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
4th Sunday of Advent
from 1 Peter 2:9-12
Who are you?
We tend to answer a question like this by talking about the things that we do. What if defining who we are was not connected to the things you do, rather the things you do is a direct result of who you are?
The coming of the Light of Christ, and choosing to walk in that Light, to build your hope on Who Jesus begins to mean something for WHO YOU ARE. What if your life began to be defined by what God proclaims over you as His child?
That becomes a life worth living. That becomes a story worth telling. That becomes an invitation worth offering…
w/ Vern Collins and testimony by Darcy Carson
3rd Sunday of Advent
from Titus 2:11-14
“If only I had __________, then my life would be different.”
How would you fill in that blank? The things we hope for are often the things that shape our lives…how we spend our time and energy, how we spend our resources, the things we pursue…and so often, those are the same things that leave us frustrated.
What might be different if we had something to hope in that was more than just a fleeting desire. What if our hope could be rooted in something eternal, something that would transform us…SOMEONE Who came to find us? Imagine how life could change if we lived life built on the foundation of hope made possible by Jesus.
w/ Vern Collins
2nd Sunday of Advent
from Isaiah 9:1-7
After establishing the relationship we tend to have with darkness…that is, that we long to see it done away with in the world around us and yet at times, learn to make friends with it within us…once we come to terms with the darkness we must allow ourselves to ask, “Who is this One Who was born into the darkness?”
In his first letter, when speaking about God, John says, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:6) How is it that the One in Whom there is no darkness, would willingly enter into the darkness of this world…into our darkness?
Isaiah paints a picture for us of the manner in which Jesus comes…one that is inviting, one that is meek, yet powerful; King, yet humble. What if the power of this Light to dispel darkness is wrapped up in the manner in which this Light comes?
w/ Vern Collins
1st Sunday of Advent
from Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 and John 3:19-20
Advent is meant to be a season of hope. Hope that God has not left us alone. Hope that things can change. Hope that this is not all there is…
Throughout Scripture the work of God, the presence of God, the coming of Christ are all associated with Light. We mark the season of Advent with the lighting of candles to remind us of this Light that has come and is coming…but can we truly appreciate this Light unless we are willing to understand the darkness into which it has dawned?
w/ Vern Collins
First Sunday in Advent
from Isaiah 9:1-7
As we begin the season of Advent, the march toward Christmas we must acknowledge that there is much that is familiar about this time of year. There are traditions we uphold, customs, gatherings that happen every year, people we expect to see, even food we expect to eat…it is part of what makes this time of year so special…being able to enjoy things that we don’t always get to.
What if in the familiar, we have lost sight of that which is foundational to our reason for celebrating? Has the birth of Christ simply become for us another familiar tradition rather then the foundation of our hope and the expectation of our future?
w/ Vern Collins
from John 8:12-20
Imagine what could change about the way your life and the world around you if you lived into the truth, that while things may seem dark now…the promise is that darkness not only will not endure, but has been swallowed up in Light!
w/ Jeff McClain
from John 1:1-18
Do you ever stop to think of the power of your words? Words have the power to create, and they have the power to destroy. Words have the power to uplift and they have the power to tear down, to heal and to wound…
As we begin our “Summer Reading” series through the Gospel of John, we are invited to encounter the power of One Word in particular…the fullness of the wisdom, and knowledge, and purpose, and creativity of God wrapped up in the flesh…Jesus.
What does it mean that this Word was spoken into the darkness? What does it mean that this Word is spoken into YOUR darkness?
w/ Vern
from Matthew 5:13-16
ou’ve likely heard that Christians should be, “in the world, but not of the world.” This saying comes from something Jesus says in the 17th chapter of John’s Gospel as he is praying to His Heavenly Father on behalf of His disciples. While this saying is not incorrect, too often we have a tendency to view it as the finish line when in reality, Jesus meant for it to be the starting point.
What if you began to think of being set apart as having purpose, rather than thinking about it as simply being sequestered from the rest of the world? Imagine what your life, leveraged in every situation for the sake of the Gospel, might begin to look like!
w/ Vern Collins
