In week two of our Prayer Practice we begin to learn how to talk with God. Praying pre-made prayers is a beautiful way to pray. It’s where we start our prayer journey, and it’s a place we revisit all through our lives. But at some point in our life of prayer, we desire to pray our own words to God — to share what’s on our mind, our heart. Our pain, our joy, our hopes and fears. We can’t help but desire to interact with God in a more authentic, personalized way.

Prayer

Prayer, at its most basic, is the medium through which we communicate and commune with God. Over four weeks we'll learn how, in our busy and distracted lives, to set aside dedicated time to intentionally be with God, in order to become like him and partner with him in the world.

We begin our Prayer Practice by exploring the first stage of prayer: talking to God. When the disciples asked Jesus, “Teach us to pray,” in Luke 11, Jesus replied, “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name...’” He gave them a pre-made prayer to pray to God. Pre-made prayers can look like praying the Lord’s Prayer, singing through the Psalms or using a prayer app on your phone. This way of praying can be incredibly helpful in various seasons of our lives: when we’re learning to pray, when we’re exhausted or sick, when we’re traveling and find it hard to focus, or when we’re living with grief and doubt, searching for the right words to talk to God. “The prayers of the saints,” can carry us through.

Prayer

Prayer, at its most basic, is the medium through which we communicate and commune with God. Over four weeks we'll learn how, in our busy and distracted lives, to set aside dedicated time to intentionally be with God, in order to become like him and partner with him in the world.

In one sense we are the most connected society that has ever walked the face of the planet. But that same technology which, at it's best, enables us to talk face-to-face with someone on the other side of the world, at it's worst, enables us to pretend that someone in the same room as us doesn't even exist. The connection that the online world claims to offer us is an illusion and it's a large factor in the growing "friendship recession" that is running rampant through the Western world. The Way of Jesus offers us a radical alternative to the loneliness of the modern, digital world — a way of living in community that fulfills the deep ache within us for meaningful connection with other human beings.

Ancient//Future: Vision 2026

Just as looking to the past to innovate for the future has a rich history in the field of human achievement, so there is a growing movement within the Jesus' Church who are taking to heart God's words in Jeremiah 6:16, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." It's time to relearn the ancient truths of God's word and rethink how to communicate them in our present day; to rediscover ancient practices from the Way of Jesus and reimagining them for our modern age.

We've been taught that faith is about a decision (choosing to trust in Jesus) and a destination (going to heaven when we die), but the Gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus preached seems to put a lot more weight on the part in between the decision and the destination than we sometimes do. The journey of faith — the way we walk out our apprenticeship to Jesus — is at the heart of being a Christian, and just as with any journey, a map and a path to follow are extremely helpful tools to help us on our way.

Ancient//Future: Vision 2026

Just as looking to the past to innovate for the future has a rich history in the field of human achievement, so there is a growing movement within the Jesus' Church who are taking to heart God's words in Jeremiah 6:16, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." It's time to relearn the ancient truths of God's word and rethink how to communicate them in our present day; to rediscover ancient practices from the Way of Jesus and reimagining them for our modern age.

This Mother's Day we brought together six women in our church family who are various stages of motherhood to get their perspectives on life and hear what God has taught them through the joys and struggles of being a mom.

The modern Western world is a very confusing place. Recent generations have become more and more adept at deconstructing age-old ways of thinking and living, but what is often missing is the ability to reconstruct the dismantled pieces into a workable framework for living in the 21st Century. This leaves many standing amid the rubble of a world that belonged to previous generations with no clue as to where to go from here. More than ever, a confused world needs a loving church that holds unswervingly to a set of kingdom convictions that have stood the test of time, and marked out God's people for two millennia.

Ancient//Future

Just as looking to the past to innovate for the future has a rich history in the field of human achievement, so there is a growing movement within the Jesus' Church who are taking to heart God's words in Jeremiah 6:16, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." It's time to relearn the ancient truths of God's word and rethink how to communicate them in our present day; to rediscover ancient practices from the Way of Jesus and reimagining them for our modern age.

Most people in the Western world live life at a break-neck speed. The technology that was once predicted to expand our leisure has instead expanded our labor. This state of constant exhaustion and crippling anxiety is the enemy of life with God, but by practicing the ancient Way of Jesus, it is possible for us to find rest for our souls. This radically different way of life that stands in defiance to the cultural expectations and norms of Western society will require intentional and difficult choices, but it has the potential to meet the deep ache in all of us to slow down and simplify our lives as we find rest in him.

Ancient//Future: Vision 2026

Just as looking to the past to innovate for the future has a rich history in the field of human achievement, so there is a growing movement within the Jesus' Church who are taking to heart God's words in Jeremiah 6:16, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." It's time to relearn the ancient truths of God's word and rethink how to communicate them in our present day; to rediscover ancient practices from the Way of Jesus and reimagining them for our modern age.

What does it mean to follow Jesus in 2026 on the Central Coast of California? So many people feel stuck in their spiritual journey much of the time, but following Jesus is an ancient way of life that so many have walked before us, including Jesus' first disciples. What can we learn from their experience as we reimagine our discipleship and community life for the 21st century?

Ancient//Future

Just as looking to the past to innovate for the future has a rich history in the field of human achievement, so there is a growing movement within the Jesus' Church who are taking to heart God's words in Jeremiah 6:16, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." It's time to relearn the ancient truths of God's word and rethink how to communicate them in our present day; to rediscover ancient practices from the Way of Jesus and reimagining them for our modern age.

What is life really all about? The average Christian might answer, "To have a relationship with God, so that when I die, I can go to heaven and be with him for all eternity." That's not a bad answer, but according to the pages of scripture, it's an incomplete answer. When Jesus discusses eternal life with his disciples in Matthew 19, he points out two key truths that the modern western church has almost completely forgotten — that all of history is heading towards the renewal of all things, and the rule of Jesus' followers.

Ancient//Future: Vision 2026

Just as looking to the past to innovate for the future has a rich history in the field of human achievement, so there is a growing movement within the Jesus' Church who are taking to heart God's words in Jeremiah 6:16, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." It's time to relearn the ancient truths of God's word and rethink how to communicate them in our present day; to rediscover ancient practices from the Way of Jesus and reimagining them for our modern age.

All throughout scripture God reveals himself as a God of new beginnings, but no more so than in the Easter resurrection story. The first Easter Sunday turned history on it's head as the new age of the kingdom of heaven was inaugurated and a new story began to be written for for all of creation.