Genesis Church: Sermon Audio

Welcome to 2026! The first week in January—the time where gyms are full, weight loss programs make all their money, and financial plans are in place. It’s one thing to make resolutions; it’s a completely different thing to develop some healthy rhythms. The 70’s Christian song “Day by Day” gives us a good prayer for the New Year: “Three things I pray. To see Thee more clearly, to love Thee more dearly, and to follow Thee more nearly, day by day.” The book of Psalms begins with a vivid picture of two paths to walk. One becomes a path to a withered and wasted life. The other is a path that creates deep roots like a tree near a stream. But how do we walk the path to life? The Scriptures teach us that the way to walk this path is in developing healthy rhythms that lead us to deeper love for and knowledge of Jesus and a more devoted life to His mission. Today we will look at the spiritual rhythms of Bible intake, prayer, rest, worship, and fasting; sharing ideas to

Kevin McCallister just wanted to make his family disappear. The next morning he woke up and the bossy, critical, and negative group of people were gone. He was all alone, able to do whatever he wanted. Our culture loves this story because it personifies the central belief of the American dream—you can be your own person, set your own agenda, and pursue your own dreams. And, even if a couple robbers show up, you have it in yourself to save yourself and your house. Think about it, our most known document is the Declaration of Independence. But here is the problem, this pursuit doesn’t work and actually leads to loneliness, despair, and hopelessness. The Bible compares us to sheep for a reason. Left to themselves, sheep will get stuck, fall off a cliff, or get eaten by a wolf. Sheep need a shepherd. When Jesus declares His name to be “The Good Shepherd,” He is connecting Himself to multiple Old Testament passages, including Psalm 23 and Micah 5,promising a future Shepherd for God’s

Clark Griswold had a noble goal—to provide the perfect Christmas for his family. But, what ensues is a hot mess that shows all the faults in Clark and the imperfection of every person in the family. We can laugh at it because it’s someone else, yet the truth is that we also long for a sort of perfection and many of us get deeply stuck in the traps of performance and appearances. Since Adam and Eve messed everything up in the Garden of Eden, two things are true. We long for things to be perfect, whole, and right, and at the same time, no person or situation is ever perfect. The Bible uses the term “righteousness” to refer to things being right and perfect. It is a good thing to long for righteousness. Yet, we are unrighteous people living in a broken world. Furthermore, our desire for perfection in life and things is often driven by pride or guilt and shame as we seek to make our own identity known or strive to make up for past failures. These truths are on display in the Griswold hous

In the 1946 Christmas Classic movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”, the likable George Bailey was disappointed time and time again with how his life was turning out. Making decisions to help others in his small town of Bedford Falls meant putting HIS dreams on hold. He was not satisfied with his life because he longed for a greater purpose. At least, greater in his mind. When Old Man Potter stole all his company’s cash and he was faced with jail for embezzlement, he considered suicide. That’s when his “guardian angel” Clarence helped him understand his real purpose in life. But, the movie stops short of naming the only source of real purpose in life, our savior Jesus. Today we will discuss Jesus, the Bread of Life (John 6:35) as the only source of real purpose, satisfaction and fulfillment.

Do you have an early memory of watching the original cartoon version of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas? Based on the Dr. Suess book, and now having two full-length movies, this character is … “A mean one.” In the two movie versions, the Grinch is mean because he was a lonely, bullied orphan who felt ostracized by the Whos of Whoville, leading to emotional pain, anger, and bitterness. His meanness is a defense mechanism stemming from feelings of sadness and rejection, particularly his aversion to the sounds and joys of Christmas, which remind him of his painful past. But, something in the story of Christmas filled the longing to belong and gave the Grinch a family. Like the Grinch, the desire to belong is a central human longing, yet, we can feel the weight of our own failures and rejection. We live in a time where people are more connected than ever, yet feel more and more lonely. As Luke shares the great story of Christmas, he tells us about the angel Gabriel’s announcement to a

Christmas movies are such a big part of the holiday season. Over the years there have been some great ones. While having different story- lines, the movies people love during December have a common theme. The main character expresses a deep longing of the human heart in the hopes that the wonder of Christmas just might be the answer. Of course, there are blown up Christmas trees, bandits, a clumsy angel, and a lot of inner turmoil get in the way. Yet, in the end, the true meaning of Christmas somehow fills the longing and provides answers. The truth is that there is a kernel of truth in these movies because in the manger and incarnation, God does fulfill the deep longings of the human heart. This Christmas season we will look at some of our favorite Christmas movies and show how the longings of the heart are answered in the wonder of Christmas and the beauty of the Gospel. Buddy the Elf seems to have found something none of the other characters in his story understood. The longing to find Christmas cheer

We’ve spent the last couple months looking at a 1,700 year old creed, thinking about the core truths believed by Christians everywhere. But one might ask, what do these things mean for me? Among other things, our belief in Jesus comes with the promise of our own empty grave and resurrected body. The Christian belief in the final resurrection has always been a doctrine that separates Christianity from almost all other world religions. In most belief systems, including the prominent spiritualities in ancient Rome, salvation was obtained when the spiritual part of one’s existence was freed from the evil of the material world. But Christianity tells a different story in which the whole of God’s creation is restored and those who follow Jesus in life will be resurrected from the dead, their bodies being redeemed. When Paul wrote our text from Romans 8, his words were actually radical. Sadly, so many still believe in a bodyless heaven. But just as Jesus was raised from the grave, our hope is tie

“We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.” Wait, we believe in the Catholic Church? I thought we were Protestant! The Nicene Creed echoes the language of almost every creed in church history using this wording to confess belief in the doctrine of the church. If we interpret the word “catholic” as speaking of an institution, we do have a problem. But the church was never an institution—it was always the assembly of the redeemed people. The word catholic means “universal”, the affirmation that in Christ, God has purchased a people for Himself. Our confession is that the church of Jesus is unified in the Gospel, global and diverse, and built on the foundation of the Apostles. Local churches are visible outposts of the universal church. In this light, we do believe in One, Holy, Universal, and Apostolic church made up of those who have believed and been baptized for the forgiveness of sin. This morning we will take a look at the doctrine of the church, and

As we’ve seen so far in our current series, 4th century theologians,worked very intentionally to ensure the Nicene Creed had a very clear, Biblical understanding of the person of Jesus Christ. But what do Christians believe about The Holy Spirit? Is The Holy Spirit a force or a person? Is The Holy Spirit God or a created being or some sort of entity? And what exactly does The Holy Spirit do? Without a clear understanding of the person and work of The Holy Spirit, it can be difficult to see God at work in our lives. The Spirit’s importance cannot be understated. In fact, on His last night with the disciples, Jesus Himself taught a vast amount about The Holy Spirit, particularly that it was to the disciples’ advantage for Jesus to go away so that The Holy Spirit would come to them. Wrapped up in all of this is the mystery of The Trinity, that there is one God, in three persons: God The Father, God The Son, and God The Holy Spirit. They are distinct, yet all work together as one. Without The H

In our study of the Nicene Creed, we come to the line “Whose,Kingdom Shall Have No End.” Why is this line included? We’ve learned about Jesus’ divinity,,His humanity, and His place in the Trinity, but if we mess up any,of those, we will have a Jesus who either isn’t truly king at all, or,He has a kingdom that will one day pass away. Today in our study, we will see that Jesus is King forever, with a,kingdom that will never end or pass away. That is amazing,news for us, the people of His kingdom!

Who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven. If you have been with us the last few weeks in our exploration of the Nicene Creed, you might be asking, “Does all of this really matter?” We have discussed some pretty deep theological ideas. Seems like a lot to think about. Doesn’t doctrine like this divide? We might think that unity is more important than doctrinal clarity. But the bishops at Nicaea knew that the very truth of salvation was at stake. Jesus came into the world to save sinners. God sent Jesus to be born to a virgin mother, live as a man, die at the hands of Pilate, be buried in a real tomb, and then rise again for this purpose, to rescue people. Paul proclaimed this salvation in his preaching, reminding people that Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves. And there is salvation no where else and in no other name. To mistake Jesus’ identity and mission is to miss salvation. Furthermore, to have the right doctrine of Jesus, yet fail to authentically b

Sometimes the smallest things make earth-changing differences. At the Council of Nicaea 1700 years ago, the exclusion of a single “i” defined all Christian doctrine. There was much debate about whether Jesus was homoousios or homoiousios with God the Father. Sounds like a fun debate, right? Ousios is Greek for “substance or being.” Homo means “the same,” while Homoi means “similar.” So, was Jesus the exact same substance as God the Father, or merely a similar substance to Him? While the “i” seems insignificant, for Christianity, this debate gets to the very heart of theology. The council and creed affirmed that Jesus is the full and same substance as God the Father. The Christian church went on to affirm the full deity of the Holy Spirit. God the Father, Son, and Spirit—one in substance and being, three in person. As Christians, the doctrine of the Trinity is not just a philosophical formula, it is an invitation to know the God who is lov

The central and glorious mystery that defines the Christian faith and separates it from all other paths is the miracle of the incarnation. God stepped into human flesh, became one of us. The One who was eternally begotten as the Son of God was born in human history, taking the likeness of men. This means that at one point God indwelt a zygote, was born a human baby, went through adolescence, and lived as a fully human man. He did not lay aside His deity; yet, He took on full humanity, “taking the form of a servant.” As a human being, He lived a righteous human life, died a human death, and was buried in a tomb. And, as a human, He rose again, the down payment for every human resurrection. We cannot truly believe in Jesus without embracing this mystery—that God took on human flesh and dwelt among us. But, when we do embrace it, His humanity becomes the representative for ours, meaning that His death is for us and His resurrection guarantees yours and mine.

When Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”, He was asking the single most important question that can be asked of every human. In 325 AD, that question became front and center for the early church. The core dispute at Nicaea involved the nature of Jesus Christ. If there is only one God, how could both the Father and Jesus the Son be truly divine? The group following the Biship named Arias did not believe Jesus was God in the same way and with the same substance as the Father. They believed the language about Jesus being begotten by God implied that he was the ultimate created being, but creature none the less. This group declared, “There was a time when he (Jesus) was not.” The church leaders at Nicaea boldly rejected this view, affirming the deity of Jesus. God of God, light of light, very God of very God! This deity of Jesus was not a new belief invented at this gathering; rather, it was the affirmation of three centuries of Christian doctrine taught in the New Testa

They are questions all of us ask. Who am I? Why am I here? How does all of this exist? How we answer these questions will deeply shape the way people live their lives. The Nicene Creed goes directly to the point with the declaration, “We believe in one God… maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.” The reality that God is the maker of heaven and earth declares so much more than the words say. First, this truth is a reminder about the holiness of God, that He is other, separate, apart from creation. There is Creator and there is creation. They are separate, not one in the same. Second, everything that exists owes its existence to God and finds it being and purpose in Him. And third, as the Maker of all things, everything in creation, including people, exist for His glory. Our joy and meaning in life is found when the Gospel opens our eyes to this reality and we live to glorify Jesus and enjoy Him forever.

John Calvin taught that there are two essential aspects to all true knowledge: knowledge of God and knowledge of self. These two beliefs are deeply interconnected. To rightly know God is to rightly understand ourselves and the world around us. Belief in the idea of God is virtually universal; most people around the world believe in some concept of the divine. However, the Nicene Creed points way beyond a mere spirituality, calling us to belief in the One True God defined as Father and revealed as Almighty. While short in words, this phrase is packed with meaning which points us to the God revealed in the Bible and made known in the story of the Old Testament. As God met Moses at Mount Sinai in the book of Exodus, He revealed His true character and nature. What we find is a God who is present and involved in the lives of His people, who loves and forgives, yet who also “by no means clears the guilty.” The True and Living God chose to make Himself known; therefore, we don’t have to wonder or

The Council of Nicaea was a gathering of church leaders in 325 AD to address a theological controversy in the early church. They searched the Scriptures carefully to understand the central truths concerning the nature of Jesus as truly God and truly man. The outcome of this incredibly important gathering is the 1700 year old creed still used in churches to this day that defined the essentials for the Christian faith, making sure the church could “defend the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” What we believe really does matter, and there are some beliefs that are essential to be a follower of Jesus. To deny those is to leave the faith. But not all beliefs rise to this level. Therefore, it is vital for the church to learn how to do spiritual triage, to figure out which beliefs are heresy, and which beliefs should not divide us.

Farming during the harvest is hard work. It is so much easier for farmers to sit at McDonald’s with a group to drink coffee and tell farming stories. But, any farmer knows the season of harvest is the whole purpose and goal for farming. Therefore, they watch the field, and when the crops are brown and the grain is ripe, farmers get to the fields. Followers of Jesus are a type of farmer. The first small group, the 12 Disciples, were asked by Jesus to pray for workers that would go into the harvest. Then Jesus sends them into the fields, as an extension of His mission and proclaiming His Kingdom. They become the answer to their own prayers, and Jesus empowers this small community to love and reach the people in their culture. This is also our purpose: to be Gospel shaped and formed communities on mission. Our groups are not just farmers sipping coffee around a table. We are teams of missionaries sent by Jesus into Eureka, Pacific, St. Clair, Washington, and to the nations. The fields are ripe—will

Combines are the tractors that farmers use to gather the harvest. They are extraordinary tools used to cut the crops, sift the grain from the stubble, and fill hoppers with grain for storage. Before the harvest begins, farmers work hard to make sure these majestic machines are ready for the task and then head to the fields. Jesus gathered His small group, the 12 disciples, and He intentionally invested in their lives; pouring the Gospel, theology, and ministry into them. His reason for doing this was to prepare them to go, to be sent. For a while they were defined as learners and apprentices. Eventually, they would be defined as harvesters, missionaries, and “sent ones”. But to prepare, Jesus first had to get them ready for the harvest. And the way He prepared them for the harvest was to gather them in circles and invest in their lives. Community matters, and just like the first disciples, God uses circles to prepare us for His mission and for the joy we find living out the purposes of God in ou

One of the most amazing aspects of Jesus’ life and ministry is how He saw crowds. We tend to see masses of people, lumping them into categories, and gazing over the tops of their heads. But whenever Jesus saw crowds, He looked into the soul of each person. They were precious to Him, image bearers, His special creation. His mission was gloriously simple, to proclaim the Kingdom and change their lives. Yet, He did not do this alone. Jesus formed the first Community Group, a band of twelve guys who learned from Him and lived on mission with Him. His invitation to them was to lift their eyes so that they, too, would see crowds of people through His eyes, and notice that the fields were ripe. And then pray for the harvest, that God would raise up people to reach each and every one of them with the message of the Kingdom. This is also our invitation: to look on the harvest and notice that it is plentiful. And then to pray to the Lord of the Harvest.