Genesis 15:1-6, 17-21

By now, Abraham has waited years for God's promises to be fulfilled. And in Genesis 15:6 — a verse the New Testament cites again and again — Abraham is counted righteous because he BELIEVES Him. It is his continued faith, not his works, that God credits as righteousness.

In both the original covenant with Abraham and ultimately the new covenant through Jesus, we see the same thing: our relationship with God rests on HIS faithfulness, not ours. Really believing that, through Jesus, we are already counted righteous before God has the power to free us from the need to earn His approval. We already have it!

Abraham shows us that, in the journey of faith, mature belief isn't simply trusting God to give us the answers or outcomes we long for, but learning to trust WHO He is, even when we cannot understand what He's doing.

By Hannah Flint

Genesis 14 (14:13-16)

As we grow as Christians, it is essential that our faith matures. From Abraham's story, we see that a maturing faith is not defeated even when terrible things happen; it learns from its mistakes; and it becomes more not less full of grace.

It is good to challenge ourselves and to look back on our Christian journey - do we see evidence of a faith that is more sure when disaster strikes; that is moving away from destructive patterns of behavior; that is becoming less judgmental and legalistic? These are all signs of a maturing faith.

By Ed Flint

As we continue our series exploring Abraham’s faith, we discover that deep rooted trust in the promises of God that he will provide everything we need is certainly a journey! Abraham sometimes got it right, and sometimes got it monumentally wrong, but God continued to love him and continued to provide for him.

Jesus, in Matthew 6, says - “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Today we consider what it might look like to relinquish control over to God, to trust his promise that the will provide all we need, and to learn to walk by faith, and not by sight.

By Wayne Cullum

Genesis 11:27 - 12:9

Abraham is known as the father of faith, and held up as an exemplar of faith by the New Testament writers. If we want our faith to grow, we can learn a lot from Abraham.

In this introduction to our new series, we see this dynamic — growing faith is always initiated by God, always requires a risk in response, is always supported by God’s promises, always comes at some cost, but always leads to and is strengthened by greater intimacy with God.

By Ed Flint

God never intended for us to go through life alone. Being in community is an essential part of the spiritual life, and central to the healing mission of Jesus.

Examining the story of the woman with the bleeding condition, we will see how Jesus models bringing people on the outside of society into intimate relationship with Him and each other.

By Tom Powell

What if the ordinary parts of our lives are not separate from the sacred?

Tracing a story of stewardship from Genesis through the New Testament, we explore how practical gifts, small acts of attention, and the systems we build can become expressions of love and worship. Operations, at its best, is love made practical: care made real and durable.

By April Stephenson