We have spent several months looking at the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' longest recorded sermon, a message that, as we have seen, turns all we think as 'normative' in both life and religion, upside down, or better yet, right side up. Jesus shows us life as He intends it to be. As we walked through the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made something inexplicably clear: we need a Savior. That message drives us to the Gospel, to Jesus.

We go back to the beginning on Sunday, July 30, and by 'beginning,' I literally mean, 'In the beginning.....' . We are going to walk through Genesis chapters 1-11 in the next series. In this series, we'll learn not only more  about God (which is always our goal-to know Him more) but we'll also see why things are the way they are.

The world is broken. The darkness ebbs and flows but is ever-present throughout human history.

This is not news. You know this. You see it played out in the news, globally and nationally. Locally. You see the brokennness in city and communities, between men and women, between people of different races and socioeconomic classes, different educational backgrounds-it's everywhere.

It's in our homes. And, if we are honest, we see it more than we would like to admit in our own lives.

By walking through Genesis 1-11, we will get a framework for understanding more of our human condition, why things are the way they are, and our God. As we walk through those chapters, we'll gain a new perspective on what God desires for us and we will see how Jesus undoes the curse our first parents passed along to us. We'll see Hope.

We'll also see our story. We'll find ourselves as well in these chapters.

I hope to see you next Sunday (the 23rd) as we conclude the Sermon on the Mount, and the following week as we start a new adventure: walking through Genesis 1-11. I pray you will be blessed and challenged!

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Kevin