The Heart of Christmas | Peace

Ugly Christmas sweater parties, holiday work events, gifts under the tree, meals around the table, family spending time together, hopes of winter-ish weather, etc…

These certainly play a part in the most wonderful time of year, but we know that something else is at the heart of the Christmas season.

Buried underneath the busyness of the holiday season is the reason we celebrate. The Heart of Christmas is a four-week-Advent series centered on the story of Christ’s birth and His heart for you and for the world.

Hope. Peace. Joy. Love.

From the prophetic promise of His coming to His miraculous arrival, the advent themes of hope, peace, joy and love will help you prepare for Christmas by getting to the heart of the holiday.

Prophets | Jeremiah: Grief and Hope

The prophets we encounter in the Old Testament are probably far more relevant to our time that we realize. They lived in a divided, contentious, and uncertain time. They could see beneath the surface and warned their contemporaries of where division and injustice would lead. They spoke out on behalf of the oppressed and urged their society to practice God’s justice and righteousness, which meant to do right by everybody.

Maybe you can identify with them.

During Prophets: Why Your Voice Matters, we will get to know a few of the Hebrew prophets from the Old Testament, discover why our time is so much like theirs, and see why your voice matters in a divided and uncertain world.

Tech Balance | Technology, Social Media, and Your Time

We spend a great deal of time looking at screens – smartphones, computer monitors, TVs, etc., and the jury is still out on how much our use of technology affects our brains.

We know for sure, however, that technology affects our relationships.

Some of us may already suspect that we spend too much time on our phones and not enough in face to face conversation or engaging in other activities we enjoy. We certainly have experienced both the positive and the destructive potential of social media on our relationships and sense of well-being.

At the extreme, our use of technology can distract us from spending quality time with the people we love.

During Tech Balance, we will gain an understanding of how technology affects our lives, discover best practices for using technology wisely, and most of all, learn how to improve our relationships and cultivate time with the people we love.

Do I Stay Christian? | A History of Toxicity

Lent is a season of preparation for Easter, and our all-church study this Lent is based on the book “Do I Stay Christian? A Guide for the Doubters, The Disappointed, and The Disillusioned” by Brian McLaren.

In a time of doubt and deconstruction, “Do I Stay Christian?” publicly addresses the question that surprising numbers of people are asking in private.

Brian McLaren does not urge Christians to dig in their heels nor does he warn them to run for the exit. Instead, he combines his own experience with that of thousands of people who have confided in him over the years to help readers make a responsible, honest, ethical decision about their religious identity.

Ugly Christmas Sweater | Bringing Beauty to Ugly Words

The message of Christmas is one of joy, peace, and celebration based upon the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

In the time in which we live, however, the meaning of the season can easily be drowned out by the ugly thoughts, words, motives, and actions that we see all around us.

This Christmas, we have the opportunity to reflect on how each of us can celebrate the birth of Jesus by the way we think of, speak to, and act toward the people around us. We can turn the ugliness into something beautiful.

Jonah | Dealing With Distress

While most of us know about Jonah from the children’s version of the story centered on a large fish, the book of Jonah is actually one of the most profound books of the Bible.

As a work of literature, it has been called the best written book of the Bible, and its much needed message is usually lost in pointless arguments about whether a man can survive in a fish’s stomach for three days.

Jonah is a tragedy that becomes a comedy, a four-chapter short story about a reluctant prophet who runs from God and is, morally, the worst person in the story. After being called by God to preach repentance to his geopolitical enemies, the Ninevites, he catches a boat and sails in the exact opposite direction from Nineveh. God has an unexpected way of getting him back on course.

While the message of Jonah is an encouragement to all of us, reminding us that God can work in amazing ways through imperfect vessels, it also speaks powerfully to us about disillusionment, depression, and during the election season of 2022 America, about how to relate to people who define themselves as our enemies.

Road Trip | Creation Spirituality (Aaron Strietzel)

Every week, you’ll see guest speakers from around the country share what they are passionate about.

June 5 | Rev. Bill Schnell
June 12 | Aaron Strietzel
June 19 | Matt and Jackie LeFevers
June 26 | Josh Scott

Take a virtual road trip this summer, because this Road Trip is cheaper than buying gas!

The Family Tree: Baptists, Anabaptists, and Pentecostals

We live in a divided world and in a time in which Christians are divided every bit as much. We could benefit by learning more about each other, as understanding the various branches of Christianity would help to bring our world closer together.

Perhaps most importantly, being exposed to different expressions of our faith could revolutionize your spiritual life.

For example, those who struggle with the concept of an eternal, fiery hell have found a completely new view of God and of the afterlife by learning about Orthodox Christianity. There is something revolutionary to learn about each major branch of Christianity, so we will not critique various denominations, but we will instead seek to learn and gain from them.

It may be that the most impactful experience in your spiritual journey could be discovering how our spiritual ancestors wrestled with, and answered, the major questions they faced.

In this series, we will explore the major branches of Christianity over the centuries in order to learn about them and also to grow in our own spiritual lives.

Sermon Titles
April 24 | Catholics
May 1 | Orthodox
May 8 | Anglicans and Methodists
May 15 | Lutherans and Presbyterians
May 22 | Baptists, Anabaptists, and Pentecostals
May 29 | Nondenominational Christians

A brand new sermon series, The Family Tree: The Denominations of Christianity begins April 24.

Faith After Doubt: Doubt As Descent

Lent is a six-week season of preparation for Easter, and our Lenten series this year is based on a new book by Brian McLaren entitled Faith After Doubt: Why Your Beliefs Stopped Working and What to Do About It.

Sixty-five million adults in the U.S. have dropped out of active church attendance, and about 2.7 million more are leaving every year. Using his own story and the stories of a diverse group of struggling believers, Brian D. McLaren, a former pastor and now an author, speaker, and activist shows how old assumptions are being challenged in nearly every area of human life, not just theology and spirituality.

He proposes a four-stage model of faith development in which questions and doubt are not the enemy of faith, but rather a portal to a more mature and fruitful kind of faith. The four stages – simplicity, complexity, perplexity and harmony – offer a path forward that can help sincere and thoughtful people leave behind unnecessary baggage and increase their commitment to what matters most.

Beginning Sunday March 6, your weekly reading, weekly sermons, and a new Online Connect Group will coincide as we journey together through Faith After Doubt.

Faith After Doubt: Doubt As A Doorway

Lent is a six-week season of preparation for Easter, and our Lenten series this year is based on a new book by Brian McLaren entitled Faith After Doubt: Why Your Beliefs Stopped Working and What to Do About It.

Sixty-five million adults in the U.S. have dropped out of active church attendance, and about 2.7 million more are leaving every year. Using his own story and the stories of a diverse group of struggling believers, Brian D. McLaren, a former pastor and now an author, speaker, and activist shows how old assumptions are being challenged in nearly every area of human life, not just theology and spirituality.

He proposes a four-stage model of faith development in which questions and doubt are not the enemy of faith, but rather a portal to a more mature and fruitful kind of faith. The four stages – simplicity, complexity, perplexity and harmony – offer a path forward that can help sincere and thoughtful people leave behind unnecessary baggage and increase their commitment to what matters most.

Beginning Sunday March 6, your weekly reading, weekly sermons, and a new Online Connect Group will coincide as we journey together through Faith After Doubt.

Categories