(April 10, 2022) “The God We Can Know: I Am The Way and The Truth and the Life”

from John 14:1-7

As we journey through the season of Lent, we are invited to seek the God Who is seeking us, to find that God is, in fact, a God we can know. And as we journey through the wilderness of Lent and encounter Jesus in the “I Am” statements which we are examining, we might just find that not only are we deepening our understanding of this God Who came near, but we might encounter the depth of our need for Him.

w/ Vern Collins

(April 3, 2022) “The God We Can Know: I Am the True Vine”

from John 15:1-11

As we journey through the season of Lent, we are invited to seek the God Who is seeking us, to find that God is, in fact, a God we can know. And as we journey through the wilderness of Lent and encounter Jesus in the “I Am” statements which we are examining, we might just find that not only are we deepening our understanding of this God Who came near, but we might encounter the depth of our need for Him.

w/ Vern Collins

(March 27, 2022) “The God We Can Know: I Am the Good Shepherd”

from John 10:1-14

As we journey through the season of Lent, we are invited to seek the God Who is seeking us, to find that God is, in fact, a God we can know. And as we journey through the wilderness of Lent and encounter Jesus in the “I Am” statements which we are examining, we might just find that not only are we deepening our understanding of this God Who came near, but we might encounter the depth of our need for Him.

w/ Vern Collins

(March 20, 2022) “The God We Can Know: I Am the Light of the World”

from John 8:12

As we journey through the season of Lent, we are invited to seek the God Who is seeking us, to find that God is, in fact, a God we can know. And as we journey through the wilderness of Lent and encounter Jesus in the “I Am” statements which we are examining, we might just find that not only are we deepening our understanding of this God Who came near, but we might encounter the depth of our need for Him.

w/ Vern Collins

(March 13, 2022) “The God We Can Know: I Am the Bread of Life”

from John 6:25-35

As we journey through the season of Lent, we are invited to seek the God Who is seeking us, to find that God is, in fact, a God we can know. And as we journey through the wilderness of Lent and encounter Jesus in the “I Am” statements which we are examining, we might just find that not only are we deepening our understanding of this God Who came near, but we might encounter the depth of our need for Him.

w/ Ed Glaize

(March 6, 2022) “The God We Can Know: Knowing the Great I Am”

from Exodus 3:1-14

As we journey through the season of Lent, we are invited to seek the God Who is seeking us, to find that God is, in fact, a God we can know. And as we journey through the wilderness of Lent and encounter God in the “I Am” statement which we are examining, we might just find that not only are we deepening our understanding of this God Who came near, but we might encounter the depth of our need for Him.

w/ Vern Collins

(March 28, 2021-Palm Sunday) “Redeeming Our Mess: Humility”

from Matthew 21:1-11

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?

On this Palm Sunday, we are brought face to face with the very clear statement Jesus makes about the king of King He came to be. For the people of Jerusalem…for many of us…the kind of King Jesus came to be is not the kind of King we WANT Him to be, but if we are willing to humble ourselves before Him, we find that Jesus is exactly the kind of King we NEED Him to be.

w/ Vern Collins

(March 21, 2021) “Redeeming Our Mess: Truth Telling”

from 1 John 1:5-10 and Psalm 32:1-7

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?

For the 5th Sunday of Lent, we find ourselves wrestling with what it is that allows us to step out from under the weight and guilt and shame and into the freedom that Jesus makes possible. It’s simple really…and yet, so many of us have such a difficult time doing it. Truth Telling. Being honest about our sin and the dark places within us. While the world conditions us to find and live by our truth, there is an invitation to allow another truth to invade our lives. The question is, are we willing to receive it and to respond honestly about our deep need?

w/ Vern Collins

(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

“Broken: How Sin Affects Our View of God” (April 14, 2019)-Palm Sunday

from Mark 11:1-10

We spend a great deal of energy in our lives managing our expectations of the people around us. Whether your spouse, your children, a roommate, a significant other, or co-worker, or someone in leadership…there are expectations we place on people. Consider what happens, though, when those expectations aren’t met…we are left to adjust…to manage what we thought ought to be expected.

Have you ever considered that perhaps you do the same thing with God? There might be things you want from God, or things you expect God should do on your behalf? What happens when God doesn’t answer prayer the way you want, or when it feels like God isn’t coming through the way you hoped? What if the problem isn’t so much in Who God is, but who you expect God to be for you?

w/ Vern Collins

“Broken: How Sin Affects Our View of Money” (April 7, 2019)

from Luke 12:13-21

We have a tendency to equate things like security, peace, worth, and identity with the accumulation of money or possessions. Or even more simply, maybe there’s just this one thing you feel like you have to have, and if you can somehow have that thing…

The question you must wrestle with is: While more wealth or more square footage or more possessions might change your circumstances, will they transform your heart?

We have from the beginning felt the tension of feeling like we need more…but what is it we really need more OF?

w/ Vern Collins

“Broken: How Sin Affects Our Time”

from Luke 21:25-36

If you knew how something would end, would it change the way you give yourself to being a part of it?

While, we might tend to think of such a question as it relates to a business opportunity, saying yes to a relationship, or a financial decision and the potential risks or rewards associated with any of the above…what if instead of decisions that are made based on how we think life should go, we make those decisions based on how the story of God at work in this world ends?

One of the ways we see sin create brokenness in our lives is in the way we view and use time. We worry that there isn’t enough. We waste the time we have. We don’t honor the time of others.

What if we stopped being so short-sighted and started taking a long view of the way we see God’s time and timing? What if that could change the way we live right now with the time we have?

w/ Luke Edwards

“Broken: How Sin Affects Our View of Others” (March 24, 2019)

from Ephesians 2:11-22

By nature we have a tendency to form teams. We gravitate to or surround ourselves with people who share things like our ideals, our values, and our view of morality. While this is not inherently wrong, what happens when our forming teams becomes choosing sides and choosing sides sets us at odds with those who aren’t like us or don’t agree with us…those who are outside of our circle? When this happens in the church, how does the way we treat those who are “outside” have any hope of looking like the Gospel?

What if God is calling you into relationship with those not like you so that God can work in you…and God can work in those relationships?

w/ Vern Collins

“Broken: How Sin Affects Our Relationships” (March 17, 2019)

from Matthew 5:21-26

We are meant to be a reflection of God for the world around us. One of the things that is true about God is the relationship in which God exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So, why are relationships one of the most difficult places for us to reflect Who God is? What if we began to allow God to bring healing to the brokenness that exists in our relationships with those around us?

w/ Vern Collins

“Broken: How Sin Affects Self” (March 10, 2019)

from Isaiah 30:8-18

As we begin this season of Lent and our new series, “Broken,” you are invited to come to terms with, to name the brokenness in your life. Sin is the great equalizer…not of are exempt from its effects, and yet in Christ we find that not only does God know something about our brokenness, but is willing to enter in to it.

Over the next several weeks we are going to consider how our sin creates brokenness in different areas of our lives…beginning with how it affects your relationship with God. While you are being invited to come to terms with your brokenness, know that God longs to bring healing…that God longs to and promises to take that which is broken and redeem it, turning it into something beautiful.

w/ Vern Collins

“Falling Into Goodness: Follow Jesus” (March 25, 2018-Palm Sunday)

from Matthew 21:1-11

What is the statement you are making with your life?

Is it one of security, or of uneasiness?  Is it a statement of confidence, or are you seeking identity in people and possessions?

Everything we do or say makes a deeper statement about who we are and what we believe…everything we do even makes a statement about Who we believe Jesus to be.

What if this Palm Sunday, you didn’t merely watch Jesus “pass by” on the road into Jerusalem amid shouts of “Hosanna!” but you chose to turn and follow Him?

w/ Vern Collins

“Falling Into Goodness: Wrestle With God” (March 18, 2018)

from Genesis 32:22-32

Yes, you’re taught not to fight…but we fight anyway don’t we?  Maybe it’s not about throwing punches, but it nearly impossible to go through this life without finding ourselves in contention with others from time to time…

What if fighting is actually a part of the journey?  What if it has everything to do with what you are fighting for and who you are fighting?

For our 5th Sunday in Lent we consider Jacob and the fight he had with God…perhaps it’s time for you to get in the dirt with God!

w/ Vern Collins