We are struggling with the concept of joy in the face of something ending.

And it’s not the ending we want, but it’s the ending we need. We don’t like change, but if you want to work towards the goodness of God, if you want to see that good ending, it takes being a person of purpose, love, and hope.

Ken asks, “do I really hate endings?” Sometimes good endings catapult us to more joy! Sometimes the problem is that we can’t have the ending AGAIN.

Sometimes the only things worse than a bad ending is no ending at all.

Nehemiah 8:10, 12:27-28a, 30-31, 38a, 40-41a, 42b-43

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How many of us when we look at any institution do we say “I trust that”? The more people that are involved, the less we want to trust it. Institutional trust is at an all-time low. It’s a hindrance, not a help.

In the meantime depression, anxiety, isolation is on the rise. Too many people are trying to do it alone - because it does not feel safe to do it together.

Somehow we have to create spaces that defy the distrust of organizations. And we have to be brave enough to realize that the only way to do that is to not live lives in isolation.

Nehemiah 6:15-16, 8:1-12

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At the heart of what we struggle with, so many times, is that we do not believe transformation can take place. We don’t believe we can fix what’s wrong without money or power that we don’t have.

We want to see transformation in our lives, we want to see change for the better. But we feel like we’re not in a place to make that happen.

When we talk about abundance, we get uncomfortable. It’s all surrounded by our belief about what it takes to have abundance. Because the world has a definition of abundance. But that definition flies in the face of the desires God has for us.

Nehemiah 5:1-18

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Nehemiah knew the immense pain that his people were going through, and so he sought to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.

Because he knew that if people are ever going to switch from a life of survival to a life that is thriving, they need a sanctuary.

If we want to be witnesses to the deep love of God, we need to be a people who create sanctuary.

Nehemiah 2:9-12a, 15a, 16-20; 4:1-9, 13-15

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As the church prepares for a massive vote on the future of the church, Lance returns to the Book of Acts and the story of Pentecost. “When we talk about membership in the church, it comes from this passage,” he reminds us. “We are part of one body.”

God is calling us to a Pentecost moment, to be all together, one body, one movement, a light shining brightly on a hill. “Movements begin with faith, not certainty.”

On the day of Pentecost, the disciples got busy praying.

We need a Pentecost moment, too. But it can only happen when the church comes together in prayer.

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Lance often is asked for things by his children that aren’t the best for them, and after turning them down for a long time, he’ll allow them to discover the downsides for themselves.

Free will comes with choices. But it doesn’t shield you from consequences.

When God tells that He knows the plans He has for us, sometimes it doesn’t feel like good news. Sometimes it’s not exactly what we were hoping for.

But God has a bigger purpose in mind than anything we could ever imagine.

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-14

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When I hear the words “good news,” it feels good, doesn’t it? At the church, we love it.

When we say “good news,” what does that mean?

The idea of good news as something perfect, as paradise, feels good to say. But if we’re honest, something that feels good to say doesn’t make the world not gray.’

How often does the bad news weigh so much heavier than the good news?

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

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Ken doesn’t stay up for New Year’s Eve anymore. But the year has begun, and he’s not going to lean in with a soft start. And the scripture today isn’t a soft scripture.

Every time we think about this star, we think about the journey of the wise men, but Herod saw something different. Herod saw a threat.

Matthew 2:1-12

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The shepherds waiting in the field were at the bottom of society. They were the forgotten, the unknown. They had no reason to believe that they rated a grand announcement of the birth of the Messiah.

Sometimes, we wonder, “is the light of Jesus really here?” The shepherds got their answer in a dramatic fashion, ours may be more understated - but the answer for both of us is the same.

The shepherds remembered that Israel’s greatest king had been a shepherd himself.

A humble beginning doesn’t mean that God doesn’t have grand plans in mind for you.

Luke 2:1-20

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Peace is something we often say that we want. But how often do we chase after it?

How often do we define peace by the terms of idleness? Yet idleness is something we’re very uncomfortable with.

How often when we’re being called to be patient, we really don’t want to hear that word?

How often do we confuse patience with idleness?

James 5:7-10

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