The Breath of Life - Breath and Fire, Week 1
August 16, 2026 - Genesis 1:1-2; Genesis 2:7

This morning, some of us are running on empty. Not just tired. Worn out. The kind of tired that sleep doesn't fix. This morning, some of us are running on empty. Not just tired. Worn out. The kind of tired that sleep doesn't fix.

Today we are starting a new sermon series called Breath and Fire... seven weeks on the Holy Spirit. Many of you requested this series, and rightfully so. We believe in God the Father. We believe in Jesus. We even believe in the Holy Spirit... but we don't know much about Him.

Sometimes we picture a church service with people dancing and raised hands. But more often than not, we avoid the subject. So, for the next 7 weeks, we're going to dig into what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit. That brings us to today's message. Let's go back to page 1 of our Bibles, because that is where the Holy Spirit makes His entrance into our world and our lives.

Formless. Empty. Dark. That is the before picture. Now watch what God does with a formless, empty nothingness. The Hebrew word for Spirit is "ruach." It can mean spirit, breath, or wind. The verb translated "hovering" appears only one other time in the books of Moses. Deuteronomy 32. There it describes an eagle fluttering over her young in the nest. Picture that. Wings spread wide over something small and fragile. Close. Attentive. Ready to act. That is the Spirit of God hovering over our world. Before there was light, there was love.

Then chapter two zooms in... from the galaxies down to a garden. Down to one handful of dirt.

God creates the man like a potter shaping clay. That is exactly the verb Moses uses. Then He leans in close, face to face, and breathes. Job said it plainly: The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Job 33:4 That means YOU are NOT an accident. You are not a machine that rolled off a production line. You and I are dust that God breathed into. That was true before you and I could even grasp the idea. God still breathes life into dust.

The psalms push a step further. Psalm 104 says, "... when you take away Your breath, they die and return to the dust." Psalm 104:29b And doesn't our experience tell us this is true? When God takes away the breath of His creatures, they die and return to dust. Every breath you have taken this morning was on loan. We are not self-charging batteries (no matter what my Garmin says). We're completely dependent. That's not an insult. That is God's design.

Nonetheless, somewhere along the way, we started living as though breath were ours to generate, as though we are self-sustaining. Self-made. We push harder. We sleep less. We answer email during family time. We pour ourselves out all week and wonder why we are so worn out. Our world does not slow down for anyone. And if we are honest, many of us have decided we can't either. But eventually, the cost goes beyond being tired. We begin running on empty.

When was the last time you felt enthusiastic about life? What keeps you going when there's nothing left in the tank? Do you, deep down, carry the burden that somehow everything depends on you? How is that working?

That is us. We spend an awful lot of our lives trying to make sound without breath. We push harder. Tighten our grip. Tell ourselves, “Come on. You’ve got this. Just keep going.” But the instrument was never designed to be its own breath. And neither were you.

Do you remember breathing the name of God? Inhale. Exhale. It is a beautiful reminder. My watch may tell me my Body Battery is running low. But it cannot give me life. The God who gave you your first breath is the One who sustains your next one. You and I were never meant to be our own breath.

On the first Easter evening. The risen Jesus stood in a room with His terrified friends. The same men who failed Him three days earlier. And John says:

John wants us to hear Genesis 2 all over again. The same God, leaning in... the same breath. But now the breath comes through a risen body with wounded hands. The Creator who breathed life into Adam stood in that locked room and breathed new life into failures... into dust.

Jesus died for empty people. Jesus rose for empty people. And Jesus breathes His Spirit into empty people today. He does it through His Word, the same way He once spoke light into darkness. He gave you His Spirit at your baptism, when water and the Word made a new creation. He feeds you at His table. The psalmist sings:

Renewal is not God’s emergency plan. It is His plan. It is what His breath does. God still breathes life into dust.

Now, a word to some of you specifically. Some of us left church years ago because there was no room there for honest pain. You had to show up shiny. Please hear me. There is room here. You do not have to arrive full. Dust is enough. Dust has always been enough. God has been working with dust from the first page.

Some of you are carrying more questions than answers this morning. Maybe your faith feels dangerously thin. Maybe you're tired. Maybe you're skeptical. Maybe you aren't even sure what you believe about all of this.

Please hear me. You do not have to come to God full. You do not have to have everything figured out. You do not have to manufacture faith or strength before He will meet you in your dust. God has never been afraid of dust. Dust is what He has been working with from the beginning.

So here is one simple thing I want you to do this week. Before you get up, each morning, take one slow breath. Feel it fill your lungs. And pray, "Jesus, breathe Your Spirit into me today.” Five seconds. It is simply a way of remembering what is already true: You are living on borrowed breath. And the God who gave you your first breath is sustaining your next one.

And if you are empty or exhausted and it feels heavier than you can manage, please find one of the pastors or me this week. That conversation is exactly what we are here for.

So back to where we began. Running on empty. Genesis begins with a world that is formless and empty. That is not the ending of the story. It is where God begins. The Spirit who hovered over the deep is the same Holy Spirit who gives life... and renews tired hearts. The risen Jesus still gives His Spirit to frightened, failing people.

So, when your Body Battery is down to 5... when your heart is empty... when the devil whispers, “God has left you”... Remember what is true. You were never meant to be your own breath. The God who gave you your first breath is still sustaining your next one. And even now... God still breathes life into dust.