Illuminate Community Church

10/2/22 - Bigger, Smaller, Deeper 2.0 - The Vision - Pastor Jason Fritz

We often repeat a couple of phrases at Illuminate…”Only God!” and “Where God guides, He provides.” This has been the history of our church; from our small beginnings in my living room six years ago, to serving over 2000 people each week in person and online today. Yet I believe the best is yet to come because God wants to do more than we could ask or think. Let’s have our faith expanded by the way Paul ends his prayer for the church in Ephesus.

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
-Ephesians 3:20-21

You can almost feel the spontaneous break out in praise. This is driven by Paul’s understanding of God’s soveriegnty. There is no limit to what God can do in response to our prayers because his capability goes far above and beyond anything we could ever ask, dream or comprehend. We have been blown away by what God has done in our midst and we are so thankful. 

I’ll be stepping out of our Genesis series for a few weeks and bringing a special update. Last year at this time we rolled out the future vision of the church with three simple words: Bigger, Smaller, Deeper. “Bigger" means we want to fulfill Jesus’ words as he said, "I will build my church”, therefore we expect the church to grow. At the same time we want to grow “smaller" through personal gatherings that promote spiritual depth. This is what it means to go “deeper." Becoming a disciple of Jesus is the ultimate goal. 

9/25/22 - God With Us - Genesis 39 - Pastor Hudson Garcia

I have been thinking a lot about family recently. I have family members in other states getting older that I want to spend more time with. I have cousins and siblings moving to incredible cities around the country that I’d love to visit and support. My wife has family on opposite sides of the country and in different cities than all of my family. We have college friends who have moved back to their hometowns or have moved to different countries, to pursue their goals and dreams. 

I realize that my relationships with these people, though I want them to flourish, will never be what I would like them to be, simply due to proximity. Sure, FaceTime is great, and sharing memes over social media is a band-aid for almost anything, but at the end of the day, the deepest bonds come from physical proximity.

The reality that proximity breeds relationships is the wonderful news of our text in Genesis this week. In Genesis chapter 39, we pick back up with the story of Joseph. Through chapters 37 and 39, Joseph goes from being daddy’s favorite, to being beaten up and thrown into a pit by his brothers, to being bought as a slave to living in a penthouse in charge of a wealthy man's estate, and finally, being lied about, falsely charged, and thrown in prison. Through this roller coaster of events, we learn something very important about God’s character. He is a God who keeps close proximity to His people.

This becomes even more evident through the person and work of Jesus.

Matthew 1:21-23 - “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:  “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Illuminate family, it is good news that whether we face trial, tragedy, or triumph, Jesus, our Lord and Savior, is with us. That is our hope and confidence in this life!

9/18/22 - Grace Awaits - Genesis 38 - Pastor Jason Fritz

If you have been listening to the Genesis sermons and reading the Bible for the first time, you are probably shocked by what you experience in chapter 38. Will the family dysfunction ever come to an end? After being introduced to Joseph last week, chapter 38 turns to his older brother, Judah, and Judah’s daughter-in-law, Tamar. What a sordid relationship we have here. However, it leads to an unexpected conclusion.

Tamar is a childless widow who has become pregnant…and the baby daddy is Judah. Yes, her father-in-law. Judah is unaware of what he’s done to her, because when they were together, Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute. Judah never cared much for Tamar and when he is told she is now unmarried and with child, he sees his opportunity to get rid of her. The penalty for adultery was death. As she is being led out to her punishment, the plot twist is uncovered - Judah himself is the father! He is forced to own up to it because she has all the evidence. Judah proclaims, “She is more righteous than me.” He mistreated her and he believes she was justified in what she did in return. He is humbled and Tamar is exalted. Judah publicly admits his failure. This marks a change in Judah's life. He is an example for us.

You and I will never achieve sinless perfection. However, it’s what we do and how we respond when faced with our sin that matters most. How quick is your repentance? Judah, to his credit, doesn’t play it off. He doesn’t act the victim. He owns it. This event matures him. In fact, he will become a sacrificial and humble spokesman for his brothers when they meet Joseph once again. By God’s grace, Judah will become the man and by God’s grace, Tamar will become the woman who takes the first female place in the genealogy of Jesus. 

Matthew 1:1-3 - "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar" 

It was rare for an ancient genealogy to contain the name of a woman, and it was extraordinarily rare to contain the name of a woman with a sordid story. And yet, there’s Tamar, listed as a direct ancestor of Jesus. In fact, there are five women named in this list and each has a nefarious marital union. Why is this? Well, in part it’s to set the stage for the birth of Jesus. Mary is pregnant with the Messiah and unwed. How can that be??? Have you read the stories of Jesus’ foremothers? You’ll see God working his sovereign will in the midst of whispers of scandal. So it should come as no surprise that Jesus is born to a virgin. But there’s more... 

Tamar is a Canaanite and the other women named in Jesus’ line are Gentiles. This sends a very strong message - Jesus is for everyone, not just the Hebrews, but for all people everywhere. When Jesus was a young boy he was taken to the temple and Simeon says, “This boy is going to be a light for all nations." Just as God promised in Genesis 3, there would be a savior born of a woman who would crush the destructive work of Satan and be a blessing to all people. That promise was given to Abraham, then Isaac, then Jacob and fulfilled through the most unlikely person - Tamar. 

Our God is that big. His hidden hand is always working through history and always surprising us; doing the unexpected in the hearts of his people for their good. So with respect and reverence for God’s sovereignty, let’s submit ourselves to him believing that we will change and that an unending amount of grace lies ahead for us!

9/11/22 - God Is Up All In It - Genesis 37 - Pastor Jason Fritz

This Sunday we are introduced to another key figure in the Genesis narrative. He is a teenager named Joseph. His life is by far the longest and most masterful account in the entire book. The story is famous enough to launch Andrew Lloyd Weber’s big musical hit, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. But I can assure you that the real life story of Joseph is far more entertaining and has an underlying subtle theological depth that is unmatched. The grand theme of Joseph’s life as I see it is this: 

God is working his will through the everyday events of your life and very often in ways that are yet to be seen. 

There are no miracles here. God does not upend the physical laws he created in order to get things done. Rather, there is a hidden but sure hand of God moving and arranging everything without one highly visible, supernatural event. It is perhaps the second greatest story about how God takes the evil intentions of men and women and uses them for good. (The life of Jesus would be at the top of this list.)

Joseph is the favored child of his father and it shows. Naturally, this means he is despised by his siblings. He doesn’t do anything to improve family relations. In fact, he makes it worse by his lack of self-awareness. So they beat him up, sell him as a slave and destroy the very thing that represents how much of a spoiled little brat he has become: his famous coat. One could ask, “Where is God in all this?” 

We all carry wounds. Like Joseph, some of those wounds are self-inflicted and like Joseph some of those wounds are given to us by others. It doesn’t take much for those wounds to reopen. Today’s pop culture, with its encouragement toward victimhood, doesn't help. Joseph’s story teaches us that life is unfair, hard, full of inequities and injustice, and yet God works in the manure of every human life to form compost from which something beautiful can grow. But you have to surrender and give everything to him. This includes the bitterness, the anger, the resentment, the lifestyle, the attitudes - the things that are not congruent with what God wants for you. When this happens, you are set free. And one day you can say as Joseph did, “What others meant for evil, God meant for good.”

9/4/22 - Full Obedience - Genesis 35 - Pastor Jason Fritz

Finally! We get to the part where Jacob is in full surrender to God!

In Genesis chapter 35 God tells Jacob to go back to the very spot where he first spoke to him 30 years earlier. If you remember from Chapter 28, Bethel is the place where God began speaking to him through a vision of a stairway extending from earth to heaven. It symbolized God’s ongoing presence in his life. Like many of us, it took Jacob several years to live fully in God’s presence. God was always with Jacob, but Jacob wasn’t always with God. After Jacob receives the vision he proclaims this in chapter 28:20-22.

“If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”

He is returning to his father’s house. For the last ten years, he’s been doing whatever he wants. As a result, he has the drama of multiple wives, his daughter is sexually assaulted, his boys murder an entire tribe and no one seems to respect Jacob. The family is fragmented. Earlier, God told him to go to Bethel but instead, he went halfway and stopped. Partial obedience made his life a living hell. But God did not abandon Jacob. Good said again, “Go back to Bethel” and this time Jacob obeys fully. Now you need to know this is a religious pilgrimage. Bethel was in the heart of Canaanite country. The intent here is to drive a stake in the heartland of idolatrous Canaanite worship and to establish Yahweh as the one true and living God.

Jacob is proving to be the leader his family needs. His boys massacred the people of Shechem and took all their stuff including their idols. So Jacob says, “It’s time this family does what is right. Get rid of the idols!” He steps up as a father and leads well. His boys are grown men but it will always be a parent’s right to instruct their kids between what is good and evil. They may or may not listen, but it is mom and dad’s obligation. Jacob tells his household to put away the foreign gods and to cleanse themselves and put on new garments. This purification ritual symbolized the turning of a new page. It’s the transition from one state to another. This reminds me of Christian baptism. Burying the old life with the death of Christ and raised to a new life through his resurrection.

Along the journey to Bethel God protects Jacob from his enemies. Jacob is wealthy and owns a lot of livestock. He travels with a massive entourage and people can’t help but pay attention. He is a foreigner surrounded by hostiles. Easy for him to draw heavy fire. But God causes the Canaanites to fear him. This is supernatural terror that falls on those who might want to do him harm. I like to say, “The man or the woman of God doing the will of God is invincible until God calls him or her home.” Jacob is doing the will of God and God has his back. The same is true for you and me. This is why we want to be obedient in whatever God asks us to do and be. If God is for us, who can be against us?

8/28/22 - Avenge Our Little Sister! - Genesis 34 - Pastor Jason Fritz

Genesis chapter 34 contains one of the darkest events recorded in the Bible. The Scriptures do not hide the fact that evil is real. The story goes like this...One day Jacob's daughter Dinah has gone to the city to socialize with the women in the nearby town of Shechem. A man named Hamor (a prince with great influence and wealth) has a son, also called Shechem. He sees Dinah, grabs her and sexually assaults her. The language of the text makes it clear this was not seduction or something consensual. Afterward and perversely, Shechem says he loves Dinah and wants her for his wife. He demands that his father Hamor make that happen. This guy is a spoiled brat and a textbook abuser.

This ignites a firestorm of events involving cruel revenge and murder brought by two of Dinah’s brothers, Simeon and Levi. In the end, an entire tribe was no more.

Perhaps the thing that fueled the brother's rage in the first place was dad’s indifference to the crime. They fervently plead with Jacob, “Should they treat our sister like a prostitute?” Jacob shows little concern in this moment. Could it be that Jacob has lost his moral voice in the lives of his kids simply because he was known for his own manipulation? His compromise weakened the influence he had on his children. “Try talking to God about your own sin before you talk to us about ours, dad!” This event would hang over the entire family for the rest of their lives. On Jacob’s deathbed, he would denounce Simeon and Levi as cruel and angry men. Jacob dies before they are reconciled. What precipitated this downfall? 

Partial obedience. 

Earlier God told Jacob to go to Bethel, another 20 miles to the south. Instead, he stayed near the prosperous city of Shechem and this would be catastrophic, leading to sexual assault and genocide. We never fully see the consequences of our half obedience. This is why in God’s eyes, nothing is more important than full obedience.

Why is full obedience so hard for us and why is partial obedience so easy?

We live in the Valley. A sun-soaked, leisure-oriented, laid-back, low commitment, do what you want, luxurious culture. Do you think that culture might affect our Christianity? We attend church as long as it’s convenient. We even give money, as long as it doesn’t pinch our lifestyle too much. We serve when we have extra time. Can we ask ourselves - are these the hidden definitions of partial obedience in our lives? If so, let’s see it for what it is, confess and live fully.

8/21/22 - Wrestling With God - Genesis 32 - Pastor Jason Fritz

Perhaps you’ve read the famous story of Jacob wrestling with God. I’m not convinced my Sunday school teacher gave me all the details. For example, the text says Jacob’s hip was put out of joint with a touch. I’ve always pictured it being something like a solitary finger placed on the joint to dislocate. However, the Hebrew words translated as socket and hip are actually used to describe flesh and meat. At the very least this would be the fleshy part of the inner thy including the groin. Not at all a simple touch but rather a force hard enough to dislocate the hip socket. One more thing about this area of the man’s body - it was considered the place of family blessing. More on that in a minute, but let’s read about the fight scene...

Then he (the angel) said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 
-Genesis 32:26-28

Fascinating that the angel says to Jacob, “...you have prevailed.” In other words, Jacob never tapped out, he persisted. He continued the fight because he strongly desired a blessing for himself... and God gave it to him.

So what’s the message for us? I think it fits the larger relationship between God and humans. God has a desire to bless. We have a desire to be blessed, but rather than wait on God to provide the blessing we try and make it happen. Jacob didn’t have to scheme and lie and manipulate, he simply needed to trust God as the gift giver. 

Essentially, God says to him, “You don’t believe that I can give you a blessing apart from you helping yourself? Then here’s what I’m going to do, I’m going to wound you in the part of the body where you can generate your own blessing.” God wounds and heals us so we can receive what he wants to give us. Jacob, aka "Israel" will limp the rest of his days. The name Israel means, "one who struggles with God.” Is this not the story of the nation of Israel as God’s people from Exodus through Kings? God’s people struggle because they do not trust in Him alone to provide the blessings. 

I think it’s really cool how God doesn’t give up on this guy. It’s like God wounds him so that he won’t wound other people. God gives him a new identity as a result of this one on one battle. Jacob is fully aware of God’s presence in his life. You will never know who you really are, that is to say you won’t know your true purpose nor will your life be what you want it to be without acknowledging God. 

8/14/22 - A New Start - Genesis 31 - Pastor Jason Fritz

For the last few weeks, we’ve been reading about the life of a man named Jacob. He is the third generation recipient of God’s specific promises spoken to his grandfather Abraham. Jacob began his young life living up to his name which means “deceiver.” He deceived his father and stole a blessing from his brother Esau. This caused Esau to be violent with anger so Jacob fled. The family is torn apart. Jacob travels many miles away and finds a wife. However, his father-in-law double-crosses him. The man whose name means deceived gets deceived. He gets a taste of his own medicine. However, through this pain we begin to see glimmers of spiritual progress. You see there was a time when he referred to God as being the God of his father but not his own. That changes over time.

Kids raised in Christian homes must make their own faith decisions. These choices cannot be made for them. Good parents guide and set an example, but everyone must make his or her own decision to follow God or not. If you have a child and you’ve raised him or her in a God-centered home and they have chosen to walk away, know that the final chapters have yet to be written. It took Jacob decades to say, “God is my God.” And this happened as a result of much pain and heartache.

Let’s remember where Jacob has come from. He lied, betrayed and stole from his own family. He is on the run from a murderous brother and far from home. God is changing his character though his failures. There are no more lies and deceit. Jacob has moved from poverty to wealth and he has a family with whom he is returning home. Certainly God has done much for Jacob!

Yet this is a mere shadow compared to what Jesus has done for us.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? -Romans 8:28-32

God, "graciously gives us all things," not the least of which is eternal life!

8/7/22 - Unusual Agencies - Genesis 30 - Pastor Jason Fritz

Genesis chapter 30 could be titled, “Birth Wars.” It’s the story of Rachel and Leah in competition. Each wants what the other has. Rachel was gorgeous but struggled to bear children. Leah was ordinary but fertile. She struggled to be loved. Leah has the upper hand at first, but after getting what she wants, she is still not satisfied. This is the true human condition. In the writings of Augustine we read this famous line: 

“You stir man to take pleasure in praising You, because You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.”

Augustine is pointing out the fact that apart from knowing God through his son Jesus Christ, there will be a restlessness in your life. It is that God shaped void we try to fill with the things of the world. Your life is a series of choices that either move you toward God or away from God. When you make decisions that move you toward God you find that much needed rest. But for so long we’ve attached ourselves to things we think will satisfy…they don’t. Yet we are afraid to give them up. We live in a society that wants you to believe you are always a victim and never a conqueror. For many this has become their identity. The problem with a victim mentality is that people are not challenged to overcome their obstacles. Don’t think of giving up, think of giving over and be prepared for God to do something you never dreamed.

Consider Rachel, she had everything in her young life. Dreams of love surrounded her but that began to change when she realized, “I’m barren.” “How could this happen to me??” Have you ever faced this reality?  “My spouse is cheating, my kids are a train wreck, my job is over, I have cancer, I’m addicted, I’m in jail. Me?”

Whether you are beautiful like Rachel or plain like Leah, we all have our problems. So here’s a lesson - Stop looking at others and set your eyes on what God is doing in your life. I would assume that Rachel probably needed some humility in order for her to be sympathetic to others. At first, she was the apple of her husband’s eye. But then that apple started to sour and her sister started to sweeten. Humans are fickle and fragile. Remember friends, there is an unconditional love God has already given you through his son Jesus.

7/31/22 - The Deceiver Gets Deceived - Genesis 29 - Pastor Jason Fritz

“What goes around, comes around.” That’s a fitting title for our text. A few chapters ago we saw Jacob deceive his father. He tricked him as his father’s eye sight was failing and in the end Jacob received a family blessing intended for his brother. Jacob lives up to his name which literally means, “heel grabber.” When the twin boys were born Esau arrived first but Jacob was grabbing his foot as if to hold him back so that he could be the first born. 

As a result of Jacob’s trickery toward his older brother he must leave his home and escape the murderous anger of his sibling. At the suggestion of his mother, Jacob travels to the land of her ancestors. It’s a long journey but he is told he will find a wife in this place. In fact, this is where he will get a taste of his own medicine from his uncle Laban. The deceiver will get deceived. Jacob will see himself in the man who manipulates him. As a result Jacob will change.

You probably have difficult people in your life - Laban type people. They are harsh, judgmental, deceitful, arrogant and manipulative. You cry out for relief but it just might be that through them we take a closer look at ourselves. Perhaps some of those undesirable traits are in us. Could this be God’s way of helping us see and refine what is in our own hearts? Do you see that God is working in all of life’s circumstances and relationships. He works through ALL things for our good and for this we have to trust him.