As we wrap up our 2024-25 Theme: “Flourish” Pastor Chad encourages us to discover a critical part of truly flourishing in all parts of our life: HOPE!

A better understanding of the original language of Bible can often help us better understand some of the most familiar Bible verses.  For instance in “Go and make disciples” the word Go in the original Greek is an active verb not a directive. It is more like: “As you go on your way, be making disciples along the way.” This means we don’t have to go to some far away place to make disciples, we can use our everyday words and actions in our own neighborhoods to share the Good News.

Do you have to believe the right things and behave the right way in order to belong? Or are those just Roadblocks, Restrictions, Regulations, Conditions, Stipulations, Limitations, & Constraints, that we set up to keep others on the outside? In our Focus Text this week, Jesus says he is the gate and we are the sheep. Does this mean we have to measure up to pass thru the gate or risk being left out with the bandits? Pastor Chad invites us to consider the way Jesus interacted with strangers: he first offered an invitation to belong without first passing some test, then belonging changed their behavior, and finally it led to belief!

The Red Letters of the Bible (Jesus' words) have a lot to say about how we should live. And, some of this advice is really hard to do, like: Love Your Enemy. The good news is Jesus did more than just speak this advice, his actions modeled the kind of love that we are created to share with all people, even our enemies!

When imagining our “best self” we can get stuck thinking about the past, before major traumatic life changes. The Prophet Zephaniah was writing to a whole nation (Israel) after the shared trauma of the Babylonian Exile, sharing the hope that God would bring restoration. But the restoration would only come by moving forward through the trauma not by returning to the idealized “best self” of the time before the Exile. The short book of Zephaniah is a good reminder that God is calling us to move forward knowing that God is with us even in the midst of the traumatic times of our life.

Life doesn’t always go as expected, if it did Pastor Stephanie would be an Olympic Figure Skater by now! When we encounter the unexpected storms in life that take us off the path we had envisioned we should remember the God who was with Sarah, Elizabeth, and Mary is also with us through the storms.

Hear more about how the Parables of the Lost Coin and the Lost Sheep offer hope when we are feeling lost and alone. Sometimes when we’ve lost our way and feel all alone it can seem like we aren’t worth the effort of searching. The Good News is that, like the 1 sheep in flock of 100 or the single coin in a purse of ten, God is always going to search for you, because as a Child of God you are valued beyond measure!

Ugghhhh!! It’s a gasp of frustration. It is “Hevel” a Hebrew word that in our Focus Text for this week is translated as vanity. Hevel is literally vapor or the fruitlessness of trying to grab your breath as you exhale. Pastor Chad appreciates how the teacher in Ecclesiastes finds chasing success or even wallowing in despair to be hevel, vanity, grabbing at a vapor, because it is a fleeting moment. Pastor Chad finds Ecclesiastes to be a reminder to live authentically in the moment you’re in and appreciate the grace of God that is found in every moment.

Studies have shown children laugh up to 400 times per day. And in the same study adults laughed only 15 times per day on average. Adults have lost or hidden the joy that comes from laughter. Laughter is a gift from God that can bring healing even when life seems gloomy. In our Focus Text for this week, Psalm 126, the people are asking God to turn their sorrow & grief into joy & laughter.

Our Focus Text for this week is Psalm 150. The Book of Psalms is like a Playlist of 150 songs or poems or prayers. The final song invites us to Praise the Lord with music of all sorts. But what if we arein a place of grief or sadness or anger where we don't feel we can Praise the Lord? Pastor Stephanie invites us to view this final song on the playlist as a reminder that after praying with persistence the promise of God with us remains as reason to lift up our songs of praise!