Guest speaker Darrell Johnson speak from Matthew 11:25-30, what he considers to be "the essential discipleship text."  He makes seven key observations. One - the essential verb of discipleship and ministry - "come." Two - the essential noun of discipleship - "Me." Three - the people Jesus likes to call - "weary and overburdened." Four - the essential promise - "I will rest you." Five - the essential symbol - yoke (surprise!). Six - the essential blessing - "My yoke." Seven - the essential posture - "learn."

Psalm 103:1-5

Jeff leads us in a time of exploring together how we might slow down, clear our minds, and take a long loving look at the real: the kingdom of God at hand among us. This concept is the heart of the contemplative mindset that we’ll just scratch the surface on in conversation together this morning.

Imagine how different your outlook on life would be if you had absolute confidence that God was with you? Imagine how differently you would respond to difficulties, temptations, and even good things if you knew with certainty that God was in all of it and was planning to leverage it for good. In other words, imagine what it would be like to have BIG faith. Ken's message is an overview/preview of the "Five Things God Uses to Grow Your Faith" workshop that begins at ECC on Nov. 2.

Ken brings us the final message of this series - we ask the question: What is the way forward? Why and how do we keep the unity? Imagine a world where people were skeptical of what we believed but envious of how well we treated one another.  Imagine a world where unbelievers were anxious to hire, vote for, work with, and live next door to Christians because of how well we treated one another and how well we treated them. Imagine a church that is keeping the unity.

The story in Acts 15 about a controversial topic in the brand new "Church" is instructive. How did they deal with this issue? And, what can we learn from it for our context today? Dan Russell leads us through a closer look and will show us God's wisdom as we seek to keep the unity.

Andreas Russell continues our Keeping the Unity series, as he looks at Romans 14, where we see that our convictions need to be led by love.

Why do we (the church) find it so hard to keep the unity amongst ourselves?  Do our circumstances or culture have anything to do with it?  Are there "attitudes" we have that aren't helpful?  Is this important to Jesus?  If so, what does he have to say about our unity...or lack thereof?  How do truth and grace work together to keep the unity? 

The pandemic has changed the church both in the way in which it works and the way in which it's viewed. But how are we supposed to view the church? What is the church? What is it called to do? And what is our place within it?  Elaine Dee leads us through 1 Peter 2, examining how this view of the church as the people of God helps refresh and refocus our understanding and relationship with the church.

What’s around the corner for ECC? Do we need a new initiative or plan? Do we just keep on keeping on and nothing changes? What’s next for us?  Pastor Ken tackles this head on with some surprising information and a challenge for this next season of following Jesus at ECC.