Finding Purpose, Balance, and Identity | Genesis | Full Experience

Hey, what's up everybody? Well, you're so glad that you're here. Welcome to CCV and Happy New Year Welcome. We're glad that you're here to worship with us. We'd love to kick things off today by worshiping Jesus together So let's stand if you're not already You're able and let's give him the praise and the honor that is due to him and to him alone Let's worship together. Come on Your word is a lamp unto my feet Your way is the only way for me It's a narrow road that leads to life, but I want to be on it It's a narrow road, but the mercy is wide Did you part on your promise? Come on, tell him. I'll take you at your word If you said it, I'll believe it I've seen how good it works If you start it, you'll complete it I'll take you at your word If you said it, I'll believe it I've seen how good it works If you start it, you'll complete it I'll take you at your word You spoke and the chaos fell in Cause I know, cause I've seen it in my life It's a narrow road that leads to life, but I want to be on it It's a narrow road and the tide is high Cause you parted the waters I'll take you at your word If you said it, I'll believe it I've seen how good it works If you start it, you'll complete it I'll take you at your word If you said it, I'll believe it I've seen how good it works

If you start it, you'll complete it I'll take you at your word You said your love will never give up You said your grace is always enough You said your heart will never forget or forsake me It's what you said You said I'm safe and you call me yours You said my future's full of your hope You never fail, so I know that you'll never fail me I'll take you at your word If you said it, I'll believe it I've seen how good it works If you start it, you'll complete it I'll take you at your word If you said it, I'll believe it I've seen how good it works If you start it, you'll complete it I'll take you at your word I'll take you at your word I'll take you at your word Just there when everything around me is shaking I've never been more glad that I put my faith in Jesus Cuz he's never let me down he's faithful through Generations So why would he fail Come on, he won't No, he won't Come on now you sing it say, but I still got joy in chaos You take it say I've got Yeah, and I won't be going under

Come on, I'm not I'm not Not Yeah, cuz I feel my life on Jesus Cuz he's never let me down He's faithful in every season Yes, he is so why would he fail He won't No, he won't No, he won't He won't fail He won't fail Christ is my first foundation I wish I stayed when everything around me is shaking I've never been more glad that I put my faith in Jesus Cuz he's never let me down he's faithful through generations Yes, he is so why would he fail Come on, he won't No, he won't He won't fail No, he won't No, he won't No, he won't No, he won't No, he won't No, he won't No, he won't No, he won't No, he won't No, he won't No, he won't

No, he won't No, he won't He won't fail He won't fail He will never fail He won't fail And rain came And rain came and went And rain came and went But my house was built on you And I'm safe And I'm safe with you And I'm safe with you And I'm gonna make it And rain came And rain came and went And rain came and went But my house was built on you But my house was built on you Come on And I'm safe with you And I'm safe with you And I'm gonna make it I'm gonna make it I'm gonna make it through Cause I'm standing strong On you Christ is my Her foundation

There's a rock on which I stand Where everything around me is shaking I know I've never been more glad That I put my faith in Jesus He's never let me down He's faithful through generations I know So why would He fail? He won't No, He won't He won't fail He won't fail No, He won't Mmm God, I've seen your faithfulness You have never changed. God, we trust you today. Come on church, let's declare this. Father, you've done what you said you would. You carried me through like I knew you could. You have been faithful, you say, so, so good. And I know you've heard every prayer I pray. My faith may have wavered, you stay the same. You have been faithful, so, so good. God, I will trust in your name forever. My provider, you're my defender. Here in your presence, I'm resting sure. You'll be nothing but faith. I know the days ahead are troubles and trials, years to come. You will be faithful, you're just like God. Oh, you're just like God. God, I will trust in your name forever.

My provider, you're my defender. Here in your presence, I'm resting sure. You'll be nothing but faithful, nothing but good. Oh, you'll be nothing but faithful, nothing but good. I want to invite you to lift up your hands. This is a sign of surrender. God, I give you this year. I pray to you that I will trust in every step of the way. You have all the control. So, I lift my hands and wholly surrender. Hallelujah. Come on, our voice. And I lift my hands. God, I give you my worship. Oh, hallelujah. Hallelujah. I lift my hands. Wholly surrender. I lose every control. Come on. Hallelujah. I lift my hands. Wholly surrender. Oh, hallelujah. Oh, hallelujah. Oh, hallelujah. Oh, hallelujah. And God, I will trust in your name forever. My provider, you're my battle. I'll defend you. Here in your presence, I'm resting sure. Cause you'll be nothing but faithful, nothing but good. You'll be nothing but faithful, nothing but good.

Oh, you'll be nothing but faithful, nothing but good. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Fill this room with worship. God, I surrender it all. Every step of the way, you have all the control. God, we praise you. We trust you. Thank you, Lord. Thank you so much for singing with us. You can be seated. Let's go to the next one. CCV, we love worshipping together with you. If I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you, my name is Leo and I get to serve as one of the pastors here at Peoria campus. Thank you for spending the first weekend of the new year with us. We are so excited we are all together again and a huge shout-out to all of you joining us online. We have new goals, new opportunities, and what is even better is this, God doesn't just wait to give us something new once a year. This is what the Bible says in the book of Lamentations 3.22-23. Because of the Lord's faithful love, we do not perish. For his mercies never end, they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. God's faithfulness is new every January, new every single day. And that's something that we cannot forget. That's something that we have available day after day. And what that means is that the moment we wake up, God is right there with his grace, with his strength, with his mercies day

after day regardless of what happened the day before. And communion reminds us why that's possible. You see as we take that small cracker, it points us back towards Jesus' body being broken for us. As we drink that small cup of juice, it points us back to the blood that was shed for us for our sins. Because of Jesus, because of his life, his death and his resurrection, mercy isn't something we chase after. Mercy is something that we receive. And so as we step into this new year, let's not just be excited about the new opportunities. Let's be excited about the fact that we have new mercies available right now, here, today. CCV, the grace that we need for this year is found in Jesus and Jesus alone and he is faithful every single day. We're going to have verses and directions on the screen that will help guide this moment. But before we continue, let's take a moment, let's pause and let's take communion together. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Again, we're so excited to be able to start 2026 together here

with you. And what better way to start the new year than by going back to the beginning. The next few weeks we're going to be studying the book of Genesis. And on your way in, you should have received the book that looks like this. Now if you didn't get one, don't worry about it. Don't rush out and find it. We got you covered. At the end of service, you can go and find it. We'll have a table available out by the grass area here at the Peoria campus. We also have a digital version available for you. So if you want right now, take out your phone. On a CCV mobile app, it should be available right there for you. Have one book available for each family and here's why. Our hope is that you guys are able to take this home and study it every single day. Don't let this just be something that you do over the weekend. Make sure that you, your family, your spouse, your kids gather together and study the book of Genesis. Dig in deep every single day. And again, we have this available for you. We want you to bring it back every single weekend. That's why the digital version is so easy to carry with you at all times. But again, if you didn't grab one,

we have a table available out by the grass area after service. Our teaching pastor, Mark Moore, is kicking off our series with a powerful message. But before we join him, let's pray together. God, thank you so much for bringing us here back together. It is so great to be in your house as we start the new year. Father, we know that you created us for a purpose. We know that you have a plan for us and our hope is that as we study your word, we're able to hear your voice. We're able to see the things that you want us to hear. So I pray that you open up our eyes, our ears, our hearts to what you have in store for us, Father. We do this because of Jesus and for Jesus and it is in his name that we pray, amen. Amen. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void. So the spirit of God, craving order, quivered over the chaotic waters, forging the shape of a newborn universe. God spoke, let there be light. An explosion of photons obeyed, fashioning galaxies in their wake. God saw what he had made and it was good. And there was evening and there was morning that first day. On day two, he divided the waters above from the waters below,

fashioning both sky and sea. On day three, the ground rose from the deep, forging continents. The soil birthed all forms of vegetation. There were prairies and mountains, foreign forests and deserts, each with frightening strength and immeasurable beauty. God saw all that he has made and said, it is good. With mere words, God flung the universe into place. The Bible describes these vast heavens as the work of God's hands, mere finger painting, when he tinkered the Milky Way into existence. There was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. The universe awoke on day five to frenetic energy. The water began to wriggle with life, crustaceans, invertebrates, and vast schools of fish. The skies above began to reverberate with the beating of wings. They soared and sailed, all raising the praise of their creator, God. And God delighted in all he had made, and he declared, it is good. On day six, God forged from the land creatures both great and small, flocks and prides, herds and troops, colonies and packs, all moving in unison with the spirit of God. With fur and scales, feather and skin, galloping, leaping, crawling, climbing, all things made for the service and pleasure

of God's greatest creation, yet to be shaped out of earth and clay. It was then that God rolled up his sleeves, reached to the depths of his own creativity, and made a man in his own image. Human flesh was more animal than divine, but his spirit came directly from God's own. When Adam stood on his own two feet, God gave him dominion over all creation. He was to steward the work of God, caring for and building up the earth God made. Then God, in his boundless mercy, made a helpmate for man, cut from the same cloth, drawn from his side, not from his head above him, nor from his feet below him, but from his side, fit for him, equal to him. There was evening and there was morning that sixth day. Only God didn't declare his work good that day. With inexpressible joy and pride, he pronounced it very good. And that is where our story begins. Hey, welcome. to CCV, everybody, and happy 2026. This year, we're gonna kick off the year by going through two books of the Bible. The very first book in the Bible, Genesis, that's where our story begins,

and Revelation, the last book in the Bible, and that's where our history ends. And we have a purpose for doing that, because we know that we're living in between these two bookends of the Bible, these bookends of history, Eden and eternity. And the lives that we're living right here don't always look very much like a garden or like heaven. But shouldn't they? Could they be a little bit more like heaven, a little bit more like the garden of Eden? Is it possible that we could live in the in-between by bringing a little bit of our future here, a little bit of our past present, and allowing God to shape us in his image again so that we look a little bit more like our original selves? When we talk about the book of Genesis, it's a bigger deal than we often think. In fact, not just the whole book, even the first sentence, and not even the whole sentence, the very first four words are life-changing, world-altering words. In the beginning, God. I know we talk about the creation, and it's beautiful, and the imagery is stunning. But this statement, in the beginning, God, goes counter to all the other creation stories up to that point. Because every other religion said, in the beginning, matter.

In the beginning, there was stuff, and out of the stuff came the gods, and out of the gods came the humans. But the Bible says it differently. It's not that matter matters most, it's that God matters most. And if you think about it, Darwinian evolution is actually a step backward, not a step forward. Because it says that before there was anything, there was matter, and out of the matter came the universe, and out of the universe came humans, and humans invented their own gods. That's not the Bible story. The Bible narrates this event where God is before all things. And when God spoke, matter came into existence. And out of all the things that God made, that which was most precious to him, most important to him, was you, and it was me. And this idea that God is at the center will transform your life. You wanna know why we're in the mess that we're in today? Because in the beginning, God was at the center, and we kicked him out. We said, we don't want you on the throne, would you mind just scooting over, and we're gonna sit on the throne. And many of us have said, hey God, it's okay if you sit in the passenger seat, that'd be great, but God wants the driver's seat.

And whenever we push God out of the center, what will always happen, it will always happen when God is not at the center, chaos is all around us. When God is at the center, there may still be chaos, but it is ordered according to his sovereign plan and will. So if we want to, in 2026, I know whenever we turn a calendar page, we start thinking about how things were last year, how they might be better this year, how I could be a better me this year. Because to be honest, I wasn't my best self last year. I may not be my best self next year, but at least I wanna be better than I was before. Anyone else? I'll tell you how that happens when we get God back at the center. And some of you are here right now because of that very thing. And you may not be very familiar with church. This could be your first time to CCV or first time to church ever, welcome. We're really glad you're here because we know that when we can put God back at the center of our lives, the chaos around us, it calms, it's ordered. And that's what I wanna talk about. I'm gonna make two statements, one statement about God and one statement about you. And with each statement, I'm gonna unpack it in three ways. I'll say three things about the statement of God

and three things about the statement of you. And I am convinced that these two statements are life-altering statements. I know that's a big, bodacious, bold claim, but hear me out and you tell me what you think. Here's statement number one. God is bigger than our minds can imagine. How great do you think God is? He's greater than that. How big do you think He is? He's bigger than that. He goes deeper than that. How wise do you think He is? Oh, He's wiser than that. And. He's closer than our hearts could ever hope. When we think of something that's big, it's distant. Could be a mountain, it could be a politician. Someone who's famous, they're big. They're also far away. And when we think about God, we apply to him the human physics of greatness. Here's an illustration. Pick a president, your favorite president, anyone. Do you think that that president cares that your middle school child flunked an algebra test? Well, no, they're too big for that. They're running global affairs. They're not that concerned about your hangnail. They're not that concerned

that your Amazon Christmas present didn't arrive on time. They're not that concerned about the minutiae of your life. Why, because they're too big? No, because they're not big enough. God is so large that he's not concerned about global affairs. He's ordering galactic affairs, literally spinning galaxies properly. But he's so big that he can not only control the galaxies beyond our purview, he can control what you can't even see because it's so small. Right now, in this moment, God is in every atom, making sure the protons and neutrons don't fly apart. He is at the atomic level. He is at the galactic level. So whatever you're concerned about fits somewhere between those two spheres. He is concerned about what concerns you. The breakup, the heartache, the childhood trauma, the health issue, the family drama or trauma that you're going through, he is concerned about it. There is nothing too small for God to be unconcerned about. He has the capacity to be completely 100% present with every human being at every moment in time. And he's just crazy about you. So I wanna say three things about this God who's bigger than we could possibly imagine. Number one, God is powerful. I think you know that, but consider this.

When God created these galaxies that we can't even count, I say galaxies that we can't even count, he did it by speaking. He simply said, let there be light, and boom, there was light. Let there be the Milky Way, and boom, there was the Milky Way. Let there be oceans, there were oceans. Can you imagine having the power to speak something into existence? Like what if you were hungry and you just said prime rib? Boom, there it is. How cool would that be? I would like a Cybertruck. Boom, there it is. I wanna be on vacation to the beach. Boom, there you are. Can you imagine having that power? Actually, you can. They made a movie about that in 2003 called Bruce Almighty. Hollywood actually got it right. It's one of their good theologies. The Bruce was complaining to God saying, you're screwing up the world. I would do it differently. If I were you, I would, and God said, okay. I'm gonna let you be me, and all of a sudden, he could speak things into existence. It wasn't long before Bruce Almighty said, God, please take this away.

I'm not big enough for this. God is so powerful. We don't even have the ability to do what God does. Even if we had the ability, we couldn't manage it. God is powerful. God is creative. From anteaters to aardvarks, from gorillas to gazelles, from kangaroos to koalas, and those are all just mammals. God has made a variety of creatures that are just imaginative and beautiful and creative. To tell you how creative God is, and those of you who are from Seattle, you'll get this. Gray is not the best color. It is arguably the most boring color there is. But if you are a designer, like you script things out, you use a computer and do the drawing, you're a graphic artist, you use a palette called RGB. In the RGB palette, it gives all the variety of colors that the human eye can see. Do you know how many options there are for gray? 256. There are 200, that's not all the grays there are. That's all the grays your human eye can see. And some of you know this because you went with your wife the Home Depot, and you're trying to figure out what gray is the right gray. Hey, listen, just go with acceptable gray all day long. You don't have to have all the grays, but God, he's so creative, he just won't let it go. Could you imagine, if that's what he does with gray,

what does he do with blue, or red, or yellow, or all the colors of the rainbow? God's, the variety of God's beauty of his creativity is immeasurable. And in all of that creativity, he made this world with extraordinary accuracy, mathematical precision, scientific insight, artistic glory. He made all of that, and then at the end of it all, the Milky Way, the Rocky Mountains, the depths of the ocean, and after all of that, he took the paintbrush of his creativity, and he gave it to you, and said, now, you finish what I started. This is unbelievable, that the God of the universe, as creative as he is, wants to have a relationship with you. Number three, God is relational. Some of you are here right now, because 2025 didn't go quite like you had hoped. And you might not even be familiar with church, or religion, or Jesus, but you're thinking, I gotta try something, because this is not working. And I need a new start. And so you come to church, hoping, maybe this God thing, maybe, maybe, the God of the universe might have a relationship with me. I don't know if he'll put up with my nonsense, I don't know if he'll forgive my past, but if he could, if he could, could I have a relationship with God? Listen, huddle up, you gotta hear this. God is far more interested in having a relationship with you

than you are with him. He has not rejected you, even for a millisecond. He's opened his arms wide to you, and said, come, ali, ali, oxen free, come. If you're interested in me, I've always been interested in you. In fact, that's how he created the universe. So that with every point of creation, you would have an opportunity to see his fingerprints all over it. From the red rocks of Sedona, to the waves of the Atlantic, God has put his fingerprints so you can see him. I wanna read a verse out of the book of Romans. The apostle Paul says this, for since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that people are without excuse. There is no excuse to not see God. He's everywhere. And in fact, he hasn't just put his fingerprints in the universe, he's put his footprints on our planet. He came to us. As one of us, he walked our soil. He ate our food. He got tired and sick and hurt and rejected. He knows what it's like to be you, so that you could not only see his fingerprints, but that you could see his face.

His name was Jesus. And before he was Jesus, he had another name. In the Bible, it was Emmanuel, God with us. And if you were here a couple of weeks ago for a Christmas service, you heard Ashley talk about, some of us feel like God is so far away. He's not. We're the ones that turned our back. We're the ones that walked away. We're the ones that asked him to step off his throne so that we could be the center of our world. But when we put God back at the center, the chaos around can be ordered. And that's what I wanna say about God. It's a stunning statement. But there's a second one that goes with it, because when you see God for who he really is, then and only then can you see yourself for who you really are. And here is who you really are. You have a greater purpose than you imagine. You're a mom, great. Your purpose is higher than, your dad, awesome. Your purpose is higher than that. You're a kid or a businessman or a mogul. I don't care who you are. Your purpose is far greater than you have imagined, but your importance is far less. You have a God-given right and responsibility in this world, but we have put ourself at the center.

And as long as we are at the center. We won't exalt ourselves, we'll actually shrink ourselves because we're not able to do in our lives what only God can do. If there's chaos around you, you can be sure that there's too much of you at the center. And we give place to God. He will order the chaos. So I want to read this verse to you. In my estimation, this is the second most important verse of the entire Bible behind John 3.16. It is Genesis 1.26. It's so important, I'm going to read it three times. And with each reading, I want to make one observation. Genesis 1.26, God said, let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. Here's my observation. We are made in community for community. Notice the plurals here. God, this is God, said us, our, our. Why? Because God is plural. I'm not saying there are God's many God, I'm saying the one God has three personalities or personages. You go, could you explain that to me? Okay, no. Seriously expect me to explain the physics of God? No, that's above my pay grade. But I do understand it because I also am Trinitarian. I am a father, I am a son, I am a husband. Because I'm in community.

I am body, I am soul, I am spirit. I am all three of those things. And those three are very different things, but they're all in one person. So like me, like I'm in the image of God, I'm Trinitarian like God is. So God said, let us make mankind in our own image. What does that mean for you and me? It simply means that you will never know who you are if you don't know whose you are. We keep trying to find ourselves in our own abilities, in our own entertainments, in our own personalities. But the reality is, I am a product of a we. And if you don't know your we, you don't know your me. If I didn't have a father, I wouldn't be a son. If I didn't have children, I wouldn't be a father. If I didn't have a wife, I wouldn't be a husband. Who we are is the sum total of the relationships that we are in. And that is why we want everyone to be part of a group at CCB. If you're new to us here, it's really pretty simple. Sometimes more, sometimes less. A group of people get together, it could be in a home, it could be over a hobby, it could be over a sport, but it's a group of people who do life together. Do they pray together? Of course. Do they read the Bible together? Absolutely. But the purpose is not to get smarter or even to get more spiritual, the purpose is to find out who you are. And I know that some of you have said, well, I've tried groups before, it didn't work for me. Okay, then find another group. And you go, well, I've tried a lot of groups, they haven't worked for me.

Okay, you know what that means? It means you need to start a group for you. Because there is a group near you and there is a group for you. And sometimes you need the group and sometimes the group needs you. And if you say, well, I don't really need a group. Yeah, but you're denying half of it because there's a group that needs you. And you need to be needed. Therefore, you need a group. I need a group. We have multiple groups around us, of course we do. Some are blood relatives and some are church family or some are friends or hobbies. But we need a group of people that we will do life together. And the importance of a spiritual group is a group of people centered around God will put God at the center and help you to put God at the center of your life. That's why groups are so critically important. We were created with a need to be together. And everything in our culture is trying to tear that apart. I believe that what is happening, and it happened way before social media, but our culture is the most individualistic culture in the history of the world. I take that as a direct assault from Satan against the plan of God and against your created nature. From social media to the algorithms of Google and AI, everything around us is trying to individualize us. And yet everything in the Bible says we were made in the image of God who is in community for community. Here's the second thing about you. I'm going to read the verse again, see if you pick this up. Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds of the sky and over the livestock and all

the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground." Here's what I take from this verse. We are made in God's image. I don't know everything that that means, but I know it at least means this. You ready? What did you do when you got up this morning? First thing you did, first thing you did is what you do every morning. You looked at a clock. Why? Well, because I care what time it is. Well, why? Because I'm going to plan my day. Why? Because you are made in the image of God. What other animal gets up in the morning and looks at a clock? Your dog does not care what time it is. There's no bear that's hibernating. Oh, boy, I overslept. Why? Because we are the only creature that God made that can plan for the future or meditate on the past. Because we don't just plan for the future. We make a future like God. I'm not saying you are God, but like God, we make things happen, and that is God's nature in you. So one of the ways that I know that you're like God is that you look at a clock every single morning.

You know what else you do that's like God? You eat communally. Well, I didn't know that God ate. We'll get to this when we get to Revelation. You know the first thing that we're going to do when we get to the New Jerusalem? It's called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. We're going to eat together. What did Jesus do with his disciples? He ate together. That's where we got the Lord's Supper. We eat together. Why? No other animal does that. I've seen lions eat together. No, they gorge at the same time. They gorge at the same time. We eat together. They didn't set an appointment. They didn't decorate the table. They didn't invite guests over. We do that. Why? Because we're communal, and one of the greatest ways of being communal is around a table. We are so much like God in so many ways, none more than our creativity. We are creative like God. In fact, we can't not create. How many books need to be written?

Don't we have enough? That's not the question. The question is not how many books need to be written. The question is how many books are in you. How many poems? How many songs? How many sonnets? How many love notes? What is in us comes out of us because like our God, we cannot help but create. Ladies, you do this. You decorate. You decorate everything. I've said this before. I'll say it again. You even decorate the back of a toilet, and you don't have to look at it. I said that one time in a message, and I said, the back of the toilet should be a man's own. It should be leather or metal, something like that. Honestly, I went home, and my wife had put a baseball glove on the back of the toilet. God bless that woman. You decorate everything. Why? Because you are like God. Here's another way that we're like God, and this is so important. I'm going to read the verse again. Genesis 126.

Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea, and the birds in the sky, and over the livestock, and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. Do you understand who you are? You have far more purpose than you have imagined. It's not just with your business. It's not just with your family. You have a purpose that's greater than all of that, because God has designed you and me to rule over every animate and inanimate object on this earth, save other humans. We don't have power over the future. We don't have power to control other human beings. You've tried. We have power to improve what God made. Some of you are arguing with me right now in your mind. How could we improve what God made? We do it all the time by his design. You can't make a river, but you can put a dam in the river and then turn that into hydroelectric energy. You can't make certain herbs and plants, but you can make medicines out of those, and we have all over the world. People are healthier because we have helped improve what God gave us. We stewarded well. This was such an important command of God that he repeated it in Genesis 2 verse 15. Again, one verse, one chapter. A chapter later, here's what God says, the Lord took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden

to work it and take care of it. That's our job, to work the garden and take care of the garden. That word work and that word care could also be translated serve and manage, serve and steward. And I think we've made two mistakes with creation. On the one hand, this is kind of a cultural movement, people have made creation more important than humans. They put Mother Earth over Father God. And because of that, the world will tell you that what's most important is matter, like the stuff, the world. And then there's humans and then there's God. But God flips that exactly upside down. God is at the center. And when God is at the center, then humans can rule well and serve well the creation that he's given us to steward. Your purpose is far grander than you ever imagined. In fact, this is so cool. How did God create the world? You know, right? He spoke. How do you create the world? By your words. Now you don't call something into existence from nothing, but it is your words that create worlds. It is your words that create laws and books and sonnets and songs and poems. It creates educational environments.

It raises children. It creates churches. It beautifies worship. It is our words before anything else that create the world that we live in. And that's why it is so important to have God at the center so that what we speak aligns with what he wills. And that's why not only should we have God at the center, but we should be in the center of a community. Because none of us are capable by ourselves of creating the world that God intended. We need a community around us, some who have different opinions, some who have different experiences, to speak the words of God so that what we speak into existence. We're not God. We can't create out of nothing, but we are godly and what we speak creates something. And you can't do it alone. Now, as we go through this book of Genesis, we're gonna see multiple personalities. And here at CCV, we wanna make putting God at the center as crystal clear as possible. And so we have what we call next steps. Each of those next steps is simply a way of putting God at the center of your life. You're gonna read about Noah. And Noah, I had my seven grandchildren last week at the Ark Encounter in Kentucky.

They have recreated a replica, a right-sized replica of the Ark. It's so cool. I didn't know it was that big. There's room in that Ark for all the animals that needed to be there. This is not a fairy tale. This is history. There was really a Noah. There was really a flood. There was really salvation on the Ark. And when we get to that story, you're gonna learn that that story is actually compared to baptism. This is one of our next steps, because that's how you find life, by obeying God. We're gonna learn about Abraham and his faith. So we'll talk about serving and the next step of serving, the next step of giving, the next step of worshiping. But for right now, as we go through the book, we're gonna get all the next steps through this first book of the Bible. But right now, I just want you to focus on this next step of creating community and what it means to be part of a group that would help you put God at the center of your life. Because if you don't, if you leave yourself at the center of your life,

what's gonna happen? Chaos. If you're new to CCV, or maybe new to church, and you're thinking, I don't know if this is gonna really work. Would you try it? My challenge for you, maybe before you even join a group, is just come back next week. If you're new and you say, I don't even know how I would join a group, you can download the mobile app, and it'll tell you how to do it there. In two weeks, we're actually going to have a group's preview after every service on every campus. So there'll be no question how to join a group in two weeks. But just put it in your heart, put it in your mind. Is this the next step for me? To put God at the center of my life? Because if you get the first four words of the Bible right, it is only then that you can bring order out of chaos. So let's go back to the beginning. Say it with me. In the beginning, God. Holy Father, we do want you to be at the center of our lives. Because we believe that if you are at the center, you and only you can bring order out of chaos. You did it in the beginning. And you can do it again right now.

Before Jesus comes back, in this season between Eden and eternity, we can bring a little bit more heaven here if we put you centered on the throne. Would you help each of us, everyone online and in person, take their next step in 2026 to make you the center of their lives, their family, their business, and their community? We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Hey, if you didn't get one of these, they're on the tables on the way out on every campus. Bring it back next week, and happy new year.