Don’t Hit Back
This week, our message is from Romans 12:17-21, where Paul gives such great wisdom on what it means to live in "sweet communion." Paul teaches us how to "be" with each other, which is a great thing to (re)learn after a long season of disconnection. Ultimately, Paul wants us to remember that the world is not the problem. The world is the prize!Don't
Loss of Health
This week, we finish a month of talking together about how loss affects us and how this long season of uncertainty has contributed to our sense of loss and longing. We've talked about the loss of life, of meaning, of dreams, and we've used Ecclesiastes to help us explore the hope and purpose that can be found even in the most difficult of circumstances. This week, we conclude our series with a look at how God can redeem even the loss of our health by calling us into new ways to appreciate God's good gift
Loss Of Dreams
What do we do when faced with difficult the truth that things often don't go the way we hope? How do we pull out of the grief brought on by the loss of our dreams? What are our options? What's more, how do we ensure we are able to stand firm once we do manage to heal from all the disappointments? We'll find answers to those questions and more as we explore Ecclesiastes 3. We'll find a gentle reminder telling us we have been invited into God's dreams. All we need to do is learn to live them faithfully. Christopher is our preacher this week! See you Sunday.
Topics: Dreams, God's Dreams, redemption
Loss Of Meaning
Last week we spent time in Ecclesiastes 1. On the surface, the chapter seems a bit harsh. But we learned that in order to find meaning in the midst of difficult times we must look for life beyond our everyday passions and pursuits. Because life is not God. God is Life. This week we'll spent time answering questions like: how can we be sure to live a life with lasting meaning? Is life ultimately meaningless or is there a way of being so rooted in the Kingdom of God that it takes on greater meaning than we can conceive?
Topics: Life, Loss, Meaning, Purpose, Redeemtion
Loss of Life
We've all lost through the pandemic. We've lost routines, rhythms, hopes, relationships, jobs. Some of us have lost loved ones. Others have felt the pain of prior losses more acutely. When we are struggling to cope with a complicated life, we feel our feelings deeply. We may struggle with loneliness, struggle to remember our purpose in the world, struggle with memories and derailed dreams. Beginning this week, we'll take some time to talk about how we can redeem our losses, using the wisdom of Ecclesiastes as our guide. We'll explore the hope and purpose that can be found -- maybe not in our circumstances -- but certainly in a good, loving, all-seeing God. I look forward to jumping into this study with you! ~Carolyn
Topics: God is Life, Hope, Life, redemption
Always Perseveres
This week, we will wrap up our Always Family series with a word on what it means to always persevere. Ours is a faith that believes God for his promises, even when we struggle to understand how God will work it all out. It's a faith that calls us to wait in holy expectation, and to hang on long past good sense. And ours is a community built on that faith and steeped in the truth that in Christ we already have what we need to always persevere.
Topics: Grit, Hope, Passion, Perseverance, Reason
Always Hopes
This month, we've been talking about what it means to be an "Always Family," just like Paul described. What does it mean to bear with each other in love? What does the Bible say about trusting people who aren't all that trustworthy? This week, we'll talk about how to "always hope" in a world that seems much more ready to disappoint and discourage us. We'll draw from scripture as well as one of the more powerful (and famous) hope-filled speeches of our generation, and we'll learn that even in tough times, hope IS possible. This is a good word for a burdened world.
Topics: Biblical Hope
Always Trusts
We hope you’ll listen to last week’s message so you can get the visual of the red Solo cup in your head. That cup is a great encouragement. We know while we are making excuses and dragging our feet, God is waving flies away from our “cup” and waiting in love for our response. Ours is an Always God who never disappoints. This week we discover that he is also a God we can trust, who calls us into a trusting community. I can’t wait to talk through this one with you, as we learn together what it means to be an Always Family.
Always Protects
Disconnection is trending. We want to blame it on Covid, and it is true that pandemic life has put “distancing” into our everyday vocabulary. But the fact is, disconnection was cool before Covid and it probably won’t disappear when Covid recedes into the background. Why is that? On our own, we trend away from communities of grace. Rewiring ourselves to lean into our relationships requires intentional habits inspired by, empowered by, and sustained by the Holy Spirit.
This month, we'll talk about how that happens in a series of messages called "The Always Family." What is an "Always Family"? Paul describes it in his letter to the Corinthian church. It is a community that always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. What a great family to be part of! Let's learn together what it means to be an "always family" so we can make the most of 2022. See you Sunday!
New Improved Year Resolution
A new year is an incredibly hopeful thing for me. It isn't just that we get to try again, but that we can be hopeful about what's ahead. And I am a fan of hope! Hope is probably what encourages New Year resolutions, but is that the best way to welcome hope into our lives? Especially since most of us end up dropping them by mid-January, it seems as if resolutions can be counter-productive. And as Steve Moore shares with us this week, they may not even be biblical. What if we focus instead in the person of Christ, rather than the work of life? That's where we'll be this Sunday as we begin the Year of Sweet Communion.
Topics: Biblical Expectation, Focus, Jesus, Resolution
