We all have questions, doubts, and current thoughts about faith that occupy our minds. Pastor Ryan asked three regular speakers at The Well to share what issues of faith they have been thinking about recently, and this series is made up of what has been on their minds lately.
This week, Matt LeFevers speaks on “Is God Mad At Us? Revisiting the Doctrine of Total Depravity.”
Maybe you have been hoping and praying for circumstances to change, but they just won’t change quickly enough. A relationship, your finances, a job, a health condition, a recent loss, etc. might feel like a hostile environment that tempts you to wither and fade. We wonder if God is even listening to our prayers, and we wonder how much longer we can stand the uncomfortable heat.
Some plants thrive in a hostile environment because they adapted to it. In other words, they changed even if the circumstances did not, and they are able to survive and even thrive where no one thought possible.
Even when you’re tempted to wither, during Bloom Where You’re Planted, you will learn the secret to surviving and even thriving in a hostile environment.
Approximately half of American adults are single (never married, divorced, or widowed), but most date and might marry at some point in the future. The other half of U.S. adults are married, many happily, but there are others who wish their relationship was healthier and more fulfilling.
There are plenty of forces at work in our society that make dating difficult and that threaten to pull romantic relationships apart. From the challenges of online dating, to toxic relationship advice on social media, to temptations, to unresolved conflict, starting a healthy relationship or making an existing relationship work can be difficult and sometimes painful.
During the brand new series, Love, Dating, & Marriage, we will explore wisdom from the Bible and from leading relationship counselors about how to make your current or future romantic relationship the healthiest and happiest it can be.
Our 2024 Lenten series is a book journey through The Unvarnished Jesus by Brian Zahnd. The Unvarnished Jesus is a forty-six day Lenten journey taking the reader from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday on a quest to encounter Jesus in a new and startling way.
These forty-six daily meditations on the life and ministry of Jesus drawn from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are a spiritual solvent to help remove the layers of lacquer comprised of political and cultural assumptions that prevent us from seeing just how challenging and compelling Jesus of Nazareth really is. The Unvarnished Jesus is a forty-six day project to restore the incomparable image of Christ.
Many of us have questions about faith.
Do faith and science have to be in opposition?
Does God really send people to hell?
How do we interpret the Bible?
Does the Bible really condemn my gay friends?
Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?
During A Thinking Person’s Guide to Faith, we will learn how thinking, compassionate people can deal honestly and thoughtfully with these questions in order to grow in our faith.
For our Fall 2023 All-Church study, we’re reading Josh Scott’s “Bible Stories for Grown-Ups: Reading Scripture with New Eyes”. We’ll be looking at how reading familiar stories from the Bible through a wiser, more mature lens can expand our idea of God.
So often we’re introduced to these Bible stories in Sunday school, and we get the most simplified, surface level reading of them. But it’s important to go back once we’re grown ups and read these stories with fresh eyes, to see what new truths we can discover in them about God and the world around us.
For millennia, Psalms has been one of the most beloved books of the Bible. These ancient poems and songs have spoken to us in moments of joy and in times of deep suffering.
But Psalms is more than a random collection of ancient Israel’s greatest hits. It’s an invitation to see God in a different way, and to step into a faith that includes all of who we are.
Like the psalmists, we are free to be our authentic selves, and to belong to a stream of faith reaching back through generations.
For millennia, Psalms has been one of the most beloved books of the Bible. These ancient poems and songs have spoken to us in moments of joy and in times of deep suffering.
But Psalms is more than a random collection of ancient Israel’s greatest hits. It’s an invitation to see God in a different way, and to step into a faith that includes all of who we are.
Like the psalmists, we are free to be our authentic selves, and to belong to a stream of faith reaching back through generations.
Sparketype is a personality inventory that helps you discover “your unique imprint for work that makes you come alive, fills you with meaning, joy, purpose, possibility, then helps you spend the rest of your life doing it.”
We use Sparketype in our Growth Track Step 3: Discover Your Purpose Class to help us find our callings. During this series, not only will you learn about your Sparketype, but you will discover what Scripture teaches about your calling, purpose, and how you can feel maximum fulfillment in life.
There are ten Sparketypes, and each person has a Primary Sparketype, Shadow Sparketype, and Anti-Sparketype. You can discover yours by taking a free assessment, and then follow along during the series to learn about yourself and your unique God-given calling.
Take the free Sparketype Assessment here.
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!