Category: Worship Services

John 3:1-21 | Ever felt as though God’s promises were great to hear, but hard to understand? Well, meet our good friend Nicodemus, who has similar trouble when he meets with Jesus at night. Looking for “answers,” he comes up dry. But after talking with Jesus, what he does recieve is an invitation: an invitation to trust Jesus, and an invitation to experience the depth of God’s love. Though we might find ourselves scratching our heads a bit when thinking about faith, and though we may not always understand the movement of the Spirit, Jesus’ invitation to us is the same – trust – no matter where the wind might blow.

Matthew 4:1-11 | Jesus found himself in the wilderness for 40 days and nights after his baptism. In that barren wasteland, Jesus was stripped of all modern comforts and was withheld even very basic needs. But, in that space, Jesus is emptied of all else that surrounds him, leading him to find what he needs most. For us, as we journey into the wilderness this Lent, the path ahead might not sound very appealing. But as we venture into the desert, we too, just might find what our hearts, our lives, and our world needs most: the very breath of God, providing for us, and protecting us.

Matthew 17:1-9 | In our Gospel, we hear of the disciples’ encounter with Jesus on top of a mount as he is transformed before them. Today, we might not experience flashing lights and a grand display of God’s power, but there are still places that God shows up to us in powerful ways. So then what? We could be thankful for those moments and then just “move on.” But what Jesus asks of us? It’s to hold those encounters close, to allow it to transform us, and to be open to how it shapes our journey ahead as his people.

Matthew 5: 21-37 | In this portion of Jesus’ sermon on the mount, he points to the challenges of living life together with others. Just as messy as it is for us to live together with others today, it was the same back then. But even amidst the risk, and the demands that life together places upon us, Jesus points to community as the place where we find true and abundant life.

Matthew 5:13-20 | Jesus tells us that we are salt and that we are light. That is what we have been created to be, just as much as we have been created to be beloved, and to be called “blessed” in the kingdom of God. So then, what might it look like for us to be that salt and light? And what might it look like for us to get off the shelf and make a difference in the world today?

Micah 6:1-8 | Discipleship can sometimes seem like a lengthy laundry list of things to “do.” But what the Lord really requires of us? It’s for us to recall his promises, intentionally walk with him, and to let that walk transform how we live in the world. It is there, that walking with Christ, we might just find ourselves moved to pursue justice and loving kindness, not out of obligation, but as partners with God in his mission today.

John 1:29-42 | As Jesus begins his ministry in the Gospel of John, he asks his disciples, “what are you looking for?” In our lives and in our world, we seek a variety of things, but it is only in coming to see – and experience – Christ’s abiding love that we find true and abundant life.

Matthew 3:13-17, Isaiah 42:1-9 | Names often point to who we are, or where we’ve come from. Of all the names that we might attach to ourselves, or that others might attach to us, it is solely in our name as “beloved” of God that we find our identity and our purpose. As Christ was publicly affirmed and commissioned in his baptism, we, too, now, are affirmed in our identity and sent to live into this name that we have been given.

Matthew 2:1-2 | Something drew the wise men to seek and find the Christ child, born in Bethlehem. Summoned by King Herod, their journey could have turned into a standard “search and find” mission, nothing more. But as they saw the Christ child, something changed within them and their journey was diverted. For us, as people who have come to see this child, we too have been transformed. Heading into a new year, we may desire to change various things about our habits, or ourselves. But the one thing that has the power to change our journey from this point forward very well may be the only thing that is eternal and true: Jesus Christ.

Luke 2: 1-20 | Each year, we celebrate the birth of Christ our Lord, and recall that our God willingly came down to us in love. At the time of Christ’s birth, and even today, our God chooses to come to us, giving us gifts that this world simply cannot give. Now, as we behold this, this that has taken place, we are invited to extend our arms to hold this little baby, Jesus Christ, as his love takes flesh in us.