The center of Advent is Emmanuel, God with us. Christ came to our messy earth, our busyness, our imperfection. We embody advent when we invite ourselves into one another’s lives and care and love others with Christ at the center. Christ came to...

Faith, in a world full of shadows, is a practice of letting go and choosing to believe. Faith reminds us that we need a Savior and that because of him we’re worthy of being saved. Advent is an act of faith. Trusting that Jesus comes and he deli...

Advent is brief. Christmas goes by even faster. There is a saying “the days are long but the years are short”. Sometimes in the middle of all the things life throws our way we lose sight of how quickly things come and how quickly God moves. Oh ...

The world is not as it should be. Not yet. We wait in the shadows for God’s full redemption and perfect light that we are promised. As we wait expectantly for Christmas we also wait for an even greater hope for the earth. Preparing for Christma...

Everything is Holy because Christ is king. He is in everything and he is over everything. He is incarnate and present in all and through all. Jeremiah 23:1-6 (ESV)“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep o...

2 Corinthians 9:5-8 (ESV)So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.The point is th...

Sacred opportunities orchestrated by God for us to be faithful. In Christ, every moment is holy.The life of a disciple is fundamentally hearing the call of Christ and following Him.. Christ is everything and in everything. Together we le...

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Matthew 5:1-4This Sunday, we celebrate All Saints' Day and wrestle with how to grieve and yet remain hopeful in the resurrection to come. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4Blessed be the God and Fathe...

Reformation is a celebration of what Christ accomplished for us but it is also an invitation to be faithful and live fully the life that Christ gives.  Shame and guilt leads us into holy spaces and places with Christ. John 8:3...

Competition is meant to be fun. It can be motivating and encouraging. The ways we compete in sports, academics, music etc. is holy. It speaks to the parts of our soul that desire maybe a bit of what has been lost to sin. We love to see people m...

Job 12:7-10 and John 1:1-3Some of the most holy moments are in a sunrise or in the night sky. Sometimes we are so detached from the natural world that we miss God shouting at us all through the gift of this earth and all the creat...

Every Moment Holy- Vacation & Sabbath- 11:00 AMThere is built into the world a natural rhythm that has seasons of activity and growth and seasons of rest. It is all too easy to ignore how important time off and sabbath is for ...

Parenting can feel like death by a thousand papercuts. Just when you think you have it figured out there is a curve ball thrown your way. Children go against their parents, parents do not do right by their children. In the middle of the chaos s...

Where we work we are called to do it to the glory of God. To let our light shine, serve those we are called to serve, and do the very best that we can. Being holy isn’t about working in a church God uses you where you are.Philippians...

We all continue to learn from Christ but sometimes we make the mistake and limit what Christ is teaching us to things in Sunday school, a sermon. It is greater than just what happens in church. All knowledge is God’s knowledge. Being a student ...

Sometimes we forget that the service shown to others in keeping house…being domestic in Christ can be holy and honoring. A home is an extension of the body of Christ and the hospitality we are to show. Cleaning feet was a service and about keep...

God’s blessing had been given to people who time and time again chose to reject it. Later in the story, after Israel had been exiled from the promised land, God sent the true Israelite, the only one who could faithfully walk in God’s blessing a...

After the first humans’ rebellion, God chose a new couple to bless so that God’s blessing may extend to all nations through them. Later, God’s people are offered a choice to choose life or death, to receive God’s blessing or to reject it. Join ...

The human story begins with God blessing the first two humans, but something goes tragically wrong shortly after the initial blessing. The first two humans reject God’s blessing for something they think will be better, but instead of greater bl...

The first time the word bless/blessed appears in the Bible is at the start of Genesis. This one tiny word has amazing and beautiful ramifications on what it means to be human and shows us how God continues to invite us to part...

Where does your help come from? Your bank account? Capitol Hill? Your career?  Psalm 121 lifts our eyes from these things that are sure to fail us and fixes our gaze on Yahweh, who is the maker of heaven and earth. Join us as we wrap up ou...

God’s way often seems foolish to the world, and to surrender our will to God’s will often seems very foolish to those around us who don’t know God. The Psalms give us language to come to grips with what true wisdom is, even when it feels like f...

Psalms scholar Dr. Saleska writes, “Psalm 2 puts us in the middle of a power dispute. Who has power and who does not? What does power look like? Who gets to exercise it? Whose side are you on?” Sound familiar?!  As followers of Jesus, thes...

Jesus got angry. So, is such a thing as righteous anger? What do we do when we become angry? How do we express that anger? How do we process that anger? The Psalms give us words to help us process this universal emotion. Psalm 137 (E...

It is easy to look around and let our hearts grow cold and numb because of the brokenness all around us. The Psalms give us language to express the lament we experience. But the Psalms also teach us how to pray prayers of thanksgiving as a form...

What do you do when you feel as though God has deserted you? Jesus experienced this and he used the words of Psalm 22 to give voice to what he was experiencing as he was dying on the cross. Join us as we explore how to pray when we are overcome...

Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray!” Jesus gave them what we now call the Lord’s Prayer. However, as a Jewish man Jesus’ prayer life would have been formed by the prayers in The Book of Psalms. Join us Pastor Jake introduces ...

As we wrap up our series of Meeting Jesus in John’s Gospel, we will see how Jesus meets us in our fears, doubts, and confusion but he doesn’t leave us there. Jesus invites us to follow him as he breathes his peace upon us, even when things don’...

“What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Following Jesus is often unclear and scary. As Jesus was preparing to leave his disciples they had lots of questions about what was next. Jesus didn’t give them a s...

In this story we see Jesus’ humanity and divinity come together as he and his friends stare death in the face. But Jesus is not too quick to “save the day.” Instead, he sits with Mary and Martha in their heartbreak. Sometimes it feels like Jesu...