Isaiah 55:8-13 is a rebuttal to the idea of overwork and offers a balance to value rest when needed. Pastor Cana presents us with the idea that the purposes of God are God’s to bring about. We are encouraged to rest and rejoice in God’s ability to accomplish His purpose.

Matthew 26:47-53 describes Jesus Christ’s arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane and His response. Pastor Cana makes the case that Christ is firstly a peacemaker, living in a non-violent way and mindset, and it should shape our language and actions. We are encouraged to resist the violent language and conquering outlook of the world and choose to follow Christ the Peacemaker.

Matthew 7:13-14 describes the narrow gate and hard road to eternal life. Pastor Cana explains that the gate to God is narrow not to test us, but because living like Jesus is a challenging road. Our place is on the way because we have chosen it, living with compassion in a hardened world.

Returning to the Fruit of the Spirit, Pastor Cana opens to Genesis 15:6-18, where God makes a promise to Abram/Abraham that his descendants will suffer, but ultimately be rewarded. The fruit of faithfulness in Abraham is only possible because of God’s faithfulness. In us, God’s faithfulness will form our faithfulness during the long life of faith.

Pastor Cana opens to Psalm 84, which comes from the family of Korah, who well understand of the house and place of God. They knew that to be in the presence of God was better than being anywhere else. Our joy comes from the fact that God’s presence provides us a best place to be.

In tradition to highlight Christians of history, Joanne Tramel speaks of abolitionist Harriet Tubman (born in slavery as Araminta Ross in 1822). A traumatic brain injury sustained in her youth brought her visions from God. After escaping slavery, she was encouraged by God to help others find freedom through the Underground Railroad, then during the Civil War in the Union army. In every accomplishment, she gave God the credit, which we can apply to our own lives.

For Transfiguration Sunday, Pastor Cana opens to 2 Peter 1:12-19, which lays out the important final thoughts from the wise apostle Peter to those in need of guidance. Christ’s confirmed glory in His transfiguration is a light for us in a dark place that we can rely on as a centering point of our lives.

Pastor Cana concludes the summer sermon series on prayer with Jeremiah 32:16-25, in which the prophet Jeremiah prays after he and his people abandoned God and faced the consequences of their choice. Yet, God provided a promise. We, like Jeremiah, can pray in hope that even when we don’t keep faithful to God, we can rejoice that God’s faithfulness is greater than human abandonment.

The next prayer of Pastor Cana’s focus comes from 2 Chronicles 20:5-12, where Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, while struggling to defend the nation against Moab, turns to God for rescue as their only hope. When we do not know what to do, Jehoshaphat’s prayer teaches us to look to God and trust Him when we are in impossible situations.

Picking up in the Fruit of the Spirit series, Pastor Cana opens to Romans 12:9-21, where the author pushes the Christians of Rome to be servants to one another, to serve in their giftedness and not seek to be someone else, and reminding them that God’s will can be revealed in their work together for God’s kingdom. God gives us community in which the Spirit can grow the fruit of goodness.