We gather to be reminded of his unconditional love, and in this season we get the opportunity to continue to gather in various forms. The form of the gathering is less important than the function of the gathering. We need to gather because unconditional love needs to be personally experienced and publicly practiced.

The Christian faith is not based on a sacred space, but a sacred relationship—a relationship with God through Jesus. You don’t need a building to start or restart believing. Sure...there are great reasons for buildings. But it’s not required for faith.

We are reminded that while we have different styles it’s vitally important that we appreciate each others’ style so we grow in unity and not division. Our unity gives the message of Jesus credibility to the world and shows that God loves us all and is for all of us no matter our style, no matter our story. We are better together!

The Bible says there is one way to God and that’s through the person of Jesus. There are a few staples for connecting with God...prayer and Scripture. In the Bible, Paul says that the Word of God should live abundantly in us. We are encouraged to publicly expose ourselves to the Word and privately give it time to soak in. We can interact publicly, privately, and personally with the Word of God!

This world keeps us from spending time with Him, but we need to connect with Him. Talking to God in prayer is a vital way we can grow a relationship with God, just like you need to talk to your friends in order to invest in your friendships. In Luke, God teaches us that there are four main principles for good prayer life: disconnect to connect with God, pray personally, pray persistently, and pray expectantly. God gave us these suggestions instead of a script to remind us that there is not a formula to pray the perfect prayer.

"The Sacred Pathways" are the nine spiritual styles discussed by Gary Thomas. It is important that we understand our spiritual temperament, because knowing how God has wired us could actually help us more effectively draw near to God. We hope that through this series, you can get a clearer picture of God’s unique design in your life and how that allows you to draw near to Him.

Can the church bridge the divide when compassion and national security collide? We say, “yes.”

Prayer can be challenging. We feel like we should pray, but we’re not sure we’re getting the words right. But what if our perception of prayer is inaccurate? What if the way we’ve been taught to pray or figured out how to pray over the years is misguided? What if there’s a better way? After watching Jesus for some time, His disciples went to Him and said, “Teach us how to pray.” And He taught them. What He said about prayer may surprise you.

It’s only through the sheep-shepherd relationship that someone experiences a full and overflowing life that only Jesus can offer. As “sheep” we get in situation that’s not going our way and we feel like we can’t go on…we think: God, where are you? Have you left me on my own? What has been or is your wolf? Financial, spiritual, emotional, physical, job, family, relational?

If you have a hard time believing that God wants anything for you, remember that it’s not fair to transfer any jadedness to God. God is God. You get what you get with Him…He doesn’t change. Who wouldn’t want someone who empathizes, offers grace, slow to get fired up, committed, and trustworthy? We’ve settled for less than that in other important relationships.