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In the rapid downward spiral that started in Genesis 3, God's good creation has come to a crisis point. What can be done to redeem and restore the plan for humanity?

NOTE - The recording of this message has a few skips and distortions due to an equipment issue. As God's beautiful creation continued to spiral out of control after the choice to reject God's lordship, the next casualty was the loss of relational harmony. The first humans chose autonomy over dependence, and then they chose isolation at the expense of interdependent community.

The opening chapters of the Bible provide a poetic and beautiful narrative about the creation of the cosmos and the origin of humanity. These narratives have much to teach about the nature of God, but we can miss these lessons when we try to force modern questions on these ancient stories.

We've all asked the "How long...?" How long am I going to have to put up with this? How long is this going to take? How long until I get a break? Rarely does a question start with "How long" and end with a positive expectation. Today, we're going to talk about what the question "How long...?" can add to your prayer life.

In all likelihood, the person you lie to the most is yourself! What would happen if we told ourselves the truth? What would happen if we grounded our self-understanding in our relationship with God?

Why is it so hard to ask for what we want from the people that want to love us well? The answer is a mix of pride, fear, and magical thinking. If we lean in to the truth of the Gospel, we can learn to relate to one another in love.

All of us engage in a mental dance when we see people in need or problems in our world. Our desire to help collides with the limits of our resources, and sometimes we get stuck in inaction. Jesus followers are called to love with action and in truth.

Our minds have incredible potential for creativity and imagination. In that potential there is the power to help or hurt, ourselves as well as others. When we recognize this, we can partner with God to unleash our imaginations to dream big dreams for ourselves, our families, and our community.

We sin because we believe a sneaky little lie about what will make us happy. We are easily tempted into sin because we refuse to trust that God is good and that what He wants for us is only our deepest happiness. Uncover the lie and temptation begins to lose its power to bring chaos into your story.

We like to think of ourselves as logical and rational creatures, but the truth is we are highly emotional, relational beings that can be decieved and manipulated. When you understand the battle for your mind, you understand how important it is to pay attention to what you pay attention to!

What is God like? This is almost a universal question, where the hearts of human beings reach to comprehend the transcendent with wonder and awe. Jesus claimed that He came to reveal the nature of God, to make God knowable. If you know Jesus, then you know what God is like!

Jesus left behind the majesty of heaven for the humility of earth. His birth narrative underlines the truth that Jesus has come to turn the world upside down. He has come to rescue, to heal, and to save. And he came to the common people, among the common people.

As we start the Advent season, we look at the name given to Jesus: Immanuel, which is the recognition that God is with us. This promise was first heard by a king named Ahaz, but it was rejected. Decades later, the promise came to a man named Joseph, and it was embraced.

Jesus described The Kingdom of God as an extravagant banquet where everyone is invited, even those you might least suspect. However, not everyone will accept this incredible invitation.

Early in the story of the Jesus Movement, a disciple name Philip encountered a curious man from Ethiopia that helped him rethink the limits of God's grace and extend a powerful invitation.

God is a good father that invites his children to the table. Some run from the invitation in sin, while others refuse to sit down and assume the posture of a servant. Yet the Father reaches out in grace to all! Terraforma Overseer John Zig shares from God's word.

One way to understand the impact of the Gospel is to think about the ever-expanding hospitality of God. God's love reaches continuously out to find those that have yet to find a seat at the table. The disciples were slow to learn this, but it is a lesson we cannot afford to miss.

We want to be a church known for love, not in word alone but matched with action. This is why we scatter and serve, this is why we extend unlimited welcome. We think the church should reflect the character of God to the world through self-giving love.

We want to be a church with an open hand, ready to receive the grace of God and ready to extend it to bless others. We worship and serve a God of gracious, generous, abundant provision. Ours is the God of more than enough, better than we deserve, and beyond what we could hope for. When we live a story of generosity, it is in response to His grace.

Every organization has a culture, established in a partnership between leadership and the people of the organization. We are looking together at our ethos this October, to renew our vision and talk about the kind of church we are building together. This week we talk about the goal of building a healthy church.