Trees and Yeast, Pearls and Fish Jesus teaches his followers about the Kingdom of God, but he always does so in story and parable. Why? Why doesn’t Jesus give us a nice step-by-step method of participating in God’s Kingdom? What is about the Kingdom that eludes easy explanation? Join us Sunday, July 26 at 10:00 live or watch the video…
Adopted by Love What do Jacob’s peculiar dream (the one about the ladder extending to heaven) and adoption have in common? And what does it even mean to have what Paul calls “a spirit of adoption?” Can’t we just be fans of Jesus rather than adopted siblings? Join us Sunday, July 19 at 10:00 live or watch the video any…
Servants of Righteousness: Reflections on the SLAM Trip Join us as we hear from our youth members about their experience with SLAM (Students Learning About Mission) at the Yakama Nation. The youth and adults who went will share a bit about how they experienced God moving in their midst and what we can all do to continue building a connection…
Set Free What does it mean to be free for followers of Jesus? Is it about individual privileges and freedoms? Is it about a release from any kinds of restraint? Or is it something altogether different? Paul and the earliest followers of Jesus understood that their freedom in Christ was a qualitatively distinct kind of freedom – one that led…
Practicing Hospitality, Meeting Christ Jesus says this strange sort of thing about welcoming and receiving rewards. It all boils down to this: to live open to the goodness and holiness of others is the way in which we embody Christian hospitality and, by opening ourselves to others, we open ourselves to Christ. Join us Sunday, June 28 at 10:00 live…
“Laughing at or Laughing with” Laughter can be a connection between people. It can lower our defenses and build relationships. Laughter can signify delight and wonder and joy. But laughter can also be defensive. It can be derisive and it can be a weapon. It can bring distance rather than closeness. The Genesis story of Sarai’s laughter when God promises…
Holy Interruptions “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans.” And what if faith is how we respond to those surprises that life throws our way? Can we live with such openness of heart that we encounter God in the unexpected and disrupting experiences of our lives? We’ll be celebrating and blessing our graduates this week as they get…
Always and Everywhere Finding God – Trinity Sunday The Sunday following Pentecost is Trinity Sunday, when we celebrate the Triune nature of God. We will definitely not fully understand Trinitarian theology by the end of worship! But we might open ourselves up to the presence of a God who is both more magnificent and more intimate than we usually believe.…
Breath and Life The day of Pentecost comes with lots of holy hullaballoo: the sound of a rushing wind, tongues of flame, a cacophony of languages. And in our Pentecost worship we also bring a lot of flash – songs written for the day and bright colors. But, really, the noise of Pentecost is secondary – the real promise and…
“Dinner with Each Other” In the story of the Emmaus encounter (Luke 24:13-35), Jesus is recognized in a familiar moment – sharing a meal. But what about us? How do we, living 2000 years after Jesus, encounter the Risen Christ? We have something to learn from the early Church: Christ is encountered as we share community (and dinner!) with one…
Dinner with Jesus The Resurrection story of the journey to Emmaus invites us to consider a question: how is it that we recognize the Risen Christ? Cleopas and his companion walk beside Jesus, talking to Jesus about Jesus, and somehow do not recognize him. At least, they don’t until they share a meal and recognize Jesus as he blesses and…
Kings of Many Kinds: Palm Sunday Palm Sunday begins our Holy Week as we journey with the disciples of Jesus through the last week of his earthly life. The triumphal entry into Jerusalem is a celebration of Jesus’ kingship, and a foretaste of Jesus’ triumph over death. But it is also a warning – many of the same crowd that…