Pastor Sean Palmer teaches from Matthew 16; inviting us to consider the ways that the religious and cultural expectations of the anticipated Messiah in Jesus’ day mirror our own gravitation to the conqueror rather than the suffering servant. The path Jesus has given us is not one of power and coercion, but instead the faithful obedience to take up our cross and follow him.
Undistracted Time
Ericka Graham invites us to look again to the story of Moses and the burning bush, offering the important reminder that practices which grow our mindfulness and attention are only a first step. It is when looking up in wonder and awe becomes a habitual discipline that we might hear God’s voice calling to us more clearly.
Kingdom Citizens
Pastor Chris Seay reminds us, navigating a climate of such division, that our true citizenship is not a question of nation or party-platform, but the belonging in which we all share as members of God’s kingdom. Teaching from the Sermon on the Mount, Chris invites us to recenter our hearts and lives as we seek to walk the narrow path of Jesus’ expansive love.
Today
Relationship, Not Rules
Pastor Chris Seay, with a special appearance from our brother Marcelo Robles, reminds us that the heart of Christianity is not a checklist of regulations, but an invitation into relationship with God. He urges us to consider how we might renew a sense of friendship with our creator, through intentional time, nurture, and care.
Stay Woke
Pastor Sean Palmer invites us into three parables that Jesus chooses to tell together, and the common theme that binds them; the mistakes made when we forget to live and prioritize our lives in a way that remembers that the Master is coming back! Meeting others with kindness and attentiveness, and seeking always to use our gifts to bless and serve, we live expectant that we will encounter the Divine.
Not Alone
Pastor Chris Seay shares some of the lessons he has learned from the life and teaching of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who spoke pointedly to the Church in a time of great crisis. We ask God to guide us as we seek a balance between growth through solitude and the vital gift of community, as we learn to love one another well in all our imperfections, and as we abide in hope to be a faithful church in this ever-changing world.
The Good Life
Pastor Sean Palmer looks to Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, inviting us to consider the ways that our culturally distorted idea of “the good life” has resulted in anxiety and worry. God knows, sees, and cares about the many concerns we have in this life, and calls us to seek first the Kingdom, to relinquish our false sense of control, and to trust that God will provide for our true needs.
The Big-C Church
Pastor Chris Seay offers us a vital reminder of the great diversity exemplified by the early church. Especially during this cultural moment of such toxic division, followers of Jesus are to live into a different narrative, shaped by curiosity and open-mindedness, loving grace for those with whom we disagree, and the elusive hope of unity.
A Cup Filled, A Cup Poured
Pastor Chris Seay invites us to consider how we are called to live into the rhythms of Jesus in both giving and receiving care. Especially at a time in which the needs of our neighbors are so vast and so many, we ask God to meet and guide us in our particular places of heartbreak. May God help us to be vessels of grace, filled to then be shared in loving care of others.
The One Who Is With
Empathy Responds
Pastor Chris Seay teaches once again from the church-site of our friends in Lake Charles, Louisiana as we continue to respond in care for our neighbors in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura. As we are reminded in the story of Nehemiah, empathy calls us not to draw back while others are suffering, but to take action while leaning into relationship.
More Than We Can Handle
Pastor Chris Seay teaches from Louisiana as we seek to respond in care for our neighbors in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura. God never promised that we wouldn’t be given more than we can handle. Instead we are called from temptation and idolatry to rely ever more on God, and on one another, in all that overwhelms us.
What Do You Want?
Pastor Sean Palmer teaches from the story of healing at the Pool of Bethesda in John 5. Our desires are not inconsequential or insignificant to God, but it is when we ask and allow God to transform our wrong desires that we discover the right ones, that those desires would result in choices aligned with God’s will.
Left Undone
Pastor Chris Seay leads us to consider our understanding of sin, and particularly sins of omission. Where have we failed to act; to ask, give, fight, and encourage in the ways that God has called us? We can either let guilt to become shame that keeps us stagnant, or allow it to urge us toward seeking forgiveness, restored relationships, and transformation.
Distractions
It is always a great joy to have a visit from our friend and brother, the incomparable Bob Goff, and we are grateful for the encouraging word he brought to share. When we see through the distractions, we are granted the opportunity to grow in genuine interest for those around us; which is the first step toward love.
When Life Presses In
Our beloved sister, Jeanne Stevens, shares an important message to reflect on how the darkness of life helps us notice the light around us.
Our thanks again to Jeanne and Soul City Church
Prayer Prepares
We are grateful to have been joined by our brother Jarrett Stevens, sharing a beautiful and needed word from Joshua 3 on prayer as our participation toward the movement of God that is already happening. Are we simply waiting, or are we intentionally moving in the direction we are asking God to move, trusting that he is already preparing upstream what is flowing to meet us as we pray expectantly and act in faith?
Daily Bread
Our beloved sister, Shauna Niequist, shares with us an encouragement to trust in God’s provision for what you need each day. As we are navigating the challenges and unknown of this time in our world, her words are a much needed reminder.
To learn more about Shauna, you can click here - https://www.shaunaniequist.com/
Truth Tellers
Pastor Sean Palmer considers our love of God as a call toward a deeper embrace of the truth; not the partial-”truths” distorted to serve selfish agendas and to tear one another down, but that which requires us to embrace (perhaps uncomfortable and unfamiliar) virtue and humility as God shapes us in faithfulness.