Life isn’t a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ Book. We don’t get to choose the circumstances or the outcomes in our lives. And we don’t usually get an opportunity to go back and make a different choice for a better outcome. As much as we want to have control over our lives the reality is our lives are full of peaks of great joy and valleys of great grief that enter our lives unexpectedly. This week Pastor Chad explores the unexpected journey of Ruth. Circumstances lead Naomi and Ruth on a path that they would never choose to be on. While Ruth didn’t choose the path, she did choose to make the best of the circumstances. She choose to follow Naomi into a foreign & hostile land because she found belonging with Naomi and her trust & hope in the God of Israel.

Where do you belong? As we kick-off a new year of learning with a new theme we are using the Momentum of knowing God’s Story to find our Community that is then sent out in Service to our neighbors. This month we will be exploring Believable Belonging. Pastor Stephanie invites us to consider where we find belonging. How does our understanding of God’s calling us Children of God help us define the Community in which we all belong? Are we responding to peer pressures or are we in Community based on our shared identity as children of God?

Is it worth it? Jesus tells his disciples: “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” So, have you done the cost-benefit analysis of following Jesus? Is it worth it? While hating your family is certainly hyperbole used for emphasis the cost is still great! Following Jesus means you will lose things you may hold dear: your black & white sense of fairness, your understanding of hierarchy, your neat little boxes used to contain your world. The cost of discipleship is everything that isn’t grounded in the unconditional love, grace, mercy, and compassion of God’s Kingdom. It is a high cost and the benefit is a world where everyone experiences and shares unconditional love, grace, mercy, and compassion as God intended!

In a world obsessed with status & power it is easy to see everyone else as your competition. In this week’s Gospel Jesus shares a story that reshapes our understanding of power. The Kingdom of God turns our worldly understanding upside down, those who exalt themselves are humbled and the humble are exalted. Pastor Chad invites us to let this story change the way we see and interact with the world, our community, and ourselves. How will your life be changed when you see your neighbor not as your competition but rather as a fellow Child of God?

Are you a Rule Follower? Or a Rule Breaker? In this week’s Gospel Jesus is a Rule Breaker! Pastor Stephanie reminds us that sometimes in order to “Do the Right Thing” we have to break some rules or social norms that get in the way. It truly is good news that God remains willing to break the rules in order to extend us healing and love when the world says we don’t deserve it!

What Race are you 'Running'? Even if you are not running a marathon, or 5K, or any literal race, you have a challenge in front of you that requires stamina. This week Pastor Stephanie reminds us that no matter the 'race' we're running we have the support of a "great cloud of witnesses" cheering us on, supporting us, and even pacesetting. So when we 'hit the wall' and don't think we can continue we can count on the faith community to be there for us!

There’s a lot of jargon, thrown around in our modern world. We seem to be very fond of acronyms and made up words that are meaningless to anyone outside our line of work. The same could be said for our modern interpretation of the biblical story. In this week’s Gospel there are two catchphrases that Pastor Chad invites us to look at differently. With a little different perspective, the words move from tools used to judge others to life-giving words of hope!

Inheritance can be a tricky thing. Many of us would love to inherit a fortune because things in this world cost money, right! But they can also cause strain on family relationships, deepen our sense of greed, and take our focus from the more important things in life! Pastor Stephanie reminds us that our most important inheritance is one that cannot be taken from us like wealth. As Children of God we have the opportunity to make a difference in this world that will outlast any material wealth.

There is a wide range of experiences and beliefs surrounding prayer among those with a faith tradition, including Christians. This week Pastor Chad shares how The Lord’s Prayer helped change his perspective on prayer. Jesus was teaching his disciples a lot more than a simple prayer to recite from memory, sometimes in a single breath! Jesus uses the simple prayer to teach the disciples, and us, what the world could be like if we lived into God’s vision for Creation. The prayer is also a call to action inviting us into helping build the kind of community God desires for us all. What seems like a simple prayer can change your whole perspective!

So many words! Words that shape a story. Words that can distort a story. Words that can inspire. Words that can harm. Today Pastor Chad invites us to consider the words that Jesus used. Words that formed a powerful story. A story so powerful it caused Mary to stop what she was doing, what was expected of her, what her sister continued to do. The story stopped Mary in her tracks so that she could listen to Jesus continue the story, a story that she was now a character in. When we stop and listen to God’s story we find ourselves in the story. Seeing ourselves in the story changes us and inspires us to share God’s story with others. We can share the story with our words but more importantly with our actions that help others find themselves part of God’s story!