Debbie Stull shares about some of her experiences on a recent study break and spiritual pilgrimage to discover some new practices. What happens when the faith you inherited taught you to approach God through fear, and life eventually leaves you desperate for a different way to pray? In a difficult season marked by insomnia, resurfacing trauma, and questions about suffering, Debbie begin praying the Jesus Prayer with a prayer rope and opened the door to a new experience of her faith. Through Job, and the practice of surrender, we explore how prayer can move us from trying to explain God toward simply noticing God—in creation, in silence, and in the ordinary moments of our lives.

Jesus invites us to look at the birds and flowers to see how they are cared for and grow to calm our anxious hearts. Inspite of all that is wrong, there is more good going on around us if we will only look at them. Creation remind us that we are being sustained by love and we too can flourish in all kinds of circumstances.

Our lives are full of moments of surrender. What is a moment of surrender and to whom do we turn to find our place of standing when we don’t know what to do? The prophet, poet, preacher, and singer Bono of U2 says it's this: The moment of surrender is the moment you choose to lose control of your life, the split second of powerlessness where you trust that some kind of "higher power" better be in charge, because you certainly aren’t.

Kendal Beard - the apostle Paul shows us the power of kindness when he asks Philemon to forgive and welcome back his runaway slave, Onesimus, as a brother. In this teaching Kendal emphasizes the importance of kindness, even towards those who have wronged us, and how it can lead to repentance and healing.

A poem by Joshua Luke Smith as read by Jason Campbell.

Oh God, my thoughts of you have been too small, and they have been too few.

Lift my eyes, so I can see you

Above my cynicism, and the sin that sinks beneath my bones, blood, muscles, and sinew

Remind me that I am in you.

And in everything I have been through, you have been there.

There has never been a millisecond or a second of your attention that has been elsewhere.

You are the God who makes a way on my darkest, most desperate days, 

parts the reddest waves and holds me in your gaze 

and offers me a tender grace.

You are the God who made the mountain range, made the Everglades

You are the God who paints the details on the wings of a hummingbird.

You are the God who carves out canyons and pours out oceans

You thought of the supernova explosion.

You wrote the code to DNA and spoke the whole cosmos into being

You are the God who gave David the aim that made a giant's grave

You are the God who made Daniel sleep like a baby in a lion's cave

You're the God who made it rain like fire when Elisha prayed

You're the God who changed a nation with a child of Josiah's age

You're the God of the infinite and the infinitesimal

You are the God of the metaphysical and the invisible

The God of quarks, quantums, protons, and the poet's psalm

You are the God of every nation, generation, tribe, and tongue

You are the God who was, and is, and is to come, 

whose holy throne will never be overthrown

Who makes justice run like a mighty flood

And by your blood and final death, 

you poured out love, 

and you have conquered death.

O God, any attempt to define you, only confines you

You are the God who was, and is, and is to come.

And you are holy, 

and all of this is true

But my thoughts of you have been too small, 

and they have been too few.

You are holy.

A poem by: Joshua Luke Smith

Lee Beard — Our modern world is "noisy," filled with constant distractions and information overload. In contrast, Isaiah 30:15 invites us into a "quietness" where we discover strength and guidance in God's whisper, drawing us closer to God's heart and voice.

Mary Ann Green, a licensed professional counselor and registered dietitian, discusses the importance of addressing mental health within the church community. She highlights the prevalence of mental health issues, including depression and anxiety, and emphasizes the need for the church to be a place of healing and support.

In I Kings 19, the prophet Elijah, experiencing depression and burnout from his ministry, received divine therapy from God. God provided rest, nourishment, and a call to action, leading Elijah back to Mount Sinai for renewal and a gentle invitation to listen. Through repetition and a reminder of God’s presence, Elijah was encouraged to trust, find community, and complete his work.

Why wouldn’t God find or use a different option than a horrendous death for his Son?

Jesus’ Death is best understood not as God demanding payment through violence, but as the consequence of Jesus’ radical life of love, forgiveness, and justice confronting the powers of his day, revealing the self-giving love of God. The cross and resurrection invite us to trust in God’s unconditional love, leave behind cycles of fear and sacrifice, and imagine a new way of living shaped by the grace revealed in Christ.

The Bible is a diverse collection of writings that invites a lifetime of thoughtful study, requiring attention to genre, historical context, and the perspectives of its authors. Rather than reading it as a flat, static, dropped-out-of-heaven-from-God book, we are reading it more faithful when we make room for the human experience of the writers in its composition. Christians ultimately interpret Scripture through the lens of Jesus, asking how these stories speak to hope, love, suffering, forgiveness, and compassion. The goal of Scripture is not merely to preserve words, but to bring them to life in ways that reveal God’s love and shape our own stories in what it means to be fully human.

This conversation explored how politics and faith can both serve the common good—politics by organizing our shared life and religion by bringing people together. Centered on the teaching of Jesus, George emphasized that while ideas and information matter, lasting transformation come through love and peacemaking that treats others with dignity. Peacemakers are people who enter life’s conflicts carrying "water for the fire," creatively holding tension, building bridges, and trusting that love has the power to change people and communities.