*Title:* Two Gardens — Pastor Kyle Baldwin, October 10, 2026

The story of sin and salvation is bookended by two gardens. In this Communion Sabbath sermon, Pastor Kyle Baldwin begins in Eden, the garden God planted as humanity’s first home (Genesis 2:8) — a sanctuary without sin, suffering, or death, where God walked with Adam in the cool of the day and talked with him face to face. It was a place that never grew old and never decayed, the crown jewel of a pristine world. But Eden is also where sin crept in: Adam chose the fruit, spoiled the sanctuary God had made for him, and then hid with Eve among the trees, too ashamed to meet God’s gaze.

What God did next is the heart of the message. He came anyway. It was God’s custom to walk with Adam, and even though Adam had not been faithful, God did not miss His appointment — He came down seeking the children who were hiding from Him. Pastor Baldwin presses the point home: God is not the one who has pulled away from us; we are the ones who run. Through Adam, sin and death passed upon all (Romans 5:12), but God commended His love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). The same Jesus who walked in Eden looking for Adam — the great I AM of John 8:58 — has been seeking His lost children from the beginning.

The second garden tells us what that seeking cost. In Gethsemane, among the olive trees above the Kidron Valley, Jesus felt the crushing weight of the world’s sin and the separation from His Father that sin causes. One man had given in to his desires and brought death into a garden; now another Man gave up His desires — “not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39) — and brought life and liberty into a garden, so that through the obedience of One, many are made righteous (Romans 5:18–19). The sermon closes with a simple invitation for Communion Sabbath: let the surroundings fade, come back to the garden, come back to Jesus, and renew your vow with the One who has never stopped coming after you.

*Key texts:* Genesis 2:8; Genesis 3:8; Romans 5:12, 5:8, 5:18–19; Matthew 26:36–39; John 18:1; John 8:58 · *Also referenced:* Ellen G. White, on Christ’s agony and separation from the Father in Gethsemane

*Watch:* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7G8pFPZnx8 · *Listen:* https://cloud-1de12d.becdn.net/media/original/4e4888ff8ce2b18047fbda8f5ba09ebb.mp3