The work of God's mission isn't just for a special few.  It's not even just stuff overseas or big projects or programs.  It comes in the form of opportunities both big and small where the Kingdom of God confronts the kingdom of darkness with extravagant love. Every single follower of Jesus is called to live on mission with him, doing what he's doing and going where he's going.  So...who is God sending you to this week?  

As John Wesley said,  "But in general, it seems, the kingdom of God will not "come with observation;" but will silently increase, wherever it is set up, and spread from heart to heart, from house to house, from town to town, from one kingdom to another." 

 Key Texts: Luke 4:18-19, John 20:21

You weren’t made to live your life alone. Central to the Biblical narrative is the idea that human beings are made in the image of a relational God. The consequence of sin is a fractured fellowship between people, God, and one another. The redemption story in the New Testament, how God is bringing his Kingdom in all it’s glory, has a lot to do with how people relate together. As the 18th century Moravian leader Count Zinzendorf said, “I recognize no Christianity without fellowship.” Sharing genuine Christian fellowship is absolutely essential to living a life following Jesus. This week, Pastor Steve takes an in-depth look at the why and how of sharing our lives with one another. 

Key texts: Hebrews 10:24-25; Acts 2:42-47

“The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.” (Luke 6:40, NIV)

How do people change? Is it even possible for people to change…really? Many of us feel stuck in our life. Old hurts, habits, and hang ups control us far more than we’d like. So, how do we reconcile what we read in the New Testament - about the ability lead holy and godly lives - with our day-in, day-out lived experience? There’s got to be a better way, right?

Good News - there is!

This week, we consider a pathway of spiritual formation into Christlikeness. Pastor Steve addresses some common models of change (both secular and religious) and introduces the model of change that Jesus uses. It’s not about trying harder in the moment, but using the spiritual disciplines (or, the means of grace) to indirectly train our character to become like Jesus.

Key Texts: Romans 12:1-2, Luke 6:40, 1 Timothy 4:7-8

To be hungry is to be human. We all have innate desires for a whole variety of things - companionship, meaning, purpose, validation, justice, beauty, goodness, pleasure, joy, peace, and love (to name a few).

Humans were made with desires that are both sharpened (in one sense) and dulled (in another) this side of Eden. Our longing finds its fulfillment in the love of God. All too often, our problem is that we settle in our desires for lesser things that cost much but deliver little ultimate satisfaction.

This week, Pastor Steve helps us explore our first core value in Jesus’ way of life as we seek to learn from him how to be human - seeking growth in the love of God. In it, we find many questions and a few answers. But the ultimate invitation is to seek the Lord and return to the intimacy with him that we were made for.

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Key texts: Isaiah 55:1-6, John 4:11-13, John 6:35, Matthew 5:6

Jesus' invitation in the Gospels was for people to follow him.  In a way, that seems relatively easy to do if you're in the first century.  You walk around with Jesus, talk to Jesus, and do the stuff that Jesus is doing.  In other words, you live Jesus' way of life.  And though it may seem harder in some respects, this is just as true for followers of Jesus today.  In this teaching, Pastor Steve opens us up to the Way of Life and what it means to be a missional disciple.  

Key texts: 1 John 2:3-6, Matthew 11:28-30

What's the purpose of the Church? Why does the Church exist? In this vision series to kick of 2023, Pastor Steve explores the "why" behind the Church.  Part of this means understanding the purpose of human life more broadly and just why God chooses to use people as part of his redemptive plan.  In studying this together, we come to see the vision that God has for his "special possession".  At a time when some are predicting the demise of the Church, there is tremendous opportunity and reason for Hope as we re-focus on what God called us to in the first place. 

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Key texts: 1 Peter 2:4-5,9-10; Genesis 1:27-28; Exodus 19:6; Revelation 5:10

Every year, our church revisits this Covenant Renewal tradition that John Wesley instituted in 1775.  After nearly 40 years of practical experience, he felt it was important for Methodists to calibrate their hearts before God at the start of a new year.  In this message, Pastor Steve explores the history of the practice and Wesley's thinking on the relationship between nominal Christianity and genuine discipleship. 

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The Wesley Covenant Covenant Prayer 

I am no longer my own, but thine.

We live in a Dark World and Jesus comes into this world as a Light in the darkness.  We have a lot of different ways of coping with the darkness but, as Pastor Steve explains, these amount to little more than flashlights.  What Jesus comes to offer is the genuine Light that outshines all others.  

Thanks for listening and for your support this year!

Key texts: Luke 2:1-20; John 8:12

We live in a world that so easily conflates Joy and Happiness.  In this thinking, joy is little more than good feelings and its attained through...well, whatever it takes to give me those good feelings.  But interestingly, Jesus points us to a different way of approaching joy.  Both what it is and how we experience it are radically different.  

In this third week of Advent, Pastor Steve continues our teaching with this passage from John 15:9-11 and John 17:13.  Joy is a gift that we gratefully receive from the Lord; it isn't something that we can just take on our own.  

Hope is "the joyous anticipation of good that is not yet here." Hope is a future oriented posture.  For many of us who look to our futures, hope is not the first thing we experience.  So, as we begin this season of Advent, preparing our hearts for the coming of Jesus in the past, present, and future, we do so with Hope.  Paul's prayer in Romans 15 helps us to see the relationship between Hope and Faith in the Triune God.  As his hope overflows in our lives so can we overflow with Hope into the lives of the people around us. 

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Scripture: Romans 15:13