Pastor Steve Tollefson guest preaches on how God gives us a purpose, not as benevolent dictator, but as the one who guides and nurtures. God gives each one of us a unique song to sing, and our purpose can change over our lifetimes.

Why am I here? It's a question that takes right to our purpose in life. And its question that drives us to God. This week Pastor Mia connects how Nicodemus in the gospel was searching for meaning and how we can ask questions like Nicodemus, searching for our own meaning. Then we open ourselves be being born anew in the Spirit and living being blown around by winds of God — being blown to purpose and thriving.

When we can’t find a cause for people’s suffering, we blame God. After all, what good is God if he can’t stop the suffering of the innocent? One of the primary sources of suffering, however, is not the Lord. When God gave humans free will, he took a tremendous risk. This week Pastor Mia assures us that God would never support illness, accidents, and unjust pain. Instead we need to think of suffering as a tool that produces hope.

God hears more than our words when we pray. He also takes in our thoughts, emotions, and desires. God’s response, however, requires us to have patience and an understanding that the answer or lack of an answer contributes to our spiritual journey. So how do we handle the reality of answered and unanswered prayers? Guest preacher Randall Feaster shares useful guidelines for maintaining a resilient prayer life.

Is heaven real? Initially, people didn’t think of an afterlife. However, thousands of years later, Jesus described heaven as a house with a place prepared for each of us. Despite Christ’s extensive teaching about heaven, doubt surrounds the reality of life after death. Reported near-death experiences are evidence of heaven’s existence, but they aren’t concrete proof. Perhaps then, Pastor Mia explains, heaven is like faith—a choice.

If Christianity is the one true religion, what happens to non-Christians after death? This week Pastor Mia looks at how doubt can help you ponder this question. Are generous non-Christians excluded from heaven, while mean and nasty Christians are allowed? When you apply doubt to this equation, it doesn’t add up because action matters and so does being Christian.

The Bible includes an assortment of contradictions. So how do we reconcile the texts that aren’t in agreement? How do we choose which one to follow, or how to trust the inspiration of God? In this week’s message, Pastor Mia explains that using doubt as a spiritual tool can help you sort through the contradictions. Interpretation matters, because it mattered to Jesus. And faithful interpretation includes alignment with the overarching themes of the history of salvation. Pastor Mia explores some specific passages about eunuchs, kosher, and male homosexuality.

The disciples doubted and the demons didn't. Discover how doubt can be a spiritual tool.

We all have crucifixion moments in our lives — when darkness, despair, pain, or grief seem to get the upper hand. But with resurrection, the worst thing is never the last thing. This week Pastor Mia invites us to resurrected life, where there is joy and hope. That's how it was for the first witnesses to the resurrection, and how it is for us today.

In Luke 16 The Story of the Dishonest Steward is a parable that was meant to shock the first audience to hear Jesus. In this lesson, a rich man fires his manager for wasting his estate and the manager responds by writing off debt owed to the rich man. Then story concludes with the unexpected; the rich man applauds the manager’s cleverness. So what is the point of this surprising outcome? As Pastor Mia shows, the shrewd use of money is an important part of a spiritual life.