Season: The Resurrection Changes Everything

Speaker: Jordan Burdge

Location: 2007 Frankford Ave.

About Talk: The Ascension, rather than being a sign that God has abandoned us, moves us to look more deeply to see the ways in which he is present in our own lives—especially in our sorrow, loneliness, and longing for wholeness—and in the world around us. This is the basic meaning of being witnesses, not that we bring to the world our certainty about God, ourselves, the truth, but we bring an invitation to join us in our quest to find God.

Season: Eastertide

Speaker: Rachel Sensenig

Location: 2212 S. Broad St.

About Talk: What seemed like an ending turned out to be an incredible new beginning. The disciples were worried about all that they lacked, but Jesus had won them the victory and was giving them power to be his witnesses right where they were, and all over the world. It turns out that heaven and earth are much more closely connected than we may have imagined. While we fear scarcity, God is giving us abundance through his Spirit.

Season: Life in the Spirit

Speaker: Ben White

Location: 3800 Marlton Pike

About Talk: What better way to celebrate that Jesus is alive than to look at all the really hard stuff Jesus gave us to do? We have been focusing on what life in the Spirit makes possible: radical forgiveness, a prejudice toward simplicity, impossible generosity and this week, enemy love! These are all really hard! They make the world such a better place, and they give us something worth running for, but goodness, they are hard. We need the Spirit to empower us. And the Spirit does empower us. It’s Pentecost Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve. Let’s use the power we have been given.

Season: The Resurrection Changes Everything

Speaker: Jonny Rashid

Location: 2007 Frankford Ave

Season: Eastertide

Speaker: Rachel Sensenig

Location: 2212 S. Broad St.

About Talk: We are meant to go deep with God. We need to have actual encounters with God to do that. Sometimes this feels like an epic experience, like Thomas had with Jesus, but more often than not it is the regular everyday seeking of God that makes us deep. Belief takes practice, and we’ve designed our church for that kind of spiritual development. That means that just showing up at the cell meeting, the Sunday meeting, and sharing your resources as regularly as you can will make you deep. The ritual, the rhythm, the structure of life together with other seekers is like the trellis that your tomato plant of faith can grow on. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who believe without seeing!” and that is a shout-out to you. Let your deep call to Deep every day. The epic moments might happen sometimes, but a relationship with God is even deeper than our perceptions.

Season: Life in the Spirit

Speaker: Interview with Shane Krusen

Location: 3800 Marlton Pike

Season: Life in the Spirit

Speaker: Ben White

Location: 3800 Marlton Pike

Season: Eastertide

Speaker: Julie Hoke

Location: 5720 Ridge Ave

About Talk: Jesus’ presence and purpose among us compels us to keep going and making disciples. We are moving this congregation to make room for the next person—both literally, and in our hearts. Each of us needs to sort through what we are lugging along that is not from God. Only take what is good. Move with what is from Jesus and leave the rest behind. Let’s embrace the disruption so that we do not lose sight of the mission our Lord has given us to keep going and keep making disciples. The move doesn’t do that for us, but we can use it to help us do that.

Season: Life in the Spirit

Speaker: Scott Sorrentino

Location: 3800 Marlton Pike, 6pm meeting

About Talk: We probably won’t be able to organize a revolution to supply the hope that the world needs. We aren’t smart enough, in Scott’s opinion, and we don’t agree enough to come up with a big institutional solution to even one problem plaguing the world. Success for Christians more often comes through weakness. We probably won’t get strong to change the world. We will get small and practice loving, especially those the world finds hard to love. Like Jean Vanier, founder of L’Arch International, who died last week. He spent his life loving disabled people. That is the more common and more reliable Christian hope. Even if our dedication to kindness does not spark an international movement, it will be worth it.

Season: Life in the Spirit

Speaker: Ben White

Location: 3800 Marlton Pike, 1030am meeting

About Talk: In Matthew 19:16-26, Jesus has an encounter with a rich young man who can’t let go of his stuff. We can find ourselves in similar difficulties with letting go. If we adopt as a community a prejudice toward simplicity this becomes a communal problem to solve and not just a personal moral failure. The Spirit helps us do the hard stuff. We want to grow up and become perfect (think more “complete” than “super good”). God is growing us up together. This is already happening. Every act of generosity, every sacrifice for others is a sign of the Spirit at work in the world. Let’s go for more of that.