First Landmark Missionary Baptist Church

                                                            Roseburg, Oregon

God is Great

(Powerpoint available email me for a copy.  It helps the sermon make more sense)

Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Introduction:  song:  If you tried to put God in a Box….

Today we want to explore the awesomeness of God.  We will focus on the character and attributes of God in other sermons but today I want to celebrate the pure greatness of God.

Greatness defined:

1. Very large in size.

2. Larger in size than others of the same kind.

3. Large in quantity or number:

4. Extensive in time or distance: a great delay.

5. Remarkable or outstanding in magnitude, degree, or extent:

6. Of outstanding significance or importance:

7. Chief or principal:

8. Superior in quality or character; noble:

9. Powerful; influential:

10. Eminent; distinguished:

11. Grand

I.  Greatness according to the world:

A. Great World Leaders

            1.  Alexander the Great - 356 BC–323 BC – conquered many lands but after 12 years of   campaigns died of malaria

            2.  George Washington is often called the Father of our country – died of a throat             infection

B  Great accomplishments by people

            1.  Ben Franklin - Among his many creations were the lightning rod, the glass harmonica, the Franklin stove, bifocal glasses, and the flexible urinary catheter.

            2. Madam Currie -  a physicist and chemist of Polish upbringing and, subsequently,           French citizenship. She was a pioneer in the field of radioactivity, the first person         honored with two Nobel Prizes,[1] and the first female professor at the University of             Paris.

C. Great feats (Forbes Magazine)

            1.  First Flight Kitty Hawk, N.C. Dec. 17, 1903

            2.  Flag-Raising at Iwo Jima Iwo Jima, Japan Feb. 23, 1945

D.  Individually most of these have attributes of greatness BUT there is no lasting greatness due to the fact that each person mentioned is not here today.  What I am about to show you far exceeds the greatness of man.  It is the greatness of GOD.

Genesis 6:5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

II.  God’s greatness – Psalms 71:19  Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee!

A.  God’s Creation is Great –

1.  Plant Life - Genesis 1:12  And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

            A. Sage - is an incredibly useful herb, widely considered to be perhaps the most valuable herb. It is anti-flammatory, anti-oxidant, and antifungal. In fact, according to the noted    resource World’s Healthiest Foods, “Its reputation as a panacea is even represented in its       scientific name, Salvia officinalis, derived from the Latin word, salvere, which means ‘to be saved’.” It was used as a preservative for meat before the advent of refrigeration             (eminently useful: you never know when you’ll be forced to hunt in the wild). Sage aids   digestion, relieves cramps, reduces diarrhea, dries up phlegm, fights colds, reduces      inflammation and swelling, acts as a salve for cuts and burns, and kills bacteria. Sage          apparently even brings color back to gray hair. A definite concern when lost in the woods

            B.  Feverfew is a plant that has well-known and documented health properties and            medicinal benefits. This anti-inflammatory can treat rheumatism, arthritis and, most      famously, migraine headaches and tension headaches. It’s also good for alleviating tension and general anxiety (it is a natural serotonin inhibitor). It also helps to reduce swelling and bruising. Though feverfew is most effective when taken daily, it can be a helpful pain reliever when no Advil is on hand.

            C.  These are just a few examples of God’s greatness.  We could have talked about fruit,   trees etc.  The point is that God spoke and these were created.  God knew what he was    doing and man has never been able to create like God.

2.  Animals - Genesis 1:21  And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:24  And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.           

            A.  Duck Bill Platypus – I am not sure why God created this animal but I can assure you   that it is no freak of nature.

            B.  Leafy Sea Dragon -  This Sea Dragon survives due to it ability to camouflage itself      from predators.  God created it and then gave it the ability to preserve.

            C.  Mushroom Sea Coral – often confused with a plant the Mushroom Sea Coral excretes a milky substance when exposed to the sun that can be used as sun block.

3. The universe -  Genesis 1:16  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule          the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

Psalms 33:6  By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

            A.  DVD – How Great is our God – just a few facts from the DVD that Sis Smith shared  with me a few weeks back.

                        1.  Sun – classified as a star it is the largest star in our galaxy.  The sun is 93      Million light years from earth.  The sun is 1 billion times the size of the earth.  If the earth was the size of a golf ball the sun would be 15feet in diameter.  You can  fit 960 thousand earths inside the sun.  Now view the sun compared to these other  stars that I will talk about.  Remember that the Psalmist states that God breathed  them out of His mouth.

                        2.  Betelgeuse (pronounced beetlejuice) is a red supergiant, relatively luminous, and one of the largest stars known. For comparison, if the star were at the center  of our solar system its surface might extend out to between the orbits of Mars and   Jupiter, wholly engulfing Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.  It is 427 light years  away.  And is twice the size as the earth’s orbit around the sun.  If the earth was  equal to a golf ball Betelgeuse would be the size of 6 Empire State buildings one on top of the other.  You can fit 262 trillion earth’s inside of Betelgeuse.

                        3.  Mu Cephi – 3 thousand light years away, if the earth was the size of a golf ball the width of Mu Cephi would be 2 Golden Gate Bridges end to end.  It is so big  that you can fit 2.7 quadrillion earth inside this star.   

                        4. Canis Majoris – A  star located in the constellation Canis Major. This star is so big that it takes light more than 8 hours to travel around the star's circumference,  as opposed to 14.5 seconds for the sun.  If the earth was the size of a golf ball the  height of this star would be equal to Mount Everest.  You can fit 7 quadrillion earths inside of this star.  That’s enough golf balls to cover the state of Texas 22” deep.

             B.  God’s creation is truly fascinating.

 
4.  Man - Psalms 139:14  I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

 
Psalms 33:15  He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.

A.  Consider our human body

 
            1.  The process of birth.  One cell from man and one from woman each containing 23        chromosomes meet and form on cell.  13 chromosomes from each.  This one cell contains          3 billion characters of DNA code.  This describes who you are.  If you were to take the         DNA of this one cell it would be six feet long.  96 years to read reading one character per        second. 

 
            2.  At three days you have 16 cells. 

            3.  Fully grown we have 75 trillion cells and you take the DNA of each cell and stretch it out you could go to the moon and back 178 thousand times.  Every 3 seconds 50       thousand cells die and are replaced by 50 thousand cells.

            4.  Ever wonder how the human eye, which some scientists consider the most technically advanced item in the universe, is formed.   At 5 months 1 million optic nerve endings            leave the brain and begin a journey to meet up with an identical set of 1 million optic          nerve endings in the eye.   Each of the one million optic nerve endings must match with        the corresponding nerve ending in the eye.  Chance I think not, chaos as scientist want us         to think not even close.  We are truly a miracle.

            5.  Augustine stated this:  Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the     huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean,        at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.

            6.  Let’s talk about molecular biology… Laminin is a call adhesion molecule.  The body     has over 75 trillion cells that need to held together. Liminin is the cell adhesion             molecule that holds us together.  It is the rebar of the human body.  Without it we would          literally fall apart.  How cool is it that the very thing that holds us together is in the shape           of the cross.

            7.  Colossians 1:20-22  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies  in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

III.  As great as God is He still is watching over us.

Psalms 33:18-22  Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

Conclusion:  Psalms 77:13  Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?