10:30am - Great Room

How is the Soil?

Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23

This Sunday we continue a new sermon series through the parables of Jesus we are calling "Scandal of Grace." We continue to consider how Jesus' parables were a way to challenge and change people's assumptions and perceptions of God's Kingdom. This week look at one of the parables Jesus actually explains in the gospels, the Parable of the Sower. Our hope is to consider the different ways we might respond to the good news of the Kingdom so that God might work in our hearts to bring forward "good soil" for bearing Kingdom fruit.

9:45am - Anchor Gym

A Scandalous Sower

Matthew 13:1-23

Who would ever “waste” three quarters of their seed on ground that can’t produce fruit? We know what hard compact ground, rocky ground and weedy ground will produce don’t we? Or…are things not quite what they may seem, and are things possibly different from what we think we “know”? If we’re open to what the sower is doing, we may find out that what we see as scandalous and wasteful is full of immense generosity and grace.

10:30am - Great Room

In the Ordinary

Luke 13: 17-21

This Sunday we continue a new sermon series through the parables of Jesus we are calling "Scandal of Grace." We continue to consider how Jesus' parables were a way to challenge and change people's assumptions and perceptions of God's Kingdom. This week Jesus challenges our modern attraction to the big, beautiful spectacle by sharing a parable about the meager mustard seed and dash of yeast. May the Spirit continue to guide and shape our response to God in ordinary faithfulness.

9:00 am - Sanctuary

Itty-Bitty Beginnings

Luke 13:18–21

Things that start small often grow to become very significant and with an enormous impact: the Kingdom of God is an example (Luke 13:18-21), but so is sin (Luke 12:1) and God’s work in the world (Zechariah 4:8-10). Part of dealing with the “big issues” that we face, is getting back to and identifying the small seeds from which they started.

9:45am - Anchor Gym

Infatuated with the Impressive

Luke 13:10-21

Bigger is better...right? So often we are captured by the impressive, the spectacular, the grand. Because we're impressed, we sometimes turn "bigger is better" into our expectation for how things should be. What we will see this week however is that the kingdom of God often times is very small and unimpressive by our world's standard. It can even not be seen or perceived, but that doesn't mean God isn't working and the kingdom isn't breaking it and growing.

9:00 am - Sanctuary

A Tale of Two Debtors

Luke 7:36-50

Forgiveness – How much do you need? And what determines how much you receive? Two different people interact with Jesus, and each of them has a very different experience. We will look at what is at the root of this difference, and what it means for us.

10:30am - Great Room

No Comparison

Luke 7: 36-50

This Sunday we begin a new sermon series through the parables of Jesus we are calling "Scandal of Grace." We will consider how Jesus' parables were a way to challenge and change people's assumptions and perceptions of God's Kingdom. This week Jesus challenges comes to a Pharisee named Simon who is appalled by the presence of a sinful woman at his dinner party. We will consider how Jesus' words might challenge how we see the people around us and maybe more importantly - how we see Jesus.

9:45am - Anchor Gym

An Uninvited Guest

Luke 7:36-50

As a we start our winter series in some of the parables of Jesus and the Kingdom of God, today we will be seeing how an uninvited guest to a dinner will reveal Jesus’ heart of forgiveness towards all, and that all people are in need of that forgiveness no matter what their status is.

9:00 am - Sanctuary

The Promised Prophet

Acts 3:11-26

The start of a new year offers us an opportunity to look both forward and backward. Perhaps we are looking for a renewed purpose or change in our lives. In Acts 3, we encounter Peter and the other disciples in Solomon's Colonnade at the temple in Jerusalem as they continue to make sense of their new future in light of Jesus' resurrection. There, we find them looking backward to the words of Deuteronomy and forwards to the transformation and purpose found through faith in Jesus Christ. As we explore this story together, we find a poignant reminder of what it means to put our trust in the one who is anointed as our true prophet.

10:30am - Great Room

Remember and Follow

Deuteronomy 8: 1-20

On this first Sunday of 2022 we consider the importance of being a people who remember well. We remember our stories of the past in order to step into the future in faithfulness. This was part of Moses final words to God's people as they stood on the edge of the Promised Land in the book of Deuteronomy. This continues to be an important word for us as God's people entering a new year during uncertain times. May we faithfully follow the one who is faithful in and through our stories.