(December 19, 2021) “Come Home to Compassion”

from Luke 1:67-80

There is a longing for home within each of us. Try as we might to fill that longing with promises of this world, with relationships, with achievement, or any other number of things in which we seek to find meaning and identity, there is only one place we are meant to be “at home.” 

In the season of Advent we celebrate that God did not leave us to wander alone looking for home, instead, in Jesus He came to find us that we might find our home in Him.

On the 4th Sunday of Advent we are invited to consider all of the ways God has ruled and led and worked from a place of compassion and grace to lead us to the moment when Jesus would enter the world. Zechariah’s response, prompted by the Holy Spirit, is born out of such a realization.

What are the ways God has shown compassion and grace in your life?

w/ Vern Collins

(December 12, 2021) “Come Home to Joy”

from Luke 1:39-56

There is a longing for home within each of us. Try as we might to fill that longing with promises of this world, with relationships, with achievement, or any other number of things in which we seek to find meaning and identity, there is only one place we are meant to be “at home.” 

In the season of Advent we celebrate that God did not leave us to wander alone looking for home, instead, in Jesus He came to find us that we might find our home in Him.

On the 3rd Sunday of Advent we consider the joy that was so present in Mary and Elizabeth’s encounter. Is that type of joy possible still? What serves as the root of such joy? How might we live in a posture of joy in a world that seems bent in the opposite direction?

w/ Vern Collins

(December 5, 2021) “Come Home to Possibility”

from Luke 1:26-38

There is a longing for home within each of us. Try as we might to fill that longing with promises of this world, with relationships, with achievement, or any other number of things in which we seek to find meaning and identity, there is only one place we are meant to be “at home.” 

In the season of Advent we celebrate that God did not leave us to wander alone looking for home, instead, in Jesus He came to find us that we might find our home in Him.

This week we consider the hopeful truth that with God there is no such thing as impossibility! What if instead of simply writing off God’s ability to answer a prayer we are praying, or doubting whether or not God can really use us in His unfolding plan, we allowed ourselves to lean in…to be curious enough to believe that with God all things are possible?

w/ Vern Collins

(November 28, 2021) “Come Home to Good news”

from Luke 1:5-25

There is a longing for home within each of us. Try as we might to fill that longing with promises of this world, with relationships, with achievement, or any other number of things in which we seek to find meaning and identity, there is only one place we are meant to be “at home.”

In the season of Advent we celebrate that God did not leave us to wander alone looking for home, instead, in Jesus He came to find us that we might find our home in Him.

This week we consider what Good News that is in the face of darkness and in the midst of impossible circumstances.

w/ Ed Glaize

(November 21, 2021) “One Returned”

from Luke 17:11-19

We live in a world that is beset with an attitude of entitlement. What if instead of focusing on what is owed us, we chose to be grateful for all we have been given? What if gratitude and thanksgiving became our native tongue in this Kingdom which we are invited into through Christ?

w/ Vern Collins

(November 14, 2021) “Treasure and Heart: A Surrendered Heart”

from Luke 5:1-11

In Biblical writings, the heart is not understood as something that is connected to emotion in the way that we think of the heart. Rather the heart is the driving force behind our hopes and dreams; behind our drive and determination. Where the heart is bent, so goes one’s life. For these 6 weeks we are going to examine the heart and consider not only how it informs our understanding of Stewardship, but more importantly, how it informs who we are in Christ. 

We conclude this series by considering the call of the One Whose heart is most approachable and accessible…ultimately any generosity, any transformation, any joy, any willingness we might have to be a part of what Jesus is doing in this world is wrapped up in the degree to which we have surrendered our hearts to His invitation to follow Him…to join Him…to leave that which is comfortable and calculated, and surrender ourselves to His call to adventure in His unfolding redemptive story in this world.

w/ Vern Collins

(November 7, 2021) “Treasure and Heart: A Joyous Heart”

from 2 Corinthians 8:1-5

In Biblical writings, the heart is not understood as something that is connected to emotion in the way that we think of the heart. Rather the heart is the driving force behind our hopes and dreams; behind our drive and determination. Where the heart is bent, so goes one’s life. For these 6 weeks we are going to examine the heart and consider not only how it informs our understanding of Stewardship, but more importantly, how it informs who we are in Christ. 

A transformed heart ought to look like something in our lives…the question is, do we know what this ought to be, or are we to determine that on our own. In our passage from 2 Corinthians, Paul highlights a group of Christ followers who might just make clear what that outward expression of a transformed heart ought to look like: Joy and Generosity.

w/ Vern Collins

(October 24, 2021) “Treasure and Heart: A Generous Heart”

from Luke 19:1-10

In Biblical writings, the heart is not understood as something that is connected to emotion in the way that we think of the heart. Rather the heart is the driving force behind our hopes and dreams; behind our drive and determination. Where the heart is bent, so goes one’s life. For these 6 weeks we are going to examine the heart and consider not only how it informs our understanding of Stewardship, but more importantly, how it informs who we are in Christ. 

A transformed heart ought to have tangible implications in the way we live our lives in relation to those around us. What are the ways that God might be calling you to reflect His generosity in the lives of those around you? Who is God calling you to stop…pay attention to…and offer a generous heart?

w/ Vern Collins

(October 17, 2021) “Treasure and heart: Where is Your Heart?”

from Matthew 6:19-24

In Biblical writings, the heart is not understood as something that is connected to emotion in the way that we think of the heart. Rather the heart is the driving force behind our hopes and dreams; behind our drive and determination. Where the heart is bent, so goes one’s life. For these 6 weeks we are going to examine the heart and consider not only how it informs our understanding of Stewardship, but more importantly, how it informs who we are in Christ.

w/ Ed Glaize

(October 10, 2021) “Treasure and Heart: The Heart of Jesus”

from Matthew 11:28-30

In Biblical writings, the heart is not understood as something that is connected to emotion in the way that we think of the heart. Rather the heart is the driving force behind our hopes and dreams; behind our drive and determination. Where the heart is bent, so goes one’s life. For these 6 weeks we are going to examine the heart and consider not only how it informs our understanding of Stewardship, but more importantly, how it informs who we are in Christ.

We begin this week by looking at the heart of Jesus. In order for us to understand and be honest about the condition of our own hearts, we may just want to listen to the invitation of the One Whose heart is, “Gentle and Humble.”

w/ Vern Collins

(October 3, 2021) “The Promise of Peace”

from Philippians 4:4-7

Anxiety and worry have become so deeply woven into the fabric of our culture and our daily lives, and we often try to do little more than keep those feelings at bay in order to be able to function…yet, there is a promise in Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi that invites us to live and operate, not from a place of trying to stay of anxiety in order to function, rather to live in the promise of God’s peace and presence with us regardless our circumstances.

w/ Vern Collins

(September 26, 2021) “All Things Made New: A New and Living Hope”

from 1 Peter 1:3-9

In our seven week series, “All Things Made New,” we consider the work that Jesus is doing in this world…a work that we don’t have to wait until time has reached its fulfillment to experience, but that we can experience and be a part of now!

As we conclude our series, we are faced with the question, “In what or who do you anchor your hope?” So often we find ourselves let down or disappointed by people or things of this world, and while we were made for relationship and we were made with this longing for that which is NEW, we were meant to find the fullness of both, not in people or earthly pursuits, but in Jesus-the One Who makes possible for us a hope that is enduring and unchangeable!

w/ Vern Collins

(September 19, 2021) “All Things Made New: A New Heart”

from Jeremiah 31:31-34

In our seven week series, “All Things Made New,” we consider the work that Jesus is doing in this world…a work that we don’t have to wait until time has reached its fulfillment to experience, but that we can experience and be a part of now!

God’s promises to us are faithful and true. If it is God’s Covenant that stands, why do we so often feel like God is not present with us in times of trouble, or not answering our requests the way we would like? If it’s not God Who is unfaithful, perhaps it is our own hearts we need to examine.

The invitation to live in the fullness of God’s love is simply an invitation to respond to a love that is unwavering. May we do so and find our hearts being made new!

w/ Jeff McClain

(September 12, 2021)”All Things Made New: A New Command”

from 1 John 2:3-11, John 13:31-35

In our seven week series, “All Things Made New,” we consider the work that Jesus is doing in this world…a work that we don’t have to wait until time has reached its fulfillment to experience, but that we can experience and be a part of now!

As we seek to live into the work Jesus is doing in this world to make all things new, we are called to reflect God’s love for humanity in the way we love one another.

w/ Vern Collins

(September 5, 2021) “All THings Made New: New Mercies”

from Lamentations 3:22-24

In our seven week series, “All Things Made New,” we consider the work that Jesus is doing in this world…a work that we don’t have to wait until time has reached its fulfillment to experience, but that we can experience and be a part of now!

When trying to live into the new life that God has made possible in Christ…when trying to bring His New Kingdom to bear on this earth, what happens when the troubles and trials of life seem too much to bear?

We look to each day as a gift…and each rising of the sun as a tangible example of God’s mercy and faithfulness.

w/ Ed Glaize

(August 29, 2021) “All Things Made New: New Purpose”

from 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 and Matthew 9:9-13

In our seven week series, “All Things Made New,” we consider the work that Jesus is doing in this world…a work that we don’t have to wait until time has reached its fulfillment to experience, but that we can experience and be a part of now!

Once we have found in Christ, freedom from our own pursuits or the pursuit of trying to earn our salvation or relationship with Christ, what exactly are we freed into? Is into pursuing the life we want knowing that we have a hope and a future, or is it living life in such a way that those around us begin to know and are invited into the source of our hope?

w/ Vern Collins

(August 22, 2021)”All Things Made New: New Pursuit”

from Romans 4:4-6

In our seven week series, “All Things Made New,” we consider the work that Jesus is doing in this world…a work that we don’t have to wait until time has reached its fulfillment to experience, but that we can experience and be a part of now!

When we’ve said “yes” to the new work that Jesus wants to do in us and is doing in this world, but the “novelty” feels like it begins to wear off because the worries of this life begin to crowd in, or we find ourselves slipping back into old pursuits, we must lose heart…instead we find hope in the fact that we have been welcomed by Jesus, empowered by His Holy Spirit, and set free to pursue all that God has for us to be and do.

w/ Vern Collins

(August 15, 2021) “All Things Made New”

from Revelation 21:1-5

In our seven week series, “All Things Made New,” we consider the work that Jesus is doing in this world…a work that we don’t have to wait until time has reached its fulfillment to experience, but that we can experience and be a part of now!

Jesus proclaims in John’s Revelation that He is making all things new. Where God is at work…where the Holy Spirit is present…there is newness breaking in. What is hindering you from experiencing it? What is hindering you from being a part of it?

w/ Ed Glaize

(August 8, 2021) “What God Knows and Where God Is”

from Psalm 139

Perhaps deeper than our need to be loved is our need to be known…in fact, wrapped up in our need to be loved is the longing to be loved for who we truly are…and to be loved for who we truly are is the reality that we are KNOWN!

There is One Who not only knows you…TRULY knows you, but One Who is present with you…always.

Imagine how your view of life might begin to change if you lived in the reality of the truth of God’s love for you and presence with you.

w/ Vern Collins