Everyone longs for life. And most people don’t just want to survive, but to thrive, to know life to its fullest. A Biblical way to say it is that people long for blessing. In Scripture, to bless is to bestow life upon and God, the blessed one, the source of all life, all power and good, is the one who blesses us. The book of Genesis is fundamentally about life and blessing. If you want blessing in your life, you need the message of this book. Listen as Pastor Luke Herche returns to a sermon series on the book of Genesis, re-introducing the book and showing that Genesis is the beginning of God’s story to bless the nations through the promised child. Pastor Luke exhorts us to believe the promise, give thanks for present blessing, and wait expectantly for what is to come as he walks us through the beginning of the story of blessing, the content of the story of blessing, and our response to the story of blessing.

Part of a series on the book of Genesis.

From Sunday Worship, August 17, 2025.

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Want to go deeper? Take some time to reflect on the sermon with the following questions:

What do you think about the idea that we must understand Genesis (and, indeed, every book of the Bible), in light of the whole story? What are the strengths of that approach to the Bible? What are the dangers?

Where do you see blessing and curse play out in your own life, experience, or context? What do these things look like “at ground level”?

Which do you find to be the most difficult, believing God’s promises, giving thanks in the moment, or waiting hopefully for what is to come? Why do you think that is?

Jesus takes the curse we deserve at the cross and receives the blessing we need in his resurrection. How does that enable you to give thanks for present blessings even as you wait for good things to come?

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All Souls (Urbana, IL) is a part of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), a Christian, Reformed denomination with historic and theological roots in the Protestant Reformation.