When Israel began returning to the Promised Land, the temple was still in ruins and Jerusalem's walls were not rebuilt. They were likely dealing with discouragement, hopelessness, anxiety, and frustration at injustice. Into this cultural moment, the LORD of hosts (hosts = heaven's armies) gave Zechariah two visions designed to bring hope for peace. Join us as we explore how we, too, can find our longing for peace satisfied only in the LORD.

When Jesus came, he fulfilled the entire Old Testament – including what we learned last week about fasting. So, what did he have to say about it? And how did his earliest followers understand his teaching? Join us as we wrap up our Fasting Prayer series looking at Jesus and Fasting.

The elders here at Berean are calling for an all-church 24 Hours of Prayer and Fasting – from 7p on Fri. 9/26 to 7p on Sat. 9/27. (We'll start and end with corporate worship and prayer, and keep the building open for prayer the other hours.) While this is the third fall that we've done this, the spiritual discipline of fasting can still feel a bit unfamiliar…or just plain weird! So, we're taking two weeks to explore what the Bible has to say: What is fasting? How is it done? How long? And why – does it make us more pleasing to God or make him listen to us or something? Along the way, our prayer is that we as a church family will genuinely seek the Lord in humility and joy.

We are launching a Fall series on the book of Zechariah. Zechariah? Where is that and who was he? Did you know his letter is the most quoted "minor" prophet in the New Testament? Israel is starting to return from Babylon and they're likely discouraged with the brokenness and reminders of failure surrounding them (sound familiar?). Into this brokenness, God speaks words of encouragement to his people. This encouragement was for both them and us!

Why is Christian community so essential? What are the things that can get in our way, and how can we overcome those? Join in as we kick off the new Grow Groups season and seek to help each of us identify our tangible next step to grow in loving God and others!

Jesus said that where our treasure is, there our heart would be also. That means that our use of money has a direct link to the position and spiritual health of our hearts and affections. While it can get weird to talk about money in church, we long for all of us to be in a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and that requires a right and healthy view of money as a tool for kingdom purposes.

This week we continue our journey through the Gospel of John, seeking to better understand who Jesus truly is. Last week's message was clear – true freedom is possible and is found through life in Jesus Christ alone. But that freedom doesn’t come automatically or by accident. The key to experiencing freedom and becoming a fruit bearing disciple of Jesus Christ is learning to abide. Join us as we unpack what this really means and how it looks in everyday life!

What are we allowing to shape our understanding of who God is? The truth is that if we are looking to God’s inspired Word for understanding, then we know the answers come through the person, work, and word of Jesus Christ! As we continue to explore who Jesus really is, we are engaging a chapter of John each day, so that when we come back together we can build on what we've been reading. Have you come to an understanding of who Jesus is and the life that He offers? Join us to discover more about true life in Jesus, as we engage John chapter 8 together!

“What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” -A.W. Tozer. So what does come to our minds when we think about God? And what is shaping that understanding? The truth is that if we are looking to God’s inspired word for answers, then we know a right understanding of God comes through right relationship with his son, Jesus Christ. So, who is Jesus, really? And what place does he have in our lives? The best place to find answers to these questions is in the eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry, the Gospels. Over the next 21 days we’ll journey through John together, as we seek to better understand who Jesus really is and what that means for our lives today!

We've finished the major movements of the God Story, so the remaining question is, "Now What?" What should be our response to this series? We'll explore the implications and applications of the God Story for our own lives as we observe how two men in the early church were affected by their encounter with the Living and Ruling King Jesus.