How often do we get stuck doing things we don't want (or need) to do simply because someone expects it of us? In this season packed with familial and cultural expectations, this Sunday we explore how to become more present (to ourselves, to the moment and to the voice of God) in the midst of these spoken and unspoken expectations.

The days leading up to Christmas are the season of Advent. It's a season of waiting and preparation. We are intentionally making space to practice being more present within the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. We aim to do Christmas, present.

If becoming a generous person is really the answer to so much of our worry, what practical plan will get us there? It will take a little thinking (head) and a lot of passion (heart). Sunday we'll dive into this work as we conclude our fall Chunk of Change series, and our November journey through Generosity. You won't want to miss it - especially as we hear about our current financial picture at Salt House, together.

Everybody worries about money. Rich, poor, somewhere in-between. Everyone has held their breath when they look at an unknown future and wondered: "What could I lose? Will I have enough?" The Jesus-story offers an antidote to this - and it isn't what you might think. Join us Sunday in our month on GENEROSITY as we explore a shift in mindset - that just might completely free us from our financial worry.

Thanksgiving is two-and-a-half weeks away! And Christmas? Only seven weeks away, people! As we continue our Chunk of Change series, while perched on the verge of the holiday season, it is timely for us to kick into a month on GENEROSITY. To live into the kind of change God hopes for us as Jesus followers, we are called to be liberated into living out lives of incredible generosity - let's grow there, together.

At Salt House we believe in radical inclusivity - any and all people are welcome, especially because of the diversity they bring to our community. We believe this stance to be congruent with the revolutionary love of Jesus, as well as the reforming work of Martin Luther - a Roman Catholic friar who, 500 years ago next week, on October 31, 1517, began a revolution that forever changed the trajectory of the western church. This Sunday, we'll acknowledge this historical moment and explore what it means that Salt House is in fact a Lutheran (Evangelical Luthern Church in America) church - and why that matters for us as people who are changed to bring change in our world today, together.

At the core of following Jesus is the practice of listening for God, noticing the movement of God in our day, our words, our relationships, in the books we read, the pulse of the news, the needs and suffering we see. And one of the great practices for listening we can cultivate is listening for God in scripture. This ancient book that still lives and breathes fresh insight today. Join us Sunday in our Chunk of Change series as we listen for how God invites us into being changed - through listening to the Bible through Lectio Divina, together

Our October journey through COMPASSION has led us through the courage to see, the courage to feel - and now this Sunday we explore the hang-ups, complexities, and surprising gifts of choosing the courage to act with compassion.  Let's walk the path, together.

Given the suffering we’ve seen this week, we’re grateful to be on a journey of COMPASSION for the month of October. Compassion means “being with suffering” – this Sunday we move from how to see with compassion, to feel with compassion. We’re grateful that, given the suffering we see around us, the Jesus-story invites us into a life of change – including deepening our capacity for compassion. Vital, vulnerable work that we need for the sake of ourselves, and the sake of our hurting world. Thankfully we do it, together.

Jesus invites us into change. And perhaps no change is more connected to the life of Jesus than deepening our capacity for compassion. This Sunday we kick off a three-week journey exploring how we grow and deepen in COMPASSION. Through racial injustice, aftermath of natural disasters, rising rates of homelessness on the Eastside - how do we see, feel and act with compassion?