There are four common dynamics that not only stress our relationships, but they often put us in a false reality. When we learn to locate and surface these dynamics, we can begin to dispel the illusion and return to the truth. Jesus promises that, through our faithfulness to him, we can know the truth, and the truth will set us free.

Speaker: Rev. Dan Wunderlich

Scripture: John 5:1-9

Description: It is easy to think that your faith in God is your deepest belief—the one you base your life on. But if you start to pay attention to how your mind and body reacts in various situations, you might discover that your faith in God is your most precious belief, but it is not actually your deepest one. The first step in closing the gap between expectations and experience in your spiritual life is clarifying your relationship with God and yourself.

When Jesus wanted to help his disciples—including us—understand his death, he did not give us a lecture. He gave us a meal. And in this meal, we don't just learn about but we experience the love of God for us.

Baptism is one of the central practices of the church. But there is such a wide range of ideas about why we do it and what actually happens. When we look at the baptism of Jesus and see the connections to the rest of the biblical story, we get a clearer picture of the deep meaning of this act.

Gen Z college students are overwhelmed with social media stress, financial burdens, and mental health crises, all while tackling the usual challenges of young adulthood. How can we, as a church, offer them rest and resilience through Christ's love? Discover how we can make a difference in their lives and lighten their load, just as Jesus promised.

If orientation was a time of peace and abundance, and disorientation disrupts all of that, it would be understandable to assume that reorientation is about putting everything back the way it was. However, while reorientation does pull us out of the depths, it is almost always surprising. It is about receiving the gift of new life God has to offer.

Grief and loss are aspects of the human experience that each of us know all too well. When the most difficult things in life happen, we can find ourselves wishing for yesterday and with little hope for tomorrow. However, we are not alone in this. Our ancestors in faith also had intimate experience with the heavy burdens life has to offer, and were so inspired to write Psalms of disorientation. Pairing their sacred words with Paul McCartney's haunting lyrics, we'll explore where we find God in all this, and how to engage in holy lament.

In a world of disarray, it is easy to point to optimistic perspectives, like the song "What a Wonderful World," and think: yeah, right… so naive… the world hasn't been that wonderful in a long time! But what if that is part of the point? There was goodness out there, it may still be there if we look for it, and at the very least it offers hope for that goodness to return.

Sermon Title: Time After Time

Scripture: Psalm 84: 1-4…10-12

The Psalms are some of the most vulnerably human sacred writings we have. Within them we find deeply expressive poetry about almost every human emotion from joy to crushing sadness. What we learn from studying them is that no matter what we may be experiencing in life, God is always present with us.

Sermon Title: Repent!! (Or: Change Your Mind!)

Speaker: Rev. Matthew Kern

Scripture: Luke 3:1-9

"Repentance" can be a loaded word, sometimes understood with only being a precursor to a life of faith. But John the Baptist gives us a hint into how our lives as disciples are in fact characterized by this repentance, or, "change of mind."