What an amazing Creator who thought up the idea of a men and women. Two similar and complementary beings, tailor-made to work together but also completely different. The last part of Genesis 2 shows how God remedied, in the most creative and beautiful way, something in creation that was not yet good: that man was alone in the world. I believe we need Genesis 2 today maybe more than ever. We need to value the differences between men and women. We need to celebrate the goodness of woman and the goodness of man. And we need to uphold and value the institution of Christian marriage. In Genesis 2, God shows us the goodness of His design of us, specifically as men and women.

The launch of the Artemis 2 mission has re-ignited in our national consciousness the wonder of our planet and of the human race. The four astronauts on board Artemis who returned to earth on Friday travelled farther from earth than any human being before them. Seeing the earth we live on from that distance does something to your perspective. In 1968, the first humans to orbit the moon in Apollo 8 immediately quoted Genesis 1 to the world. From their far away perspective, they could clearly see the beauty and order in our Earth that spoke of a Creator. Almost 60 years later, Victor Glover the pilot of the Artemis 2 was asked to say something to the world about Earth on Easter morning. He said, “We are so far from Earth and looking at the beauty of creation. I read the Bible and I read all the amazing things that were done for us who were created. We have this amazing thing, this spaceship called Earth, that was created to give us a place to live in the universe. You think what we are doing is special, but you are special. In all the nothingness of the universe, we have this place where we get to exist together." That was the perspective 230,000 miles from earth. The ironic beauty of Glover’s long distance perspective was that meanwhile on that blue spaceship called Earth, war was raging, people were suffering, people were dying. Those two different perspectives on the morning celebrating Easter when everything changed for the human race makes us ask the question, “What do we do with the world God made? How should we see it?” It’s easy to wax hopeful in wonder when you are hundreds of thousands of miles away. But what about when we are living down here? After Genesis 3, and until Revelation 21, our world is now a world of wonder, goodness and beauty mixed with chaos, death and evil. Like the astronauts’ perspective, Genesis 1 allowed us pull way back and look in wonder at the creation of Earth as a whole. And this morning, Genesis 2 will zoom in on earth on Day 6, to a close up of when human life was born. Genesis 2 helps us begin to answer the questions: “What happened to that wonderful world that God made?” and, “How do you love something beautiful and wonderful that has been ruined and not yet fully redeemed?” The answer is what Glover told the nation in an earlier interview: ”We all need Jesus, whether on Earth or circling the moon.” Let’s look at Genesis 2 this morning.

Easter celebrates the resurrection life of the extraordinary person of Jesus. Easter celebrates the Paradox of the Christian faith; that the way to eternal life needed to come to us through a death, and that it’s in the empty tomb of Jesus hat we find our fullness. Let’s read the Easter account from the the Gospels of Mark and John and then look at the extraordinary hope that Easter brings us even today, thousands of years later.

The Triumphal Entry was a celebration for those that loved Him; that His life, His message, His miracles and His teaching must be impacting the crowds like it did them. Jesus is getting the glory He deserves. The crowds must understand what we have come to know, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah of God. They are beginning to love the Jesus that we love and to see how He loves us! What joy! Hear the shouts and praises! That was Palm Sunday.

And then it just absolutely unravels. Can you imagine watching Palm Sunday as one of the men and women who love and follow Jesus, and then watching, absolutely stunned and terrified, as one thing after another unravels; a mock trial, a miscarriage of justice, not just accusing Jesus but beating and flogging Him nearly to death. Jesus, once triumphant, now bloodied and seemingly defeated. And they all find themselves at the foot of a cross, watching Jesus die and hearing His cries of agony to His Father. The text records that those who loved Jesus had no words; they get no speaking parts. The only voices initially are from those who hate Him. Pride always seems to have the words while grief remains speechless. And eventually Jesus breaths his last and cries out, “It is finished.” The road I came to make for you back to God is complete; My blood will now cover you and make you clean. This little movement of disciples that Jesus had started just stands there and watches their hope literally die in front of them. So what do they do now? What should they do next? What really is there to do when the Lord of life is dead? And that is the text we focus on this morning. As we read it, try to catch what it is that the women do after they have watched Jesus die.

No one likes being disappointed. But the potential for disappointment always lurks around the corner of each great hope and each great expectation. And there is no one we expect more of than God. So when God disappoints us, it can be crushing. When was the last time you were disappointed with God? Maybe that is your struggle today; unanswered prayers or unanswered hopes. For the crowds gathered on that first Palm Sunday, disappointment with Jesus is the only way to explain a man who was almost crowned king and then executed for treason just a week later. The crowd’s disappointment with Jesus tells us a lot about our disappointments and expectations of Jesus as well. Both their expectations and their disappointment were contained in the word they shouted, “Hosanna!” Let’s look at the text and that unique word that has come to define Palm Sunday.

Join us this morning as we examine Jesus’ final prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and learn to pray with surrender, to pray with our fellow saints and to pray in our Savior (ft. Tim Sin, Assistant Pastor at Denver Presbyterian Church).

One of the things that stirs up a sense of pride in a young child is when someone looks at them and says, “You look just like your mother!” or “You are the spitting image of your old man.” The Bible says that we were made in God’s image, minus the spitting part; that in some way when He counseled in Himself to create something different than the rest of Creation, “God created mankind in His own image.” Men and women are meant in some way to bear the very image of the One whose idea they were; to bear the image of God. Last week we saw two things that being made in the image of God means: that we have a unique design (a unique frame around us that draws out the beauty of what God has made in each one of us) and that we have value (how could God not take care of those He made in His own image? And how could we not do the same in caring for other human beings?). Today we will look at another aspect of what it means to be made in God’s image that we see in the third part of the blessing that God pronounces over the male and female He just made: God made us in His image so that we can subdue the earth that He made and so that we can rule over all other life that He made. God rules and reigns over all Creation and He wants to share that authority and responsibility with us in some way; that is exactly how the original readers would have read that verse. When we moderns tend to think of humanity being made in the image of God, we often think of ontological categories, categories of being; what are we like and what were were made to BE? But the Ancient Near Eastern cultures thought of the image of God more in terms of “What are we made to DO?” Join us this morning for our final sermon in Genesis 1.

When we look at the world around us, and sometimes at our fellow human beings, we think, “What is that? Is this how humanity was really supposed to look?” Or maybe you look at yourself and wonder, “Who am I? Am I who I am actually supposed to be?” In Genesis 1:26-28 we can actually ask the Creator and Author, whose idea human beings were, “Tell me about what you have made. Those three verses help us to see ourselves rightly; not as blobs or monsters, but what we are actually supposed to be as beings made in God’s image. An understanding of Genesis 1:26-28 is foundational for rest of Bible. Let’s look at what these foundational verses have to say for us specifically this morning.

The diversity of life on our planet is astounding; from the diversity of life in the sea and in the air to the diversity of land creatures as well. Each creature helps do its part to put the glory of God on display and sets the stage for our delight in our Creator. For the first four days of Creation, our good and loving Creator sets up a world where living things can thrive and where the crown of His creation, humanity, can live and thrive in His plan and purpose. Now on Day 5, He begins to fill His world with those living creatures, and on Day 5 we see two firsts. The first “First” is that God creates what the Hebrew calls “Nephesh” or a living soul; something with life in it. Vegetation is technically alive, but it isn’t animated by the breath of life like a creature is; this is new, this is divine CPR.  Placing the spark of a heartbeat and the spark of desire and the breath of life into creatures of dust. That word for life is used for all creatures, whether in the water, in the air, on the land or for a human being. We can look at the living creatures around us and we are made of the same stuff. We are animated by the life and breath of our Creator, and that makes us want to treat our fellow creatures with value, be they animal or human. So in one way we have a lot in common with all living creatures. But in a greater and more significant way, we are not at all the same. As G.K. Chesterton said, “Camels are endowed with the finest camel hair brushes and yet they do not paint.” Why? God makes all living creatures on Days 5 and 6, but the crucial difference is that only humanity is made in His image, after His likeness. And as a result, every human being, unlike the animals, has a craving not ultimately for earthly things but a craving for God. The animals relate to God as Creator; human beings relate to God as Creator and Father. Animals are satisfied with basic desires; we were made to only be fully satisfied in God. And when we give our life only to pursuing the basest desires of our flesh as the animals do, we give up our unique place in Creation to glorify God and we take our place as just another animal. These first creature God makes tells us a lot about His plans and purposes for our world.

Join us this Sunday in Leviticus 9 as we look at the Old Testament sacrificial system and the promise of God’s glorious presence in our worship (ft. Colin Campbell, Member at Elevate Hope Centennial).

Colorado has some great rock formations: Horsetooth Rock, Castle Rock, Kissing Camels, Two Faced Rock. When you look at them from a distance and a certain angle, they look like someone carved out a horse’s tooth, a camelor two faces. But when you finally reach the rock at the end of your hike, you realize that upon closer examination it looks nothing like those things. And really it’s just wind, erosion and your mind connecting the dots that gave it the appearance of a shape. But imagine that you are a hiker who has no idea about American history or landmarks, or maybe a teenager who only hangs out in the basement and didn’t pay attention in history class, and you were hiking in South Dakota and came across Mt. Rushmore with its carved faces of four Presidents. Just from observing them from afar, and not even exploring the tunnels and staircases within, you would have to conclude that they were made by an intelligent designer. So what do we conclude when we look at a human being? Can we say that the design is only apparent and that even upon closer examination a human being is nothing more than something formed by accident? We will be talking about human life on day 6, but even looking at the seemingly ordinary parts of our world that our text shows us this morning—a firmament that regulates sunlight and climate, the balance of the ratio of water to land, plants and fruit bearing trees able to sustain generation upon generation of life, and heavenly bodies to regulate gravity, light, tides and time—all those things intricately working together for one purpose: so that life can flourish here where it cannot flourish anywhere else. Could it all just be here by chance? Or is there a Designer behind it all? Maybe you aren't sure about that yet. But if you are a follower of Christ, you believe that there is a Designer and you know who that Designer is. But the danger is that we don’t let His Design inform any other area of our life. Design seems like it only relates to Creation but design deeply points us to Christ as well; it creates in us a hope and a glory that far outweighs anything this life can throw at us.

Join us this Sunday as we learn about the grain offering in Leviticus 2 and its significance for the life of God’s people (ft. Colin Campbell, Member at Elevate Hope Centennial).

Genesis 1 claims that God created a universe of both space and matter, heavens and earth, bound in time with a beginning. And on what would be the first day, God adds the way that we would measure time and great distances: He creates light. It’s easy to imagine in the modern age that we know most of what there is to know about the universe. But in just five verses the Bible reveals how little we actually know. Senior NASA astrophysicist Dr. Deb Haarsma who is a Christian and former president of the BioLogos Institute says, “data from the W-MAP and Planck satellites has shown that 27 percent of the universe is dark matter, a scientific mystery that does not emit, reflect or absorb any light. We can detect it only by its gravitational effect on visible matter.” Dark matter is what holds galaxies and large cosmic structures together by providing the extra mass needed for them to form and spin without flying apart. But that’s just dark matter; the greatest part of the universe—68 percent of it—is what we call dark energy, an even more mysterious substance that drives how the universe expands. “For all our advances in physics and chemistry,” she says, “what we can see and know can only describe 5 percent of the universe. For the remaining 95 percent of the universe, we have no current explanation.” It turns out we understand light way better than we understand the darkness. But Genesis says that God understands them both, that He separates them for the blessing of His creation and that He names them both. And ultimately, the fact that God names them both shows us that God has authority over both light and dark; what He has made He has control over.

Last week we learned that Genesis 1 is all about authority. If God made all things, then He is in authority over all things. He tells us how to best use the things He has made, and in humility we submit to His design. And that humility, that comes from the authority and majesty of God in creation, is what leads us into wonder at God’s creation. When was the last time something in God’s Creation led you into wonder? The universe contains enough wonder to captivate us all and it is wonder that drives us to remember our place in it. In Job 38, God uses the creation to remind Job that he has forgotten both authority and wonder. Later on Job responds in wonder at God’s authority which leads him into wonder at creation itself. Throughout the first part of our Genesis series we will talk about science and creation. When properly used, studying God’s creation through science leads us into wonder which is good. But science was never meant to be our ultimate authority. Those who misuse science say that human reason alone is to be our ultimate authority. But Genesis 1 says that God alone, the One who gave human beings our reason, is to be our highest authority. It’s a tragedy that science and Genesis 1 have been pitted against each other, that they are seen as competing narratives where only one is possible. Science can never fully prove or disprove the Bible, and the Bible was not written to counter and disprove science. But as we will see this morning, it is the Bible itself that launches, grounds and sanctifies science. It is Genesis 1 that makes science even possible. The Bible is not a science book but it is not an unscientific book. It calls us to get wisdom, to get knowledge and to get understanding not just of spiritual things but of the world our Father created. The Bible invites us to observe and to wonder in humility; Proverbs, Psalms, Job, Ecclesiastes are all scientific in their nature. They call us to observe and catalog how things are made and how they work, and from that observation to come to the right conclusion of why we were made and how life works.

We are starting a new series through the book of Genesis. Genesis isn’t just book one in a series of 66 books in the Bible; Genesis is the foundation of every idea, every promise, every instruction, hope and truth found in all the books that come after it. We cannot fully understand ourselves without understanding Genesis 1:1. We cannot fully understand God without understanding Genesis 1:1. Nor can we truly understand sin or redemption or brokenness or identity or purpose or wisdom or goodness or justice or anything else. It is vitally important, if we are to ever really fully understand anything in the Bible or in the world in general, that we first understand the full meaning of Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Each year the New York Times puts out a list of the best advice from 2025. Some are perennial staples of wisdom, while others are simply witty and entertaining. But the deepest ones that I read are also the ones that left me lacking: “don’t think harder, breathe deeper,” “always imagine that everything will work out,” and “stop trying to calm the storm and calm yourself.” Those are great thoughts, but there is no power in them. Each year the YouVersion Bible App puts out, not the year’s best advice, but which verse was clicked on and read the most by Christians in every country around the globe. This year, when all of humanity scattered around the globe turned to the Bible for something, the verse they turned to most was was Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” With all the good advice we have, relief from fear and anxiety is our greatest felt need as human beings. And the difference between God’s Word to his people in Isaiah 41 and advice given by my fellow humans in the New York Times really struck me this year as 2025 comes to a close. The Bible doesn’t give a lot of advice or just aim to increase our resolve It gives promises; it gives imperatives. And then the Holy Spirit who authored the Word gives us the power to live out the wisdom and heart of God as we are more and more conformed to the image of Christ. The Bible is the lamp for our feet and the power to walk on the path that it reveals. Good advice usually still depends on my own power to do it, in my own resolve and my own strength. So when God’s Word tells His children not to be anxious, it always gives us a Why, a How, and a Who.

Join us this Sunday as we learn what it means for Jesus to be our peace, our Prince of Peace (ft. Colin Campbell, Member at Elevate Hope Centennial).