In Psalm 84 we hear the psalmist’s passionate cry: “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.” But what does that mean for us when our hearts often long for “a thousand elsewheres” — vacations, success, comfort — more than the presence of God? This sermon explores that tension honestly, naming how we can sometimes sing worship songs without fully meaning the words. The psalm reminds us that the Christian life isn’t just about avoiding sin or “sin management,” but about entering into the presence of the living God — the place where healing, wholeness, and true life are found. Like choosing between cities or destinations, what we think is “better” is shaped by the stories and songs that capture our imagination. Marketing trains us to long for other things, but Psalm 84 invites us to retrain our hearts to long for God through worship, community, and pilgrimage with Jesus. In him, we discover that God’s presence is the ultimate “stuff” our souls were made for. Recorded August 24, 2025.

This week, we explore Psalm 72 which teaches us to long for a king who brings justice and shalom—peace, wholeness, and flourishing. This hope is fulfilled in Jesus, the greater King who defends the vulnerable, heals the broken, and confronts injustice with sacrificial love. As His followers, we’re invited to pray, see others with His eyes, and live out justice and mercy so that God’s kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven. Recorded August 17, 2025.

Psalm 24 calls us to meet the majestic Creator with clean hands and pure hearts. Revival begins not with programs or crowds, but with holy discontent and God’s people being filled with Him. Transformation starts when we let Him cleanse our actions, motives, and allegiances. Where do we long for God to arrive, and how are we preparing? True revival is a community becoming deeply God-conscious—starting when we open our lives to the King of Glory. Recorded August 10, 2025.

Psalm 127 reminds us that without God’s presence, even our hardest work can become empty toil. This sermon invites us to see all we do—whether in jobs, homes, relationships, or ministry—as “kingdom work,” joining God’s ongoing activity to bring life, hope, and flourishing in places big and small.

In her first sermon ever (!), one of our church elders, Christiane, reflects on Psalm 63 and what it means to long for and find satisfaction in God. Through honest storytelling and spiritual insight, she explores how our deepest desires point us toward God—and how Scripture and simple practices can help us meet Him in everyday life. Recorded July 20, 2025.

We continue our study of the Psalms this summer by looking Psalm 121. In this teaching, we explore how mountains are a place of significance, how mountains reinforce our identity, and hear the invitation to ascend the mountain with King Jesus. Recorded July 13, 2025.

Psalm 8 invites us into a posture of worship by recognizing God as the majestic Creator and King over all. Whether we feel powerful or powerless, the Psalm reminds us that everyone worships something—and only worship of God leads to life, not destruction. As we enter summer, this message encourages us to enjoy beauty, rest, and connection, but to do so with intentionality—seeing every moment as an opportunity to turn our hearts toward God in worship, just as Jesus did in both his strength and vulnerability. Recorded July 7, 2025.

In this final message of the Open to the Spirit series, we’re invited as a community into a “guided invitation”—a gentle, hopeful call to open ourselves more deeply to the Spirit’s presence, power, and person. With heartfelt thanks for all who have been using their gifts—serving, teaching, encouraging, creating, and leading—the message names the beauty of what God is already doing among us. At the same time, it honestly acknowledges the fears many of us carry: fear of change, of losing control, or of what others might think. Rather than pushing past these struggles, we’re invited to bring them into the light—trusting that the Spirit leads us not through shame, but through love. Whether you’re eager to leap forward or still feeling hesitant, this is a call to walk together—slowly, patiently, and bravely—as we become the kind of Spirit-led community we long to be. Recorded June 22, 2025.

As we begin to close our discernment on being Open to the Spirit, this sermon encourages us to embrace the Spirit’s guidance and power by trusting God in our hesitations, supporting one another’s gifts, and growing together in love. Using Ephesians 4 and the image of a fishing reel, it highlights the tension between human effort and divine strength as necessary for spiritual maturity and unity. Recorded June 15, 2025.

In this teaching, we explore the fivefold ministry gifts described in Ephesians 4—Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, and Teacher—often referred to as APEST - which are given to the church to equip believers and build up the body of Christ. We look at the unique function and heart of each gift, how they worked together in the early church, and how they might be expressed in our communities today. Re-recorded June 9, 2025.