Gathering Recap - 04/26/2026 - 1 Peter 1:13-26 - Exilic Exercise

Call to worship:

9 I have told the glad news of deliverance[b]
    in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips,
    as you know, O Lord.
10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
    I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
    from the great congregation.

Psalm 40:9-10

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

“Courage is found in unlikely places.” Where have you found this to be true?

What are the marks of hope? How to a healthy mind and holy life connect to hope?

How does God’s judgement, the sacrifice of Jesus, the people of God, and the scriptures help us endure?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever,

Amen

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

1 Peter 1:13-26 - Chris F Reading

Title: Exilic Exercise

“The tidings were mostly sad and ominous: of gathering darkness, the wars of Men, and the flight of the Elves…And I warn you that peril is now both before you and behind you, and upon either side…. ‘But where shall I find courage?’ asked Frodo. ‘That is what I chiefly need.’ ‘Courage is found in unlikely places,’ said Gildor. ‘Be of good hope!”

— J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship Of The Rings

“So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness.” (1 Peter 13-16, MSG)

“If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. For everything that Christ taught, everything that is distinctively Christian… is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. “Father” is the Christian name for God.”

— J. I. Packer, Knowing God

“Christianity is completely and entirely and utterly hope — a looking forward and a forward direction; hope is not just an appendix. So Christianity inevitably means a new setting forth and transformation of the present…[The hoping person] can never come to terms with the inescapability of death or with the evil that continually breeds evil. For him the resurrection of Christ is not merely consolation in suffering; it is also the sign of God’s protest against suffering. That is why whenever faith develops into hope it does not make people serene and placid; it makes them restless. It does not make them patient; it makes them impatient. Instead of being reconciled to existing reality they begin to suffer from it and to resist it.”

— Jürgen Moltmann, Experiences of God

Gathering Recap - 04/19/2026 - 1 Peter 1:10-12 - Trust and Temptations

Call to worship:

6 In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
    but you have given me an open ear.[a]
Burnt offering and sin offering
    you have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
    in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
8 I delight to do your will, O my God;
    your law is within my heart.”

Psalm 40:6-8

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What process did Jesus bring Peter through? Does that give you perspective on yourself? Others?

What does it look like to be rooted in the story of God?

What unique temptations do you face that threaten trust in God?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever,

Amen

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

1 Peter 1:3-12

“Jesus matters because of what he brought and what he still brings to ordinary human beings, living their ordinary lives and coping daily with their surroundings. He promises wholeness for their lives. In sharing our weaknesses he gives us strength and and imparts through his companionship a life that has the quality of eternity.” - Dallas Willard

Peter opens the body of the letter by providing a theological and hermeneutical basis for the Christian life that introduces the major motifs and themes of the letter. In the Greek, these verses constitute one very long sentence that is composed of a series of subordinate clauses modifying the main clause “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Doxology provides the context for Christians’ new life in Christ (1:3–5) because both their experience of suffering grief in trials (1:6–7) and their present and ultimate salvation is the goal not only of their faith but also of the plan of God as revealed to the prophets - Karen Jobes

We would like a church that again asserts that God, not nations, rules the world, that the boundaries of God's kingdom transcend those of Caesar, and that the main political task of the church is the formation of people who see clearly the cost of discipleship and are willing to pay the price. As a society of unbelief, Western culture is devoid of a sense of journey, of adventure, because it lacks belief in much more than the cultivation of an ever-shrinking horizon of self-preservation and and self-expression. - Stanley Hauerwas

Luke 24:25

Image

“Ask the questions that have no answers.

    Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.

    Say that your main crop is the forest

    that you did not plant,

    that you will not live to harvest.”

- Wendell Berry

Gathering Recap - 04/12/2026 - 1 Peter 1:1-9 - Elect Exiles

Call to worship:

1  Blessed is the man
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 1:1-6

Gathering Video (We didn’t stream)

Questions for reflection:

What is the significance of the phrase “Elect Exiles?”

How does the good news of the gospel meet us in suffering?

What is the hope that christians carry?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever,

Amen

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Gathering Recap - 04/05/2026 - Revelation 21:1-5 - The Kingdom to Come

Call to worship:

1  But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

Luke 24:1-7

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How does the resurrection of Jesus inaugurate and invite us into God’s kingdom?

We recognize the world needs saving. What do you see as common solutions to the problem(s)?

How does Easter continue to remind us and point us to the kingdom to come?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever,

Amen

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Revelation 21:1-5

(pic)

“The resurrection completes the inauguration of God’s kingdom…It is the decisive event demonstrating that God’s kingdom really has been launched on earth as it is in heaven…The message of Easter is that God’s new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you’re now invited to belong to it.” N.T. Wright

Eph 1:13-14

Romans 8:22-25

John 3:16-17

Gathering Recap - 03/29/2026 - Mark 11:1-10 - The Kingdom Arrives

Call to worship:

4  Blessed is the man who makes
    the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
    to those who go astray after a lie!
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
    none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
    yet they are more than can be told.

Psalm 40:4-5

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How does the kingdom of God arrive in Christ?

What is surprising about the posture and methods of Jesus?

What does it look like to see, know, trust and follow Jesus today?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever,

Amen

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Mark 11:1-10

Luke 17:20-21

Matthew 11:4-6

Zech 9:9

“One the one hand this looks like all other triumphal entries. Two hundred years earlier Simon Maccabeus had defeated foreign armies and kept Israel independent and he rode in to Jerusalem with people shouting cheers and waiving Palm branches because he delivered them… This triumphal entry parodies the entries of kings and armies. Victors in battle do not ride into their capital cities riding on donkeys but on fearsome horses, but this kind does not, and will not triumph through force of arms.” Stanley Hauerwas

“Jesus is the Lord of all and under his hand nothing but harmony and peace comes about. The animal knows and loves his true master for who he is. This is a foreshadowing of the healing and completion of all nature as found in Isaiah 11, the wolf shall live with the lamb” Tim Keller

Donkey cross 1/2/3/4

“Humans are very attached to outcomes. We say we trust God but behind the scenes we work our fingers to the bone and our emotions into a tangled fray trying to control our outcomes. We praise God when our normal looks like what we thought it would. We question God when it doesn’t. And walk away from Him when we have a sinking suspicion that God is the one who set fire to the hope that was holding us together…What if disappointment is really the exact appointment your soul needs to radically encounter God?” - Lysa TerKuerst - Not Supposed to Be This Way

Gathering Recap - 03/22/2026 - Isaiah 35:1-10 - Kingdom Promised

Call to worship:

1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
    out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
    making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
    and put their trust in the Lord.

Psalm 40:1-3

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

Where do we often have misconceptions around the Kingdom of God?

What does Isaiah show us about the promised arrival of God’s kingdom?

How does Jesus arrive as home, peace, and rest?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are in awe of Your work. We see how the gospel of Jesus brings life, beauty, grace and freedom. May Your glorious truth be the center of our lives. Empower us by Your Spirit to remain connected to You and one another in everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray,

Amen

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Text: Isaiah 35:1-10

Title: Kingdom Promised

“The God in whom we believe is the creator of the world, will one day put this world to rights. That solid belief is the bedrock of all Christian faith. God is not going to abolish the universe of space, time and matter; he is going to renew it, to restore it, to fill it with new joy and purpose and delight, to take from it all that has corrupted it. ‘The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom, and rejoice with joy and singing; the desert shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water.’ The last book of the Bible ends, not with the company of the saved being taken up into heaven, but with the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven to earth, resulting in God’s new creation, new heavens and new earth, in which everything that has been true, lovely, and of good report will be vindicated, enhanced, set free from all pain and sorrow. God himself, it says, will wipe away all tears from all eyes.”

- N.T. Wright

“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)

“Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

(Matt. 11:5&6)

“This is a story of a man who is disillusioned with Jesus just like we are sometimes–with Jesus or with God, or with the church, or with the whole Christian faith. But, you know something? That may not be so bad as it seems. Disillusionment means literally to have our illusions “dissed.” It’s very painful, but it’s not a bad thing. Disillusionment can be a gift. When we are disillusioned we have discovered that God does not always conform to our expectations. We look at our requirements for God and begin to see our own selfish illusions–the kinds of things we tell ourselves to feel good or comfortable, or to make sense of it all. But when God yanks away our illusions, we are free to discover the real God. Taylor says, “Every letdown becomes a lesson and a lure. Did God fail to come when I rubbed the lantern? Then perhaps God is not a genie? Who then is God? Did God fail to punish my enemies? Then perhaps God is not a cop. Who, then, is God? Did God fail to make everything run smoothly? Then, perhaps God is not a [cosmic] mechanic. Who, then, is God?” When God does not meet my expectations I am drawn deeper and deeper into the mystery of who God really is and what God is really doing in my life and in the world.

- Leonard J. Vander Zee

“Our Father in heaven,


hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,
your will be done,


on earth as it is in heaven. 

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts,


as we also have forgiven our debtors. 

And lead us not into temptation,


but deliver us from evil.”

(Matt. 6:10-13)

Gathering Recap - 03/15/2026 - Acts 28:17-31 - Finish Line

Call to worship:

1 Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
    be not envious of wrongdoers!
2 For they will soon fade like the grass
    and wither like the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.[b]
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:1-4

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What comes to mind when you read the end of Acts? Why did Luke structure it this way?

Acts shows us: Life is hard, history is a masterpiece, and you only need one thing. How does Paul’s reflection in 2 Timothy give further perspective?

Where have you seen God connect the dots of difficulty in your life?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are in awe of Your work. We see how the gospel of Jesus brings life, beauty, grace and freedom. May Your glorious truth be the center of our lives. Empower us by Your Spirit to remain connected to You and one another in everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray,

Amen

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 28:17-31 2 Timothy 4:6-8 -

“Readers always experience “gaps” in narration, but the gap at the end of Acts threatens to widen into a canyon.” Beverly Gaventa

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (Jn.1:43-46)

“They have been looking for a temporal prince, he does not come with the magnificence they expected; he is a root out of a dry ground, without form or comeliness; they see nothing of Solomon’s splendour in the poor scion of the dried-up stock of David and therefore they walked away.” Charles Spurgeon

2 Cor 4:16-18

Vs.16) At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (2 Tim. 4:16-18)

“Death is the supreme festival on our road to freedom.” —Bonhoeffer

2 Tim 1:8-14

Gathering Recap - 03/08/2026 - Acts 28:1-16 - Snakes Bite

Call to worship:

1 Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
    be not envious of wrongdoers!
2 For they will soon fade like the grass
    and wither like the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.[b]
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:1-4

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How does the grace of God meet the Apostle Paul on Malta?

Why do we have the tendency to demonize/idolize people? Where has you judgement been off?

How does the gospel of Jesus build a true community of people?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are in awe of Your work. We see how the gospel of Jesus brings life, beauty, grace and freedom. May Your glorious truth be the center of our lives. Empower us by Your Spirit to remain connected to You and one another in everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray,

Amen

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Mike reading - Acts 28:1-16

“No crowd gathers for Paul’s preaching, and no description illumines the situation of those believers who journey out to meet him. That minimalistic assessment should not obscure the importance of Paul’s thanksgiving in v. 15. The journey all along has less to do with what will happen in Rome than with the God who directs Paul to that place.” - Beverly Gaventa

Map Picture (attached)

“God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.” - Augustine, City of God

Col 1:19-20

“There are no ‘if’s’ in God’s world. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of His will is our only safety – let us pray that we may always know it!” Corrie Ten Boom

Gathering Recap - 03/01/2026 - Acts 27:1-44 - Small Ship, Big Storm

Call to worship:

17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
    and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
    and saves the crushed in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
    but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones;
    not one of them is broken.
21 Affliction will slay the wicked,
    and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
    none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Psalm 34:17-22

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How can we couple any criticism with actual help?

What does scripture show us about the unfolding promises of God and His process?

Where do you need patience for the product of what God is creating in your life?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are in awe of Your work. We see how the gospel of Jesus brings life, beauty, grace and freedom. May Your glorious truth be the center of our lives. Empower us by Your Spirit to remain connected to You and one another in everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray,

Amen

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 27:1-44 - Jack

Title: Small Ship, Big Sea

“Chiding is indeed cruel, and brings no comfort; but if it be tempered with some remedy, it is now a part of the medicine.”

- John Calvin

“Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisors they succeed” (Prov. 15:22)

“We do not worship a deistic God, an absentee landlord who ignores his slum; we worship a garbageman God who came right down into our worst garbage to clean it up.”

- Peter Kreft

Oh Maker of the mighty deep

Whereon our vessels fare,

Above our life’s adventure keep

Thy faithful watch and care.

In Thee we trust, whate’er befall;

Thy sea is great; our boats are small.

We know not where the secret tides

Will help us or delay

Nor where the lurking tempest tides,

Nor where the fogs are gray.

We trust in Thee, whate’er befall,

Thy sea is great; our boats are small.

Beyond the circle of the sea,

When voyaging is past,

We seek our final part in Thee;

Oh bring us home at last.

In Thee we trust, whate’er befall;

Thy sea is great; our boats are small.

- Henry Van Dyke

Gathering Recap - 02/22/2026 - Acts 26:1-32 - Power and Purpose

Call to worship:

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
    Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
    for those who fear him have no lack!
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;
    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Psalm 34:8-10

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How does Paul frame God’s story to the polical powers?

In what ways does Acts 26 show the multiple metaphors for gospel power?

What purposes does the gospel give life universally? How about you particularly.

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are in awe of Your work. We see how the gospel of Jesus brings life, beauty, grace and freedom. May Your glorious truth be the center of our lives. Empower us by Your Spirit to remain connected to You and one another in everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray,

Amen

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 26:1-32

First-century Pharisees excelled in everything we admire spiritually. They were zealous for God, completely committed to their faith. They were theologically astute, masters of the biblical texts. They fastidiously obeyed even the most obscure commands. They even made up extra rules just in case they were missing anything. Their embrace of spiritual disciplines was second to none. - Larry Osborne

“Christ did not die for the good and beautiful. It is easy enough to die for the good and beautiful; the hard thing is to die for the miserable and corrupt.” - Shusaku Endo, Silence

“You can rebel against God and be alienated from him either by breaking his rules or by keeping all of them diligently. It's a shocking message: Careful obedience to God's law may serve as a strategy for rebelling against God.” - Tim Keller

“Goads is a greek aphorism that reflects the futility of resisting a greater power, in this case the power of God. The aphorism reveals the crisis: Paul has been acting upon his own perception of God’s will, all the time resisting God’s will.” - Beverly Gaventa

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic-on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg-or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. We are faced, then, with a frightening alternative. This man we are talking about either was (and is) just what He said or else a lunatic, or something worse.

CS Lewis

“Love God and do whatever you please: for the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to offend the One who is Beloved.” Augustine

“By and large a good rule for finding out is this: the kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you need most to do and (b) that the world most needs to have done. ... The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet” F. Buechner

Faith in the gospel restructures our motivations, our self-understanding, our identity, and our view of the world. Behavioral compliance to rules without heart-change will be superficial and fleeting… We can only change permanently as we take the gospel more deeply into our understanding and into our hearts. We must feed on the gospel, as it were, digesting it and making it part of ourselves. That is how we grow.” - Tim Keller

Gathering Recap - 02/15/2026 - Acts 25:1-27 - Political Purgatory

Call to worship:

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me
    and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant,
    and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
    and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps
    around those who fear him, and delivers them.

Psalm 34:4-7

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How do our prayers and God’s purposes interact?

Spurgeon said ““God is too wise to be mistaken. Too good to be unkind.  And, when you can’t trace His hand, you can always trust His heart.” Where do you need to apply that today?

What comes to mind hearing the Mary Oliver poem?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are in awe of Your work. We see how the gospel of Jesus brings life, beauty, grace and freedom. May Your glorious truth be the center of our lives. Empower us by Your Spirit to remain connected to You and one another in everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray,

Amen

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 25:1-27 - Faith

Title: Political Purgatory

“…He is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.”

(Acts 9:15)

“The soul that is not united solely to the will of God will find neither rest nor sanctification in any self-chosen means — not even in the most excellent exercises of piety. If that which God Himself chooses for you does not suffice, what other hand can minister to your desires? If you turn from the food the divine will itself has prepared for you, what viands (archaic for food) will not prove insipid to a taste so depraved? A soul cannot be truly nourished, strengthened, purified, enriched, or sanctified, except by the fullness of the present moment.”

- Jean Pierre de Caussade

“This is an important point about the interaction between God's purposes and our praying. Sometimes when we pray and wait for God to act, part of the answer is that God is indeed going to act but that he will do so through our taking proper human responsibility in the matter. It's hard to tell in advance, what the answer will be. There are times when it is “the Lord will fight for you and you've only to keep still” (Ex. 14:14) and other times when it is “be strong and very courageous for you shall put this people in possession of the land I swore to give them” (Josh. 1:6). Discerning and discovering which applies in which case, a note that even in the latter case God is giving the people the land which Joshua is giving them is a major element in the discernment to which all Christians and especially all Christian leaders are called.”

- N.T. Wright

“God is too wise to be mistaken. Too good to be unkind.  And, when you can’t trace His hand, you can always trust His heart.”

- Charles Spurgeon

“Lord, I would run for you, Loving the miles for your sake.

I would climb the highest tree to be that much closer.

Lord, I will learn also to kneel down into the world of the invisible, the inscrutable and the everlasting.

Then I will move no more than the leaves of a tree on a day of no wind, bathed in light, like the wanderer who has come home at last and kneels in peace, done with all unnecessary things; every motion; even words.”

- Mary Oliver

Gathering Recap - 02/08/2026 - Acts 24:1-27 - Are We There Yet?

Call to worship:

1 I will bless the Lord at all times;
    his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
    let the humble hear and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
    and let us exalt his name together!

Psalm 34:1-3

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What do you notice in the accusations, defense and results?

Why does Paul hone into righteousness, self control and the coming judgement?

What hope does the resurrection bring to your present day situation?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are in awe of Your work. We see how the gospel of Jesus brings life, beauty, grace and freedom. May Your glorious truth be the center of our lives. Empower us by Your Spirit to remain connected to You and one another in everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray,

Amen

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 24:1-27

The resurrection completes the inauguration of God's kingdom. It is the decisive event demonstrating that God's kingdom really has been launched on earth as it is in heaven. The message of Easter is that God's new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you're now invited to belong to it. - NT Wright

1 Thess 4:1-8

2 Peter 3:13

The church’s growth; it is life in “the way of Christ,” distinctive and hopeful. Christians, were growing in numbers because they were distinct from the “unjust”—living patiently in relation to their neighbors and enemies, doing good to them, and waiting for them to come to faith - Alan Kreider, The Patient Ferment of the Early Church

It doesn't matter if life is long or short, it isn't time that's the problem, it's the speed. Far too much happens when you're alive. everything goes so fast, how are you supposed to have time to be a human being? - Fredrik Backman

Waiting requires living by what I know to be true about God when I don’t know what’s true about my life. - Mark Vroegop

Gathering Recap - 02/01/2026 - Acts 22:30-23:35 - The Second Speech

Call to worship:

20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart is glad in him,
    because we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
    even as we hope in you.

Psalm 33:20-22

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

Where am I learning? Have I been cloistered in comfort?

Am I looking for ways around what Jesus is taking me through?

What mundane repetition is adding up to something significant?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are in awe of Your work. We see how the gospel of Jesus brings life, beauty, grace and freedom. May Your glorious truth be the center of our lives. Empower us by Your Spirit to remain connected to You and one another in everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray,

Amen

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 22:30-23:35 - Jack

Title: The Second Speech

“[God] upholds heaven and earth with all creatures and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things come not by chance, but by his fatherly hand.”

- Heidelberg Catechism

“The doctrine of providence teaches Christians that they are never in the grip of blind forces (fortune, chance, luck, fate); all that happens to them is divinely planned, and each event comes as a new summons to trust, obey, and rejoice, knowing that all is for one’s spiritual and eternal good.”

- J. I. Packer

“And yet I decide, every day, to set aside what I can do best and attempt what I do very clumsily--open myself to the frustrations and failures of loving, daring to believe that failing in love is better than succeeding in pride….“Hoping does not mean doing nothing. It is not fatalistic resignation. It means going about our assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusions. It is not compelled to work away at keeping up appearances with a bogus spirituality. It is the opposite of desperate and panicky manipulations, of scurrying and worrying. And hoping is not dreaming. It is not spinning an illusion or fantasy to protect us from our boredom or our pain. It means a confident, alert expectation that God will do what he said he will do. It is imagination put in the harness of faith. It is a willingness to let God do it his way and in his time. It is the opposite of making plans that we demand that God put into effect, telling him both how and when to do it. That is not hoping in God but bullying God.”

― Eugene H. Peterson

Gathering Recap - 01/25/2026 - Acts 21:37-22:29 - The First Speech

Call to worship:

10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
    he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
    the plans of his heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
    the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

13 The Lord looks down from heaven;
    he sees all the children of man;
14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out
    on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all
    and observes all their deeds.

Psalm 33:10-15

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What does this account show us about the true history of the gospel?

How is Paul’s defense shaped by Christ’s love?

Where are you being called to release contempt and resentment?

Are the results of Paul’s first speech surprising to you?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are in awe of Your work. We see how the gospel of Jesus brings life, beauty, grace and freedom. May Your glorious truth be the center of our lives. Empower us by Your Spirit to remain connected to You and one another in everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray,

Amen

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 21:37-22:29

Matthew 5:9-11, 5:43-46

”Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. So when Jesus says “Love your enemies,” he is setting forth a profound and ultimately inescapable admonition. Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies– or else? The chain reaction of evil–hate begetting hate, wars producing wars–must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Romans 9:1-5

1 Peter 3:8-17

Gathering Recap - 01/18/2026 - Acts 21:1-36 - Travels, Tensions, and the End of the Beginning

Call to worship:

6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
    and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
    he puts the deeps in storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
    let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
    he commanded, and it stood firm.

Psalm 33:6-9

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What do you see in Paul’s travels and the companionship of early Christians?

How does Christ gift humility and unity to his people?

In what ways can congregations today be a “counter culture” society?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are in awe of Your work. We see how the gospel of Jesus brings life, beauty, grace and freedom. May Your glorious truth be the center of our lives. Empower us by Your Spirit to remain connected to You and one another in everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray,

Amen

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 21:1-36

The same forebodings marked Jesus’ journey—the same strong resolve on Jesus’ part, the same misgivings on the part of his disciples. In the Gospels Jesus’ predictions of his coming passion provide the ominous tone. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus’ journey is particularly marked by sayings regarding Jerusalem as the place of rejection for God’s messengers. In Jerusalem Jesus was arrested and executed. In Jerusalem Paul also was arrested and his life put in extreme jeopardy - John Polhill

Map

“The primary reality of which we have to take account in seeking for a Christian impact on public life is the Christian congregation. How is it possible that the gospel should be credible that people should come to believe that the power which has the last word in human affairs is represented by a man hanging on a cross? . . . The only answer, the only hermeneutic of the gospel, is a congregation of men and women who believe it and live by it.” Leslie Newbigin

It will be a community of praise in a world of doubt and skepticism.

It will be a community of truth in a pluralist society that overwhelms and produces relativism.

It will be a selfless community that does not live for itself but is deeply involved in the concerns of its neighborhood in a selfish world.

It will be a community prepared to live out the gospel in public life in a world that privatizes all religious claims.

It will be a community of mutual responsibility in a world of individualism.

It will be a community of hope in a world of pessimism and despair about the future.

“Are we to blame Paul for his obstinacy or admire him for his unshakeable resolve?” John Stott

1 Cor 9:19-23

“We can only thank God for the generosity of spirit displayed by both James and Paul. They were already agreed doctrinally (that salvation was by grace in Christ through faith) and ethically (that Christians must obey the moral law). The issue between them concerned culture, ceremony and tradition. The solution to which they came was not a compromise, in the sense of sacrificing a doctrinal or moral principle, but a concession in the area of practice.” - John Stott

The church is beautiful because the lens through which Christ regards her is his cross – the focal point of blood, righteousness, forgiveness, union, justification, regeneration, and grace. God could have chosen to make his beauty known exclusively through breathtaking landscapes, undulating oceans, and sublime sunsets. Instead, he has decided to display his radiance within the hearts of the crown of his creation, humanity. - Dustin Benge

Gathering Recap - 01/11/2026 - Acts 20:17-38 - Apostolic Goodbyes

Call to worship:

1 Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
    Praise befits the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
    make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
3 Sing to him a new song;
    play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

4 For the word of the Lord is upright,
    and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

Psalm 33:1-6

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What strikes you in Paul’s speech?

How does the call to humility, community and urgency apply to both elders and all Christians?

How do we see Christ gift all of this to His people?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are in awe of Your work. We see how the gospel of Jesus brings life, beauty, grace and freedom. May Your glorious truth be the center of our lives. Empower us by Your Spirit to remain connected to You and one another in everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray,

Amen

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Text: Acts 20:17-38 - Jack reading

Title: Apostolic Goodbyes

Slide 1:

“The ancient world considered humility a weakness. Whether you were rich or poor, what you prized instead was honour—having your merits recognized and your name praised. Boasting about your achievements was expected in the Greco-Roman world, and one never humbled themselves to others as that would sacrifice your well-earned status. Humility was something for children and slaves, not honourable men and women…All this changed in AD33 when an innocent man believed to be the Son of God submitted to the most humiliating act the Romans could concoct—crucifixion. Jesus relinquished his divine status, Christians believed, dying not for himself but for us—which left onlookers with a dilemma: either Jesus wasn’t worthy of honour, or their definition of humility had to change. The definition changed and today you and I see humility not as a weakness but as a virtue.”

—John Dickson

Slide 2:

“But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.”

(2 Cor. 4:2)

Slide 3:

“Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate. The more clearly we learn to recognize that the ground and strength and promise of all our fellowship is in Jesus Christ alone, the more serenely shall we think of our fellowship and pray and hope for it.”

― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Slide 4:

“We may have said to someone even this week, “Well, as long as you’ve got your health, that’s all that matters,” or “As long as you get your feet over the bed, that’s what counts,” or “As long as you’re vertical, you know, it’s a great day.” Well, of course, we know what we mean by that. But that is not all that matters. For our very frame is a dying frame. We’re crumbling even as we go. And unless we’re able to say with Paul, “To me, to live is Christ,” we cannot legitimately affirm with Paul, “and to die is gain.” The only way that death can be gain is if Christ is everything. And if Christ is everything, as Paul says it is, then he’s able to say, “The ultimate issue is not my life.”

—Alistair Begg

Slide 5:

“God promised and, in his sacraments, he gave me a sure sign of his grace that Christ’s life overcame my death in his death, that his obedience blotted out my sin in his suffering, that his love destroyed my hell in his forsakenness. This sign and promise of my salvation will not lie to me or deceive me. It is God who has promised it, and he cannot lie either in words or in deeds.” He who thus insists and relies on the sacraments will find that his election and predestination will turn out well without his worry and effort.”

—Martin Luther, Fourteen Consolations

Gathering Recap - 01/04/2026 - Acts 20:1-16 - Long Sermons Kill

Call to worship:

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3     He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

Psalm 23:1-6

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What surprises you about the uniting effect of the gospel on people/places?

Why is the season of passover significant in the Eutycus story? Do you have any “long sermon” stories?

How is Christ compelling you in this season to display His name in life?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

We thank you for this year with its celebrations and sorrows. We are grateful that you have been with us for every moment. For the wounds we’ve encountered, we ask you to heal us. For the wounds we’ve inflicted, we ask you to forgive us. As we embark into a new year we pray for your guidance and direction. Grant us a hunger for your word, a passion for prayer, and a love for people. Let us reflect you well in all that we say and do.

For the glory of Christ we pray, amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 20:1-16

2 Cor 1:3-11

Galatians 3:26-29

I see no cause why some interpreters should so sharply condemn the drowsiness of the young man, that they should say that he was punished for his sluggishness by death. - John Calvin

Romans 15:25-29

Gathering Recap - 12/28/2025 - Proverbs 1:20-23 - Where's Wisdom?

Call to worship:

8 Bless our God, O peoples;
    let the sound of his praise be heard,
9 who has kept our soul among the living
    and has not let our feet slip.
10 For you, O God, have tested us;
    you have tried us as silver is tried.
  

Psalm 66:8-10

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How does the scripture describe wisdom? How is it found?

Where has life felt like the metaphor of mining? What was God able to produce through the refining?

In what was do you see the wisdom of God through the presence of Christ?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

We thank you for this year with its celebrations and sorrows. We are grateful that you have been with us for every moment. For the wounds we’ve encountered, we ask you to heal us. For the wounds we’ve inflicted, we ask you to forgive us. As we embark into a new year we pray for your guidance and direction. Grant us a hunger for your word, a passion for prayer, and a love for people. Let us reflect you well in all that we say and do.

For the glory of Christ we pray, amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Mike reading - Prov 1:20-23

Title: Where's Wisdom

Slide 1

“That excuse is implicitly rejected here. Wisdom is not some hidden treasure that has to be dug from the depths of the earth (compare Job 28) or the sole possession of the lonely sage sitting atop a mountain. To the contrary, Wisdom roams the streets looking for someone to instruct. The ways of right and wrong, as presented in this word of God, are open for all to read and follow. At the same time, this section is a true appeal from the Spirit for whoever has ears to turn and listen.”

- Duane A. Garrett

Slide 2

Proverbs 13:20: "Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm" (ESV). 

Slide 3

Psalm 1:1-2: "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers" (ESV). 

Slide 4

Proverbs 12:26: "The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray" (NIV/NKJV).

Slide 5

Hebrews 12:1: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,” (ESV)

Slide 6

Proverbs 17:3, “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.” (ESV)

Slide 7

1 Corinthians 9:27: “It is my own body I fight to make it do what I want. I do this so that I won’t miss getting the prize myself after telling others about it.” (ESV)

Slide 8

Colossians 1:28-29: “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”

Slide 9

Well, I'm coming to the edge of the widest canyon

My companions dear

I'm starting to question my manifest destiny

My claim to this frontier

And I'm coming to the brink of a great disaster

The end just has to be near

The Earth spins faster, whistles right past you

Whispers death in your ear

Oh, don't pretend you can't hear

Don't pretend you can’t

— Manifest, by Andrew Bird

Gathering Recap - 12/21/2025 - Luke 2:8-20 - Be Still: Out in the Sticks

Call to worship:

1 God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way,
    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
    God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
    how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46:1-11

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What pattern do you see with shepherds throughout the story?

As you reflect on the arrival of Jesus, where do you see good news, great joy, and global implications?

How is God able to use pain to carve out a greater capacity in our lives?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

Thank you for this Advent season where we remember the arrival of Jesus and His promised return, where He will make all things new. Would you help us to regularly reflect on Your faithfulness, and place Your truth into the areas where we struggle to trust. Holy Spirit, help us to reflect the light of Christ to those around us.

In the name of Jesus we pray,

Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Luke 2:8-20 - Josh Reading

“I put on my hard hat, I grab a chisel and I imagine going into the very back corners of that cave and just digging into the work, each time I go in the cave, it’s getting bigger for the next visit.” - Courtney Dauwalter

“God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which He must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves.” A.W. Tozer

One should not romanticize the occupation of shepherds. In general shepherds were dishonest and unclean according to the standards of the law. They represent the outcasts and sinners for whom Jesus came. Such outcasts were the first recipients of the good news - Robert Stein

Ps 39:7

Matthew 5:3-12

Christianity teaches the infinite worth of that which is seemingly worthless and the infinite worthlessness of that which is seemingly so valued. - Bonhoeffer

Growth equals change; change equals loss; loss equals pain; so inevitably, growth equals pain. Pain is a part of progress. Anything that grows experiences some pain. If I avoid all pain, I’m avoiding growth. - Samuel Chand

Gathering Recap - 12/14/2025 - Luke 1:26-38 - Be Still: Cosmic Cure

Call to worship:

1 God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way,
    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
    God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
    how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46:1-11

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What path has God place in front of you How do you see surrender?

Why do you think we tend to lack malleability to the plan and purpose of God?

How is the “cosmic cure” applied today?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

Thank you for this Advent season where we remember the arrival of Jesus and His promised return, where He will make all things new.. Would you help us to regularly reflect on Your faithfulness, and place Your truth into the areas where we struggle to trust. Holy Spirit, help us to reflect the light of Christ to those around us.

In the name of Jesus we pray,

Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Jack Reading Luke 1:26-38 & Matthew 1:18-25

Slide: 1

https://pin.it/5m6BRIZrS

Slide : 2

“Embrace or reject, believe or doubt. Either we abandon ourselves to God’s path, the steps of which are only revealed as each foot is lifted in obedience, or we cling to our own path with its illusion of certainty.”

— Miriam Dixon

Slide:3

“I see Mary at the Annunciation — her hands open, her whole body softened by consent, receiving the Word who desires to become flesh in her. The posture is not passive but brave: an active surrender, a courageous hospitality to God’s own life.

— Kaysie Strickland

Slide: 4

“A carpenter is trained to make plans and follow plans. Details matter to a woodworker. Joseph’s work reflects his life: structured and well-ordered. A person’s name and family line mean everything in this culture, and there is no greater line than that of King David. Joseph represents it well. Just as he would craft a beautiful table, Joseph is crafting a well-built life. Then a massive splinter pierces his heart.”

—Miriam Dixon

Slide: 5

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” —Mike Tyson

Slide: 6

For whatever reason, God chose to make man as he is—limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death—he [God] had the honesty and the courage to take his own medicine. Whatever game he is playing with his creation, he has kept his own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from man that he has not exacted from himself. He has himself gone through the whole of human experience, from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair, and death.

When he was a man, he played the man. He was born in poverty and died in disgrace, and thought it was worthwhile.

—Dorthy Sayers