Ridge Life Podcast

The elders at Pleasant Ridge take questions from the church family about Genesis 1–6. Together, they consider what these opening chapters of the Bible say and address the questions they raise for Christians and those exploring faith. Join the conversation as we seek to understand Genesis more clearly and listen carefully to God’s Word.

Mark 9:14–29 shows us that faith is not pretending to have no doubts—it is bringing our need honestly to Jesus. The father’s prayer, “I believe; help my unbelief,” reminds us that we need both belief and prayer. When we face situations beyond our strength, Jesus invites us to trust him and depend on God rather than ourselves.

Faith takes God at His word, trusts the salvation he provides, and obeys even when we cannot yet see the outcome. In Genesis 6, Noah believed God’s warning and followed his instructions, trusting that God would preserve him through judgment. What might it look like for you to rely on God’s promises, especially when obedience feels difficult or the future is unclear?

Genesis 6 begins with a world that is growing. The number of people is increasing. But something else is increasing as well. Sin. As we saw in Genesis 5 the culmination and end result of sin is death. We were reminded again and again of sins consequences with the words “And he died” person after person, generation after generation died. Death had entered God's good creation because of sin. When we come to Genesis 6, we discover that the problem isn't simply that people die. The deeper problem is what is happening inside the human heart.

In Genesis 5 if you look closely we see a lot of death, but we also see life. This chapter is a constant reminder of sins consequences, But it's also about God's faithfulness. And ultimately, if we look closely it points us toward the gospel.

Genesis is the book of origins, the book of beginnings. And in this section from Genesis 2:4 to the end of Genesis 4 Moses has been laying the foundation for understanding all of human history, society, relationships and religion. In Genesis 3 we saw sin introduced into the perfect human family that God had created in His image and the devastating consequences of that sin. And now in Genesis 4 we are seeing the destructive nature of expanding sin in the next generation from Adam and Eve as Cain murders his brother Abel after being warned by God against sin. We saw how Cain was concerned about his punishment but not at all repentant over his sin. The rest of Genesis 4 summarizes the way of Cain as seen in his descendants.

Christ's transfiguration is an important turning point in the Gospel of Mark. We see the deity of Christ put on full display. What do we learn from this event that helps us become better followers of Christ?

Only one generation in and sin has gripped humanity deeper and we see the first account of murder in the Old Testament. Even in Cain's disobedience and sinful actions, God still seeks to deal graciously with Cain.

God graciously and mercifully deals with Adam and Eve's sin by covering them. The curse of sin is real, but the covering for sin is offered to all who come to God.

Since the fall there are consequences to sin. Both Adam and Eve faced consequences for their decisions. These consequences have had effects on all humanity.

This section in Mark 8 begins a new emphasis on Jesus ministry. Jesus is now focused on the cross that looms in the distance and what it means to follow Him.

Genesis 3 records for us how sin came into the world and the tactics Satan uses to deceive and tempt humanity.

In the ending of Genesis 2 we are shown the very first marriage that God designed and ordained. We are given some specific information as to why God made a woman for man and the purpose of marriage.

We are given moire details about the creation of man in Genesis 2 and it helps understand what God was doing in His creation of man and how we can further understand our purpose in Him creating us.

We have the account of Jesus healing a blind man with spit. There are some very helpful truths that we can learn from this miracle.

After 6 days of creation, God rested on the 7th day. What do we learn about who God is and why we should have a day of rest?

We have the account in Genesis about how God created man. Why did God create us?

Genesis 1:1-2:3 gives us the 6 day creation account of everything God created. What do we learn about who God is?

As we begin this series out of Genesis there are some helpful points to look at as we lay the groundwork for the book of Genesis.

Jesus and His disciples are in a boat headed across the lake. Jesus had just fed the 4000 with a miracle of creating bread and fish for those who had been with Him. Jesus then says to His disciples let’s get in the boat and go to the other side. While in the boat someone forgot to bring the sandwiches… God was moving in a powerful way and Jesus was teaching some excellent spiritual truth and yet the disciples missed it, because they were focused on the physical.. Someone forgot to bring the sandwiches… Jesus is going to use this opportunity to teach the disciples and us about what is really important.

The Elders did a live Q&A and answered any questions about God's will.

We have spent the past 3 months going through all the areas where God tells us plainly what His will is for our lives: It has covered everything from His will for us to be saved, how we are to live, and how to handle certain situations in life. These things are what we call God’s revealed will. What about the things that aren’t revealed? How can we know what God’s will is for our life when it comes to decisions we have to make? How will we know if we are making the right decision? This is what we called God’s hidden will. It’s hidden because it’s not revealed to us in Scripture. God's Word gives us some specific principles that will help us to know what His will is for our lives in specific situations.

Jesus gives a sign to the religious leaders of His day about who He is. This sign is the one, if we don't believe it no other sign would ever suffice.

God's will is that we experience and know of all the blessings we have in Christ.

In Ephesians 5:16-18, in these three short verses God reveals His will for our lives. It has to do with Time. What we do with it, how we use it in connection with how a Christian lives their life.

In this prayer in Colossians 1 Paul tells these believers and us what God’s will is. Notice what Paul says here in Vs 9 “be filled with the knowledge of His will” So it is God’s desire that we are filled with the knowledge of His will. What is His will for our life? To live a life that is pleasing to God. What does a life that is pleasing to God look like? Paul gives us four things.

In Hebrews the writer is telling us about our sanctification as it pertains to our salvation and what God did through the body of Jesus. God is communicating to us that it is His will that we have been sanctified, been made holy, and He is sanctifying us, making us holy. It has happened and is happening through the body of Jesus. This is important to understand because our sanctification or our holiness is not because of something that we do or don’t do, If we’re not careful we can treat our sanctification like a product and remove the importance of the body of Jesus.

What do we learn about compassion from Jesus' miracle of feeding the 4,000?

How do you react when you are wronged? Is how you respond biblical? What iOS God's will for our life in how we respond to those who harm us?

How should a Christian handle injustice and suffering on the job? Peter gives some very specific details about God's will for the believer in how they should live and face injustice and suffering.

God's will for our lives is to abstain from sexual immorality. In order of us to be complete and mature in Christ, we must follow and obey God's Word in every area of our life.

Chapter 7 concludes with Jesus healing a deaf and mute man. Mark is the only Gospel account that covers this event in detail. The way Jesus heard the man was totally unique. What do we learn about Jesus in this healing?

What is the will of God for the believer in relation to our government? How should a believer respond to government? God tells us that the will of God is to do good.

In I Thessalonians God gives us three simple commands to follow in order to do the will of God. These things are simple, but difficult.

Wouldn’t it be nice to know the things that are mysterious and hidden from our lives? Unfortunately many of those things are secluded in secrecy from us. God knows everything and plans everything, and yet He has chosen to keep certain things hidden from us. We also find though there are certain places where God tells us specifically what His will is for our life. In John 6, He tells us what His will is.

Jesus encounters a Syrophoenician woman who desperately needs her daughter healed from a demon. He faith is great and Jesus grants her request.

We now come to our last song that is sung by an aged man who not only holds Jesus in his arms but also sees him with his eyes. It is titled Simeon’s Nunc Dimittis. That phrase means “Now let depart”

This second song is Zechariah’s Benedictus that’s a latin word that means blessed. It’s named this because of the first word in Zachariah’s praise. “Blessed” For 9 months Zechariah has been unable to speak because he asked for a sign from the angel about the birth of his son John the baptist. After his son is presented at the temple, he names him John and Zechariah begins to praise God.

For the month of December we will be looking at some specific songs of praise found in Lukes Gospel. These are the very first hymns of praise found in the NT. There are a total of 4 songs of praise that are sung by three individuals and angels that were woven throughout the time of Jesus’ birth. The Lyrics in these songs are unique expressions of love for the Savior, and God’s marvelous provision of salvation He has given to us. The very first one we find is Mary’s Song. It’s been called Mary’s Magnificat. It’s a hymn about what God has done in keeping His faithful covenant to His people and bringing a messiah a savior which is Christ the Lord.

Jesus encounters the Pharisees her in this passage and Jesus has to teach them about the importance of the heart and where real uncleanliness comes from.

We have spent some time this month looking at what lament is, how we lament, and how our pain meets hope. We’re going to look today at the destination of our laments. Praise should be the result. Praise in the midst of pain is probably one the most difficult things we are called upon to do as Christians. Is it possible to praise God even in the midst of pain? Yes! The book of Lamentations is testimony to this. This short book, written by Jeremiah, chronicles the weeping prophet’s deep grief as he mourns the destruction of his beloved Jerusalem in 586 BC. He not only predicted it’s destruction, but was also an eyewitness to it as well. It was a time of unfathomable distress and anguish, when evil seemed to reign, and the future looked impossibly bleak.

If we are going to move from pain to praise we need to take the next step. We aren’t suppose to stay in the cycle of constant complaining. God want’s us to move beyond that. The next step is seeing how our pain meets hope. How?

In times of brokenness and seasons of grief, God is so good to us by giving us the remedy for us to tell Him what’s going on. It is through this process of lamenting that we can address the pain in a way that not only honors God but steers our hearts toward Him! How do we lament?

In this life that we live, we experience pain, loss, grief and despair. We are broken. We see and experience sadness, loss, grief, and agony every day in and around the world. Sin and its results are evident in this life. God gives us an awesome way to process our pain through lamenting. As we lament it will teach us how to turn our pain to praise.

Mark 6 gives us a very interesting view of how the disciples interacted with Christ. The disciples found themselves in a storm on the sea of Galilee again and Christ shows up waling on water. The disciples are amazed at what happened and it says "Their hearts were hardened, because they didn't consider the miracle of the loaves" Why were their hearts hardened? What was it about the loaves that they missed?

As Paul wraps up this letter, he again revisits one last time what this whole book has been emphasizing: Are you going to live a life of legalism or grace? So in the last final sentences of his letter Paul is going to emphasize it one last time to get his point across.

How are you serving those in the body of Christ? Are we serving others in the body of Christ. Christ calls all of us to serve, but more importantly He uniquely calls each of us specifically for a certain task.

The life that has been transformed by grace lives a spirit filed life. What does that life look like? A spirit filled life makes spiritual investments. What ever we sow we will reap.

In Mark 6 we see the awesome encounter of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with a few fish and few loaves. In this passage we see Jesus serving the sheep and providing for them. What do we learn from what Jesus provided and how he served His sheep?

Paul began the fifth chapter of Galatians with the command to stand firm in the liberty Christ gave us. We stand on God’s grace, and we depend on His strength, not ours. The liberty and the freedom of the Gospel was under attack. The false teachers were saying that to live a life of grace you would be doing what ever you wanted to do. To live that way would produce all kinds of law breaking. As we looked at last week, Paul argues that to live in liberty it’s not a license to do whatever you want to do. Instead a Gospel grounded, grace driven life will produce a type of life that seeks to obey God, not because we are trying to merit God’s love or favor, but we have been called to a new way of living and we aren’t abandoning the law instead we fulfill the the law by serving one another through love. As Christians, we are free, but we should use this freedom to reflect God’s love. Our text this morning Paul is going to show us that one of the things we encounter when we try to live for God is a conflict. It’s a conflict within. It’s a conflict between the flesh and the Spirit.