Genesis Church - Sermons

Puritan John Owen warned, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” We tend to think that if we are forgiven, we can go ahead and do whatever we want. The Samson story is a stark reminder that our sinful thoughts and actions always lead to devastation.

Samson’s sin took him further than he ever thought he would stray, kept him longer than he ever wanted to stay, and cost him more than he wanted to pay. God’s warrior ends blind, enslaved, and hopeless. Yet, this was not the end of his story, God is always a God of second chances. So, from the pit of despair, Samson cries out and discovers that God’s grace is sweeter every single day. That is good news, no matter where you are or what sin struggle you have.

The best path is to realize God loves us, wants the best for us, and His ways are always the path to the greatest blessing. Therefore, we need to take our sin seriously by pursuing confession and repentance which brings forgiveness and deliverance.

It doesn’t take long to realize Samson is not a hero. We tend to picture Samson as this muscle bound warrior, something like Andre the Giant, who uses his incredible power to perform feats of strength. Yet, the story does not attribute Samson’s power to his workout performance. Rather, Samson’s story begins with the Spirit of the Lord stirring in him (13:25). On multiple occasions, it is the Spirit of the Lord coming on Samson, giving him the power to accomplish God’s purpose of defeating and pushing back the Philistines.

We can’t read the Samson story without remembering that the same Holy Spirit that came on Samson has indwelt, filled, and empowered us for God’s mission today. Our topic today is to look at the Holy Spirit and discover that He is the person of God giving the presence of God to the people of God for the purpose of bringing the power of God.

We are honored to have Dr. Ronni Kurtz as our guest speaker this morning! He is an Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. And, even more importantly, an EHS grad!

The doctrine of the Trinity can feel abstract—how is it that one God can be three persons? When Christians set out to consider the Trinity, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by how other God is. In this sermon, Ronni Kurtz seeks to show how not only is the Trinity true, but why God’s being three is beautiful. The aim of this sermon is to show how we are both satisfied and saved by the triune God.

One of the great gifts God gave humanity is the gift of marriage and sex. Sexuality is designed to bring oneness to a man and woman in a covenant relationship and paint a picture of Christ’s love for His people. In the right context, sexuality is actually an act that glorifies God. On the other hand, sex is a terrible god and our sexuality is a powerful substitute.

Everywhere false gods are worshiped, they are accompanied by broken and destructive sexual practices that often lead to the horrible objectification and mistreatment of people. As Samson steps on the scene, the first thing we discover about him is that he is a sexually broken person. He desires a woman from the Philistines. The conflict between his desires and the call of God will define the rest of Samson’s life and lead to his downfall.

We live in a sexually broken culture that now defines identity around sexuality. For Christ-followers, the call is to submit even their sexuality to the purpose and for the glory of God. Yet, the Samson story reminds us that God orchestrates the events of our lives in such a way that He even weaves the mess of our brokenness into a beautiful tapestry of redemption.

The events of the first Good Friday and Easter are central for the entire Christian faith. We believe the One True and Living God accomplished something cosmic and glorious in the death and resurrection of a single human being named Jesus. While thousands died on cruel Roman crosses in the ancient world, Jesus’ death is unique as it was predicted hundreds of years before the events of that holy weekend some 2000 years ago. Furthermore, the story ends unlike no other, with the executed man walking out of His grave a few days later. But, you may ask, what does this have to do with me in 2026? Jesus’ final word on the cross gives us the beautiful and life changing answer.

One of Jesus’ closest friends, a man named John, wrote an amazing book explaining Jesus’ life, identity, death, and resurrection. John tells us that the Roman soldiers gave Jesus a quick drink of sour wine, and after getting some liquid in His mouth, Jesus pushed up on the nails in His feet one last time and cried out, “It is finished!” At first glance, it may seem like a statement of defeat and hopelessness. Actually though, this statement, which is a single word in the original Greek text, is an unbelievable declaration of victory; providing hope for every human being and meeting our deepest needs and longings. Today we will look at this single word and share the implications of Jesus’ final word from the cross for you and me.

The Philistines were ruthless and horrible people. A sea-faring people who were the first to use iron in warfare, they inhabited the coast on the west side of Israel. They would become the key adversaries for Israel for generations.

The unfaithfulness of Israel resulted in God giving them over to the Philistines for 40 years. The Samson story is born from this moment, but there is something missing in chapter 13. The people no longer cry out to God for deliverance; no longer look to Him for rescue. Yet, they are still God’s covenant people, descendants of Abraham. They deserve their fate, but how could God show them mercy?

Amazingly, God shows up in the way He often does, by showing faithfulness to a couple and giving them a miracle child. This child, Samson, represents the entire problem of Judges. He is the most powerful of the judges—empowered over and over again by the Spirit of God to harass and destroy Israel’s evil oppressors while at the same time being a morally bankrupt person.

The simple truth of this story is glorious and our hope. Salvation belongs to the Lord, and does not depend on us. And, the God who made promises will be faithful to the end, even when we are not.

What does it look like when someone becomes enslaved by their idols? What does it look like when someone lets the idols of the culture around them influence their worship of the one true God?

We’re going to look at examples of both questions this morning.

One man is so enslaved by his idol that he resorts to murder. The other man is so influenced by the pagan culture around him that he makes a rash decision that costs him dearly. One man does not regard God at all while the other is saved by his faith in God despite his costly sin.

This morning’s message is a cautionary tale that we are not to take our salvation lightly. Jesus did not pay a ransom for us so that we can pursue a life of comfort and self reliance. Our hearts are prone to wander, to putting ourselves and our needs as first priority in this life. We need to be reminded that through the work of our true deliverer, God did for us what we could not do ourselves.

Through the sinless life of Jesus, His sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection, our worship should turn to Him. The idols in our lives can be dislodged as we focus on a King who never fails us.

The narrative of how God uses Gideon to defeat the Midianites and Amalekites is one of the amazing moments in the Old Testament story. This is the God who promised to fight on behalf of His people, defeating their enemies in glorious ways so that He alone would get the credit. Gideon gathers an army of over 32,000 men to go fight. But this is not God’s plan, and through a process of elimination, pares the army down to 300 timid men—a force in no way sufficient to defeat these joined enemies. The story gets even crazier from there, as the warriors go out to fight with torches, pots, and trumpets, not swords and spears. But this is how God brought deliverance for His people in a way that guaranteed He would get the glory.

It is amazing what God will do when those who serve Him do not care who gets the credit. This story confronts us with an amazing truth: that God uses the weak to shame the strong so that no human being may boast in the presence of God. Our God is still the God of victory; yet, He always fights for us so that we experience the blessings and He gets the glory.

Gideon is a fascinating character. When he is introduced in the Book of Judges, he is anything but a brave and mighty warrior.

As a result of their idolatry and abandoning God, the Hebrew people have been handed over to their enemies, the Midianites, who treat them horribly. Midianites were notorious for stealing crops and livestock, so the Hebrews were hiding in caves and mountain dens, helpless and cowering. From there they cried out to the Lord.

First, God sends a prophet with the Word of the Lord to the nation. This is followed by the Angel of the Lord appearing to Gideon, who is also afraid. Yet, the messenger from God addresses Gideon as a mighty warrior, and from his hiding place, God invites Gideon into His story.

The story of Gideon is unique; but, embedded in the story is a reminder that God saves people and then invites them into His mission. He doesn’t work through the most courageous and powerful; rather, God acts in and through people who are often the last person we would choose. The difference is His presence. When God is with us, well, there is nothing that can’t be done.