like an impossible thought. There are too many people counting on me that everything could fall apart if I’m not there every day to complete my work. The idea of rest sounds great, but the Bible has me questioning if it truly is possible for rest to be a reality in such a busy culture and season of life.
The sabbath and the idea of rest is something I began studying years ago and in my study, I have begun to discover the countless amount of times I start the day by waving clean lunchboxes around in God’s face. I invite you to join us this Sunday as we discover if the sabbath is something we should continue as Christians, to what extent, and what we should do when rest feels impossible. Our church service starts at 10AM- see you then!
Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.

One of the things we as human beings struggle with is a sense of value and worth. In our highly technological and celebrity obsessed society, it is very easy to begin feeling unimportant and deservedly marginalized.
I firmly believe that if we truly believed in a Creator God, and the story of human origin we find in Scripture, we would encounter a whole new way of understanding who we are as human beings.
This Sunday we’ll be returning to our study in the first four chapters of Genesis – we’ll be reading ch 1:14-2:4. The last three days of the creation process will be in view, where God sets up the function of those creatures who will inhabit the environments he created in days one through three.
As you read the account of day four, take note of the responsibilities given to those celestial bodies. What do each of those duties suggest to you? Do you find it difficult to set aside your modern cosmology and imagine the universe the way the ancients did, where the sun and moon have agency?
Day five describes the swarmers in the sky and in the sea – fish and birds…as well as some other creatures that are far more intriguing, which we’ll discuss on Sunday. You might want to investigate these creatures yourself before Sunday (hint: whales is a bad translation).
Finally we come to the pinnacle of creation – human beings. What do you think it means to be “created in the image of God”? What function does God describe for the human beings, and how might that inform your understanding of being in God’s image? After each day of creation God saw his work and declared it good. That pattern changes on day 6 – a word is added before good. Why do you think God likes day six so much? What does that tell you about your value from the Divine perspective?
I really love digging into Genesis – I hope you can join us this Sunday!
Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.

We’ll be continuing our journey back to the beginning this Sunday, as we read Genesis 1:3-13.
Last week we looked at the start of the narrative in v2 – that while the story begins after there is already stuff – that stuff was chaotic and uninhabited…or formless and void. Over this chaotic stuff, the Spirit of God was circulating as the agent of this new creation in process.
As we read through the first three days of creation, we will have to puzzle through some things. In v3, God declares that there should be light – but what is the light that’s being described? The sun doesn’t get put in place until day four (v16). Notice the names God gives the light and dark – “day” and “night”. What clue might that give us as to what is being described here? Day and night are usually are markers for….what?
On the second day strange things happen…strange, at least, for us as 21st Century readers. What do you think is being described when the text speaks of “the waters of the heavens” and “the waters of the earth” – and where is the space between them? Don’t worry, we’ll be talking about this in detail on Sunday.
Day three gives a bonus creation at the end of it. Dry land emerges as God gathers the chaotic waters into a designated holding place. Then, as a bonus, trees and plants and seed bearing plants begin to emerge. This is likely a reference to the kinds of plants that are used agriculturally for crops that can feed larger numbers of living things.
Everything is set in place – lovingly and carefully. At the end of each act of creation, God sees something. What is it? What does that tell us about God’s attitude toward the creation he’s made? What do we begin to learn about the character of God as we read this account of his careful planning of environments for living things?
I hope you can join us this Sunday as we explore this amazing book!
Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.

This Sunday we’ll be continuing in our study of the first chapters of Genesis. John Walton shares an illustration that I find very helpful in changing my frame of view when it comes to deciphering the first book of the Bible. He imagines a person coming into a play that’s already begun, and when he sits down he asks the person next to him “How did it begin?” He’s not expecting the person to explain the process of playwriting or casting or how the set was built and from what materials – he wants to know what’s happening in the story.
That may be the issue with us when it comes to Genesis – the book is answering the question of how it began by explaining the setting and describing the characters. We, as modern Westerners, are puzzling over the stage construction.
There is a big difference between the meaning of the universe and the construction of the universe.
How difficult is it for you to try and read Genesis differently? Do you find your modern cosmology trying to take over as you read the text?
I don’t want to alarm you at the pace at which we’re going in this study, but this week we’re only going to get to verse 2 of Gen 1.
As you read over that verse, what would you describe as obstacles to creation that need to be removed? What is the condition of the earth? Read John 3:6-8. Do you see any connection with the imagery from Gen 1:2? Who seems to be the Agent of God’s creative power?
I’m looking forward to this bit of Scripture – I hope you can join us this Sunday as we explore it together!
Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.

This Sunday we’ll begin a new series, tackling the first 3 or 4 chapters of the book of Genesis. Genesis has long been considered a dense forest to traverse, and certainly, during the 20th Century it has become a battleground between competing worldviews.
I’ve been really drawn to the chronicle of Biblical origins. I’m recognizing more and more how the Genesis story affects the entire narrative of the Scriptures. The threads of Genesis run straight to the Gospel and the New Testament and provide patterns that help us unlock what sometimes seem like obscure texts.
In Genesis we glimpse the Kingdom of God, and we recognize that our hope isn’t in something that’s never been, but in the return to something we’ve never known, but is how it all began. In Genesis we find out where we started from, and hence can more easily see where we’re going.
This Sunday we’ll begin our study with an introduction and a quick look at the first words of v 1.
If you’re interested in preparing for this exploration – sometime before Sunday, take the time to read chapter one of Genesis. It’s a short chapter – so take your time. Read it, if you can, in several different translations. Take note of words that get repeated (that’s one way to start identifying patterns). Jot down observations or thoughts you have about the text. It’s great stuff to meditate on.
I’m super excited about this study – I hope you can join us, Sunday morning at 10 AM.
Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.