Genesis

Our staff drew blessing cards for the New Year. It's our way of inviting God to give shape to the unfolding future He has created and prepared us for. The blessings received for Genesis ministries in 2012 are: Abundance, Freedom, Intention, Power, and Relaxation. Needless to say, we are pretty pumped.

Friends . . . Your response to Sunday’s worship experience has been truly overwhelming. What an incredible gift. The movement of the Holy Spirit was palpable, creating a power and a unity that is unparallel to anything I have ever experienced at Genesis in my four years as your pastor. I am still living into the enormity of this blessing.

I stopped by Biggby to share a cup of coffee with a friend this afternoon.  As I stuffed my debit card receipt in my wallet I thought to myself, my husband will think this $4 cup of coffee with caramel and whip cream is a luxury. I know otherwise.

New Years is a natural for thinking about the direction of your life. Gyms are packed with resolution keepers. I myself have chosen to read the Clean Food cookbook by Terry Walters. Just today I filled my shopping cart at Forest Hills Foods with new and exotic things like lentils and leeks and millet and organic root vegetables. One of my goals for 2011 is to make friends with healthy food.

I’ve seen people leave the church because we talk too much about it. I’ve seen people leave the church because we don’t talk enough about it. Money is a deeply private and emotionally complex issue for almost everyone. This week I’ll be preaching on the theme “Everything I’ve Learned About Money” a reflection on lessons learned over 16 ye

This Sunday we began a conversation about core values, and I invited us to do some thinking around two specific questions:

Does anybody remember the show, Joan of Arcadia? The TV series is built around an average high school student named Joan who has conversations with God on a regular basis. The catch is, God never reveals God's self in the same way twice.

This week I’m preaching about freedom using Acts 16:16-34 as my springboard. In this text, everything is turned upside down and inside out. The people who are assumed to be free are not really free. And the people who are in prison are actually the ones experiencing real freedom. In preparing for this sermon, I’d like to know what freedom means to you.

I'm interested in verse 8 of Psalm 51 "Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice."

Our theme for worship this week is joy. A great follow up to Easter if I do say so myself! When I think of joy, the word “unexpected” comes to mind. It isn’t an experience I can orchestrate. It almost always sneaks up on me, which is part of what makes it so great. There have been times in my life when I questioned my capacity for joy.