(March 14, 2021) “Redeeming Our Mess: Guilt and Shame”

from 2 Samuel 12:1-10, 13; Psalm 51:1-4, 10-12; John 8:1-11

The season of Lent is a time of reflection. It is an opportunity to examine our lives before God and invite the Holy Spirit to reveal to us those things that are hindering our relationship with God and with those around us…and it is an opportunity to invite God to go to work in our lives…the hope which makes all of this possible is the Cross of Jesus toward which we are journeying. 

But what if Lent wasn’t just about seeking forgiveness for and repentance from our sin…what if God was able to take our mess and redeem it? What if it’s not just about doing away with something, but about God taking our lives and turning them into something beautiful for His Glory?

In our 4th week of Lent, we consider perhaps one of our greatest obstacles to our relationship with God and with those around us…the unbearable weight of our guilt and shame. What if, in being honest about those things for which we are guilty, we could find freedom from the shame that keeps us far from God and isolated from others?

w/ Vern Collins

(March 7, 2021) “Redeeming Our Mess: Identity”

from Genesis 11:1-9 and Romans 8:14-17

The season of Lent is a time of reflection. It is an opportunity to examine our lives before God and invite the Holy Spirit to reveal to us those things that are hindering our relationship with God and with those around us…and it is an opportunity to invite God to go to work in our lives…the hope which makes all of this possible is the Cross of Jesus toward which we are journeying. 

But what if Lent wasn’t just about seeking forgiveness for and repentance from our sin…what if God was able to take our mess and redeem it? What if it’s not just about doing away with something, but about God taking our lives and turning them into something beautiful for His Glory?

In our third week of Lent, we consider the ways our search for identity is often a catalyst for the mess in which we find ourselves in life. What does it mean to find our identity in Christ? How might God redeem our search for identity?

w/ Vern Collins

(February 28, 2021) “Redeeming Our Mess: Grasping”

from Acts 17:16-27

The season of Lent is a time of reflection. It is an opportunity to examine our lives before God and invite the Holy Spirit to reveal to us those things that are hindering our relationship with God and with those around us…and it is an opportunity to invite God to go to work in our lives…the hope which makes all of this possible is the Cross of Jesus toward which we are journeying. 

But what if Lent wasn’t just about seeking forgiveness for and repentance from our sin…what if God was able to take our mess and redeem it? What if it’s not just about doing away with something, but about God taking our lives and turning them into something beautiful for His Glory?

Following last week, the next step in our journey toward God redeeming our mess, is to begin to unpack how we got into this place to begin with.

What are the things you grasp for or cling to other than God or God’s best for you…what are those things you reach for that end up leaving the void within empty?

w/ Vern Collins

(February 21, 2021) “Redeeming Our Mess: The Mask of Perfection”

from Romans 3:22-28 and Luke 18:9-14

The season of Lent is a time of reflection. It is an opportunity to examine our lives before God and invite the Holy Spirit to reveal to us those things that are hindering our relationship with God and with those around us…and it is an opportunity to invite God to go to work in our lives…the hope which makes all of this possible is the Cross of Jesus toward which we are journeying.

But what if Lent wasn’t just about seeking forgiveness for and repentance from our sin…what if God was able to take our mess and redeem it? What if it’s not just about doing away with something, but about God taking our lives and turning them into something beautiful for His Glory?

Perhaps the place to begin is by acknowledging the Mask of Perfection that so many of us wear…and that Jesus sees right through!

w/ Vern Collins

(February 14, 2021) “The Kingdom: Greatest Treasure”

from Matthew 13:44-46

While the idea of the Kingdom of God may be a familiar one, it becomes easy to get tripped up when we are faced with the evil that exists in this world. If God’s Kingdom is present, what are we to do with all that doesn’t reflect His Kingdom in this world? What is our role in the evil that is so present?

In the final week of our “The Kingdom” series, we are invited to wrestle with what our ultimate treasure in this life is, and more, we are invited to consider the hard truth that if our ultimate treasure is not Jesus and His Kingdom, then we will never know the wholeness and satisfaction for which God makes a way.

w/ Vern Collins

(February 7, 2021) “The Kingdom: Firm Foundation”

from Luke 6:46-49

While the idea of the Kingdom of God may be a familiar one, it becomes easy to get tripped up when we are faced with the evil that exists in this world. If God’s Kingdom is present, what are we to do with all that doesn’t reflect His Kingdom in this world? What is our role in the evil that is so present?

What is the foundation upon which you have built and are living your life? It seems like an odd question, doesn’t it? A foundation is not something we generally give any thought to unless there is a problem with the foundation.

In Jesus’ parable of the wise and foolish builders, He is clear that it’s not a question of if the foundation upon which your life is built will be tested…it is a question of when. What does it take to build a firm foundation?

w/ Vern Collins

(January 31, 2021) “The Kingdom: Good Soil”

from Matthew 13:1-8, 18-23

Perhaps one of our greatest challenges in living faithfully in this world, is not that God’s instruction or God’s Word is not good…it’s that we allow the soil of our hearts to entertain any number of other forces that make it difficult for the Word to bear fruit within us.

Regardless the condition of the soil of your heart, there is ALWAYS HOPE!

w/ Vern Collins

(January 24, 2021) “The Kingdom: New Wineskins”

from Luke 5:36-39

While the idea of the Kingdom of God may be a familiar one, it becomes easy to get tripped up when we are faced with the evil that exists in this world. If God’s Kingdom is present, what are we to do with all that doesn’t reflect His Kingdom in this world? What is our role in the evil that is so present?

In week 2 of our series, we consider that for God’s Kingdom to continue to grow, God has and continues to be faithful to bring “new wine”-that is, new revelation, new insight, new understanding of Who He is and what His Kingdom looks like…the question then is not, is the wine “good,” the question is-are we willing to and ready to receive it or are we inhibited because we are trying to cram God’s new work into an old wineskin?

w/ Vern Collins

(January 17, 2021) “The Kingdom: Two Kingdoms”

from Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

While the idea of the Kingdom of God may be a familiar one, it becomes easy to get tripped up when we are faced with the evil that exists in this world. If God’s Kingdom is present, what are we to do with all that doesn’t reflect His Kingdom in this world? What is our role in the evil that is so present?

In week one of our new series, “The Kingdom,” we consider what our role in God’s Kingdom is when faced with the kingdom of this world.

w/ Vern Collins

(January 3, 2021) “Remember” (Covenant Renewal)

from 2 Kings 23:1-3, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Matthew 22:34-40

As much as we want to see things change AROUND us, and as much as we might like to see some things change ABOUT us in this New Year…the reality is that we will never truly find fulfillment unless we are willing to see things first change WITHIN us.

As we begin this new year, let us consider what it might mean to renew our commitment to relationship with God…or let us consider what it might mean to be open to a relationship with God for the fist time.

Wesley Covenant Prayer:

I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you, Praised for you or criticized for you. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service. And now, O wonderful and holy God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer,  you are mine, and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, Let it also be made in heaven.  Amen.

w/ Vern Collins

(December 27, 2020) “Familiar Practice and Pattern”

from Luke 2:22-40

As much as we look ahead at the coming year and want so much to be different..and rightly so…what if instead of wanting to change everything about the life we are living…we considered practicing some things that are so familiar that they have been a part of the lives of the faithful for generations…for millennia?

Perhaps the thing that needs to change for you in the coming year is to pick up some familiar practice and pattern, and see where God might meet you in that!

w/ Vern Collins

(12.24.2020) Christmas Eve “Altogether Christmas”

from Luke 2:1-20

There is much we make of the birth of Jesus. And while there should be…while it is a pivotal point in the history of the world, have you ever considered that for all of the build up in Luke’s Gospel leading up to that birth, he spends very little time focusing on the actual moment?

Perhaps it is not the birth of Jesus that Luke wants us to stop short at…perhaps it what that birth means for the life that will transform the world.

What if you allowed yourself to say yes to the fullness of what the life of Jesus could mean for you? What it means for the world?

w/ Vern Collins

(December 20, 2020) “Almost Christmas: Love”

from Luke 1:26-38 and Colossians 3:12-15

Perhaps more than ever we are desperate for Christmas to mean something more than gifts under the tree and time spent with family. What if, in this season of Advent, we didn’t just go through the motions of preparing for Christmas…what if we didn’t celebrate an “Almost Christmas,” but instead gave ourselves fully to the expectation…to the anticipation of what Christ’s coming means for this world? 

We are all desperate to know that we are loved, and desperate to BE loved…yet, why is love such a difficult thing for us to receive and to extend? Perhaps it’s not that love is somehow “broken,” it’s that we are broken people trying to give and receive love. Our ability to love well, to offer anything other than an “Almost Love” begins with our willingness to receive the “Altogether Love” of God.

w/ Vern Collins

(December 13, 2020) “ALmost Christmas: Joy”

from Luke 1:46-55, Psalm 30:1-5

Perhaps more than ever we are desperate for Christmas to mean something more than gifts under the tree and time spent with family. What if, in this season of Advent, we didn’t just go through the motions of preparing for Christmas…what if we didn’t celebrate an “Almost Christmas,” but instead gave ourselves fully to the expectation…to the anticipation of what Christ’s coming means for this world? 

More than ever, it seems like the Advent theme we need to be most true is the theme of Joy…and yet, it may seem like it is the most elusive. Sure there are moments that we might feel happiness, or there are joyful moments…but they are often fleeting. Certainly this can’t be what is offered in Christ…a feeling sense of happiness.

What if it’s not the gift that is bad, but our lack of understanding the fullness of what Joy in Christ means.

w/ Vern Collins

(December 6, 2020) “Almost Christmas: Peace”

from John 14:25-27, Luke 2:8-20, Mark 4:35-41, Ephesians 4:1-6

*includes an invitation to Communion

Perhaps more than ever we are desperate for Christmas to mean something more than gifts under the tree and time spent with family. What if, in this season of Advent, we didn’t just go through the motions of preparing for Christmas…what if we didn’t celebrate an “Almost Christmas,” but instead gave ourselves fully to the expectation…to the anticipation of what Christ’s coming means for this world? 

In the second week of Advent we consider the Peace that is meant to mark both the coming of Jesus and the presence of His Kingdom. It is certainly easier to believe this promise of Peace when things are going smoothly in our lives, but when life is difficult or chaotic are we to believe that the promise of Peace is negated? What if the problem is not with the promise of Peace, but the problem is with our understanding of the Peace that is promised?

w/ Vern Collins

(November 29, 2020) “Almost Christmas: Hope”

from Isaiah 9:1-7

Perhaps more than ever we are desperate for Christmas to mean something more than gifts under the tree and time spent with family. What if, in this season of Advent, we didn’t just go through the motions of preparing for Christmas…what if we didn’t celebrate an “Almost Christmas,” but instead gave ourselves fully to the expectation…to the anticipation of what Christ’s coming means for this world?

In our first week of Advent we are invited to wrestle with the question, “What are you hopeful FOR…and more importantly, who or what are you placing your hope IN?” Is your hope rooted in something eternal, or is your hope misplaced, leaving you desperate? Shackled? In the dark? Isaiah reminds us that into that darkness of our misplaced hope, light shines.

w/ Vern Collins

(November 15, 2020) “Christ’s Kingdom: One Small Step in Humility”

from John 13:1-17

As we approach the season of Advent, we approach a season in which (among other things), we consider the significance of the Kingdom that was inaugurated in His birth and through His ministry…but what does it mean to be a citizen of God’s Kingdom? What should mark our lives?

In His final moments with His disciples before His Passion, Jesus set an example of what posture in His Kingdom should look like. It is a posture of humility and self-giving love that is bent toward forgiveness and reconciliation.

Imagine how this could change not only your life but the lives of those around you.

w/ Vern Collins

(November 8, 2020) “A Generous Life: Treasure”

from 2 Corinthians 8:1-7, 9:6-11

While we have a tendency to hear the discussion of stewardship (that is, how we use out Time our Talent and our Treasure) as little more than an ask or a demand on what can feel like an already strained life, the reality is that the way we steward what we’ve been given is about so much more than what we GIVE…it’s about what we believe is happening when we do.

In our final week of stewardship series, we consider how the way we view and use our finances is directly connected to the impact the Gospel has had on our lives.

w/ Vern Collins