What was Jesus so mad about, anyway?

In this series, Holy Meltdowns, we’re taking a look at some occasions in scripture when people of faith had big emotions—like Moses hitting a rock, Jonah getting bitter, Jesus flipping tables, and more.

Because right now, there seems to be a lot of big emotions in the world right now. Many people—I would go as far to say “most of us”—are feeling overwhelmed by life and the news cycle, and we’re responding in ways that we may not normally—getting angry, impatient, frustrated, sad, or feeling hopeless.

Traditionally, the church tells us that "good" or "faithful" Christians don't let their emotions get the best of them. But the truth is, there are times in everyone's lives when they have "big emotions." In this series, we’ll see how God worked in or through these “holy meltdowns” and think about how God works through us, too, when we have big emotions.

Today, we’re looking at Elijah’s meltdown.

God asks Jonah "Do you do well to be angry?" It's a question we should all ask ourselves. As the world swirls through a period of division and change, when things don't turn out as we had planned, do we do well to be angry? Guest speaker, Rev. Sharon Seyfarth Garner, delivers an inspiring message that encourages us to stay curious, not judgmental.

Today, we begin a new worship series, “Holy Meltdowns.”

Have you noticed that there seem to be a lot of big emotions in the world right now? Many people (most of us?) are feeling overwhelmed by life and the news cycle, and we’re responding in ways that we may not normally—getting angry, impatient, frustrated, sad, or feeling hopeless.

Traditionally, the church tells us that "good" or "faithful" Christians don't let their emotions get the best of them. But the truth is, there are times in everyone's lives when they have "big emotions." In this series, we’ll take a look at some examples in scripture when people of faith had big emotions—Moses hitting a rock, Jonah getting bitter, Jesus flipping tables, and more. We’ll see how God worked in or through these “holy meltdowns” and think about how God works through us, too.

Our first meltdown is brought to us by one of the greatest leaders in scripture—Moses.

Today we conclude our worship series, “Road Trip: On the Go with God.” Each year, we spend a few weeks taking a look at the stories our kids will delve into at Vacation Bible School. As Navigator Matt and Scout shared, this past week, our kids went on a figurative road trip, discovering that God’s presence is everywhere.

Each day, they explored stories from the Old and New Testament that show this truth. Yes, this theme is for kids, but the truths they learned are universal. How often do we as adults wonder, “Is God still with me… here?’

When we leave behind the familiar, or when we feel like outsiders in our own story — the question arises. Is God still near, when we feel so far?

Is God with me as I mourn the loss of a loved one?

Is God here as I dream of a baby of my own?

Does God know how scary and hard it is to sell my home and move?

Does God see how tired I am—how much I want to do well for my family and those around me?

In today’s scripture, we find Paul in a similar situation...

Today we continue our worship series, “Road Trip: On the Go with God.” Each year, we spend a few weeks before Vacation Bible School taking a look at the stories our kids will delve into at VBS. Tomorrow, our kids will be going on a figurative road trip, and discover that God’s presence is everywhere.

The theme verse for the whole week is Joshua 1:9— “The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” And each day, they’ll explore stories from the Old and New Testament that show this truth. They’ll learn that God is with us on our journeys—when we’re joyful or lonely and when we go off course; God is with us near and far.

Yes, this theme is for kids, but the truths they’ll be learning are for everyone. We each need the reminder that no matter where we go or what we experience on our journeys, God is with us.

Today we turn our attention to the story of Zacchaeus

June 29, 2025

The LORD your God is with you wherever you go. - Joshua 1:9

Today we continue our worship series, “Road Trip: On the Go with God.” Each year, we spend a few weeks before Vacation Bible School taking a look at the stories our kids will delve into at VBS. In just one week, our kids will be going on a figurative road trip, and discover that God’s presence is everywhere.

The theme verse for the whole week is Joshua 1:9— “The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” And each day, they’ll explore stories from the Old and New Testament that show this truth. They’ll learn that God is with us on our journeys—when we’re joyful or lonely and when we go off course; God is with us near and far.

Yes, this theme is for kids at VBS—with skits and a puppet, science experiments and crafts, and fun songs to sing each day. But the truths they’ll be learning aren’t just for kids. We each need this reminder—no matter where we go or what we experience on our journeys, God is with us.

Today we're reminded that God is with us when we're joyful. Joy is happiness that is rooted in connection. Whether it’s a feeling of deep connection to ourselves, our loved ones, to God, to nature, or to the whole cosmos that surrounds us. It’s recognizing that whatever you’re experiencing, you’re not alone—you’re part of something greater.

Today, as we do each week, we will worship God by singing, praying, and connecting scripture with our daily lives. We're so glad you're here!

Today we begin a new worship series, “Road Trip: On the Go with God.” Each year, we spend a few weeks before Vacation Bible School, taking a look at the stories our kids will delve into at VBS. In just a few weeks, our kids will be going on a figurative road trip, and discover that God’s presence is everywhere.

The theme verse for the whole week is Joshua 1:9— “The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” And each day, they’ll explore stories from the Old and New Testament that show this truth. They’ll learn that God is with us on our journeys—when we’re joyful or lonely and when we go off course; God is with us near and far.

Yes, this theme is for kids at VBS—with skits and a puppet, science experiments and crafts, and fun songs to sing each day. But truths they’ll be learning aren’t just for kids. We each need this reminder—no matter where we go or what we experience on our journeys, God is with us.

Today, we are in our final week of our series Get Off Your Donkey 2.0.

The first iteration of this series was back in January 2023, when we looked at ways people in our congregation were “getting off their donkeys” and putting their faith into action.

The concept of “getting off your donkey” comes from Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan—a man is traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho and he finds someone lying on the side of the road—robbed, beaten, and left for dead. Instead of continuing on his way (like those who came before him), he gets off his donkey, cleans up the man’s wounds, and takes him to an inn where he can recover.

Jesus tells this parable to illustrate that our faith is not just about what we believe, but also about what we do—our faith calls us to get off our donkey and care for others, particularly those in need.

This spring, we brought back this idea of “get off your donkey” as a way to acknowledge that sometimes, faith-in-action looks like meeting immediate needs—cleaning someone’s wounds or giving them food to eat. Other times, faith-in-action looks like doing the personal work—thinking critically about what we personally believe about a subject and how that impacts the world around us, as well as the systemic work—advocating so that all might have the things they need to thrive, working to change systems that cause harm.

We’ve brought in a few of our United Methodist social principles to illustrate this personal and systemic work. The social principles are statements made by the greater church that call each of us to engage with the world around us—to compassionately work for justice for each and every

one of God’s creations—just like Jesus.

Today, as we celebrate our graduates, we are taking a look at how our faith calls us to advocate for worker justice.

Today, we are in week 5 of our series Get Off Your Donkey 2.0.

In 2023, we spent six weeks looking at Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan—a Samaritan man traveling along the road from Jerusalem to Jericho and finds someone lying on the side of the road—robbed, beaten, and left for dead. Instead of continuing on his way (like those before him), the Samaritan gets off his donkey, cleans up the man’s wounds, and takes him to an inn where he can recover.

Jesus tells this parable to illustrate that our faith is not just about what we believe, but also about what we do—our faith calls us to get off our donkey and care for others, particularly those in need.

We’ve brought back this “Get Off Your Donkey” series as a way to acknowledge that sometimes, faith-in-action looks like meeting immediate needs—cleaning someone’s wounds or giving them food to eat. Other times, faith-in-action looks like doing systemic work—advocating so that all might have the things they need to thrive, and working to change systems that cause harm.

Our United Methodist social principles are a great way to illustrate this work. These principles aren’t church law, but they call each of us to engage with the world around us, and to live like Jesus—compassionately working for justice for each and every one of God’s creations.

This week, we are taking a look at how our faith calls us to work for justice for all sexual orientations and gender identities.