MVP Message

What if generosity is less like a transaction and more like an infection?

In our text this week, that's exactly what Paul describes. Generosity creates thanksgiving, and thanksgiving creates more generosity. It becomes a cycle.

This cycle is essentially what happens in the community of Golden through the generosity of a man named Theo. His extraordinary generosity begins affecting people who did not expect it, and these people then begin behaving differently toward others.

How might we enter this cycle, believing that embodied generosity changes another person or community who then continue to change someone else until the entire community is transformed?

How do you want to be remembered?

Our answer may include the words, "kind, generous, loving, compassionate, dependable," and more. But how many of us live with the end in sight—carefully discerning what we say or do to ensure that our words and actions point to our end goal?

What might be the ultimate compliment someone could say about you when they gather to remember you and celebrate your life? Can you imagine people saying that they tasted heaven or considered you to be the face of heaven?

Join us this week as we ponder these questions through the lens of two powerful passages of scripture—one a prayer and another a vision. Together we will consider what it means to be a saint before naming the saints in our life who continue to live on in and through the lessons they taught us. We will also celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion, making it a powerful Sunday of worship you don't want to miss.

Who has given you the gift of being seen? Not simply noticed, but truly seen? Who has looked beyond the surface to recognize something in you that perhaps you couldn’t yet see in yourself? And what difference did their seeing make?

Most of us can name someone whose belief in us changed something. Someone who recognized our gifts, listened to the deepest parts of our souls, and helped us imagine who we might become. When someone sees us this way, we often find ourselves wanting to grow into the fullness of what they have seen in us. What if this is also true of our relationship with God?

Psalm 139 is one of Scripture’s most beautiful expressions of what it means to be fully known by God. God knows our thoughts, our ways, our fears, and our longings. Nothing about us is hidden, and yet this knowing is not something to fear. It is an invitation to draw closer to the One who sees us completely and loves us still.

As our worship series, Generosity: The Art of Living, continues, join us as we explore the gift of being seen. We will also celebrate the 17th Anniversary of our becoming a member of the Reconciling Ministries Network, and give thanks for the ministry of Timothy Nelson before he departs as our Director of Music.

What if generosity is about far more than what we give away?

Join us this week as we begin a new worship series inspired by the New York Times Bestseller, Theo of Golden, in which we will consider generosity as a way of seeing, living, and loving. Together, we will explore what it means to recognize the gifts in others, receive the blessing of being seen, claim and share our belovedness, invest in what matters, become unexpected bearers of grace, and discover the joy that comes when our embodied generosity transforms lives. Each week we’ll ask not simply, “What can I give?,” but “What kind of world can my generosity help create?”

What do we do when the way forward is uncertain and we are tired of waiting for an answer? This week, we find the Israelites in exactly that place. When Moses delays on the mountain, fear and impatience take hold, and the people turn toward something visible, certain, and manageable—a golden calf. This failure is not the end of the story, but it does leave us pondering the question: What happens when fear leads us down paths that cannot take us where we hope to go?

Join us this week as we conclude our journey into the wilderness and through Exodus—remembering that God’s mercy can still call us back, that the God who brought us out is still leading us away from bondage, and that the path of freedom is still before us.

This week, we continue our Lessons from the Wilderness series with “Ten Best Ways,” reflecting on Exodus 20 and the commandments God gives to the people in the wilderness.

These familiar words have shaped communities of faith for generations. Together, we will listen again for what they reveal about God, about the kind of people we are called to become, and about how we might live faithfully with God and one another.

Join us in this week as we explore God's Ten Best Ways.

"Is the Lord among us or not?" 

It’s a question many of us might think to ourselves but feel reluctant to speak aloud. But what if asking the question isn’t a sign of weak faith or disgust with God? What if, instead, this question can open us to knowing God more intimately and recognizing God’s presence in our midst?

Join us for worship this Sunday as our journey with the Israelites continues. Once again, they face a challenge that leaves them arguing with Moses. And once again, God uses Moses to provide a way where there seems to be no way. In fact, Moses becomes part of the answer to the question, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

What if we, too, can become part of the way God answers this question today?

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Donna Claycomb Sokol || Pastor

Scripture: ⁠Exodus 16:2-16⁠

The wilderness is a dangerous place. It is one where we can become disoriented, hungry, thirsty, and afraid, a place where the resources we once relied upon no longer seem sufficient. And yet, in Exodus 16, the wilderness becomes the very place where God meets the Israelites, provides for them, and begins to prepare them for what comes next.

In our text this week, God gives the Israelites manna—bread from heaven that arrives as a fine, flaky substance that covers the ground each morning. But what if this story is about more than food?

What if the wilderness itself can become a training ground for discipleship, teaching us to depend more deeply on God while discovering what it means to love God and our neighbors more fully?

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Donna Claycomb Sokol || Pastor

Scripture: Exodus 14:19-31

In the book of Exodus, the wilderness is where God shows up—in a burning bush, in the act of remembering, in waters that part, in bread sent from heaven, in ten rules for how to live, and in reminders of how to stay on course rather than lose our way. While these stories teach us much about Moses and the Israelites, they also remind us that the wilderness is not only a place on an ancient map; it is also a place we find ourselves when the future is uncertain, the old ways no longer work, and we are searching for God’s presence and direction.

Join us this week as our journey with the Israelites takes us out of Egypt only to be greeted by another obstacle: Pharaoh's impressive army. But rather than being overcome by the oppressor, God partners with Moses to ensure the Israelites are brought closer to freedom and, ultimately, salvation. It's a story of deliverance that invites us to ponder where God might be creating order out of chaos today, beckoning us to believe in God's desire to always liberate people from bondage.

Preacher: Rev. Carie DuPree

Scripture: ⁠Exodus 12:1-14

In the book of Exodus, the wilderness is where God shows up—in a burning bush, in the act of remembering, in waters that part, in bread sent from heaven, in ten rules for how to live, and in reminders of how to stay on course rather than lose our way. While these stories teach us much about Moses and the Israelites, they also remind us that the wilderness is not only a place on an ancient map; it is also a place we find ourselves when the future is uncertain, the old ways no longer work, and we are searching for God’s presence and direction. Join us this fall as we embrace lessons from the wilderness, discovering that the wilderness is not simply where we get lost, but can also be where we meet God, receive what we need, learn who we are, and discover a new way forward.

This week, we continue to follow Moses story through to Exodus 12 and the first Passover.