Matthew 12:1-13; Isaiah 56:3-8; Amos 8:4-10
"He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

Keeping the Sabbath is not about you sleeping in your pajamas as much as it is working your hardest to love the most unlovable people in your life. It is one thing to understand and observe the systems of brick making that we find ourselves in that have robbed us of our freedom and have left us with nothing but anxiety and worry. However, God is not a God who is only content in setting individuals free. God gives the Sabbath for his people to love one another and BE with one another. It's not enough to recognize the brick systems, we have walk out! But what are we walking into? The goal is to create space to walk out into the green pastures of play, neighborliness, and true rest. The only problem is that we are so racked with anxiety that even our play is worrisome, even our rest brings multitasking. Join us as we look to Christ and follow him in stepping into a new way of looking at time, the needy, and Sabbath rest.

Exodus 1:6-14; 5:6-14; 20:8-11
So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.

What does it mean to be a part of a system that does not allow for rest but demands more and more production, quota keeping, and the turning our neighbors into the competition? For 400 years the people of God only knew to make bricks. This was their job and this is what they did without any concept of rest or Sabbath. Unfortunately, living in the culture in which we find ourselves we have replaced with bricks with many others things that keep us enslaved to restlessness. Join us as we begin a two part series in an attempt to find the true rest that Christ offers in himself.

Matthew 25:31-46 
"And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,you did it to me."

Abortion is one of the most taboo words we know. For anyone who has been adopted or has had an abortion this is a painful issue. If it's so painful, then why talk about it? We need to talk about it because we've been handed a vocabulary of pro-life and pro-choice that needs to change. The entire politicization of this issue should never be framed in those terms. Join us as we worship the God who brings things to life. Hear the stories, eat the bread and drink the wine of transformation and come to life. If you know someone hurting from Post Abortion Stress or you yourself are, know that this is not a sermon to add guilt to the shame but rather a sermon to bring Christ the judge and Christ the one who sets people free into a conversation that has for too long been dominated by politics.

Romans 6:1-2

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Sexual sin and the shame that goes with it is paralyzing. Anyone's path to healing will begin with confession and will end with freedom. You never have sex with just a body. Sex is always with a soul. As we prepare for a very difficult upcoming Taboo topic (Porn and Masturbation) do not let shame and fear keep you in bondage. Come hear the stories. Come taste the grace. Christ came to set captives free, not shame captives behind a cage of sin. You were meant to be free but that freedom can feel like it's going to kill you. Trust us, it won't. Trust us, you can be free.

Genesis 1:1-31; Psalm 8:1-9

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Christians believe with full certainty that God created the universe. Across the board, we are in full agreement about this truth. This belief, not only takes us back beyond the garden of Eden but pushes us forward to re-creation, when Christ returns. God as creator, fills us with hope that we are in no way an accident. For the past two centuries though, science and technology has pushed many Christians and Atheists for that matter, to believe that science and faith are incompatible. We believe though that all truth is God's truth, even if it's a mystery. Join us as we look at the Taboo topic of how God created the universe and how we can use science to expand our view and love of God.

Matthew 18:2-6
And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."

Matthew 9:12
On hearing this Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need to a physician but the sick. I have come for the sick."

Abuse comes in many forms and for too long the church has hidden behind excuses and religious jargon. It will be impossible for us to tackle the entire issue in one weekend and we know much work needs to be done to bring healing to the victims and repentance to the abuser. Is there room at the table of Christ for both? Yes, there always has been and always will be. However, before we can walk down that road toward true community, the truth needs to be on the table. Until victims speak up and abusers own their sin we are stuck. Join us as we talk about this taboo topic and please pray for so many in our community who are trying to get to God but just can't because of the affects of abuse.

Romans 14:1-12

There is no chance that we are going to get out of life alive. We all die and we all die in a particular community at a particular time. This means each life is a part of a larger story. What story are we telling? "Gregg Jennings died on Thursday morning January 22nd 2015, after a long battle with XYZ." We live in communities and we die in communities. That doesn't mean we know how to die well or how to care for one another as we walk through the season of dying. What do you need in the hour of your death? Who determines what we need? What role does your community of faith play in your dying and why aren't we talking about it? Join us as we look at the role of the church as midwife to the afterlife.

There is something magical about the friends who bring their paralytic friend to Jesus. This story has always captured the hearts and minds of the church and on Sunday we will be using this text as a launching pad into a discussion about what truly is Gospel Centered Community. Join us as we continue in our study of Common Ground's core values of worship, community, and mission

Guest Speaker: Dan Lemelin

Luke 2:1-20 (John 1:1-5)