I have an assignment for you to complete before diving into this message. Grab your Bible and find Luke chapter 19. The story known as Christ’s Triumphal Entry begins in verse 29. Take a minute and read that story to refresh your perspective.

I have been reflecting on this story for a few weeks now after reading it again. Something caught me by surprise that I had not caught before, something weighty. The same story is referenced in John 12, beginning in verse 12.

I don’t think the people are celebrating what they think they are celebrating, and a careful read of the story is providing new clues as to what is really going on. Which leads me to my question for this week: As we celebrate Jesus, do you know for sure what you are celebrating?

Pastor Dr. Aaron Weisser

Maranatha and I have driven the Alcan three times thus far. It is an incredibly beautiful drive and one of my wife’s favorite experiences. The most recent time we traveled to Montana and crossed the border leading to Banff, Alberta. This part of the road has multiple options to connect you to the Alcan in Dawson Creek. On long road drives like this, there can be an eerie feeling of having gone the wrong direction. It's a guttural feeling that leads to digging through maps and meticulously watching for the next road sign. Come to find out, we’d traveled quite a ways in the wrong direction and needed to turn around to hit Banff. We eventually found our way and made our way to Alaska. 

In life, we look for signs that we are headed in the right direction. We follow Gideon’s example and lay out fleeces to test God’s will for our lives. What I find interesting is that mankind seeks certain signs from God while trying our best to ignore the more difficult illustrations He clearly lays out for us. 

In this message, we examine the life of Sarai. Her life is particularly difficult and is a life that is challenging for us to consider because of the pain that comes with barrenness. Sarai’s life is marked by God in a seemingly cruel manner, but when properly understanding God’s nature, we can see that in even in the horror of barrenness, God is speaking to our hearts! 

You can read ahead by reading Genesis 12-21. 


Pastor Matt McCarter

If you have ever felt unseen, overlooked, or disregarded, this message is for you. Before we study together, take some time to read through Genesis 16 and 21. If I was Abraham and I was writing my autobiography, I probably would have opted to leave this section out. It's pretty rough.

But buried there, amidst the rubble of bad decisions and abusive actions, is God, aware and present. And not only aware and present, but including the unseen in the story of His redemptive plan.

I love this about our God and I look forward to digging deeper with you.

Pastor Dr. Aaron Weisser

What do Melchizedek, Sodom and Gamora, Balaam and Balak, Phinehas, King Eglon, Ruth, King Rehoboam, King Nahash, Sanballat and Tobiah, ancient mythical gods Chemosh, Melchom, and Baal all have in common? One man named Lot. Lot, the nephew of Abraham, seems like a side character in the book of Genesis. His role, however, has great historical significance in the books of the bible.

Though being involved in many unfortunate situations and making very bad choices, the story of Lot has theological significance that we may not see at first. Beyond being the father of a few of Israel's enemies and advancing the biblical story in some regards, the Apostle Peter makes a statement that prompts a “lot” of questions. In the book of 2 Peter, the Apostle describes Lot as righteous and a man greatly distressed by evil conduct. Though many may not have thought of Lot in this way, digging into the details will give us the answers as to why Peter says this.

In this message, we look over the story of Lot and his relationship to Abraham. We will see his significance to biblical history and answer the questions of why the Apostle Peter calls him righteous.

Pastor Forrest Smith

There is a little story about me that I want to tell you now. It has taken me 20 years to work up the courage. Don’t judge me too harshly…

Shortly after moving back to town in 2005, Jenny and I were reestablishing connections and friendships here in Homer, Alaska, the town of my birth and my heritage. We had just had our second child, I was in my first full-time ministry role, and life was good!

I had recently been introduced to wonderful world of coffee and had a daily habit of getting a 12 oz vanilla breve from Captain’s Coffee. (I know, that’s an unsustainably large amount of fat and sugar, but that’s a different story for a different day.) A good friend of ours was a barista at the time and she was an absolute pro at making the drink just the way I liked it.

After about a year of living here, our barista friend relayed to me an interaction she had with another employee of that fine coffee establishment. “Who is that guy you’re friends with? The one that never smiles and doesn’t tip.”

The reason her comment was so surprising… and jarring, is because I knew myself to be such a happy and generous person. How dare this person, someone I barely know, make such an obviously incorrect assessment of my character! And that based on so little so information! The injustice of it all.

In my defense, we had no money, and I was smiling on the inside. But this was one of the first times I had to confront the possibility that maybe my relationship with Christ wasn’t manifesting in the way I thought it would. Maybe my “belief” was limited to the space between my ears. Or worse, maybe I was a hypocrite!

In this message, we jump into Genesis 12, the story of Abram. We’re going to examine the nature of true faith and why it matters.

Pastor Dr. Aaron Weisser

I don’t miss driving on highways until I pass Potters Marsh on the way to Anchorage. All of a sudden I’m reminiscing of long road trips with endless highways on the way to a prescribed vacation spot. On those trips I have found it useful to have a copilot to make sure we’re on the right course because without one it's easy to get way down the road and realize that we were supposed to take a left back at Albuquerque!

It is a regular occurrence in my life that I need someone else to step in and redirect my focus, not on highways, but in the day to day of work, marriage, finances, parenting. Without the constant reminder to focus, my eyes and heart wonder.

The Tower of Babel narrative is just that, a refocusing of people who have gone astray from God's plan.

In this message, we redirect our eyes to Jesus. It’s what I love doing, and love doing with you, Church! Read ahead in Genesis 11.

Pastor Matt McCarter

I have been thinking and praying about this message for quite some time. It is one of those teachings where I feel the weight early in preparation, as my heart wrestles with what it means for all of us.

In this message, we will be in Genesis 5, 10, and 11:10 to 32. Even if you grew up hearing Bible stories and know many of the early Genesis accounts, these chapters may feel less familiar. They can even raise an honest question: why are these passages here at all?

That question matters, because the message in these chapters is deeply significant for our church. My prayer is that, as we walk through them together, we will see more clearly what God is saying and respond with open hearts.

Pastor Dr. Aaron Weisser

In this message, we continue our Eden: Why Are We Here? series by exploring Genesis 9:8 to 17, the passage that introduces what Scripture calls the Noahic Covenant. Many of us know the flood narrative, but this text invites us to pause and consider what God was communicating after the flood and why the sign He chose still matters today.

When God places His bow in the clouds, He is doing far more than giving the world a beautiful phenomenon. In the ancient world, a bow was a weapon of war. In Genesis 9, God deliberately hangs His bow in the sky as a declaration of mercy. It is a public, universal promise that He will never again judge the earth by flood, not because humanity suddenly became righteous, but because God is gracious, faithful, and committed to sustaining life.

This covenant speaks not only to God’s restraint after judgment, but also to hearts that wrestle with fear: fear of failure, fear of judgment, and fear that God may be done with them. In this passage, we see how God’s mercy meets people personally and how His promises remain firm even when people fall.

My prayer is that this teaching helps us see God’s faithfulness more clearly and that we never look at the bow in the sky the same way again.

Joseph Collier

One of the five love languages is giving and receiving gifts. After college, and earlier in my adult life, I considered myself a fantastic gift giver. I had money, time, and a sense that, well, I was killing it in most areas of life. Then I got married, had kids, and went into ministry, tightening my budget and forcing me to be more creative. The truth is, I wasn’t as good a gift giver as I thought. I just had extra money to buy people nice things.

When you consider how special a gift is, there is a ratio involved. It includes the expense of the gift and the thought behind the gift. An absent father’s gift to a child of a brand new vehicle does not repair the lost relationship between father and child, but the relational capacity that drives the thoughtfulness of a gift will trump an inexpensive gift on any special occasion.

In this message, we examine the difference between Cain and Abel’s gifts to the Lord and, in the process, our own offerings unto God.

Pastor Matt McCarter

Caught red-handed has to be one of the worst feelings in the world. You did it, there’s no denying it, you’ve been caught. Some of my earliest childhood memories are of getting caught. There is such a clarity in that moment.

Up until you’re caught, all of your self-deceptions make sense, at least to you. But when you’re caught, it all falls apart very quickly. The obvious badness of the bad thing you got caught doing sets in pretty powerfully.

And then there’s consequences; The bad things that I now owe because of the bad thing that I did. We all want to negotiate consequences. As bad is it may be, we would like to make the case that there was good reason and we are not as to blame as others might think. Also, can you go easy on the consequences?

And all of this is part of God’s grace toward sin. In this message, we look at God’s grace in the midst of painful consequences. Before diving in, take a minute to read through Genesis chapter 3 again.

Pastor Dr. Aaron Weisser