Throughout Genesis God's faithfulness, patience, and love for Abraham and his family has been on constant display. But as we stare at the increasing messiness of Jacob's family, we are invited to wonder, 'Do they love God?' Dave unpacks these fast-paced chapters and zooms out to see how God's patience and presence toward Jacob has not been without effect, as Jacob acknowledges God's lordship over his life with his words and his actions.

God is making a people for himself out of the descendants of Abraham, and they couldn't be more... messy! Deception, betrayal, immorality, and sin are all becoming hallmarks of this family. The drama is everywhere! Which begs the questions, does God care, and if so, what's he going to do about it?

The stories of Genesis 23-25 are fascinating, but more than that, they show us who God is. And it's important that we know who our unchanging God is, because Christians are in an eternal covenant him! But the new covenant is not like the old one, we can't be born into this like Isaac could be. To enter the new covenant we must be born again.

We're learning a lot about God in this series. And in chapter 22, guest speaker John Langlois showed us that Abraham learned that God, Yahweh, was not like the gods of the surrounding nations - he won't demand, or delight in, child sacrifice. Not then, not in 33AD, not ever. But he does expect us offer ourselves as 'living sacrifices', as part of our proper worship.

This sermon was preached for our Parish-wide combined service, and is based on Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, where he unpacks the unity and diversity of 'the body of Christ'.

There's no prize for getting through life without God, yet too often we leave reaching out to God as a last resort. Do we do this out of pride, or out of disbelief that he wants to be involved in our lives? Genesis 20-21 blows both of these reasons out of the water.

Many people will think they know the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. But perhaps many of us have gone away with the wrong idea. What is that story really about, what does it tell us about God, how does it forecast Jesus, and how can we apply this into our day to day lives? These are the questions Dave sought to answer in this sermon from Gensis 18-19.

It's one thing to trust God on a daily basis, but can you trust him across years, or decades, when he hasn't answered your prayers? Are you THAT patient and trusting of him? Dave shares from Genesis 16-17 that God is worthy of our trust, and therefore, worthy of relationship, obedience, and worship.

Last week we learned that God is relational, this week Lee Weissel taught us that God is trustworthy. He offers relationship to people who he knows will let him down. So in this chapter, God shows why Abram, and we, can trust him, because he makes covenant promises, and keeps them!

After the drama (and terror) of the first eleven chapters of Genesis, God reaches out to Abram and offers him a fresh start. A new relationship between God and a people of his choosing. And like any relationship, this one will need to be built on mutual trust. Can God trust Abram? Can Abram trust God? And what will happen when it inevitable goes wrong? Dave explores these questions and more from Genesis 12-14.