Throughout the Wednesdays leading up to Easter, we'll be journeying with the Israelites through the wilderness as they escape the pursuing Egyptians and seek the promised land of God. We'll walk with them as they misinterpret where God is to be found. We'll encounter new moments of grace along the journey.

This week we find ourselves at the beginning of the journey. The Israelites are comfortable in Egypt. Perhaps they even thought it was paradise, but soon the tides will change. Soon the paradise of their own making will become to them a prison of their demise. They need a savior, a deliverer. Listen as we begin our journey with Moses and watch how God sets the stage for a greater exodus still to come!

This week in worship we celebrated three things with brought two worlds together. In worship, we celebrated the account in the bible known as the Transfiguration. This is the time when Jesus let his full glory show through for but a moment in time. And this event was combined with the baptism of our newest member, Meredith. But God chose to combine these two already big events with honoring the life and legacy of Living Word's first pastor, Rev. Jim Stalder, who was called to glory on March 1st.

We were witnesses to the place where the holy Christian church and the communion of saints collided today. What a beautiful sight to see and all on the 8th day! Give it a listen and we hope you are blessed by your own personal 8th day too!

In a culture that seems to indicate that all roads lead to the same destination and that every action is acceptable, it's important to see what the bible really says. So what does the bible say about the issue of homosexuality? And how are we as Christians to respond to those caught up in this particular lifestyle.

Jesus teaches us to do some pretty important things in his ministry. What has to be one of Jesus' most popular sermons is known as the SErmon on the Mount, but he actually preached it at least twice. The second time we find this sermon is in Luke's account known as the sermon on the plain. Here Jesus focuses on the way our following Him is to change the way we interact with the people around us.

In this message Pastor Derrick references key passages from:

Luke 6:27-36, Matthew 28:19-20 and Proverbs 25:21-22

There are countless religious traditions and each of them claim that their way is right. Some would even go so far as to say that all roads lead to the same destination. That philosophy is absolutely absurd because in no other area of life is this true. When we go on vacation, we can't assume that a major east/west freeway system will somehow end up taking us to the southern most tip of Florida. All roads don't lead to the same destination anymore than all objects of worship leading to the same God. This week we unpack briefly the reality of the ONE God of Heaven and how to gain entry into heaven.

There are so many things in this world that claim to be good news but what really is the good news? In this day everyone thinks they have a piece of the good news. We think a little positive news is good news. But what's the best news ever? The best news we could ever hear isn't about our abilities or skills. It's not about our good thoughts. It's about...Give this week's message a listen and see what this Good News is all about.

We often talk as followers of Jesus about getting out of our boats and following God, but there is a more important thing that has to happen first. What woudl you do if Jesus got into your boat? Are you ready for the life change that has to follow? Are you prepared for Jesus to come into your boat and call you out to an ordinary life of extraordinary occurrences? Jesus jumped into Simon's boat and made an ordinary fishing trip anything but ordinary!

Follow along in Luke 5:1-11 as Pastor Derrick shares how this boat story has more to do with the church than we might first realize.

*Isaiah 6:8 - And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.*

What is love? We talk about it all the time. We love our spouse. We love our car. We love our job (well some of us do). We love our pets. We love our house. We love pizza and chocolate. We love Jesus. So what is this thing called love anyway?

We often think we know what love means but what if the scenario changes? What if life throws us a curve ball? What if the one we think we love doesn't love us back? What if the person we share so much of our life with doesn't reciprocate? When we truly understand love in the way this chapter teaches, we'll have a better grasp on how messed up our love has been! This week Pastor Derrick shares three types of love and how each one is right in its own way and how two fall drastically short of what real love is supposed to be!

Pastor Derrick refers to three words for love:

1. EROS - this is the affection or love that is about the feelings I get from someone or something.

2. PHILOS - this is the love known as brotherly love and is more mutual or reciprocal. It requires both parties to love equally or it becomes tainted.

3. AGAPE - this is the love described in Corinthians and is defined by its selfless character. It's self sacrificing and always puts others first.

Does the Bible discriminate against women? The short answer here is no. While it may appear as such when we isolate a single verse or idea, that's just not a good way to read teh Biblical text. A key to truly understanding the Bible and what it's saying is that one should read one verse in light of another. It's called letting the Bible interpret itself. So if the one verse (1 Timothy 2:11) says "learn quietly" then we should do a little digging. Something that's hard to see if you don't know the Greek language is that the same word translated as "quietly" in vs 11 is translated "peacefully" in vs 2. Context is significant and we have to let the Bible show us what it means. God holds women in very high esteem! He certainly made men and women different but different doesn't mean better or worse than.