Bethany Church of Canby

Series: Genesis Foundations

Pastor David Does an overview of the first five chapters of Genesis to get us back into the swing of things in our Genesis Foundations series.

Even though we have sentimentalized Christmas, everything about the Christmas story is scandalous and unexpected - from the family, to the birth, to the Savior, to the audience of shepherds. This morning we will look at three unexpected surprises to remember the true meaning of Christmas.

The angel Gabriel has been busy and now he prophesies another miraculous birth to an elderly couple who is beyond the childbearing years, swooping the couple up into the grand story of Christmas. This morning we will look at their serving, believing, seeing and singing to find our own mercy and hope this Advent season.

Have you ever felt insignificant to God’s plan, or thought that God doesn’t even notice you? The Song of Mary reminds us that God chooses even the most seemingly insignificant people to be a part of His greatest blessing to all of mankind.

This morning we look at the interaction of the Angel Gabriel with Mary, the mother of Jesus. Gabriel surprises her with the unlikely news that she will carry in her womb the Messianic Savior of humanity. We will look at the good news of Gabriel, and the model of faith in a teenage girl.

It is clear that the Genesis 3 curse continues on in both the lines of Cain, Seth and in our day too. We all die. Nevertheless, God continues to work in the unlikely cursed context by giving a hint of the reverse of death, and a glimmer of hope for the future for those who walk with God. This morning we look at three glimmers of hope.

What happens when Cain walks away choosing pity and vengeance over repentance and faith? Humanity is divided into a way of Cain and a way of grace. This morning we explore the two ways and the song that defines each.

We are continuing where we left off in Genesis with the story of Cain and Able. The negative results of Adam and Eve’s choice to eat the forbidden fruit are clearly evident in their son’s lives.

How will God respond in the garden when through their sinful choice Adam and Eve turned the world upside down? How will Adam and Eve respond? This Sunday we will see that even as God is pronouncing judgement upon humanity that the seeds of grace and compassion are present. Maybe it is true that grace does grow best in winter.

We all know something is wrong with the world. Well this Sunday we take a look at the source of all our problems. What we will find is that our problems of temptation and sin follow a pattern of asking us to question God’s Word, His Goodness, and His Position. Let’s look at four patterns.

If the garden that God has placed Adam into is like an earthly paradise, why is it not good for Adam to be alone? What is he lacking? We will look for the answers by looking at Adam’s need, God’s complementary answer in Eve, and the resulting marriage that comes about. We will also explore the blessings and challenges of uniting our life together with someone so like us, yet so unlike us.

This Sunday we zoom in to get a more detailed account of the creation of humanity. And by doing this, as we see how much purpose, meaning and potential that God breathed into Adam’s nature, we set the stage for the devastating effects of the fall.

Upon the completion of creation, God ceases from His work and enters into rest. It is upon entering into this rest that God establishes the purpose of creation and the pattern for his people from Israel to the church. This Sunday we will look at three types of rest: God’s rest, Israel’s rest and our rest.

After completing the formation of the earth to make a habitable home to welcome humanity into, God begins to fill the new earth with creatures of all kinds. Today we look at the uniqueness of the male and female made in God’s image.

Genesis 1 is a historical song written to convey more of the WHO and WHY behind creation than the specific details of HOW. This morning we will see that the eternally existing God (WHO) sovereignly created by His powerful word (HOW) to display His glory through the new creational community (WHY).

This morning in a short introductory message we answer the question WHY Genesis by looking at several foundational reasons WHY, and the foundational theology of the opening verse of the Bible.

The final three petitions of the Lord’s Prayer give us a clear picture that we are both absolutely dependent on our Heavenly Father for EVERYTHING, and yet simultaneously loved enough that He provides it ALL. This morning we will see that we don’t pray to impress others or to impress God, but with hearts that know we have real needs and there is only one real provider.

This week we move from the HOW to pray (vs. 5-8) to the WHAT to pray (vs. 9,10). Jesus begins by naming the One we approach in prayer and placing His agenda and kingdom at the top of our list of requests. This morning we will explore the name and three requests.

The Lord’s Prayer is smack dab in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus lays out his vision for the disciple’s life in the newly inaugurated kingdom of heaven. This morning Jesus will ask us to examine our own heart motives for prayer by looking at two negative and one positive example. Our hope is to pray more and more like true citizens of the kingdom.

Summer is about travel, and the study portion of our summer worship services has involved "traveling through the psalms." Today's psalm spotlights the very purpose for which we exist as a body of Christ's followers and for which God has entrusted us with the gospel. It makes abundantly clear what God wants to be the major theme, the primary motivation, and the driving force of our lives. That make...

This psalm invites us to cry out to God in our despair. To be honest about the pain that we are experiencing in this life and to respond by joining in with our fellow believers in worship when we see how God is working in our lives. The truly amazing part is that he has already suffered right beside us.

Another stop on our journey through the Psalms. We have much to praise the Lord for...

Psalm 115 is a communal prayer for confidence in the Lord. The Psalmist reminds God's people to abandon their idols, their "functional gods," and trust in the true LORD for protection, blessing, and deliverance. Today we look at four encouraging reminders.

The Psalmist is in awe of the incredible intimacy of God's relationship with him. God is not distant and abstract but closely involved in our lives from before we are born through the grave and on into eternal life. As we recognize God's intimate care for us it should cause us to reject injustice and desire holiness.