Genesis Project Portland: Recent Episodes
Genesis Project
Our last sermon in our values series, transformation. We are in a culture that resists change, but Jesus offers us a different way - the way of transformation. When we surrender to Jesus, he instills a new heart in us, and as we follow him through relationship, we are becoming more and more like him every day until he returns.
It's no secret that we live in a complex world with so much coming at us and taking us in different directions. We fall subject to that as well, and our hearts often become divided in our worship and focus.
Jesus came to cut through that division with his good news. Jesus claims that he is accessible to all, and when we go to him and keep our devotion and love on him and his love, we are drawn to deeper relationship with God and with others.
As we continue in our Who We Are series, we come to the value of authenticity. Where we often try to "find ourselves" through looking deeper within, unless we are willing to get real about where we currently are, we will only find a disingenuous version of our self.
Jesus offers us a different way, the way of freedom from that bondage of shame and guilt. So if we look within to find Jesus, he tells us what our true identity is in Him and his love. That is how we learn to be more vulnerable and transparent with others, and invite them into a space of healing and growth.
At GP you belong. We are going through our story and laying out the vision and the mission of our church. The first value we are talking about is acceptance, which is to meet people where they are, value each story, and demonstrate the love of Jesus.
God gave us the gift of story to help connect us to him and one another. We want to take a few weeks to walk through the values and vision of GP, and it begins with the context of who we are.
As Joey concludes our series in the Beatitudes, Jesus ends in a rather anti-climactic and seemingly disappointing manner. What does is mean for followers of Jesus to be blessed in their persecution?
When we dig into the teachings of Jesus and the rest of scripture, we see that Jesus is reminding of us of three facets of our walk with him. He reminds us of the goal, tells us the hurdles, and introduces us to the team.
As we continue in the Beatitudes, Jesus makes a statement that is easy to overlook. We often think Jesus is teaching us to keep the peace, but instead he invites us to make peace. This can only be done because we have an inner peace with God because of Jesus, as his Spirit empowers us to make peace with others through relationship.
As we continue walking through the Beatitudes of Jesus, we come to a difficult word tangled with baggage. When we hear purity we often feel less than, but if we look to the entirety of scripture and the way God set up his world, we instead see that God is desiring relationship with us. To be with us as we walk through the process of becoming more like him.
We often think of mercy as just simply God forgiving us for being in the wrong. Wile that is a big part of God's mercy, it doesn't cover the rich and robustness of what God's mercy is for us in scripture.
When we go to Jesus and we see his loyal love lived out for us, we gain better understanding of what it means to receive God's mercy, and also be the ones who are merciful toward others.
We have a hunger and thirst inside for right relationships with God and with others, but only God can satiate.
This week Taylor continues in our series on the beatitudes from Matthew 5. Looking at the meek as citizens of God's kingdom, as well as how Jesus put that meekness on display. The way that Jesus lived out meekness is an example of the posture that he invites us to join him in day after day.
As Tara continues our series in the Beatitudes, we look at the perspective of Jesus when it comes to grieving and mourning.
Jesus in the gospels reminds us that we are not alone in our grief, he invites us to rest upon him, and his comfort that is promised outlasts our darkness today.
We are starting a new series, talking through what the Kingdom of God looks like in the person of Jesus.
Jesus comes to the scene making audacious claims that he is bringing a new kingdom down to Earth, and this kingdom is for all who come to him. It seems as though all the wrong people are a part of this Kingdom, but to Jesus it's all the right people who he includes.
As Tara wraps up our sermon series in the book of Micah, we are reminded of how the prophet implores God's people to love God and love others.
When we fail to love God, that leads us to enacting injustice toward our brothers and sisters, and God calls us back to himself, while through our worship to God, we can be reminded of who he is in the middle of our hardship.
Micah 6 shows God's desire for justice, even in bringing charges against Israel, his chosen people. God's charge is not brought without hope, however, as it points towards Jesus being the ultimate sacrifice for all sin. It is because of the cross that we now as God's people are able to keep in step with him. Through Christ we are able to "act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God"
Micah 5 is the announcement that a messiah is coming from Bethlehem to save not just the Israelites, but all humanity. Sometimes we rely too much on our own self-sufficiency in the wake of leaving God behind. Micah is reminding us, that we are indeed in need of a savior.
As we continue in our journey through the prophet of Micah, we come to the point in the narrative where exile to Babylon is imminent. The reality is that this is painful, but it is also not the end goal for God and his plan. Rather, his faithfulness is that he promises to be with us and carry us through exile, to the other side.
When we experience dark times, we get to look back to the death and resurrection of Jesus, and allow the hope of his coming back to meet us in the middle of the pain and carry us through.
Joey continues our series in the prophet of Micah. Chapter 3 brings more warnings to the corrupted leaders of Israel and Judah, this time getting very specific about how they are using their power to work against God's vulnerable. Micah is posing the question to us, Do we realize what our influence means to others?
Bearing the image of God is a high calling, but through the resurrected power of the messiah that Micah was pointing to, we as the followers of Jesus have his Spirit to animate us toward living out our calling that God gave to us.
Micah continues his harsh warnings in Chapter 2 against the leaders of Israel, imploring them to stop oppressing the vulnerable, and for the prophets to stop giving false testimony of God.
If part one is about our calling to love God, part two for Micah and the scriptures are about our calling to love others. Chapter 2 ends with our hope that we look to, as we look to the one true Shepherd King as our model of loving God and loving others.
We are starting a new series in the book of Micah. The prophets are a mouthpiece for God and they are mostly concerned with Israel staying true to their covenantal partnership with God: to love God and to love others. Except we often want to create gods in our own image, and this causes a rift in our relationship with God. He is calling us back to Himself, to place God back on the throne of our lives.
God is a generous host, that is pleased to give us his Kingdom, and yet most of the time our lived experience may tell us otherwise. Therefore Jesus invites us into his worldview, where through relationship with Him, His Church, and ourselves brings us closer to his Kingdom of generosity.
As we continue our series following in the footsteps of Jesus through the spiritual practices, Taylor helps guide us through the tough questions of why we pray and how we go about doing it. Sometimes we don't get the answer we are hoping for when we go to Jesus with prayer, but he still asks us to go to him with everything.
We were created to do life in the context of relationship, and yet building community is a difficult thing because it requires work, intentionality, and commitment.
However, if we look at the effect that the Holy Spirit has on us, then we begin to see how God is calling us into a community of fellowship with one another. To live life walked out in the context of sharing common ground with one another.
As we continue our series in looking to the person of Jesus as a model of walking this life out, we see how Jesus had the utmost power and authority, and yet the way he exercised that is through service. When we go to the cross of Jesus, at the foot of it we see the towel, and when we receive his grace poured out we become transformed from within, and we get to live out the life he intended for us. A life of serving Jesus and serving others through his Spirit.
As we continue in our series following in the footsteps of the resurrected Jesus, we come to the practice of perseverance.
We often want immediacy - instant results, but the life of following Jesus means a life of slow, persistent relationship over the long-haul. And when we come to the narrative of Thomas, we see that throughout his time spent with Jesus, he was willing to boldly come to Jesus with his vulnerabilities, questions, and doubts.
After the resurrection Jesus begins to show up to his followers in a slow and relational way. He invites us into a life with him–following in his ways.
We are starting a new series about the spiritual practices, looking at the narratives surrounding the resurrection of Jesus. Today we start with the story of Jesus showing up to two disciples on the road to Emmaus. The practices Jesus teaches us in this story is one of presence. Where we learn that as Jesus draws near to us, we are to draw near to him through meditation, scripture, and prayer.
Sometimes we try to preserve an old way of life, while Jesus is inviting us into a journey with him towards new life. On this Easter celebration, we walk through the fact that Jesus was resurrected, and all of his followers will one day become resurrected with him upon his return, but that meets us in the middle of today through his resurrected process. Because of him, we get to live new life.
Usually, during this time of year, we focus on Good Friday and skip over Saturday straight to Sunday, but what does God want to tell us on that long Sabbath day, where Jesus lay to rest?
We often think we are at war against darkness, but if we go to the cross we realize it has already been defeated. When Jesus is about to die, darkness comes over the land, and Jesus asks his Father why he has been forsaken. Then, in that moment, the temple curtain that separates all humanity from the presence of God was torn in half–no longer needed. Indeed, Jesus went all the way through darkness and out the other side so we could experience his light.
Pastor Dan Snavley continues our series as we journey together toward the cross of Jesus. The second trial before the authorities of Rome show the contrast between Jesus and Barabbas, or the Spirit and our flesh. Because of Jesus and his sacrifice, we have the option to choose life over the temporary things of this world.
As we continue our journey with Jesus to the cross, we come to the point where Jesus was falsely accused in a sham "trial." As the Jewish leaders rushed Jesus along the trial process, Jesus remained silent amongst the turmoil and false accusations. Here we see Jesus as he always is, waiting patiently for us to meet him in the temple, meet with him in the silence so he can bring us to new life.
We all have heard God tells us no, and it usually brings us to a feeling of failure, but what if God wants to use it for His victory instead?
We are starting a new series journeying with Jesus to the cross. In order that we might understand better who he is, and who we are in him. That journey starts with seeing Jesus in deep heartache, and the contrast of how he deals with sorrow against how we often react to feelings of sorrow.
No matter how much water we drink, we all will have a subsequent thirst. That is where Jesus enters into the middle of our wandering, suffering, hardship and quenches that thirst once and for all, but we first have to allow our thirst to draw us to him and the new thing that he is trying to do in our lives. Once we do, fully reliant on Jesus and his Spirit, that is when we become empowered to go back out and pour that out to everyone else we come into contact with.
We often have a skewed view of acceptance because we typically equate it with agreement, but the gospel shows us how we are radically accepted by Jesus, and as a result radically transformed. This transformation empowers us to go back out and show the love and acceptance of Jesus.
Sometimes we feel like we don't belong in certain spheres, but through the person of Jesus, we become validated when we go to Jesus and he calls us out by our rightful name. When we realize it's not by our own doing, but everything about his sacrifice, that is when we gain confidence and assurance that we need, in order to go back out and spread his love to those who are hurting.
Sometimes an old building can have potential, but it needs someone to see something in it that maybe others don't, and it also requires a lot of work to see it through to completion. That is essentially what God does with us through the person of Jesus. He sees what nobody else can see, including ourselves, and desires to draw near to us in order to take up residence in us, and do the work necessary so that he can spread his love through us.
God's beauty is all around us, but sometimes we fail to see it. Through our going to Jesus, we can find everlasting beauty in him, as he calls us back out to dispel darkness through his Glory.
We are continuing our series "Yours is the Kingdom" where we are looking at different stories of Jesus that define his Kingdom reign on earth as it is in heaven. We often find gaps in our life, a rift between what aught to be, and what is reality. Jesus moves into the gaps and fills them with his love and forgiveness, and he calls us to meet him in those uncomfortable spaces, as he fills them in through us.
We are journeying through the stories of Jesus that define his kingdom, and talk about how Jesus is always calling us to himself, in order to draw us deeper, in order to call us back out.
In order to do this we first have to learn how to approach Jesus, despite our reluctance to be drawn deeper with him. Every time, Jesus is gonna cut through the surface and go straight to the heart.
As we look back on the year past and forward to the year to come we need to pause and ask ourselves the question: Where have we been? and where is God leading us?
Sometimes hiding is a good way to cope with a difficult situation, but at some point it runs its course and we need to be driven out, but not on our own power.
Merry Christmas from Genesis Project!
Through Immanuel, God with us, Jesus embedded himself in the middle of the difficulty and the mess in order that we might live saved. The hope of Jesus now shines bright in us but also through us.
As we continue to look to God, who put on human flesh and moved into our neighborhood in the person of Jesus, we come to a topic that is difficult for us to grasp: humility. Humility in our culture often is equated with weakness, but as we look to some models of what true gospel humility looks like, we see that our power is through receiving the Kingdom of God.
The gospel is God's covenant partnership come to fruition through the incarnation. When we look to the story of Nehemiah, we see that it points us to the story of Jesus and we learn what it means to live out the embedded ministry and follow Jesus all the way through.
Many times in our American culture we are quick to leave and fear lingering too much, but if we look to the God of all creation, his promise is to remain; always.
The Christmas story is the fulfillment of that promise in Jesus. Looking to him as the model of what his embedded ministry looks like, he shows us that the answer is always to abide in him as he did in us.
Our new series is about how God has chosen to deal with evil and sin in this world through becoming a human being and moving into our neighborhood to be with us. The God of all creation embedded himself in this world through the person of Jesus, and because of that we have the hope of His good news.
As human beings we often have a short-fuse; quick to get angry. We sometimes relate to God and his wrath that same way, but scripture tells us of a God that is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. We serve a God that was went all the way into longsuffering so we could receive life.
What if there was a reality where loyalty wasn’t tied to guilty obligation but instead, it was tied to Love, and out of that Love poured an abundance of generosity? A commitment that knew no bounds, and transcends the confines of time. An unconditional love that remained steadfast even in the face of betrayal and denial. A love that shows up, time and time again over and over and over and over.
This is the love that the scriptures speak of with God's commitment to us, and the loyal lovingkindness that is required of us towards others.
We all have the desire to be seen and loved. So as we continue our series in bringing our difficult questions to God, we often wonder who God is in the midst of our isolation, pain, and rejection. When we look to the story of Hagar in Genesis, and a Blind Man in the Gospel according to John, we see that God sees us, hears our cry, and restores us back into healing.
As we continue through the series "Be Still and Know" we come to an important aspect of following Jesus that sometimes we get all wrong. Many times we're led to believe that obedience is merely blind compliance to God, but if we look a little further through the prophets and the person of Jesus, we see obedience is more of a Spirit within, rather than an action.
Sometimes it's difficult to know how to communicate with God. So as we look to a prophet in the Old Testament, we see how the process of lament can bring us in closer relationship to Him. That when we have our biggest doubts and questions, the answer isn't to quit on God, but to wrestle with Him through waiting and serving God. When we do, we see Jesus is the ultimate servant who waits on us.
Our interaction with authority is broken and often bleeds into the way we perceive God's authority over our lives, but if we are to humble ourselves and look to the person of Jesus, we see authority exercised like none other. When we see Jesus as the good shepherd we begin to move from doubt to belief.
Part one in our new series "Be Still And Know" is about the questions and doubts we have about God and our faith. And in order to truly know God we have to be reassured that God is the god of with, "an ever-present help in trouble." God is calling out to us to cease and desist our striving, and to be still and know he is God.
We often avoid being stretched in fear of the pain, but if we learn to lean into it we experience the new life that God has for us.
Many times when things get messed up we are inclined to scrap it altogether and start from scratch. Sometimes the world seems so broken and bleak we wonder why God hasn't started over on his original plan. However, if we look to the God of scripture, revealed through his Spirit and the person of Jesus, we see that God will never renege on his plan. Instead, we see the god of new creation, and God has given us the means and the power to rule over the things that have a stronghold over us. Through Jesus, He's given us the power to dwell in his new creation.
As followers of Jesus, we have been called to build a different community where everyone belongs. That because we are his Church, in-dwelt with his Spirit, we have the power to be a model to the world of what community looks like according to Jesus.
We are often so encumbered by whatever issue we are faced with that we miss the new thing God is doing in our lives. However, we are told through scripture that if we spend time with Jesus, he will begin to show us his new beginning as he leads us through our struggles.
Sometimes life seems so bleak, but we are promised that God is bringing new life from the desolate land. God is always doing a new thing, and it's our decision whether or not to receive that or deny it.
When we go through trials and suffering we often develop a negative self-talk, but through Jesus we can learn to find strength in the midst of hardships.
Pastor Sam Moreno helps us understand how in our relationship with Jesus we often feel like we need to be perfect and fully developed, but Jesus is actually looking for us in the process of following him. The good news of Jesus is that we are all works in progress in our journey with him.
The greater culture carries a perception of the Church that sometimes may or may not be accurate. Instead of fighting against it, the person of Jesus shows us how to accept it and show them to the truth.
While Jesus is our great comforter in times of trouble, following Him will not promise us a more comfortable life. The true person of Jesus is leading us off the mountain top experience that we often want to stay on. He leads us back into the valley.
Our human nature often seeks to separate people into different factions based on our status. Yet in the Kingdom of God that Jesus inaugurated, we are made equal because he was elevated on the cross.
Jesus told us to seek God's kingdom and righteousness first, yet more often than not we seek the kingdom of this world's prosperity. We carry the mindset that resources are scarce and therefore the ticket to prosperity is to stock up for my own self. Yet Jesus calls us into his kingdom of abundance.
When we seek Jesus we are to seek abundance rather than scarcity, seek with what we have rather than what we don't, and we must seek to behold rather than just looking.
We are starting a new series about listening and looking to the true person of Jesus, rather than the one we want.
Many times we want Jesus to move in our lives, but we fail to see that he has already moved and is continuing to move. We often miss Jesus because we fail to look through his humility and sacrifice, but the more we come to Jesus in his humility, we are strengthened to love and praise Him, and love others.
As we conclude our series in the Armor of God, Zeh-Rahk helps us see how the enemy tries to divide us in different ways, but the Spirit of God is what unites us if we allow Him to guide us together.
Words carry power, and with a word, God spoke creation into existence. Scripture tells us the word of God is still alive and active, and it flows through all who believe in Jesus, through His Spirit.
God's word empowers us and animates us toward loving God and loving others. His word is what dispels darkness and disorder from the enemy. His word is what leads us to His way everlasting
When we know the ending of a sporting event or a movie we watch it different. God has the last word when it comes to evil and sin and even death in this world. He calls us to allow the death of Jesus that happened in the past and the future hope of our future redemption to meet us in the present day, as we work out our salvation with God.
Standing firm in our faith might be difficult for us to bring into focus when the enemy is hurling flaming arrows at ever turn. Yet through putting our belief in Jesus into action, we get to watch God move in ways we could have never imagined possible.
As we acknowledge that there is a real and present enemy working behind the scenes, we also have to remember that because of Jesus, we have been given the answer to stand firm against those dark forces at play. While we live in a world filled with anxiety and fear, God calls us to a foundation of His peace.
As we continue our series in the armor of God, we come to the breastplate of righteousness that God offers up to us.
When we rely on God's righteousness instead of our own, we then view ourselves through His eyes instead of the enemy's lies.
On the surface it appears as though human beings run the show, but the Biblical story invites us into a different reality where God ultimately reigns supreme, yet there are opposing forces working against God's redemptive plan.
This may seem dire and hopeless, but because of the person of Jesus, we are given the hope of an answer to this dilemma. We have been given what we need to stand firm against the evil powers at play in this world.
When we aren't looking for something we can often miss it. Yet sometimes we need God to uncover it for us. That is exactly what Jesus did for all humanity. He tore down the barrier from us to God and gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we would have full access to Him. We just need to look, because when we start looking we will see Him everywhere.
We don't have to tell ourselves to breathe, but we do have to tell ourselves to breathe deeply. Our good friend Kimberly Woolridge helps navigate the difficult question: How do we keep in step with the Spirit when we're shallow breathing? When we look to Jesus we see that he meets us in the middle of our grief and sorrow and promises His Spirit to do the same for us
As we continue walking through our series on the Holy Spirit, we ask the question what does the Spirit actually do and why? The Spirit animates us to new life in Jesus, as we accept the free gift and watch as it bears fruit through us.
So the Holy Spirit is a person, and we receive Him though our belief in the resurrected Jesus, but so what? What's the Spirit for? And how do I even know I'm being animated by Him?
Throughout scripture, we're shown that the Spirit is there to hep lead, guide, and reveal the heart of God through the person of Jesus. Are we then willing to subject ourselves to the leadership of the ultimate guide?
We often treat the Third Person of the Holy Spirit as a commodity that we have to go out and get, but scripture tells us otherwise. The Holy Spirit is a free gift that is available to everybody, and as we embody the Spirit, we are called to keep in step with the Spirit.
We often erase the third person of God: The Holy Spirit. Usually because we don't know the Holy Spirit is a person, and not just simply a force of nature. Who is it then?
As we begin our new series, walking through the Holy Spirit, we want to address a few things:
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Break down the barriers to accepting the true person of the Holy Spirit
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Allow God's Spirit to re-enchant us
Happy Easter! He is Risen!!
We celebrated Easter Sunday with a few baptisms as a perfect picture of the resurrection we undergo with Jesus. It is a reminder, here, that because the resurrection happened, it meets us in the present, and gives us power as a foretaste to our eternal resurrection.
Part two of our series Here, Now, Always. After preparation it's time to plant. While the work is difficult, Jesus empowers us for the unexpected work of loving people over time through patient endurance.
AG is launching our new Easter sermon series as we explore the reality of Jesus and His work in our lives. The scriptures teach us that we are to bear good fruit as a follower of Jesus, but before we can bear fruit we have to plant and water, but before we can do that, we have to plow. Tilling the dry ground is never pleasant, but it's necessary for us to grow.
We live in a complex world and are bound to our human nature and brokenness. Yet with the power of Jesus and ordering our lives around His unforced rhythms of grace, we begin to learn what it means to dwell in the simplicity of His gospel here and now. Unencumbered to live freely in His love.
As we continue our series in the spiritual practices, leading us through transformation in Jesus, we must stop and consider the reality that we all face. While God never planned suffering as a part of His creation, He will still use it to His Glory and create purpose from it.
The human condition wants to take and hold and possess, but God designed a different world where we all share in His abundance. How does Jesus show us to live in His Kingdom of generosity?
We live in an ultra fast-paced world where the concept of hurry is always looming behind us. Yet God ordered a different world. It is a world where we experience His rest as a part of His grace. AG walks us through the concept of working out of His good rest, rather than our human nature to rest for our own work.
Sometimes it's a difficult thing to express our love and devotion to God and others, but the pressure is off. God has freed us from the burden of having to please Him, and yet he still desires us to go to Him with our love and devotion. We do that in many ways, but a few key ways are through the practice of our prayer and worship toward God.
Our first spiritual discipline in our new series, celebration. Many times we equate joy with happiness, but the Biblical authors make sure to talk about joy in a different context. Where happiness is fleeting, because of Jesus, joy is constant. Therefore we must order our lives around the rhythms of Jesus in order to experience a sense of joy amidst our pain and suffering.
Scripture:
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James 1:1
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Matthew 11:28-30
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Hebrews: 12:11
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John 16:20
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Matthew 28:8
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Hebrews 12:2
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John 16:24
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2 Corinthians 2:3
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Philippians 2:2
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Romans 15:13
We are starting a new series walking through the spiritual disciplines. Once we come to terms with the fact that we are who God says we are, then we are left with the question: Now what? This is a difficult process, but the truth is that we are transformed as we put on the new self with Jesus, and as result the natural outflow of our discipline leads to the training process of transformation as we learn the unforced rhythms of God’s grace.
Usually when we fall short our reaction is to want to vouch for ourselves, but in God's story, he vouched for us so we can extend that grace to others. We are redeemed by Him, but are we willing to live like it?
Because our identity is received from God and He infuses us with inherent value and worth, we are therefore entrusted with the name that He extends to us. That means we have to do the difficult work of trusting the one who entrusts us.
What's in a name? According to God and His creation, everything. God is in our name, because God is in us. As we accept the name God has given us, instead of the name we might carry from others or ourselves, our identity becomes sealed in His love.
Our identity is sometimes shaky and ebbs and flows with our circumstances. However, our identity can't be achieved, but is received by God, which means it offers a true anchor point when the inevitable storms crop up.
Jesus was the most outcast human of all history, and because of his reign and power through humility, we get to participate in the Kingdom that we are anticipating to come, as it meets us here to day.
Mary the mother of Jesus was by all human standards insignificant in her standing with society. God came along and called her in the midst of her insignificance, and even though she doubted herself at first, she eventually leaned in and accepted her high calling from God. In our own lives it's not a matter of if or when God will call us, but how God calls us. Then it's up to us to respond.
Run to Jesus, and he will never cast you out. But what if there are barriers we are facing to get there? That is where The Church comes in. Where as followers of Jesus we are called to step in and pick up our brothers and sisters and bring them to Jesus.
When we feel down the last thing we need is someone to tell us it's going to be okay or it's not a big deal. Instead, we need to be validated. We often feel invalid and that makes us feel outcast, but Jesus comes to validate us right where we are, and transforms us from within to new life.
We often wear labels that are given to us or that we give to ourselves, but what if there was a different way? We had the joy and honor to hear from some personal stories of what it's like to go to Jesus and experience a new beginning.
Jesus sees us. No matter where we are hiding, and that brings us closer to Him. As we draw near to Him our lives become reordered to see people the way He sees them.
As we continue in week 2 of our series, Whosoever, we look to the second individual that society considered to be outcast. As we look to Jesus in this story, we see that Jesus goes to the place of the outcast, and calls us to go too.
Over the next few weeks, we’ve decided to go on a journey, together, of exploring personal stories of people found in the New Testament who, according to the standards of society, didn’t belong. People who were cast out by society, but as we will see, Jesus takes them in.
Today our story comes from an unlikely woman who poured everything out and found belonging at the feet of Jesus.
Growth is an uncomfortable process, but if we submit to the pruning shears of our father and remain on the true vine we will see good fruit.
We often want to find our own pathway toward life through a truth that we construct for ourselves. Yet the true pathway to life is through the only one who is truth. Jesus isn't just a way amongst many, but the only way.
Sometimes we get stuck in our past "if only" – paralyzed by the past difficulties and hardships. Yet through new beginnings with Jesus we become resurrected to new hope.
The Good Shepherd redefines the meaning of good and bad through laying his life down for His sheep.
When we encounter doors and gates we often think of them as keeping us out, but Jesus offers us a different narrative to abide by. One where we can find true protection and true freedom.
Part two of our series working through the "I AM" statements of Jesus recorded in the Gospel according to John. Jesus says “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." As we go to Jesus and submit to his light, he shows us how to be reflectors of that light back out into the world.
Since we are getting back to fall, back to school, and hopefully back to some sense of routine, we are starting a new series getting back to basics.
We are following through the 7 different I AM statements of Jesus recorded by the gospel according to John. Today we start in John 6 when Jesus claimed "I AM the bread of life." That Jesus is that through which all sustenance and life flows in and out of.
We love love in our culture, but what does God's character reveal about the type of love we receive from Him, and are called to reflect back out.
We often miss the mark on what sin actually is in our lives, but if we humbly face what is killing us head-on Jesus offers us a way out.
We are often taught of a shallow forgiveness that is just letting the offending party off the hook, yet Jesus offers us a different way. That because He became forgiveness for us, we are able to be transformed by His forgiveness as we seek to forgive others.
We are starting a new series "The Word Became Flesh" where we will look at one word each week that speaks to the nature of God through the person of Jesus. The first message comes from Paul's letter to the Ephesians in Chapter 2:3-10 where we will scratch the surface on who grace is.
We often feel powerless in the face of evil, but God has an answer, and through His power flowing through us, we are able to be agents to dispel darkness and eradicate evil in this world.
We've been going through the series Ekklesia talking about who we are as the Church of Jesus. AG Greenhill helps us see who we are not intended to be according to Jesus.
As we continue in part 5 of our series, Ekklesia, we look at the age old question that has been asked since ancient times: Are we there yet? When will my time be? As we look to the gospel of Jesus we see our time is now, and He gives us what we need as he meets us where we are.
As we continue in our Summer series "Ekklesia" we come to the difficult question of how we are to be the Church. We look to Paul's letter to the church in Galatia to help us break down how we respond as followers of Jesus.
Many times when we get called by God we wonder why me? We often feel like we haven't proven ourselves enough for the task, but that is exactly why God calls us.
As we continue in part 3 of our series "Ekklesia" we discuss the question of where it is that we "do church."
Last week we talked about who we are as the called out one's of Jesus, that we are the new family of Jesus. But what does that mean? and what do we do with that?
We go to Church, but what did Jesus actually intend when He built the Church? What is the purpose of the Church, and who are we supposed to be according to scripture?
We have a choice. Choose God's created order, or choose to be given over to disorder. Through Jesus we are able to experience freedom by choosing God's unforced rhythms of grace.
AG walks us through an important topic of believing in God. That sometimes we feel as though our doubts and questions are due to a lack of faith, but if we hold fast to God through the difficult times of wonder, we see not only does the creator of the universe welcome our questions, but gives us the evidence.
We often put limitations on what God can do, but He wants to expand our capacity through His love and goodness.
We often think we know what humility looks like, but if we hold fast to the person of Jesus we see that our categories get shattered.
We had the opportunity to hear from our guest speaker Mark Orphan from Genesis Project in Fort Collins about a peculiar story that happens in the gospel according to Mark. That hen we encounter the person of Jesus, we are left with a choice in how we respond to the conflict in our lives.
Jesus loves running after us, but sometimes that can be a scary thing for us to accept Him fully. But the more we maintain our gaze fixed on Jesus, the less we will have to fear.
Even when we hold fast to the love of Jesus, we still end up off-course or in unexpected places, but God redirects us through the storms.
As we look forward in the next steps of our journey, we have to recognize that storms are imminent. Therefore, we have to hold fast to our foundation and allow Jesus to carry us through.
This is the first message in our new series, Hold Fast.
Easter Sunday!! We are closing our series in The Way, the Truth, and the Life. As we journey toward resurrection, we find the Life of Jesus through His spirit.
Palm Sunday is about the Kingship of Jesus. Which means we have a choice of whether or not to follow Him. This King is different than any other Kings, and when we accept and confront His truth, we are then set free.
We had an incredible time celebrating our official grand opening of Genesis Project in Portland!
We started a three part series of The Way, The Truth, and The Life. Where on launch we focused on following in the way of the great I AM.
We often minimize the good news of Jesus to some simple half-truths, but once we really establish what the gospel is about according to Jesus, then we are able to understand what that means for us and through us.
We are all on a journey of becoming transformed into great Oaks of righteousness because of Jesus, but first, we are called to follow Him and be planted in the dirt.
Some of us have a paradigm of how church should be in our culture, usually based off of past experiences. But through the gospel we are shown that those boundary lines get blurred when you encounter the person of Jesus.
AG unpacks the nature of walking with Jesus–how the pathway is never linear nor easy, but winding and ever-changing. Sometimes we find ourselves in difficult situations, but God promises to see us through.
We are collectively in a season of transition at GP, and God is seeing us through as a group of people who are launching into the deep of our city.
One thing we all have in common is hurt, and trying to avoid that hurt. But unfortunately there is no way around it, so the only way is through that hurt, and the only way through is with Jesus.
The writers of the New Testament lay out our calling (Greek: Kaleo) as God's Church, to go down into the deep dark places of our city so we might bring the light that has dawned because of the good news of Jesus and what He did for us.
We all have a story, and each story matters. Yet our reaction is often to run and hide from our story. But what if we didn't have to run? And instead we were able to run to Jesus, and bare all to Him in order that he would bring us to wholeness and healing.
We are starting a new series about our vision of GP Portland. The first thing we establish is relationship. What does it look like for us to love others the way Jesus loved us first?
Simplicity is achieved not when you can’t add anything else new in, but when you can’t take anything else out. In our efforts to bulk up the gospel, We try to add into Jesus, and through that we ironically end up taking Him out of the equation. But through pressing into our value of Simplicity, following in the way of Jesus, we can and we will get to the point where we stop taking Jesus out.
Whenever we encounter Jesus, we never leave the same. While change is inevitable, transformation has to be sought after and on purpose, and while it's not up to us, it does require our involvement through surrendering to the Holy Spirit.
We are cultivating a space where everyone belongs. That means we have to look to Jesus to inform us what acceptance looks like, where we meet all people where they are, journey with them, listen to and value their story, and bring them to the love of Jesus.
First in our new series about our core values. When we try to be authentic, we tend to look within or to the external to find our true identity, but Jesus offers us an alternative if we look to Him.
Jesus came to see us, so that we have access to see Him. When we do we experience His transformation.
Merry Christmas from Genesis Project Portland! We had an incredible first Christmas Eve Candlelight service. It's unfortunate that brand of Christmas that we are sold doesn't add up to the level of despair we feel, but because of Immanuel - God with us - we are able to shine bright in the hope of a new beginning.
The good news of the Christmas story is about God Himself coming to save us. Because of the person of Jesus, we can give glory to God in the highest, and also have peace on earth. Because of the person of Jesus, God is accessible to all.
The beginning of Matthew's gospel is filled with the most unlikely people in the most unlikely situations, and the Magi are no different. We can see a reflection of ourselves in the people that God used for His redemption story, but sometimes we get bogged down and lose sight of the simplicity of the gospel.
Sometimes we are all too aware of our own insignificance, which can lead to us feeling alone and defeated. However, the story of Christmas teaches us how to lean into our own insignificance as we receive the power and unmerited favor of the Most High through Jesus.
We learn that power over is the way to the the top, but through the humility of Jesus we learn to live in the way of His Kingdom, which often appears upside down to the rest of the world.
The darkness of the space in between feels unbearable at times, yet because of the person of Jesus we live in the hope of the dawn of a new week.
In periods of waiting on God, He calls us into active participation with Him. As we lean into the discomfort of our waiting, God reveals Himself and we get to experience His fullness.
Sometimes we hide from others in fear and shame, and sometimes it works. But when we hide from God, it's all just a ruse because He always knows where we are at. He wants to meet us in the middle of our hiding place, and He names us who He knows us to be, not who we sometimes think we are.
When we are wandering in the hardship of the desert, we have to get back to our anchor point and remember that because of the person of Jesus we have power to follow Him through.
In many cases when we encounter an institution the formula to being accepted is usually first to prove that we believe, then we must behave, and only then can we belong. Jesus flips that notion upside down and show us that we belong. Period.
Our very own, AG Greenhill helps us to understand our identity in Jesus. It's easy to feel like we don't belong, and therefore we often feel as though God wants to cast us out. Yet if we look to the true person of Jesus, we realize in Him, we are never cast out no matter what.
Sometimes we have experiences in our lives that lead us to believe that we don't belong. Everyone else does, but not me. Yet as we look at the prophet of Ezekiel pointing to the new Shepherd King, we find belonging, and we find a rest for our mind, souls, and bodies.
As we start our new series "You Belong Here" we begin with an address: Where are you at? Sometimes we get to where we want to go, and it doesn't look like we thought it would, so we are left with a choice of how to respond.
Sometimes we are so focused on running after God's heart, we forget that he has been chasing us all along.
Running after God's heart is never the safe, comfortable option. Yet He calls us out of our comfort zone in order to bring us away from the shade and into His light.
Most often we feel as though we are living on the fringe, outside of those who are counted in. Jesus proved that he is not just for those on the outside, but he actually died outside in order to make sure we are counted in.
Sometimes we are running after God's heart with the intent to brush up against Jesus. We learn from two stories what it means to run after Jesus and hold fast to him in order to find healing.
We all are on a journey of seeking approval, and Jesus shows us how there are two ways we try to deal with that. One works, and the other doesn't.
So many times we feel like we've spent our entire lives striving for gold medal status, only to come up short feeling like second best. Jesus came to settle the score and invites us to a different kingdom where there is no such thing as second best.
We all have a restlessness, and we all carry a yoke to deal with our burden. Jesus calls us to Himself, in order to offer us a different way.
In the Gospel accounts of Jesus, the authors are telling us that Jesus is not just King of our own hearts, but King over all creation, but what type of King is He?
We are all chasing after something. The question we need to ask is, who or what are we running after?
As we begin our new series, "Running After God's Heart," we have to first establish the source of His presence.
Our future hope of future redemption meets us in the present day through the person of Jesus.
We all go through pain and suffering, there's just no way around it. Yet because of the person of Jesus, we have a way through it. That because of Jesus, we find that we have a God that is both suffering and powerful.
As we continue in our Harken Back series, AG helps us look to Jesus in order to navigate the murky waters of what it means to leave our legacy behind.
We need someone to name us. Therefore, we have to reimagine what it is we draw our value and worth from.
Love is such a difficult and slippery thing for us to grasp, and in many ways we have distorted the true meaning of love. Jesus calls us to reimagine love in the way we may now know it. As we receive the radical Love of Jesus, he then informs us how to extend that love back out to others.
As we continue our series in reimagining church by harkening back to the original church, we talk about this unique community and how Jesus shapes it.
Before we move forward, we have to harken back to the way things were originally, and the way can only be informed by Jesus.
We had the incredible opportunity to invite our friends from Genesis Project Fort Collins and hear their story of what it looks like and means to live incarnationally with our neighbors the same way Jesus moved into our neighborhood.
What does it mean to build spaces that are safe? and how do we allow Jesus to empower and inform us how to do so?
Discipleship is not an easy come, easy go engagement. It cannot be quantified into a set amount of time passed, information dispensed or benchmarks reached, but rather, discipleship is all about the long and sometimes hard road of relationship.
We often feel the need to backtrack and justify our words or actions to others, and so also with God. But as we learn that we are justified simply through our faith in Jesus and His death and resurrection, we can then do the hard work of spreading that glory and love to others.
Paul talks about the unity of the body of Christ coming together through valuing others before yourself. That through the body, we carry around the death and life of Jesus, which brings hope to the world as we live out our divinity given to us by Jesus.
Sometimes we run to Jesus for all the wrong reasons, but when we realize that he meets us more than half way, then we can begin to experience His new creation. New beginnings are possible, because of Easter.
We had the unique opportunity of celebrating Pastor Dan's last Sunday before retiring. He speaks about what it means for us to follow Jesus and go to the cross with him so that we may experience life and resurrection.
Jesus has a way of taking the ordinary, and transforming it to extraordinary through our acts of service.
We learn from the book of Joshua just how important the humble and lowly are to God's Kingdom, and how stepping forward into faith is more about stepping toward the new Joshua, Yeshua, and watching him melt away our fears.
Pastor Dan Snavley has served as lead pastor of Discovery Church for over 30 years and is now coming to a time of transition. He walks us through Joshua 1 and how we are to step up to a high calling that is bigger than ourselves.
It's not in our second nature to come together in unity, but through the Spirit of Jesus, we are given the ability to destroy the barriers of division.
It's important we establish a foundation of truth in regards to our pain and suffering, in order to begin walking through it.
We are called to be distinct as those who live with the indwell spirit, but maybe we need to do a self-check to make sure what it is that is making us distinct is actually what Jesus calls us to.
Nehemiah asked a question that led him to a deep sense of unrest for the state of his community. That deep unrest led him to an action oriented love.
Sometimes we want black and white answers to complex issues, but the key may be finding comfort in the words of Paul, and resolving to know nothing....except for Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Jesus sometimes messes up our categories of whatever constructs we have built in our heads. It all starts with a choice...which seat will we take.
A compassion for others should start for us where it started with Jesus–deep within...and It should cause us to move.
As we look into 2021, let's reevaluate our priorities so we are prepared to step into the new thing that God is doing in our lives.
Sometimes we impose our idea of worldly authority onto the one true King. It's time we allow the gospel to breathe fresh life into the authority of Jesus. Authority through healing, healing through suffering.
Advent is about the arrival of Jesus, and that arrival happened in the most unexpected ways. Everything about Jesus was unexpected, therefore we are called to the follow in the ministry of the unexpected.
When we participate in waiting for advent - the arrival of Jesus - we sometimes feel like we're going nowhere fast.
Why my soul are you downcast? We have a response to a downcast heart. Yet we must deconstruct joy as we may know it, in order to allow God to redefine it in our lives.
As we bring our Foundations series to a close, we discuss the topic of hope and how we need to be less focused on what and more focused on who.
Our concept of beauty is most often informed by the world and leads to disappointment. Yet following Jesus and his glory, we may experience His freedom.
Maybe the gage on how we measure the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is broken. We might need to get back to basics, back to Jesus, and allow Him to inform us where the Spirit will take us.
Sometimes it's difficult to love others who have different views than we do, but as we look to Jesus he will fill the gap.
What is a worldview and why is it important? Today we break down 4 main important world views and look at them through the lens of Jesus.
Sometimes we get caught up in putting out so many little fires everywhere we lose sight of our true calling and purpose, but as we learn to live in the pace of God's grace we may live more fully in his presence and rest.
Justice is a hot topic in our world today, but what does God actually think about Justice in this world? And what is his plan to administer justice here and now?
Story is essential to who we are and can help us break-down barriers between us. We hear from local Portland Police officer, Deanna, about her complex story amidst the chaos here in this city.
We often have a shallow view of forgiveness. One that most often only makes the pain hurt worse. Yet Jesus offers us a different way. True, Jesus centered forgiveness leads us towards freedom.
The Christian dilemma of evil is that we have a God that is all good, and all powerful, but evil and suffering still exist. So what's the deal with evil? and what is God's plan to deal with it?
We all carry baggage of varying degree from our church past, but if we get back to basics...back to Jesus...we can reimagine church in a fresh new way.
Mental health is something we often shy away from talking about–especially in the church. Yet we need to address it head on through the lens of Jesus and scripture in order to move forward toward healing.
Week 1 In our new series. In order to move forward we have to get back to basics. Get back to Jesus. It's starts with knowing God's character. His character of love. Which nothing can separate us from.
Jesus...The greatest Underdog of all time. We see how Jesus gave up his divinity in order to not only save humanity, but to share in the pain and affliction. To be with us. Jesus became a humble, tender shoot coming out of the stump of brokenness.
Sometimes we resist God's unmerited favor in our lives. But we can learn a lot from Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her story in how to step into that boldly and remain steadfast.
Sometimes we carry baggage - a label, something that we did or was done to us. When we read the story and learn about the legacy of Rahab, we learn that Jesus gives us a way out.
Jesus always runs after the lost. We just have to relinquish control and allow him to carry us through.
Week 2 in our unexpected series. Sometimes we feel God is a long ways off, but scripture shows us he is right there with us all along. Today we talk about the most unlikely of Queens that God chose to save the entire Jewish population in the empire.
Week 1 in our new series "Unexpected" where we are taking a look into different underdog stories of the Bible.
Today we take a look at David's story and how God brought him through seemingly insurmountable odds from just a cast-off shepherd boy to anointing him as King.
It is human nature to compare ourselves to others, where we often feel as though we have to perform in order to be accepted. Jesus offers a different way...
God elevates those in humble circumstances, but humbles those who are proud. That through Jesus we are all level at the cross.
God is for us. God is with us. He therefore calls us to be for others, but we cannot prove we are for until we are willing to pay the cost of being with.
As we move towards understanding who we are in being loved, we can begin the difficult journey of giving that love away for the sake of others. That love that we give out will always be an inconvenience to our selves, but it is the only way to move forward towards meaningful change.
The paradox in Jesus' kingdom is that there is freedom in the fact that our identity cannot be achieved, because it is received by Him. This means there is nothing we can do to attain it, but also nothing we can do to lose it.
It is easy for us to realize during this time how we maybe took a lot of things for granted before the virus outbreak. One of the things we need to be reminded of and focus on is just how far God has brought us, and allow that to carry us forward.
Time normally comes at a premium in our culture, but now with all this time on our hands we feel as though our lives have come to a screeching halt. The New Testament authors had a different concept than we do for time when it relates to God and our world. They saw this time as a moment of opportunity for God to act in us and through us.
We struggle with the term authority, and often for good reason, but Jesus is the ultimate authority and extends that power out to us.
Sometimes our prayers to God don't end on a positive note, and that is okay with God. He wants us to bring our darkness and sorrows to Him so that he may comfort us and give us strength.
God has build into our lives natural times of pause, and while this time of intense pause feels like death, He wants to redeem it to life. God is doing a fresh work in us during this time.
On the morning of the very first Easter, Mary was looking for Jesus in all the wrong places.
In times like these we need an advocate more than ever. A comforter. A helper. Thankfully, that is exactly what Jesus sends us.
Our first Sunday at Home! We are now uploading services to IGTV and our Facebook page, but will try to continue uploading audio only to our podcast. We hope these remain encouraging for you during this crazy time we're in.
This week, we are talking about Jesus' little parable in John about how a seed first needs to die before it can grow into something beautiful. What needs to be planted in your life so that you can live?
When we ask ourselves in these times "Where is Jesus?" we recall that day when he came into Jerusalem anointed as King, weeping over His city, on a humble Donkey. We recall his death and resurrection for all. Our King is not self-righteous, but self-sacrificial, as he claimed victory in the most unusual and revolutionary of ways.
Nehemiah didn't just rebuild without having a vision. Our vision that God has put inside of us, is to be a place of healing. In these desperate times with so many unknowns, we need to offer up some healing to this broken world.
3rd message from our "Restored" series. Courage isn't the absence of fear, courage is how we respond to fear. Nehemiah was very much afraid...but...
2nd message in our "Restored" series. We are empowered to be God's church (Greek: Ekklēsia, or "Called out ones") into a community that is made up of a beautiful mosaic of His diverse creation.
As we begin our series "Restored" we begin in the first chapter of Nehemiah and talk about the awakening in his heart after asking a key question that would change his life forever.
As we wrap up our series we take some queues from Jonathan's story of how he lived bravely in the way of God, and moved out from under the safety and security of what was known into the unknown.
Admitting that "I Don't Know" is not the end of the story when it comes to following Jesus. We are empowered with a response, and have full access to Him whenever and wherever. Yet we don't often call out to Him because we often feel that prayer becomes too ritualistic or religious. If we learn the rhythms of Jesus, we learn prayer is a way of life rather than something we just do.
We are all destined for trials and suffering, but following Jesus tells us that we are not without hope. Jesus comes alongside and journeys through the storms with us.
Sometimes we lose sight of God's wonder and mystery because of the discomfort. We view mystery as the enemy, but if we learn to lean into God's mystery that is where we will be expanded and inspired as followers of Jesus.
We take a look at Gideon's story and how God uses us in the midst of our brokenness–promising us the greatest gift of all...His presence.
As we begin our new series "I Don't Know," we talk about doubt. We are traditionally taught that doubts are bad and God looks down upon them. However, as we see in Jesus and throughout the entirety of scripture, our doubts are not only handled by God, but welcomed. All we have to do is bring them to Jesus.
Brett takes a look into the story of Joshua and how God used him against all odds to bring the Israelites across the Jordan, and into the promised land. As we look back into all that God has done for us, He gives us the strength and power to move forward into the unknown. There is a river in front of us that God wants us to cross so that we can fully dwell in his promised abundance and joy.
Most Kings remain unaccessible to everyone save from the social elite. Jesus, the King of Kings, arrived in a different way. Thus entering in a Kingdom that would be different, and accessible to everyone.
We look at two stories surrounding Jesus' birth from the gospel according to Luke where God used some pretty ordinary people to do some impossible things. God wants to similarly do the impossible through us.
The story of Christmas through Joseph's eyes is that of receiving purpose. As we reflect on the incredible miracle and mystery of how Jesus transformed Joseph's heart, we also reflect inward to receive our own purpose through the Christmas story. (Spoiler alert Our purpose is often messy).
Jesus' family lineage was anything but clean and tidy. In fact, it was a pretty big mess. We begin our Christmas series with a better understanding of how Jesus entered into our mess in order to save us.