Who is God calling us to be, and how is God calling us to belong to the people of our church? More than just attending the right events and fulfilling responsibilities and obligations, we make up a true family. We have a shared identity as brothers and sisters and Christ, and we have been called to serve Christ through this particular community. Looking at how the early church belonged to each other shows us how we can belong to and with the people of our church.

What is the gospel? Did Jesus preach the gospel? Is it only about life after death or is it about our lives today? The gospel is the good news that Jesus is the reigning Lord of heaven and earth and all people are invited to live under his gracious reign. Believing the gospel is about living -- it's ongoing and dynamic. We're a church called to keep Jesus and his gospel central to everything we believe and do. This is the second sermon in the Our Church series. (The video audio is by Brian McLaren, produced by The Work of the People).

This summer we're asking these questions as a church: "Who are we called to be?" and "How are we called to be God's people together?" God has always dwelt in the midst of his people and never more mysteriously than in the incarnation. The Church should be a people gathered around the One who came to dwell among us. This message kicks off our sermon series called "Our Church" because our church starts with Jesus, we're all about Jesus, we're called to gather around Jesus, and follow Jesus together.

Think of your favorite song. Why is it your favorite? More than a just great melody, it's probably your favorite because the artist was able to express what you always wanted to say. The Psalms are like that for God's people -- giving us words to sing and pray for centuries. Psalm 126 is one of those Psalms for this season in the life of PCC. It's a pilgrim song of joy after times of grief, restoration after times of barrenness, a song that we can say, "Yes! That's what I've wanted to say to God."

"God is love" -- the apostle John made this radical statement nearly 2,000 years ago. Hours after the Supreme Court's ruling that legalized same-sex marriage across the nation, thousands celebrated the decision with the declaration "Love wins." With so many in the political, LGBTQ, and Christian circles buzzing about love (what they believe it is and is not), it seemed like a great time for the people of PCC to talk again about the kind of love Jesus lived out and called us to. We hope this sermon challenges followers of the God-who-is-love to relate to others as valuable even at cost to themselves -- regardless of anyone's hang-ups, habits, or sexual orientation.

In this message from our guest preacher, Keith Gorman, we meet Jesus' hostile hometown crowd in Nazareth. Unfortunately, their familiarity with Jesus was a road block to their faith in Jesus. Like the crowd, we can recognize that there's something special about Jesus but we all must determine whether or not he has authority from God and authority in our lives.

After three beautiful big-picture chapters about our life in Christ, Paul the prisoner opens up the last half of Ephesians by bringing us down to the ground and answering the question, "So, now what?" We see at the beginning of chapter 4 that it all starts by walking in a way of life that's consistent with the life God's called us to in Christ. But we don't walk alone, we're urged to walk together -- united as one people in one faith under one Father, one Son, and one Spirit.

Imagine your life is a cup and God is a pitcher filled with water*. This water is all the good things God wants to pour into your life. We've all had seasons when we've felt full and many seasons when we find ourselves poured out for others -- sometimes we're just flat-out drained. How full are you today? Or rather, how empty? Regardless of where we are on our spiritual journey, we must pray Paul's prayer to dive down into the inexhaustible riches of the love of Christ and to be filled to the brim with all the fullness of God. (*The Pitcher/Cup analogy is adapted from Chuck Miller in The Spiritual Formation of Leaders)

Imagine this: you're going along with your life when you get a phone call from a lawyer. He tells you that your neighbor across the street -- the neighbor you've waved to for years -- has died and she's left you a life-changing amount of money as an inheritance. Would you be surprised? Would your neighbor's children be surprised to learn that you received an equal share, too? Such is the mystery Paul has been commissioned to reveal: God is calling people from every nation and uniting them as one family in Christ. One family, one King, and one incredible inheritance that's now revealed to the world.

Are you awake to God's presence throughout your day? Do you recognize God at work in the ordinary and the extraordinary of your life? At the end of the day, do you see and sense God in your midst regardless of your circumstances? How might the apostle Paul answer these questions from his jail cell? Our plan was to dive back into our Ephesians series (after an Easter season break) with verses 1-13 of chapter 3 but these questions needed exploring first, it seems.