The Relationships We Don’t Choose (Sep 26)
In John 9, Jesus seems to make a distinction between Willful Blindness (the Pharisees) and Accidental Blindness (the blind man). We are a church for the accidentally blind, folks who openly admit that we often don’t know what we don’t know.⠀
In this teaching series, we look specifically at one of our most prominent potential blind spots…Sunday Morning Church.
After a year of not meeting in-person on Sunday mornings (thanks COVID!), we may be a bit more accidentally blind than usual regarding this important weekly event, what it is, and why it matters. Join us as we strive to see Sunday morning gatherings more clearly and remove our accidental blindness.
Wednesday, January 6, was Epiphany on the Christian calendar. Epiphany literally means "revelation" or "sudden insight". As celebrated in the church, of course, it specifically refers to the revelation that Jesus is both divine and human.
But the events of January 6, 2021in our nation's capital probably led to some moments of epiphany around issues related to our country and our public life together. Moments of revelation about who we truly are as a nation "under God".
For many, this Epiphany was deeply troubling. Sometimes moments of revelation can be troubling. They almost always call for pause. True epiphany propels us to honest pondering and communal dialogue. It's really not a revelation without this side effect!
There are times for the church to be silent. And there are times for us to speak directly to our shared circumstances. Join us as we host an honest conversation around Epiphany in 2021...and the revelations it brought to us - the church.
What does it mean for us when our old ideas and pictures of God no longer work? When we experience doubts and seemingly unanswerable questions? Is our only option Agnosticism? We offer another option - and invitation - that’s so often not discussed in the church. It’s the option (and invitation) to reimagine God…and reimagine our faith. Together we explore how re-imagination is not only an option, but a healthy season of maturing faith by examining, of all things…the Bible. Join us as we look at the Bible itself as a template for deep re-imagination.
“Evangelism” has become a dirty word for some in the Christian church. Too often connected with unauthentic salesmanship and emotional manipulation, many of us have abandoned the idea all together. But, what if we take a step back from what evangelism has become, and attempt to recapture the spirit of proclaiming “good news”? Together we explore what evangelism can look like to three people groups: “Outsiders”, “Insiders” (us), and, finally, to our own children.
Join us in our conversations around “Why Lent Matters”. Why does the church traditionally mark off a significant amount of time to focus on loss? Why is it important to linger with the dying Jesus and not skip to Easter? These are great questions and we look forward to exploring some answers together.
We live our lives according to certain rhythms…beats and syncopations that help us consciously - or subconsciously - order our lives. Our culture provides a beat that calls out for all “healthy” people to sync-up with. God’s Kingdom provides its own, distinctive beat, and its rhythm is often not the same rhythm as the dominant culture. Join us as we converse around syncing our lives up with four dynamic and crucial beats we inherit from God’s culture.
Conversations about money are often avoided in the church. We don’t want people to feel uncomfortable. But…what if the church is the exact place where we ought to feel uncomfortable (at least, sometimes)? Money is one of the most important things about us…Jesus talks about it so much because it competes for our hearts - the center of our affections and drives. This conversation provides our community with a space to discuss what it looks like to care about finances while allowing Jesus to be our Master and Lord.