In examining one of the most heartbreaking portions of Scripture, we are faced with difficult but important questions about pain and isolation. How do we get to places where we concede in the most unthinkable ways, and how does Christ provide a way out and forward for us?

Living faith, which distinguishes itself from saving faith, is inexorably linked to the promises of God. And while somedays those promises are hard to believe, they don’t have to be hard to follow. Living faith is outworked day by day, step by step.

While some look to Scripture for positive examples of human behavior, most commonly Scripture shows us the frailty of human will and how God’s grace and mercy works in and through even the worst of circumstances and sin. We are prone to take shortcuts in the journey that God has us on; shortcuts can lead to sin, and sin can lead to sorrow, but ultimately even in the worst of sorrows we are seen by a loving and gracious God, who sent his Son to win us back to him in the end.

Our lives are full of the heartbreak and consequences of broken promises. However, against the backdrop of the pain and disappointment of human failing, God’s promises are full of purpose and power, and he will never fail us, leave us, or forsake us. In God’s covenant with Abram we see the fullness of grace on full display, pointing towards the greatest fulfilled promise of all, the person and work of Jesus Christ. --

Though the age in which we find ourselves calls us to self-preservation, the call of Scripture is toward self-sacrifice. Not only is this the call of Scripture, but it is the model of Christ himself. How, then, do we mitigate risk while still doing good, loving our neighbors, and serving those in need? This sermon in the book of Genesis seeks to provide insight into this predicament, calling us not towards self-preservation or recklessness, but towards godly, biblical self-sacrifice for the glory of God.

The spirit of the age, around the world, is self-preservation. But is this really living? Are we really exempt during this season from a life of purpose and meaning and left to settle for an indefinite pause to our Christian living? Does the Bible offer any relevant answers to the present course of the world? Genesis offers clarity when clarity is needed most.

Receiving God’s call is not about the initiation of the greatness of our plans, it is an invitation into the goodness of God’s promises. As we begin a new year, let us all remember that God’s call for each of us is first to himself, and that it is only through his call that we are set forth to live in the purpose and adventure he has set forth for each of us as we make him known.

Joy is elusive when you can't see, when loss is high, when God seems far, when the world is at war and when seasons fail. An apt description for a majority of 2020. But before your heart goes too far down the road with the narrative that better days are just around the corner in 2021, Pastor Allen reaches a startling conclusion: 2020 had all the joy we could want. Further, 2021 doesn't have any more that we need.

This portion of Scripture deals with the brokenness and fracturing that sin causes in families and generations. Our decisions impact more than our own lives, and our rebellion always catches up with us in the end. However, no matter how dark the days around us, God always preserves a remnant of his people to carry his promise, a promise fully expressed in the person and work of Jesus Christ.