Genesis Project Portland

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 r...

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 th...

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...

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 li...

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 anot...

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...

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 wi...

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...

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...

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 o...

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 b...

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 necessa...