Genesis - In the Beginning

A Genealogy to Remember

May 19, 2024 • Stu Fuhlendorf • Genesis 11:10–26

God Sends His People

May 5, 2024 • David Woodruff • Genesis 11:1–11

God Develops Nations

April 28, 2024 • Paul Wiggs • Genesis 10

Special Speaker: Paul Wiggs It is also Family Sunday! This means that we will not have Children's Sunday School but encourage families to worship together. There will be activity bags for the kids, and our nursery will also be available for the little ones. 

Blessings or Curses

April 21, 2024 • Stu Fuhlendorf • Genesis 9:17–29

After the flood and the “new creation” comes another fall, by Noah – a sort of second Adam, in that he (like Adam) is the father of the whole human race. The result is the dispersion of people over the whole earth. 

The Noahic Covenant

April 14, 2024 • Stu Fuhlendorf • Genesis 9:1–17

God established the Noahic covenant with all creation and living creatures after the sign of the covenant. Noah is a new kind of Adam, with God emphasizing the flood, with the rainbow, as there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.

God Alone is the Righteous Judge

March 24, 2024 • Stu Fuhlendorf • Genesis 6:9—8:22

God’s holiness is depicted by the story of the flood; but the faithfulness, grace, and mercy towards Noah and his family shines through. While all of creation has been tainted by sin and human rebellion due to the evil of the human heart, God always makes a new start possible.

God Grieves Over Wickedness

March 17, 2024 • Stu Fuhlendorf • Genesis 6:1–8

The short list of descendants in chapter 5 is followed by an explanation of why God sent a cataclysmic flood to punish the whole of humanity. The good news is that in contrast to everyone else, Noah finds favor in God’s eyes.

The Beginning of Civilization

February 25, 2024 • David Woodruff • Genesis 4:17–26

The potential of Seth’s birth is underscored by the observation that at that time, people began to call upon the name of the Lord and to seek Him in public worship. The implication is that even through the Fall that the need to call on the Lord began within Adam’s own family.

A Portrait of Fallen Humanity

February 18, 2024 • Stu Fuhlendorf • Genesis 4:1–16

Through a dysfunctional family, we find mankind plunging further into sin. With this family rests the hope of an offspring who will overcome the serpent.

The Oracles of God

February 11, 2024 • Stu Fuhlendorf • Genesis 3:8–24

Though all is cursed by the Fall of Mankind, there is hope that God still cares for his creatures. We know that there is a time when all of creation will be set free from the consequences of sin by One who will bring out God’s creation to its full potential.

The Fall Of Mankind

February 4, 2024 • Stu Fuhlendorf • Genesis 3:1–7

The Fall of Mankind Genesis 3:1-7 The choice of our original parents to disregard God’s instructions was a willful act of rebellion that has had terrible consequences for the whole of creation ever since. All of God’s creation has been tainted by The Fall, thrown into disorder and chaos that has disrupted the harmonious relationship that God had established. Questions to Consider:How is the serpent described in Genesis 3:1? How is this trait expressed with the devil’s question to Eve?  In what way does the devil contradict God? Compare God’s command (given in Genesis 2:16-17) with the devil’s statement in Genesis 3:4. What is the devil implying about man’s relationship to God? Who had God told not to eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (See Genesis 2:16-17)? What are the implications of this in terms of responsibility? Adam & Eve’s decision to eat the fruit was an act of rebellion. From what were they rebelling? What happens as soon as they eat the fruit? What is their first act in their new state of “their eyes being opened”? How are we still doing this today?

The relationship of Man, Women and God

January 28, 2024 • Stu Fuhlendorf • Genesis 2:4–25

Adam and Eve were our first parents made as distinctive and valuable people as male and female – ontologically equal with defined roles of leadership and submission. We are made to be fruitful and multiply in marriage and in covenant with God as a divine blessing as part of God’s plan for creation and the rule of mankind.  How do you see the relationship between a man and woman and the relationship of the three persons of the Holy Trinity connected in Genesis 2:4-25?  What does the word covenant mean to you, and how is that different than a contract?  How does God express a covenant relationship between a man and a woman? What implications do you see between how God defines marriage in Genesis 2:4-25 and how our culture currently defines marriage? Consider the statement, “God made men and women ontologically equal, but with defined roles.”  What does that mean to you, and more importantly, what does that mean to God? Consider all that you have read and heard in the context of Genesis 2:4-25.  What major implications apply to the relationship between a man, woman, and God?

The Sanctity of Life

January 21, 2024 • Stu Fuhlendorf • Jeremiah 1:4–5, Psalm 127:3, Exodus 4:10–11, Genesis 1:26—2:4, Psalm 139:13–16

Sunday, January 21 9:00 & 10:30 AM Sanctity of Life Genesis 1:26-2:4 – Part Two Human life must be esteemed and valued at the highest level because humanity is expressed as being in God’s image in a horizontal relationship with each other and in a vertical relationship with God.  Questions to Consider: How do you see the sanctity of human life portrayed in the first chapter of Genesis in verses 26-28? Read Psalm 139:13-16. What does this tell you about when life begins and how God perceives the value of human life? Read Jeremiah 1:4-5. Reflect on the importance of this statement, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you.” What does that mean to you and how you live? When does God have you in his creative plan? Read Psalm 127:3 and Exodus 4:10-11.  Is there any condition of humanity you can consider where one life is valued over or under another human being? Consider the term “sanctity of life.” What are your reflections about our American culture and how life is perceived correctly or incorrectly through the eyes of God?  

Made in the Image of God - Part 1

January 14, 2024 • Stu Fuhlendorf • Genesis 1:26—2:4

Sunday, January 14 9:00 & 10:30 AM Made in the Image of God - Part One Genesis 1:26-2:4 God creates people in His image as male and female – depicting the Imago Dei. God creates human beings with value and worth, and evolution has been proven to be a false theory.  Questions to Consider: How is the description of the creation of man in verse 26 different from all the other creatures that God created (compared to Genesis 1:24)?  What do you think it means when Genesis 1:26 tells us that mankind was made in the image of God (Imago Dei)? Why do you think Scripture specifically states that mankind, both male and female, was made in His image? What task does God assign to mankind in Genesis 1:28? How is the World mandate that God gives Adam & Eve in verse 28 a continuation or an extension of being made in the image of God? 

It took 6 days

January 7, 2024 • Stu Fuhlendorf • Genesis 1:1–25

God majestically creates the heavens and the earth and orders the earth so that it may be His dwelling place. The Holy Trinity is explicit in the act of creation and salvation starting in Genesis 1 through the plurality of works through the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Questions to consider: How do you see the beginning of the progressive revelation of the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity in the first two verses of the Book of Genesis?  Consider the Hebrew words Bara, which means to create something from nothing, and Asah, which means to create something from elements that already exist. How does God have the capability to create versus how humans have the ability to create? In Genesis 1:3-25, how does God delineate and separate in His creation? How is that different than what you see happening in our culture? On the fifth day of creation, “God saw that it was good. And God blessed them…” What does God’s blessings mean to you? When Jesus is called the “Alpha and the Omega,” how does that apply to what you read in this passage in the Book of Genesis?