In your mind’s eye, what does “the good life” look like? What are the essential ingredients that make life meaningful? This week Jesus is going to tell us what he thinks about that, as we come to the fourth installment in our sermon series called “The Parables of Jesus: Eight Critical Life Lessons.”

Who has hurt you most in life? And how is that affecting you? In your life right now, who do you struggle to forgive? Forgiveness sounds good, but is hard to do – really hard. This week we’ll study a parable where Jesus shares insights that can help us get a lot better at forgiving others and liberating ourselves from the burden of bitterness.

If you need more power in your life, join us this Sunday as we continue our study of the parables of Jesus. This week we’ll delve into the Parable of the Mustard Seed and learn a critical lesson about how the power of God works in our personal lives and in the world. If you want to live a life that matters, you need to hear this sermon!

You’re probably thinking, “What kind of a title is that for a sermon? What do weeds have to do with spiritual life?” Join us Sunday to find out, as we launch a new sermon series called “The Parables of Jesus: 8 Critical Life Lessons.” This week we’ll learn an awesome lesson from a parable Jesus told about weeds. Hint: The parable offers insight into how we should respond to life’s many imperfections.

Conversations about race and racism are at the heart of American culture today. Just this past week, the Supreme Court issued a major decision prohibiting affirmative action. This Sunday we’ll wrap up our sermon series on the Bible & Justice by grappling with the challenges of racism. We’ll look at the big picture story of the Bible – what theologians call the meta-narrative – and find within it guidance for how we, as followers of Jesus, should respond to the scourge of racism.

When you were a kid, what did “rich” mean to you? Do you consider yourself rich? By any objective measure, compared to the rest of the world, most of us are in the top 10% of wealth in the world. This Sunday we’ll take a look at God’s passion for the poor and explore how God wants us to respond to poverty, individually and collectively. We can’t save everybody; so how much is enough? This will be the fourth installment in our sermon series called “The Bible and Justice.”

We live in a land of plenty, which makes our nation a magnet for immigrants. Jesus said, “To whom much is given, of them shall much be required.” But we can’t save the whole world, so how much is enough? That’s the question we’ll wrestle with this Sunday, as we come to the third installment in our sermon series called “The Bible and Justice.” Immigration is one of the most fraught political issues in our nation right now. So let’s make sure we know what the Bible does – and doesn’t – say about the subject.

This Sunday, for the second installment in our sermon series called “The Bible & Justice: What Love Looks Like in Public,” we will be challenged to think deeply about what Jesus would want us to do – individually and as a congregation – to respond to the huge surge in hate being directed at transgender people. During part of the sermon, Pastor Jeff will interview with three people deeply affected by anti-trans hate. Their insight and stories will move you.

This Sunday Pastor Jeff begins a new sermon series called “The Bible & Justice: What Love Looks Like in Public.” The goal of this series is NOT for one person (Pastor Jeff) to tell everybody what their detailed policy positions should be, but rather to identify core biblical values relevant to contemporary justice issues (like immigration, being transgender, poverty, race, and more), and challenge each of us to prayerfully develop positions consistent with biblical values. We’ll get started this Sunday by wrestling with questions like: What does it mean to be a church that welcomes both liberal and conservative? Do we all have to think alike? How can we be a church that highly values BOTH justice and diversity? Join us as we go deep into what the Bible says about the relationship between social justice and faith.

How well are you doing taking care of your health? I know, I know, most of us don’t want to think about it. Most of us feel a real tension between the challenge to caring for our bodies and the desire to enjoy life fully. Should I eat that luscious piece of chocolate cheese cake or skip dessert? Should I go for a walk or watch another TV show? Should I work extra hours this week or slow down and relax a bit? This Sunday Pastor Jeff will walk us through some biblical principles that might help us find a little bit better balance while still enjoying life in its fullness.