Beforehand: Be sure to check out Pastor Ben’s message online if you were not able to catch it on Sunday morning.

Below is the outline of Pastor Ben's message.

The Deep Six Study follows.

“Twisted”

1 – We Live In A Twisted World – Matthew 2:13-16

2 – Easy To Believe God Is Twisting Things – Matthew 2:17-18

3 – God Is Our Strength In Twisted Times – Matthew 2;19-23

Deep Six Study

Introduction

Philippians 2:14-16A – “Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life ….”

Every generation has ample evidence from what happens in their lifetime alone to conclude that the world is a crooked and perverse place to live. We are called to let our light shine in the midst of our crooked and perverse world. One whose light truly shines is one who demonstrates they are a child of God as they hold fast the word of life and demonstrate that through Christ they are blameless, innocent, and above reproach. We must not let the tough things that come from living in a crooked and perverse world, where evil manifests itself and bad things happen, cause us to become cynical, despairing, and always grumbling and complaining. Our purpose is not to have a happy, peaceful, and fulfilling life, but rather to let our light shine in a dark and twisted world and thereby participate in the restoration process that God is accomplishing. This is the focus of this week’s Deep Six Study.

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Part 1 - Corresponds to the first point of the message

Matthew 2:13-23 – “After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,’ the angel said. ‘Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’ That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: ‘I called my Son out of Egypt.’ Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.”

Romans 5:12A - “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin…”

Genesis 2:17 – “But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

Romans 6:23A - “For the wages of sin is death…”

James 1:15B - “…And when sin is accomplished, it brings for death.”

Comment – Adam’s disobedience brought sin and death into the world. Both spiritual and physical death are the result of sin. We live in a fallen world that displays at every turn the effects of sin and death. All bad things and their accompanying pain and suffering are rooted in sin and death. So, whether we are considering the diabolical actions of Herod, the horrendous events of 9/11/01, our own personal tragedy, or the perverseness of our own heart and behavior, this is the reason for why the world is the way it is and why it needs so desperately for us as believers to let our lights shine brightly.

Question # 1 – Do you struggle with the fact the world we live in is a twisted one and what are some of things that go on inside of you as a result?

Question # 2 – Is there a particular tragedy you have experienced in your life that makes the problem of evil real for you and what has your journey been like with this?

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Part 2 - Corresponds to the second point of the message

Matthew 2:17-18 – “Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: ‘A cry was heard in Ramah—weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.’”

Romans 5:12B - “…And so death spread to all men, because all sinned.”

Romans 3:23 - “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

1 Corinthians 15:22 - “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”

Romans 8:18-21 - “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the children of God.”

Comment – It is an established fact of life that we reproduce after our own kind. Cats produces cats, dogs produce dogs, people produce people, etc. Because of this fact we understand that the things that are true of cats, dogs, people, etc. are passed on. Adam became sinful and so sinfulness was passed on. Each of us is born spiritually dead with a sinful nature and in the process of physically dying. In addition, we live in a fallen world subject to the ravages of sin and death in which to live out our lives. The prospects look bleak until we add to the equation the reality of the words, “in Christ all will be made alive.” We must understand and embrace the extent of our falleness and that of the world in which we live if we are ever to understand truly the extent of the reversal that God is bringing about through Christ for us. When we see God bringing great blessing out of great tragedy we must not fall into the temptation of thinking that God produced the tragedy in first place. While He may have ordained that the tragedy would yield great blessing, this is far different than God producing tragedy. As we have seen, all tragedy is rooted in sin and rebellion against God.

Question # 3 – What kind of negative feelings and attitudes have you had toward God in respect to bad things happening in the world and in your life?

Question # 4 – What has been helpful for gaining good understandings, feelings, and attitudes toward God in regard to dealing with tragedy?

Part 3 - Corresponds to the third point of the message

Matthew 2:19-23 – “When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. ‘Get up!’ the angel said. ‘Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.’ So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: ‘He will be called a Nazarene.’”

Psalm 112:6-8 – “Such people will not be overcome by evil. Those who are righteous will be long remembered. They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the LORD to care for them. They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly.”

Psalm 46:1 – God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

Psalm 138:7-8 – “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me. The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting; do not forsake the works of Your hands.”

Psalm 27:1, 5 - The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread? For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.”

Comment – Day in and day out God is at work providing for us and protecting us. We would be amazed if at the end of just one single day God would reveal to us how He had been at work on our behalf and how much tragedy He kept us from. His help includes finding Him to be a source of strength and a refuge and shelter from the trauma of life as well, but we must seek Him and allow Him to be these things to us. Sometimes, however, tragedy does strike and it is in these times that we need Him to be to us a source of strength and a refuge and shelter more than at any other time. God is trustworthy and totally able to provide all that we need so that our light will shine brightly even in the midst of tragedy.

Question # 5 – What is one instance in your life when God has brought to you His healing comfort in the midst of personal tragedy?

Question # 6 – What is one instance in your life when God has used you to bring healing comfort to another person in the midst of their personal tragedy?

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Conclusion

2 Corinthians 1:3-6 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.”

Participating in God’s restoration process is more of a challenge when evil has reared its ugly head in our own sphere of life and we have experienced personal tragedy. It is here that our responses become most important. The world needs to see that our faith makes all the difference. One of the special ways we express our faith and let our light shine is by being a source of comfort to those who are hurting. As we let God be God to us and experience the comfort He delights to pour out into our lives, we are able to comfort others with the comfort with which He has comforted us. This is an aspect of restoration that God majors in and is an approximation of the ultimate restoration of all things that will someday be complete. In that day both the causes and the effects of evil will be done away with entirely. Praise God!

Under “comments” in the Deep Six section of the church website post your thoughts, applications, and questions from this week’s Deep Six Study.