Stories From The Turkey Earthquakes

Pastor Chris and our story team visited Turkey during Holy Week where they met with our friend Diego who is there working alongside local churches doing earthquake relief. This week Pastor Chris brings us a message from Turkey about what it looks like to join together as a global church and lean in when disaster strikes. You will also hear some of Diego's story as well as some of the story of Pastor Chenc, a pastor from Istanbul who is now running a tent city in Turkey.

The Sabbath and Busy Culture

In American culture we wear busyness and productivity as a badge of honor. Laptops and cell phones mean we are connected and available 24/7. But this is not how we are designed to function; in fact, God calls us to regular rest and reflection.

On this 4th Sunday of Lent, in a season focused on caring for our souls to prepare ourselves for celebration of the resurrection and the coming of Jesus, join us as Sean and Rochelle Palmer share with us about how to engage with the celebration of Sabbath, a holy day of rest.

Stuck Between Challenges

Pastor Sean leads us through the Exodus story and explains how God's power is not displayed by delivering us to comfort, but delivering us through challenge.

Live Teaching Podcast

Scriptures & References

Exodus: 5: 1-3

Exodus 13:1 7-18

Exodus 14: 4-14

Exodus 15: 1-5, 19-20

“The passage can be read two ways. The first is that what happened was a suspension of the laws of nature. It was a supernatural event. The waters stood, literally, like a wall.

The second is that what happened was miraculous not because the laws of nature were suspended. To the contrary, as the computer simulation shows, the exposure of dry land at a particular point in the Red Sea was a natural outcome of the strong east wind. What made it miraculous is that it happened just there, just then, when the Israelites seemed trapped, unable to go forward because of the sea, unable to turn back because of the Egyptian army pursuing them.

There is a significant difference between these two interpretations. The first appeals to our sense of wonder. How extraordinary that the laws of nature should be suspended to allow an escaping people to go free. It is a story to appeal to the imagination of a child. But the naturalistic explanation is wondrous at another level entirely. Here the Torah is using the device of irony. What made the Egyptians of the time of Ramses so formidable was the fact that they possessed the latest and most powerful form of military technology, the horse drawn chariot. It made them unbeatable in battle, and fearsome.

What happens at the sea is poetic justice of the most exquisite kind. There is only one circumstance in which a group of people traveling by foot can escape a highly trained army of charioteers, namely when the route passes through a muddy sea bed. The people can walk across, but the chariot wheels get stuck in the mud. The Egyptian army can neither advance nor retreat. The wind drops. The water returns. The powerful are now powerless, while the powerless have made their way to freedom.”

— Jonathan Sacks, Covenant and Conversation

Reflection

  • “God is going to lead you, he’s not going to force you,” suggests Pastor Sean. Is there a particular place in your life and story where this hits closely for you? Whether facing a critical decision or crossroads, do you trust that God is waiting for you on the other side of it?

  • Practice bringing your tambourine along with you in the coming days, with an attentiveness to name and give thanks for God’s blessing and presence as you witness and experience it.

Partnering with Iglesia Para La Frontera

Partnering with Iglesia Para La Frontera

Join us for an special episode of The Ecclesia Podcast as we share stories and insights from our recent trip to Colombia where we met with our friends at Iglesia Cristiana Para la Frontera. Pastor Chris and Pastor Ramon sit down with HR Director Cassie O'Haver to discuss the transformative work that God is doing on the Colombia/Venezuela border through our partnership with this incredible ministry.

Over a decade ago, the people of Venezuela were thrown into chaos, and the mass migration of Venezuelans created a new set of challenges for the already struggling country. But in the midst of this chaos and devastation, God was at work, providing a glimmer of hope embodied by our friends at Iglesia Cristiana Para la Frontera. Our team shares their experiences of traveling to the border, meeting the pastors and team at Iglesia, and witnessing firsthand their tireless efforts to provide food, shelter, medical care, education, and most importantly, hope for those most vulnerable at the Colombia/Venezuela border.

Through this episode, you'll hear stories of resilience, faith, and community as we explore the transformative power of community and the ways this partnership makes an impact both internationally and at our home in Houston. Join us as we step boldly into God's purpose for our lives and learn how you can get involved in supporting this incredible ministry.

Don't miss this opportunity to be inspired and encouraged to make a difference in the world around you. If you haven't already, please watch our video from this past Sunday that highlights some of the stories we heard during our time with our friends at Iglesia para la Frontera. You can find that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOawmv6INuM

Sacred Frames - Magnolia

In this week's installment of Sacred Frames, our dear friend Greg Garrett, who is a gifted author, professor, and speaker, brings us a message about the forgiveness of God through the lens of the movie Magnolia.

Garrett describes Magnolia as a beautiful, hard, and true film that in its second act leaves you feeling like you are at the bottom of the ocean and will never know light or warmth again. But then God moves, and grace flows and we see as God sees, with a sympathy for the brokenness which enters into every human life. We see God makes the showers to fall upon the just and the unjust, and we discover how God is right there with us as we try to live into the toughest parts of being human.

Sacred Frames - Arrival

Pastor Mike continues our series Sacred Frames exploring the intersection of faith and film; the redemptive themes coursing through a diversity of cinematic stories. Pastor Mike takes us through the story of the movie Arrival. The themes of relationships and pain throughout the film give us insight on how we relate to each other in relationships. How even in pain we trust that when we walk together, united even in all of our messy difference, the Holy Spirit will show us what we’re meant to see, what we’re meant to receive, what we’re meant to give.

Hope Shows Up

As we enter 2023, Pastor Mike invites us to reorder our lives in this new year. He encourages us to continue showing up; to the discomfort of a new habit, to the inconvenience of messy relationship, to the often frustrating silence of prayer, eventually we will encounter God, perhaps in ways we could never have anticipated.