Think about a worship song that you really like; one that causes you to turn up the volume or start singing. Why do you connect with that song? Is it the melody? Is it the words? Does it reach your heart, your mind, your body? How does God work within you through that song? ......

  Communion Reflection: A Table of Grace and Gratitude Dear Church Family, When we come to the Lord’s Table, we are reminded that it is not just bread and cup - it is an invitation to remember, to receive, and to rejoice. In the breaking of the bread, we remember the sacrifice that opened the way for our salvation. In the sharing of the cup, we receive the promise of new life. And in both, we rejo...

  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”  John 15:4On Sunday, Sarah talked about Jesus’ invitation to his disciples to abide in Him.  To stay.  To dwell in Him.  To make Him my home.Yet, we struggle as we spend a majority of our lives abiding in other things.  BusynessExpectations of self and othersTechnol...

  Gail shared a story of a painful secret her family held for many years. She stated that unwanted things are going to happen in our lives. She also posed several questions and challenges.Reflect on your own life, what unwanted things have happened to you or those around you? How did you and those around you handle them? Was God present during all that occurred?“When you pass through the waters, I...

  Today, replace one "Lord, if only..." and choose to trust God with the outcome. Allow the Lord to be the Captain of your heart. Pray: "Lord, rescue me from myself. Not my will, but Yours be done." ......

  Let me finish with this thought that will lead us from Moses to Jesus to you.Moses is sharing this with the people of Israel before they go into the Promised Land.Read Deuteronomy 30:11-20- 11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we ...

  We have been looking at the Tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.The two trees are about trusting or taking. That’s why, even going back to the beginning of the passage, God gives us grace by inviting us to eat, eat all that he has given us. But if we believe God is holding out on us, we are going to take. Take what I think I deserve, take what hasn’t been given to me, tak...

  Read Genesis 2:16-17- 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”Here is a little play on both commands and God getting attention on what he is inviting us into. The phrase, free to eat, some translations have surely or certainly ...

  Read Genesis 2:8-9, 16-17- 8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil... 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free...

  If you haven’t been with us for the last few weeks let me catch you up. If you have been with us, let me refresh you. We are in the middle of our Genesis series, and we have taken the last few weeks to unpack Genesis 2. It was intended to be a two-part series but quickly turned into a 4-part mini-series. Here’s the recap. Creation is about a who, not just a how.Genesis 2 is about Creation’s divi...

  If we look back to Genesis 2:15 notice what God says. “15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”He gave us a command, it’s actually the second command he gave us, we’ll talk about the first one next week. But he gave us the command to work and take care of the garden. If we look deeper at the meaning of those phrases it relates to serving and...

  Yesterday we saw that God’s formation at creation was with purpose and for a purpose. Because Adam is an archetype, what we see God do with Adam is a model for us. God’s formation at creation was with purpose and for a purpose.Notice how we see God, the creator forming us throughout scripture. Jot down Psalm 139, “for we are fearfully and wonderfully made.” We are made with purpose, God’s purpos...

  Have you ever created something with just a few supplies or things or resources?We just celebrated the life of a long-time member, Jim Goostree, this past Wednesday. Jim was a modern-day MacGyver. Granted if you didn’t live in the 1900’s you might not know who that is. But MacGyver, as well as Jim, could take a few supplies (especially duct tape) and make anything. One story of Jim’s was that he...

  We are going to look at a few passages in Ezekiel. Ezekiel is referred to as a major prophet like Isaiah and Jeremiah. Whereas the minor prophets are like Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah. The reference to major and minor isn’t about importance, it is more about the length of each of the books. Major prophets are longer and minors are shorter in length.Read Ezekiel 36:26-27- 26 I will give you a new h...

  Last week we jumped back into Genesis 2 and wrestled with how does this ancient text relate to today, much less relate to the creation story in Genesis 1? We dialoged around the beauty and the mystery of not simply reading the text through our 21st century, American eyes, but that when we take the time to dive deeper, we can see that there is more lurking below the surface.We also stated Genesis...

  Remember, Genesis 1 waters and the Genesis 2 waters form a combined statement of Yahweh as the master of the chaos waters, the one who can turn them into a source of life. Which means, when any story happens at a well or a spring it is a connect to creation, where God brings divine life.Let’s go a little deeper under the surface of Scripture. What do we see with Jesus and the woman at the well? ...

  Read Genesis 2:4-7- 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 The...

  Read Genesis 2:4-7- 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 The...

  Monday Read Genesis 2:4-15- 4 This is the account  of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the grou...

  Good Morning,As we bring this week’s daily faith challenges on Holding Space for Both - Celebration and Grief to a close - I just want to encourage you with a worship song. Play it loudly. Play it repeatedly.Let the words tend to your heart. Let the words stand in the gap. The gap between what you currently may be feeling, and where you know the truth is. That gap is not too big for God.Let the ...