Message Notes
Viral Vs. Truth
8/1/2026
Author and Poet, Ralph Waldo Emmerson said it best “It's not the destination it's the journey.”
Genesis 2:8-16: The Lord God planted a garden in Eden and there he placed Man. The Lord made all sorts of trees but in the middle of the garden He placed the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But the Lord warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
Gen. 2:18: Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”
How did it go from two perfect people living in a perfect world to becoming the first “dysfunctional family”? One word - “DISTRACTION”
Genesis 3:1-5: The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
Off course begins with - questioning the truth.
Genesis 3:2-3: “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden. It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat.” God said, “You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.”
Off course begins with - manipulating the truth.
Genesis 3:4-5: “You won’t die. God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
2 Timothy 3:16: All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us and teaches us to do what is right.
Malachi 3:6: “I am the Lord, and I do not change.”
Off course begins with - redefining the truth.
Genesis 3:6: The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it.
Jeremiah 17:9: “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”
Romans 12:2: “Don’t copy the behavior of this world but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”
Off course begins with - being accountable to truth.
Genesis 3:6: So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.
Proverbs 12:15: “Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.”
The outcome of being off course - living with the truth.
Genesis 3:7-13: At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. The man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden, so they hid from the Lord. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” Adam replied, “I heard you in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid.”
Genesis 3:21-23: And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife. So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden.
Romans 5:12: “When Adam disobeyed, sin entered the world and brought death, and it spread to everyone.”
John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.”