Sermons by: Carolyn Moore
“While We Wait, We Wrestle”
Now it's back to Genesis and what a story to jump back into! So much of life is about waiting and wrestling, and the stories we'll explore on Sunday personify that part of our humanity. It is Jacob waiting for Rachel, and Rachel struggling against Leah. It is Rachel waiting for Joseph while Jacob wrestles with God. It is Jacob and Esau both wrestling with each other and waiting for peace.
All that waiting and wrestling is not wasted on God. These stories teach us how God uses the waiting and the wrestling to move our lives forward. And they hold a Messianic thread that will run from Jacob to Jesus.
Faith Responds “Here I Am”
Isaac's Test, Too
This week in our journey through Genesis, we find ourselves in the thick of Isaac's story and one of the most famous scenes in the Old Testament. Usually, this story is referred to as Abraham's test of faith, but surely this is Isaac's test, too. What Abraham and Isaac both lay up on the altar is faith. And greater faith is what they take away from what was undoubtedly the most critical moment of their lives. What Abaham and Isaac learned at the altar of God teaches us a lot about what God desires from us all. I can't wait to talk about it with you.
God’s Grace & Mercy Are Bigger Than Our Boxes
This week, we jump into two strange stories, but this is exactly what makes Genesis so good. It's so real. The writer never tries to gloss over the hard moments in our history. There is no attempt to tie everything up into neat little bows. No, actually, in Genesis we get to see God and his people in all their raw and unfiltered glory. This week is no exception. Genesis 19-20 reminds us that God will often deal with people in ways that don't fit our usual categories. He is both holy and patient, fear-deserving and loving, knowable andmysterious. And this same God makes room in his heart for you and in you with all your complexity ...
Genesis 15 – Faith Over Certainty
Does God Keep His Promises?
Yes, he does! Everything we are and everything we believe hinges on this one fundamental truth: God keeps his word. The one thing that must be true -- before anything else about God can be true -- is that God keeps his promises. And if God keeps his word, then there is no place we can go that’s too far from him, no place he won’t go to bring us home. This is true for you, for me, and for the world. And friend, even when it doesn’t feel like it, its true. May this be your hope this week.
Genesis 11 – God Builds Movements
This Sunday is one you won't want to miss. This week, we will take time during worship to celebrate the good provision of God and the plans we are discerning for our future as a church. God is on the move, and I'm excited to prepare with you for what's to come.
We will also continue our journey through Genesis. Some of the stories in this first book of the Bible are hard, but they are also real. And they help us understand God's character and the human condition. We come to know God as full of grace and patience, and ourselves as vulnerable and in need of a savior. Which makes knowing that we have one all that much sweeter. This Sunday we'll encounter the Tower of Babel (Genesis 10-11), and we'll talk about that need we humans have for more. God's response is always more of him, which is exactly what we need.
Genesis 5-9
The flood story in Genesis is hard to believe, isn't it? How could a loving Creator wipe 99.9% of his creatures off the face of the earth? And if he did it once, what keeps him from doing it again? (or, why hasn't he done it again?) The story of Noah takes us into the deep end (pun intended) of theology, where we swim in the waters of creation, character and covenant. This is no kids' story ... this is for all of us who want to understand God's intent for this world we inhabit.
Topics: Regrets, Starting Over
This is Life to You | Genesis 3
Bible Study 101 teaches us that when we read scripture, we are reading over the shoulders of the audience who first read these texts. In the ancient world, that would mean people hearing stories and teaching from Genesis would be hearing through a tribal filter and as tribal people they lived, worked, worshiped, and played together. For them, community was essential. In other words, there was no "you do you" in an ancient culture. And for us, this is great news. Our core value is embedded in the first chapters of Genesis! I can't wait to open the Word again on Sunday and discover what Genesis has for us today.
In the Beginning | Genesis 1
Happy New Year! At the beginning of this new season, we at Mosaic are also at the beginning of many new and creative opportunities. As we step into the "new," it seems right to begin where God began: in the Garden. So, this Sunday, we'll start at the beginning, in the first chapters of Genesis and the story of creation. Our Genesis study will continue all the way up to Easter.
The book of Genesis is a book of tensions — original design vs. fallen nature, garden of God vs. exile, covenant vs. rebellion, grace vs. striving, promise vs. human ingenuity. Each of these tensions teaches us something about the nature of God and also about our own design. It will be a joy to explore together in earnest the path from the Garden to the heart of God. So, get ready, friends, and let's get started!
On Sunday, December 24, we will celebrate this great news of Christmas with two Candlelight Christmas Eve Services. Each service will have its own worship and message, so you have two reasons to come enjoy cookies and coffee in the Gathering Hall ... and you have two reasons to bring a guest!
Topics: Forgiveness, Jesus, Love
