Genesis Church - Sermons

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 speculate.

What we believe about God matters greatly, because we are always moving toward the object of our worship, being shaped by our idea of God or whatever becomes the god of our lives.

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 you put on some overalls and join us?

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 our lives.

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.

We reach the end of our Top 10 Series by looking at the end— the final day, the Day of the Lord. Our question for the final sermon is, What does the Bible teach about the end of the world?

Honestly, it didn’t take long for the first generation of believers to start wondering about this. They knew the Old Testament and Jesus both predicted an end to the world: a final judgment and the new heaven and earth. Just 30 years in, people were already questioning why it had taken so long and wondering how they would know when the Second Coming would happen. They thought God had been slow, so Peter reminds them that slow in our eyes is different from slow in Christ’s eyes. While they wanted a calendar with specific dates, Peter reminds them that the most important thing about belief in the final day is to know it will happen, so they should live each day with perseverance and expectation. He will come like a thief, so we should live ready and do all we can each day to make sure others will join us on that day.

Our Top 10 Question this week is a good one: Who are the women of the bible and why are they so important for us to know?

We won’t rehash the recent sermon about gender roles and differences; yet, the truth is that often religion has failed to recognize the importance of women in the Biblical story, and the beauty of their inclusion in God’s mission and purposes. In some ways, the inclusion of women in the story would have been scandalous and a reason for rejection by some in ancient cultures. Yet, God in His infinite glory and wisdom has chosen to include so many amazing women in His grand redemption story, and many of these women are pivotal as leaders, movers, teachers, and shapers of culture.

Their stories remind us that everyone is created in God’s image, has purpose, and has a wonderful role to play in the story of God in the world. Furthermore, their stories are unique—a great reminder that God’s call and purpose reaches each of us where we are. He chooses to include us and use our unique humanity and gifts in amazing and miraculous ways.

And finally, these stories remind us that the women in our churches are so valuable and wonderful as God continues to tell His story through unique, yet broken, lives to display His glory.

Another great question for our Top 10 series this week: How did we get the Bible and how do we know we can trust the canon we have?

The Bible is by far the most translated and read book of all time, but more than this, Christians have consistently believed that the 66 books of the Bible collectively are the very Word of God. They are not just human books about God; rather, God spoke through the pens of real human beings to inspire every word.

But how do we know this is true and real? And how do we know that these 66 books are actually the correct books to be received as Scripture? And finally, why would we accept the book we call the Bible as God’s very Word?

We will seek to answer these questions this morning and also show that the most important reason we should believe the Bible is because it shows us Jesus fully and shows us how to believe in Him.

This morning’s message is from the 21st chapter of the book of Revelation as we seek answers to the question, “What is Heaven?”

The apostle John was visited by an angelic messenger and given a vision of the future. The future that he sees is a future shared with all who call on the name of the Lord for salvation.

These 8 verses give us a glimpse into what awaits us once the fullness of God’s grand redemption plan is ushered in.