Genesis' Past, Present & Future

  • Tim Kelly
  • Dec 16, 2008
  • Series: Winter Announcements

Past & Future

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."                                        -Jeremiah 29:11

The kind of person you view yourself to be is carefully shaped by how you view your past and what you believe about your future.  The same is true of your church.  What about Genesis' past and future?  From where have we come and where are we going?

Since we are a church plant, our past includes the hundreds of volunteer hours graciously given by many people.  Make no mistake; Genesis is a team effort.  This is the beauty of a church plant: to tap into everyone's unique abilities and talents, which end up benefiting us all.  We believe in utilizing each person with their God-given unique skills and abilities that only they can contribute.

Take, for instance, our Thanksgiving Feast.  Fern Woods and Merrilou Peek were the two ladies who planned the evening.  They were the right people for the right job.  They made the evening a classy event because of the time they put into it and the passion with which they planned and worked.  Thanks ladies, for a job well done!

To date, our volunteers have invested nearly 2,500 hours into Genesis.  Some of those efforts have included:

  • Two great Kidz Fun Days over the summer
  • Sending our youth to Summer Camps
  • Painting our facilities
  • Helping people in our community get out of debt through the Dave Ramsey classes
  • Beginning a women's ministry
  • Helping people grow closer to Christ in our growth groups
  • Collecting bags of food for those in need
  • Pouring into the lives of our youth by starting a youth group
  • And so much more!

These are just some of the awesome things that God has used us to accomplish together, and it's happened as people have cheerfully and gladly given of their talents, time, treasures, and abilities.

Some times we as individuals and as a church lose sight of where God is taking us.  What is our future?  Do you believe that God has plans for you and that those plans are hopeful as the verse above states?  If you read the end of the Bible, the future for Jesus' followers will blow your mind.  Unfortunately, we lose sight that God has plans for us that aren't dependent upon our feelings, but grounded in His glorious and trustworthy character.  I never want to look back on my life or on this church and have regrets because I didn't trust God or take daring steps of faith.

Our future is before us and what do we see?  What will Genesis be like in six months, a year, two years, or ten years?  I see God using Genesis to introduce thousands of people to Jesus Christ so that they can have a new beginning with God.  Imagine that... someone's life is changed for eternity because we willingly reached out to him or her.  I dream of us serving kids and their families in the community so that relational bridges are built and thousands end up responding positively to the love and forgiveness of Jesus.  I see us growing as a church so that we can send a group of folks to another part of the valley to help birth a daughter church.  I see us sending out ministry teams to various places across the globe in order to serve people and share Jesus with them.  I envision the cultural landscape of the East Valley positively changing because Christians are not just saying we are Christians, but we are living it out at work and in our homes.  Do you see these things?

Maybe you're thinking... Tim, come on, Genesis is a church plant, how could this happen?  God.  God working in and through you and me so that we trust Him and dream big dreams together of what He could do through us.  How could Christianity grow from a fraction of 1 percent of the population in Korea to over 40 percent of that nation in just 100 years?  God.  How could the continent of Africa do the same?  An entire continent!  It's because of God working through His people to get His message to others.  Would you lock arms with us and trust that through our incredible Almighty God we would see Genesis accomplish these things and things that we haven't even imagined?

Our future is bold and big here at Genesis.  In the month of January we are going to begin an exploration through the book of Nehemiah in the Bible.  As we go through Nehemiah, we will be unveiling more of our Genesis vision and inviting you to fasten your seat belts and prepare to join us in experiencing the next chapter in our history.