Victory Church Providence

The Fall of Man

A Sermon by Pasquale Granata Elder at Victory Church in Providence, RI.  
The Fall of Man
1. What is man?

2. What happened to man?

3. What now?

Genesis 3
The Temptation and Fall of Man
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent:

“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”

16 To the woman He said:

“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”

17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:

“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”

20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.

22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Back to the Basics: Our Hero

A Sermon by Pastor Richard Sfameni, Lead Pastor of Victory Church in Providence, RI.  
Back to the Basics: Our Hero

The Deity of The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God.

The scriptures declare:

•  His virgin birth (Matthew 1:23)
• His sinless life (Hebrews 7:26
•  His miracles (Acts 2:22
•  His substitutionary work on the cross (1 Corinthians 15:3
•  His bodily resurection from the dead (Mattthew 28:6
•  His exaltation to the right hand of God (Acts 1:9,11) 

Confident
Continual 
Confession 

Hebrews 4:14-16
Our Compassionate High Priest
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Back to the Basics: Knowing God

A Sermon by Pastor Richard Sfameni, Lead Pastor of Victory Church in Providence, RI.  

Back to the Basics: Knowing God

Acts 2:42
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Acts 17:10-11
10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. 

Jeremiah 9:23-24
23 Thus says the Lord:
“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
24 But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the Lord, exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these I delight,” says the Lord.

The One True God
The one true God has revealed himself as the eternally self-existent "I Am" the creator of heaven and earth and the Redeemer of mankind. He has further revealed Himself as embodying the principles of relationship association as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Back to the Basics

A Sermon by Pastor Richard Sfameni, Lead Pastor of Victory Church in Providence, RI.  

Back to the Basics

• Stressful Times
• Solid Examples
• Scriptural Training

II Timothy 3

Perilous Times and Perilous Men

3 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! ⁶ For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, ⁷ always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; ⁹ but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.

The Man of God and the Word of God

¹⁰ But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, ¹¹ persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. ¹² Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. ¹³ But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵ and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

My Summer Playlist: Living a Blessed Life

A Sermon by Pastor Richard Sfameni, Lead Pastor of Victory Church in Providence, RI.  

My Summer Playlist: Living a Blessed Life

Psalm 1

The Way of the Righteous and the End of the Ungodly

1 Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
² But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
³ He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

⁴ The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
⁵ Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

⁶ For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

My Summer Playlist: My Inheritance

A Sermon by Pastor Mike O'Brien, Associate Pastor and Director of Student Ministries and Communications at Victory Church in Providence, RI.  

My Summer Playlist: My Inheritance

Psalm 16:5-6

⁵ The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
    you hold my lot.
⁶ The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

My Summer Playlist: A Time to Weep

A Sermon by Pastor Richard Sfameni, Lead Pastor of Victory Church in Providence, RI.  

A Time to Weep

Psalm 13

• Come to God
• Complain to God
• Confidently ask God for help
• Choose to trust God

Trust in the Salvation of the Lord

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

13 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
² How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

³ Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;
Enlighten my eyes,
Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
⁴ Lest my enemy say,
“I have prevailed against him”;
Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

⁵ But I have trusted in Your mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
⁶ I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Purpose in Your Pain

My Summer Play List, Experiencing God

A Sermon by Pastor Richard Sfameni, Lead Pastor of Victory Church in Providence, RI.  

My Summer Play List, Experiencing God

• The struggle of the true seeker of God
• The hunger of the true seeker of God
• How to stir up a hunger for more of God
• Pray for it
• Remember special times with God
• Get around hungry people
• Press in

Psalm 63:1-5

Joy in the Fellowship of God

A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

63 O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
² So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

³ Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
⁴ Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
⁵ My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

The Kingdom of God

 A Sermon by Dr. Denny Seler, Missionary to Latin America and the Caribbean

The Kingdom of God

• What is The Kingdom of God
• What does The Bible say
• What does Jesus say
• What does the kingdom of God look like
• The invading the present
• The anointing of The Spirit
• See it in the life of Jesus
• The future today

Matthew 6:9-13

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.’

 

Debby started her ministry work by attending Zion Bible Institute (now Northpoint College) and subsequently secured her master’s degree from the Assemblies of God Seminary. Denny, after a stint in the US Air Force also attended Zion Bible Institute where they met and later married. He also secured his master’s degree and later his Doctorate from the Assemblies of God Seminary. Upon graduation from Zion, they served in various ministries: youth pastors in Illinois and Massachusetts, missionaries to Spain, and District leaders in Southern New England before accepting a lead pastorate in Pennsylvania where Debby served again in the district office before being asked to take a national leadership role in Springfield, MO. During that time Denny served as a missionary educator serving all the Spanish-speaking world in the western hemisphere. They then moved to Jamaica to serve as faculty at the Assemblies of God Bible School in Christiana, Jamaica. After serving as a missionary in residence for one year at the University of Valley Forge, they moved to Costa Rica to direct the language and cultural training center for all new US Assemblies of God missionaries. Presently, they serve the western hemisphere as missionary educators to both the Spanish-speaking world and the English-speaking world of the Caribbean. They have two adult children and two granddaughters. They are celebrating 45 years of marriage and ministry this year.