Genesis Project Portland

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 tha...

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...

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 again...

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: 1. Break down the barriers to accepting the true person of the Holy Spirit 2. 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: - James 1:1 -...