Walking with God
January 7, 2024 • Mike Foell • Genesis 5:21–24, Hebrews 11:5–6, Jude 14–15
Genesis 5 says that Enoch walked with God. He didn't sprint, but moved methodically over a life time towards God until God took him and the Bible says "he was no more". Pastor Mike returns from retirement for a special message looking at the life of Enoch and asking some key questions. What does it look like for us to walk with God and what are the implications and outcomes of a life devoted to following Jesus for the long haul?
Part 3: Settle Your Source
May 21, 2023 • Ryan Oddo • Genesis 14:17–24
Where does your provision come from? Is it your job? Your wit? Your skill? Or does your provision come from God Most High? The answer to that question has to be settled in your heart before you can learn to have Fearless Trust in the face of difficulties, sudden expenses, or as you engage in generosity with your time and resources.
Part 2: Able to Prefer Others
May 21, 2023 • Ryan Oddo • Genesis 13
Are you able to set aside your own wants and desires for the sake of others? Are you able to trust God's plan and design for your life, or do you need to scratch and claw to "get yours" or "look out for number one"? We return to our series on what it means to have Fearless Trust in God, seeing Him as our Trusted Partner by contemplating what it takes to be Able to Prefer Others in light of a faithful God.
Part 1: Blessed to Be a Blessing
May 7, 2023 • Ryan Oddo • Genesis 12:1–4
What is the story of your life? As a follower of Jesus, you should know that you are blessed. Not only that, the purpose of your blessing is, in part, to spread that blessing out to others. Pastor Ryan kicks off our series on Fearless Trust as we look at what it means to be Blessed to Be a Blessing.
Part 5: Overcoming Tragic Loss
July 24, 2022 • Cami Wittwer • Genesis 42:36–38, Genesis 43:1–14
Pastor Cami concludes our series surveying the last part of the book of Genesis and considering the areas that God demonstrated His ability to work difficult things For The Good. In this final installment, we look at perhaps the most difficult of the five. We look at where God is in the midst of our loss. The last couple years have brought with them a great lot of loss for a many great people, not dissimilar to the famine experienced in the known world at the time of Joseph's time in influence in ancient Egypt. God was present then, working For The Good, and He is present now.
Part 4: Overcoming Scarcity
July 3, 2022 • Ryan Oddo • Genesis 41:29–44, Genesis 41:53–57, Genesis 42:1–5
"God is our Provider." It's easy to say, but hard to believe. Add the pressures of economic downturn, high cost of living, and social pressures to impress to this disconnect between our heads and our hearts and the results can be devastating. We might put our hope in finances. We might draw our identity from our careers or incomes or our roles as breadwinners in the family. Or inversely, we might draw identity as the "have nots", regardless of our position globally. All of this turns our attention away from a loving Father who not only cares for us, but desires to teach us to abound in wealth and in scarcity. He wants to teach us to- and aid us in overcoming scarcity for the good.
Part 3: Overcoming Injustice
July 3, 2022 • Ryan Oddo • Genesis 39:1–20
The world is full of injustice. People wrongfully accused and convicted, people skipped over or shown preferential treatment, and people denied access to necessities because of their faith or the color of their skin. In this part of For The Good, Pastor Ryan talks about how we respond in the face of injustice committed against us. Do we seek to get others back for what they've done to us? Or do we turn the other cheek? To we treat our enemies in kind? Or do we treat them with kindness?
Part 2: Overcoming Rejection
June 19, 2022 • Ryan Oddo • Genesis 37:1–28
Few things have the emotional capacity to wound quite like rejection. We continue to look at the story of Joseph in Genesis, who faced a rejection of incredible violence. Despised by his brothers, He was cast away and sold into slavery. There was a long journey in between, but by the work of God Joseph was able to overcome the pain of that rejection. He became the model of restorative grace that pointed forward to the work of Christ. That form of grace that restores us into the Family of God is now available to us through that very work. He has made us sons and daughters, coheirs with Christ.
Part 1: Overcoming Evil
June 12, 2022 • Ryan Oddo • Genesis 50:19–21
There is no quick fix to hardship. No matter who you are, you will have to endure it to some degree. For followers of Jesus, this hardship is part of the process by which we begin to resemble our Savior and Teacher. You can't avoid it. You must experience it. The good news, however is this: You don't go through it alone. Even in hardship we can trust in the name of God. We can trust in His goodness and that His purposes are ultimately, eternally good.