Genesis 3 has shaped how many people understand humanity, failure, and distance from the divine. But what if the story is less about perfection lost and more about connection strained? In this conversation, we explore the difference between “good” and “perfect,” the role of freedom in relationship, and why risk may be essential to love. This episode reflects on vulnerability, organic consequences, and the possibility that the deepest spiritual longing is not to return to paradise, but to restore nearness.

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.

In this message, Ron Toft continues Kindred’s journey through Genesis 1–2, highlighting two core themes: unity and the earth as God’s dwelling place. Ron challenges the common “God is far away” framing and invites listeners to see creation as God’s home, which reshapes how we view ourselves, our neighbors, and even our enemies.

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.

We continue our Genesis series with Ron Toft exploring Genesis 1–2 as an origin story of relationship, not a battleground between sides. Ron reframes the creation narrative as a story of unity: one God over all things, one humanity formed from the ground, and a call to partnership rather than hierarchy. Along the way, he invites us to recover the delight and nearness in the text, and to resist using Scripture as a tool for division.

Ron also offers a powerful lens: the earth as God’s home, God’s temple, God’s kingdom. If God is already here, then following God looks like becoming a people of connection, courage, and healing unity in a fractured world.

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.

In this week’s teaching, Ron Toft invites us into the ancient world of Genesis 1–2 and asks a different question than many of us grew up with — not how God made the world, but why this story was told in the first place.

We explore the worldview of the early Israelites, the fragility of life in the “little strip of green” they called home, and how the creation story speaks about order, chaos, belonging, partnership with God, and what it means to be human.

Rather than a science lesson, Genesis becomes a story about purpose, relationship, and the kind of world we’re invited to help create together.

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.

Why do we keep returning to the Christmas story when the world is still hard and unfinished?

In this Christmas reflection, Kristine explores the birth of Jesus as a quiet challenge to power and a source of hope for those who are tired, uncertain, or in need of healing. Set against the grand birth stories of empire, the manger tells a different story—one shaped by vulnerability, presence, and love.

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.

In this Advent message, Rob reflects on peace as more than the absence of conflict. He traces the biblical idea of shalom — wholeness, harmony, and the world as it should be — and names the forces that pull us away from that vision, both within us and around us.

He also reminds us that we aren’t left to face any of this alone. Through the humility of the Incarnation, God meets a fractured world with mercy, restoration, and a promise of peace that reaches every person. Rob invites us to consider our role as agents of blessing in our neighborhoods, workplaces, and relationships, and to live as people shaped by hope rather than fear.

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.

This week, Laurel opens up a tender, grounding reflection on Advent through the lens of waiting - not as passive endurance, but as the lived ache of longing, hope, and being human. Drawing from Elizabeth’s story, Laurel shares how waiting shapes us, how desire is not a flaw, and why the name Emmanuel still carries real comfort for people longing for healing, connection, justice, or change.

She weaves together scripture, personal experience, and a reframed look at the nativity to remind us that we don’t wait alone. God’s nearness, and the nearness we offer each other, is its own kind of healing.

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.

In this message, Jessie Townsend wraps up our series on Progressive Christianity by exploring what we choose to place in our kids’ “backpacks” as they grow. She walks through four core lessons that shape the way we guide children in their spiritual lives: God’s love as their foundation, the beauty of being made in the image of God, the importance of honest questions, and a faith that shows itself through compassion and action.

With stories from her own life, insight from the kids’ room, and a gentle reminder to the adults in the room, Jessie paints a picture of a faith that is light, empowering, inclusive, and rooted in love rather than fear. It’s an invitation for all of us — parents or not — to consider what we model, what we pass on, and how we create space for kids to grow with curiosity, courage, and belonging.

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.