Dwell: The Garden
Dwell: WEek 1 : The Garden
We were created to dwell with God, just as Adam and Eve once did in the garden. Sin fractured that closeness, but God never stopped pursuing us. This week invites us to stop hiding, slow down, and seek Him again. Christmas begins with the God who formed us and still longs to walk with us in every season.
-
Well, hello Rock Church. It is so good to see you today. I want to welcome you to the Rock. No matter which campus you might be at, whether that’s Aner, Southrand, Conway, J Rubin, online, or watching from the campground, wherever you’re joining in from today, man, we’re thankful that you’re with us and and really excited.
All right. Now, before I get into the message, I just got to celebrate one thing with you. This past weekend we did Weekend of Hope. It was a phenomenal weekend. Tons of things to celebrate. We had a thousand boxes get packed up and get delivered throughout the community. We had over a thousand volunteers, or what we like to call VIPs, vision inspired people, step up and serve, whether that was getting things prepared in advance, whether that was packing boxes, delivering boxes, whatever that might have been. And we also, for our One Day to Feed the World, we collected over $75,000 to help feed children around the world. And man, that just needs to be celebrated right now. I love to think of it this way, that we gave up one day so that one more could eat. And I just want to thank you for doing that.
All right. And now though, I want to jump into this new series. I mean guys, it’s Christmas time. We just had Thanksgiving. We all filled our bellies probably more than we should have, which is the official mark of the Christmas season. Now, if you’re like me, November 1, I put up my tree. November 1st, I get it going because I just love the Christmas season. I just want it to stick around and there’s so much that I want to do.
Which makes me just maybe ask, what do you want to do this Christmas season? What is it that you’re hoping for? What is it that you want to find? What is it that you want to do? Maybe for you it’s you’re wanting to find a good bargain on a gift. Maybe you’re wanting to stay under budget. Maybe you’re wanting to find the first or the—excuse me—the best gift, just that thing that your kid loves. Maybe for you, you just want to hang out with some friends. Maybe you want to pass finals. Maybe at Christmas what you’re hoping to do is meet somebody special under the mistletoe, right? Like, there’s all kinds of things that maybe we want to do.
Can I tell you what I want to do? I just want to dwell.
That word “dwell” is an interesting word. The definition of dwell, if I could say it this way, means to live in a specific place or to focus for a duration on a specific thing. So think about that for a second. If you’re to dwell, you’re going to live in a certain space or you’re going to focus on a specific thing for a duration. And guys, let me just say that’s just what I want to do this Christmas season. Man, I just want to focus on a specific thing for a duration.
And that can be hard, right? I mean, we just learned in our last series that we live in a world that never powers down. So it can be really difficult to pause. It can be really difficult to focus. It can be really difficult just to dwell, to sit in, to sit down, to rest, to focus. But man, that’s what I want to do this Christmas season. I want to dwell in this season. Again, I love this season and I just want it to last as long as it can. I want to dwell in it. I want to dwell with my family, with my friends, with my church people. I just want to dwell. I want to dwell most importantly with God, man. I just want to sit with God.
And I know at the Christmas season, we should go, “Absolutely, that’s what it’s all about.” Yet we end up speeding up our lives with Christmas parties and gatherings and shopping and all the other hustle and bustle. But maybe for once, can we just say, maybe just for the next four weeks, from now through the end of the year, maybe could we just slow down and could we dwell on God, because hear this: you were created to dwell with him.
The interesting thing is if you look at the Bible from Genesis chapter 1, the very beginning, all the way through the end of Revelation, it all tells this message that God wants to dwell with you, with me, with us. That God longs to dwell with us. So what we’re going to do over the next four weeks is we’re just going to go rapid fire through the Bible. We’re going to start today in Genesis chapter 1 and chapter 3. So if you have a Bible, go ahead, open it up, get there. Whether that’s paper, digital, whether you use the app, Genesis chapter 1, we’re going to look at it, and chapter 3. But then through the rest of the series, we’re going to fly through the Old Testament. We’re going to get into the New Testament. We’re going to see how it all wraps up, because all through the Bible, this is what we learn: you, me, together, we were created to dwell.
Think about Christmas for a second. Can we go back and just look at the beginnings of Christmas? The beginning of Christmas was all about dwelling. Christmas was established around 300, late 300 BC—excuse me, late 300 AD into 400 AD—that it started to be celebrated by Christians saying, “We want to recognize the birth of Jesus.” Now, why was it started like that? Well, there’s multiple different ideas. One of them, and probably the one most people lean into, is there was a Roman holiday that happened around December 25th around the winter solstice. And so it was a pagan holiday, but the new Christians were like, “Man, we want to celebrate Jesus.” So they said, rather than celebrate the pagan holiday, let’s pick December 25th and let’s make it a day that we recognize the true Son. Let’s make it a day that we recognize the true Light.
So let’s just go ahead and make sure, in case you didn’t know this, Jesus was not born on December 25th. He wasn’t. All right? That’s when we choose to celebrate his birth. And so Christmas was begun, or at least the way we celebrate Christmas, around that 400 AD time. And then later the Germans brought in evergreen trees into their house, and they would bring the evergreen tree in as a Christmas tree to remind them that Jesus gives new life. And then later on the great theologian Martin Luther, he added Christmas candles, candles to the tree, to represent the light of Christ.
All of these things about Christmas, they were given to us to help us dwell. Giving of Christmas gifts to help us dwell on the fact that God gave the greatest gift of all. So here’s what I’m trying to say: you can go back to the beginning of Christmas and you can see it’s all about dwelling. But honestly, you can go further back than that. You can go all the way back to Genesis chapter 1, because in Genesis chapter 1, it’s all about dwelling.
Can I read it for a second? In Genesis chapter 1, I’m going to start with verse one. Right at the very beginning, it says this: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty and darkness covered the deep waters and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” So what we see here when we look at Genesis 1 is we see this: we see that God created everything, that the Spirit of God was hovering over it, that God said, “I want to bring things into existence.”
Now there’s a Latin word there called exelio; it means “out of nothing.” That God said, “I’m going to create everything out of nothing. I’m going to create the land and the trees and the animals and the stars, the water. I’m going to create it out of nothing.” The book of Hebrews reminds us of this as well. It says this in Hebrews 11:3: “By faith, we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command and that we now see, excuse me, that we now see did not come—what we now see, excuse me, I slaughtered that. Can I start that over? Verse three. By faith, we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.” Exelio—out of nothing. God created everything.
And it was good. I mean, think about creation for a second—how good it is. Man, when you stand on the beach and you see the waves, man, it’s incredible. You go to the mountains and you look at the peaks, it’s incredible. You see snow caps, it’s incredible. You walk through forest, it’s incredible. Sunrises, sunsets, the leaves changing, the different animals, incredible. It was really, really good, but not good enough.
See, as much as God had done, he said, “That’s not the purpose of creation. The purpose of creation is to give all of that so that I can create mankind. So that I can create man and woman.” It’s what we see in verse 27 of Genesis chapter 1. It says this: “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them. Male and female he created them.” That you, myself, that we together, that we have been created in the image of God. It’s what we call what happened on day six.
And God had all of this good stuff created and he said, “This is good, but this is not why I created the earth. Why I created the earth is because I want to do something great.” And he created you and me. He created mankind. We see from verse 27 that he designed mankind, that he designed gender, that he brought us together. We see that even deeper when we look at chapter two, and I’m not going to read it but you can go there and read it on your own. In chapter two it talks about how he fashioned us out of the dirt—man out of the dirt. He breathed into our nostrils, that from the man he took a rib and he made woman, and then he put man and woman together naked in the garden and said, “It’s very good now.”
I mean, think about this for a second. Like, at the very beginning, man, it was great. Man, woman, naked, no shame. All kinds of things to eat, all kinds of time to waste. It was good. I heard one preacher say it this way: that when God created man, he gave him a world to live in, a work to do, and a woman to love. And I think, man, that’s incredible.
But as incredible as it is, that’s still not the whole purpose of creation. The purpose of creation was for God to dwell with us. That’s what it was all about. God said, “I want to be with you.” And so he would come into the garden and he would just hang out with Adam and Eve. He would just be with them. He would walk with them in the cool of the morning, because God simply wanted to dwell with his people. You were created, I was created, we were created to dwell with God.
Maybe I can say it this way: maybe the first Christmas wasn’t in 400 AD. Maybe the first Christmas really wasn’t even in Bethlehem. Maybe the first Christmas was back in the garden, because that was truly God with us.
We were created to dwell, but unfortunately we caused division. Maybe you don’t know the story. The story was great in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, but in Genesis 3, it takes a different turn. And I want you to go ahead and do that. Open your Bibles. Genesis 3. This is the part I want us to read, and I want us just to walk through it, because in Genesis 3, we see that we were created to dwell, but we caused division.
It’s Genesis chapter 3, starting in verse one. It reads like this. It says, “The serpent”—I’m reading from the NLT, by the way—“The serpent was the shrewdest of all wild animals the Lord God had made. One day, he asked the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat the fruit from any of these trees in the garden”?’” Like right here, let’s just stop and let’s just break this apart for a second. It says the serpent was the shrewdest, or other translations say the craftiest. This is in a direct connection to Satan. When we’re saying “the serpent,” we’re saying Satan. We’re saying that fallen angel who now has a way that he wants to trick us, that he has a scheme.
And here’s his scheme, right there at the end of verse one: “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” Listen, I want to help you understand the devil’s schemes, because he only has really one scheme. There’s one thing that he is really good at, that he’s constantly trying to trip us up with, and that is to get us to question God’s word. That’s it.
Like, the devil will constantly try to get you to question God’s word. He’ll try to get you to wrestle with, “Did God really say that? Did God really mean that?” He’s got one scheme. All we’ve got to do is figure out how to stop it. It’s kind of like a wing-T offense in football. Now, I know I’m going to lose a bunch of you here, but try to go with me. If you understand football at all, there’s a wing-T offense. And in the wing-T offense, it’s a very simple scheme. You’re either going to have an inside trap, a belly, or a counter. That’s it. If you understand a wing-T, it’s an inside trap, a belly, or a counter. And you know what they’re going to run. They’re not going to throw the ball. They’re not good at throwing the ball. That’s the reason they run a wing-T. You can know the scheme, but the question is, can you stop it?
Here’s the scheme of Satan: he’s going to get you to question God’s word. Will you stop it? Let me go on. Verse two says this: “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. Like, she’s like, “Listen, no. We got all kinds of trees we can eat from. It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it. If you do, you will die.’”
I got to question those words “even touch it.” Because actually if you go back to Genesis chapter 2, when you see God give them this rule, he doesn’t say that. So is it just because it wasn’t part of the story then but he actually did? Maybe. But if we take it just the way it’s written, she’s adding to it. She’s confusing what God actually said.
Satan then goes on and says this, verse four: “You won’t die,” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Again, all he’s trying to do is get her to question: What did God actually say? Did God really mean that? “I mean, when he said that, that was a long time ago. Are you sure what he was actually saying applies to you today?” Do you see what’s going on? It’s the same thing we do today.
And she heard it, and rather than shutting it off, rather than saying, “Listen, I’m not going to listen to your lying mouth,” she started to wrestle with it, which is what we often do when we sin as well. We don’t shut off the lie, so then we wrestle with it.
We see her wrestling. Verse 6: “The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and that its fruit looked delicious and she wanted the wisdom it would
-
-
DWELL — WEEK 1 BLOG
“The Garden: Created to Dwell”
Based on Genesis 1–3 & Romans 3:21–24 Dwell
From the very first breath of Scripture, God paints a picture of nearness. Not a distant, disengaged deity—but a God who forms, fashions, and then walks with His creation. Before there were traditions, candles, gifts, or nativity scenes, there was a garden. And in that garden, God and humanity dwelled together.
Eden wasn’t just a place. It was a relationship.
We Were Created to Dwell
Genesis tells us that God created a world filled with beauty, order, and life—and then placed humanity at the center, made in His image. Everything about the garden whispered peace, belonging, and presence. God walked with Adam and Eve “in the cool of the evening,” a detail that reminds us of God’s intimacy, not His distance.
Before sin fractured anything…
Before division entered relationships…
Before shame ever shadowed the human heart…We lived in unbroken communion with the One who made us.
It’s no wonder that—even today—we crave what Eden held. We crave peace. We crave connection. We crave belonging. Every longing you carry for closeness with God reflects the design you were created for. You weren’t made to “glance” at God. You were made to dwell with Him.
But Division Came Through Disobedience
And then… the serpent slithered into the story.
Just like a perfect Christmas moment ruined by the missing batteries, or a beautiful dinner undone by burnt food, Eden’s perfection unraveled. With one choice, Adam and Eve exchanged divine closeness for devastating distance.
Shame replaced peace.
Fear replaced trust.
Hiding replaced walking.And that moment didn’t just affect Adam and Eve. We feel it today.
We hide from God when we feel unworthy.
We distance ourselves when we feel ashamed.
We numb ourselves when we feel convicted.
We avoid God’s voice when we fear what He’ll say.Romans 3 reminds us that all of us fall short. Sin fractures what God intended to be whole. And if the story ended there, we would be hopeless.
But God never gave up on closeness. Not then. Not now.
The God Who Pursues
Even as God removed Adam and Eve from the garden, He clothed them—a symbol that grace was already moving toward them. He didn’t abandon humanity after disobedience. He began a rescue story that would stretch across generations and lead all the way to Bethlehem.
The message of Week 1—and the whole series—is simple:
God created you to dwell with Him, and He still wants that today.
You can stop running.
Stop hiding.
Stop believing the lie that distance is what God wants.The truth?
He is the One walking toward you—even when you are walking away.What Do We Do With This?
The Garden teaches us that dwelling with God is both a design and a decision. And this season invites us to choose closeness again.
1. Stop.
Stop hiding. Stop believing God doesn’t want you. Sin creates shame, but Jesus creates a way back home.
2. Sit.
Sit in His presence. Slow down. Let your soul exhale. You weren’t built for constant motion—you were built for moments with God.
3. Surrender.
Give God access to the parts of your life you’ve been guarding. Surrender isn't losing—it’s finding life again.
4. Seek.
Seek Him daily. Seek Him in Scripture. Seek Him in silence. Seek Him while you’re staring at the Christmas lights or driving home from work. He is closer than you think.
This Christmas, the invitation is simple but sacred:
Dwell.
Not in hurry.
Not in distraction.
Not in shame.
But in Him. -
Small Group Curriculum – DWELL
Week 1: The Garden
Main Scripture: Genesis 1–3; Romans 3:21–24 (NLT)
Big Idea: God created us to dwell, sin caused division and death.1. Connect (Icebreaker)
Fun: What Christmas tradition helps you slow down and enjoy the season?
Personal: Share a time you felt especially close to God.
Transition: God created us to dwell with Him—but sin caused separation. Christmas reminds us that He came to restore that dwelling.
2. Discover (Scripture & Discussion)
Read Genesis 1:27; 2:7–8; 3:1–10 (NLT).
Discussion Questions
What does the Garden reveal about God’s desire for relationship with us?
How did sin disrupt dwelling with God?
Why do you think Adam and Eve hid instead of coming to God after they sinned?
How do we still “hide” from God today?
Dig Deeper Scripture: Romans 3:23–24.
How does Jesus make it possible for us to dwell with God again?
What does it mean to be justified by grace?
3. Respond (Application & Prayer)
Personal Application
Where in your life do you feel “separated” from God right now?
What step can you take this week to stop hiding and start dwelling in His presence?
Group Prayer Prompt
Pray for freedom from shame and hiding.
Thank God for sending Jesus to restore dwelling with Him.
Challenge for the Week
Memory Verse: Romans 3:24 (NLT).
Next Step: Each day this week, take 5 minutes to “dwell”—sit in silence with God, thanking Him for restoring relationship through Christ.
⏱️ Designed for 45–60 minutes
Connect (10–15 min)
Discover (25–30 min)
Respond (10–15 min)
-
CONWAY
AYNOR
SOUTH STRAND