Gathering Recap - 07/05/2026 - 1 Peter 5:6-14 - Hard Times Now, Better Times Ahead

Call to worship:

16 But I will sing of your strength;
    I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me a fortress
    and a refuge in the day of my distress.
17 O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
    for you, O God, are my fortress,
    the God who shows me steadfast love.

Psalm 57:16-17

Gathering Video

1 Peter 5:6-14 - Hard Times Now, Better Times Ahead

Mike Gaston - 07/05/2026

Questions for reflection:

How does faith form us to face challenges?

In what ways does knowing Christians have an adversary bring about a proper sobriety?

How does the care of God inform our suffering?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

We thank you for the story of salvation that centers on Your Son. We are amazed again at the endless grace of Jesus that grants forgiveness and freedom. May Your Spirit shape us to continually receive, share and show the love of God through everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray, amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

1 Peter 5:6-14 - Mike G Teaching

Slide 1

Big Idea

Our faith in God allows us to navigate challenging times now, as we await

better times ahead.

Slide 2

Challenging times now (vs 6-9)

We are called to humility before God

We have an adversary

Suffering is part of life

Slide 3

“You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.”

Jonathan Edwards

Slide 4

“Peter recognizes that a great barrier to putting others first and thinking of them as more important is the legitimate human concern, ‘But then who will care for me?’ The answer is that God himself will care for our needs. He is able to do so far better than we are (his hand is ‘mighty,’ v. 6), and he wants to do so, for he continually cares for his children. Therefore casting all your anxieties on him is the path to humility, freeing a person from constant concern for himself and enabling him or her to truly be concerned for the needs of others.”

Wayne Grudem

Slide 5

“… because he cares for you.”

Slide 6

“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.”

CS Lewis, Preface to The Screwtape Letters

Slide 7

“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”

James 4:6-8

“If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”

Isaiah 7:9

Slide 8

Better Times Ahead (vs 10-11)

The description of God

The promises of God

The timeline

Slide 9

God will have the last word!

Slide 10

“Mark, my son”

Gathering Recap - 06/28/2026 - 1 Peter 5:1-5- Pastors, We Have a Problem

Call to worship:

7 My heart is steadfast, O God,
    my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
8     Awake, my glory!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
    I will awake the dawn!
9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
    I will sing praises to you among the nations.

Psalm 57:7-9

Gathering Video

1 Peter 5:1-5 - Pastors, We Have a Problem

Jon Wolfinger - 06/28/2026

Questions for reflection:

What problems have you experienced in leadership?

How is the model and example of Jesus to shape pastoring?

What does the call to mutual humility look like today?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

We thank you for the story of salvation that centers on Your Son. We are amazed again at the endless grace of Jesus that grants forgiveness and freedom. May Your Spirit shape us to continually receive, share and show the love of God through everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray, amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

1 Peter 5:1-5

The vocation of pastor(s) has been replaced by the strategies of religious entrepreneurs with business plans - Eugene Peterson

“By all our ministry activity to mistakenly be like God, we’ve actually made it hard for people to see or hear him.” John Calvin

Matthew 20:25-28

“It is possible for ministry leaders to desire greatness in ways no different from anyone, anywhere in our culture. Attaching Jesus’s name to these desires doesn’t change the fact that they look just like the cravings of the world.” - Zach Eswine

John 21:15-19

It is possible for ministry leaders to desire greatness in ways no different from anyone, anywhere in our culture. Attaching Jesus’s name to these desires doesn’t change the fact that they look just like the cravings of the world. - Zach Eswine

Ezekiel 34:1-16

Gathering Recap - 06/21/2026 - 1 Peter 4:12-19- Suffering and Stories

Call to worship:

1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
    for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
    till the storms of destruction pass by.
2 I cry out to God Most High,
    to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me;
    he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!

Psalm 57:1-3

Gathering Video

1 Peter 4:12-19 - Suffering and Stories

Jon Wolfinger - 06/21/2026

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Questions for reflection:

How does Peter root the churches suffering in the story of God?

What happens when we truly believe God is with us and working in our pain?

In what ways does the coming judgement of God shape our living in the present?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

We thank you for the story of salvation that centers on Your Son. We are amazed again at the endless grace of Jesus that grants forgiveness and freedom. May Your Spirit shape us to continually receive, share and show the love of God through everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray, amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

1 Peter 4:12-19

John 16:33

Romans 5:1-5

James 1:2-4

Certainly there is unanimous teaching among the NT writers that there is no condemnation for those who believe in Christ and that they will be delivered from the destiny that is coming to those who disobey God by rejecting the redemption he provides in Jesus Christ. But there is ample teaching that Christians will nevertheless be judged and that it is their standing with Christ that will bring this judgment to a good end. Those who profess Christ are the first ones to be tested in God’s judging action, and it occurs during their lives and throughout history. Karen Jobes

1 Cor 3:10-17

“While other worldviews lead us to sit in the midst of life’s joys, foreseeing the coming sorrows, Christianity empowers its people to sit in the midst of this world’s sorrows, tasting the coming joy. Suffering can refine us rather than destroy us because God himself walks with us in the fire. God will allow evil only to the degree that it brings about the very opposite of what it intends.” Tim Keller

Gathering Recap - 06/14/2026 - 1 Peter 4:1-11- Lock In

Call to worship:

10 In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can man do to me?

12 I must perform my vows to you, O God;
    I will render thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death,
    yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
    in the light of life.

Psalm 56:10-13

Gathering Video

1 Peter 4:1-11 - Lock In

Anthony Garcia - 06/14/2026

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Questions for reflection:

Why do we often wilt with difficulty? How is “gospel grit” formed in us?

How can suffering circle us back to Christ?

What particular passions are to be left behind? What does living for the will of God look like?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

We thank you for the story of salvation that centers on Your Son. We are amazed again at the endless grace of Jesus that grants forgiveness and freedom. May Your Spirit shape us to continually receive, share and show the love of God through everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray, amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Jon reading

Title: Lock In

“We prefer a gospel in which God gives us healthy bodies and bulging wallets. And we too readily think that material blessing is the entitled reward of the gospel. To put it bluntly, the democratized West expects Jesus, comfort, ease, and acceptance from the world.”

- David Helm

“Indeed the only way in which I can make real to myself what theology teaches about the heinousness of sin is to remember that every sin is the distortion of an energy breathed into us—an energy which, if not thus distorted, would have blossomed into one of those holy acts whereof “God did it” and “I did it” are both true descriptions. We poison the wine as He decants it into us; murder a melody He would play with us as the instrument. We caricature the self-portrait He would paint. Hence all sin, whatever else it is, is sacrilege.”

- C.S. Lewis

Gathering Recap - 06/07/2026 - 1 Peter 3:13-22 - The Pilgrim's Path

Call to worship:

1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
    all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long,
    for many attack me proudly.
3 When I am afraid,
    I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
    in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can flesh do to me?

Psalm 56:1-4

Gathering Video

1 Peter 3:13-22 - The Pilgrim's Path

Anthony Garcia - 06/07/2026

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Questions for reflection:

How does Peter show the connection to Jesus’ suffering and the church’s?

In what ways does Jesus apply His life to ours? How does that hold us in difficulty?

Where do you need to remember that Jesus has been there too, and is with you now?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

We thank you for the story of salvation that centers on Your Son. We are amazed again at the endless grace of Jesus that grants forgiveness and freedom. May Your Spirit shape us to continually receive, share and show the love of God through everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray, amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

1 Peter 3:13-22

Title: The Pilgrim's Path

“8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh…16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

(2 Corinthians 4:8-11, 16-18)

28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

(Matthew 10:28-30)

“A wonderful text is this, and a more obscure passage perhaps than any other in the New Testament, so that I do not know for a certainty just what Peter means.… I cannot understand and I cannot explain it. And there has been no one who has explained it.”

- Martin Luther

“The exegetical questions basically come down to these: Where did Christ go? When did he go? To whom did he speak? What did he say? Different answers to each of these questions can be found, resulting in a labyrinth of exegetical options, each of which has no clearly overwhelming claim to certainty, [with one] calculating 180 different exegetical combinations, in theory.”

- Karen Jobes

Gathering Recap - 05/31/2026 - 1 Peter 3:8-12 - Character, Calling, Promise

Call to worship:

8 God reigns over the nations;
    God sits on his holy throne.
9 The princes of the peoples gather
    as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
    he is highly exalted!

Psalm 47:8-9

Gathering Video

1 Peter 3:8-12 - Character, Calling, Promise

Jon Wolfinger - 05/31/2026

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Questions for reflection:

Do you go toward pride or shame when your see lists of Christian character?

How does Peter connect their character and calling to the promise of God?

Where do you need to trust Jesus with struggles of unity, sympathy, brotherly love, tender hearts or humility?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

We thank you for the story of salvation that centers on Your Son. We are amazed again at the endless grace of Jesus that grants forgiveness and freedom. May Your Spirit shape us to continually receive, share and show the love of God through everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray, amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

1 Peter 3:8-12 - Anthony reading

“This is the mission of God: to restore the creation and the life of humanity from the ravages of sin. The church’s function in this story is to participate in God’s mission; we are to be caught up in God’s own work of restoration and healing. This defines the identity and role of the church.” - Mike Goheen

“How can Jesus expect me to love my enemies when I don’t even like them?” “Loving” in modern culture refers primarily to an emotional attachment of a greater intensity than merely “liking.” But Peter clearly interprets Jesus’ command to love to refer not to emotions but to acting rightly toward one’s adversaries, regardless of whatever emotions may or may not be involved.” - Karen Jobes

When you come to Christ for mercy and love and help in your anguish and perplexity and sinfulness, you are going with the flow of his own deepest wishes, not against them. - Dane Ortlund

Gathering Recap - 05/24/2026 - 1 Peter 3:1-7 - The Way Home

Call to worship:

5 God has gone up with a shout,
    the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises!
    Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
7 For God is the King of all the earth;
    sing praises with a psalm!

Psalm 47:5-7

Gathering Video

1 Peter 3:1-7 - The Way Home

Anthony Garcia- 05/24/2026

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Questions for reflection:

What is the text NOT saying about the gospel and marriage?

How does marriage communicate Christ?

Ed Clowney said “Our deepest loves drives our deepest beliefs.” What do your deepest loves reveal?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

We thank you for the story of salvation that centers on Your Son. We are amazed again at the endless grace of Jesus that grants forgiveness and freedom. May Your Spirit shape us to continually receive, share and show the love of God through everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray, amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Faith: 1 Peter 3:1-7

Title: The Way Home

“Submission is not something being taken from me, but is something I’m choosing to give. The truth that Jesus, being fully God, willingly entered into this world, becoming fully man and submitting His will to God the Father and giving His life to justify us as well as the Spirit’s role of illuminating and pointing people to Jesus is proof that the differing roles God has for men/women and husbands/wives is not about value or worth. Submission actively happens in the Trinity. If Jesus submitted even unto death, how can I stand on my “rights” and ultimately demand to always be the one in authority?”

- Kathy Keller

“Renounce yourself, take up your Cross and follow Me. To recognize one's own nonentity and discover the secret of the Kingdom is not enough: the King of Love must be enthroned in our mind and heart, take undivided possession of our will and make of our very bodies the Temples of the Holy Ghost. This small particle of the Cosmos, which is our soul and body must be conquered, freed by a lifelong struggle from enslavement to the world and to the devil, freed as if it were an occupied country and restored to its legitimate King.”

- Anthony of Sourozh, Sayings of the Desert Fathers

Gathering Recap - 05/17/2026 - 1 Peter 2:13-25 - Providence and Politics

Call to worship:

1 Clap your hands, all peoples!
    Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
2 For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,
    a great king over all the earth.
3 He subdued peoples under us,
    and nations under our feet.
4 He chose our heritage for us,
    the pride of Jacob whom he loves.

Psalm 47:1-14

Gathering Video

1 Peter 2:13-25 - Providence and Politics

Jon Wolfinger - 05/17/2026

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Questions for reflection:

What is your typical posture when dealing with politics?

How does the call to “love, honor, serve” reshape how we interact with others publicly and politically?

In what ways do you need to trust and follow the Shepherd and Overseer of your soul today?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

We thank you for the story of salvation that centers on Your Son. We are amazed again at the endless grace of Jesus that grants forgiveness and freedom. May Your Spirit shape us to continually receive, share and show the love of God through everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray, amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

1 Peter 2:13-25 - Jack

1 Peter 2:13-25

There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine! - Abraham Kuyper

Romans 13:1-2

“The cross is not a sign of the church's quiet, suffering submission to the powers-that-be, but rather the church's revolutionary participation in the victory of Christ over those powers. The cross is not a symbol for general human suffering and oppression. Rather, the cross is a sign of what happens when one takes God's account of reality more seriously than Caesar's. The cross stands as God's (and our) eternal “no” to the powers of death, as well as God's eternal “yes” to humanity, God's remarkable determination not to leave us to our own devices.” - Stanley Hauerwas, Resident Aliens

“The Bread itself was hungry, Fullness itself was thirsty, Power itself was made weak, Health itself was wounded, and Life itself was mortal. So that our hunger would be satisfied, so that our dryness would be watered, our weakness supported, our love ignited. What greater mercy than that which presents to us the Creator created; the Master made a slave; the Redeemer sold; the One who exalts, humbled; the One who raises the dead, killed?” - Augustine

Gathering Recap - 05/10/2026 - 1 Peter 2:9-12 - Earworm

Call to worship:

16 But may all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
    say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
17 As for me, I am poor and needy,
    but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
    do not delay, O my God!

Psalm 40:16-17

Gathering Video

1 Peter 2:9-12 - Earworm

Anthony Garcia - 05/10/2026

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Questions for reflection:

What “earworms” have you been having lately?

How do Peter’s words solidify who we are and how we’re called as God’s people?

In what ways can you more regularly live into your identity?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

We thank you for the story of salvation that centers on Your Son. We are amazed again at the endless grace of Jesus that grants forgiveness and freedom. May Your Spirit shape us to continually receive, share and show the love of God through everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray, amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

1 Peter 2:9-12 - Faith

Title: Earworm

[Verse 1]

Guilty running down the side of the egg

I'm in love with the past, and the things that they said

Guilty running down the side of my head

I get by on the promise of future excess

Guilty running, guilty running

I put my back in waiting for something

[Chorus]

I keep waiting for the shoe to drop

Microplastics in my lemonade

I keep waiting for my friend to call

And forgive me of my bad faith

Guilty running, guilty, I'm running out of time

- Hudson Freeman

5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”  

(Exodus 19:6&7)

“They all make one family, a sort and species of people distinct from the common world, of another spirit, principle, and practice, which they could never be if they were not chosen in Christ to be such, and sanctified by His Spirit.”

- Matthew Henry

“26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

(1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

“The community that is created by the cross, is not just a warm family or aggregation of people giving one another emotional support. It is an alternate society with different habits, different customs, different loves. It is a foretaste of the heavenly city to come.”

- Timothy Keller

Gathering Recap - 05/03/2026 - 1 Peter 2:1-8 - Discard, Desire, Build

Call to worship:

11 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
    your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
    ever preserve me!
12 For evils have encompassed me
    beyond number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
    and I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head;
    my heart fails me.

13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me!
    O Lord, make haste to help me!

Psalm 40:11-13

Gathering Video

1 Peter 2:1-8 - Discard, Desire, Build

Jon Wolfinger - 05/03/2026

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Questions for reflection:

What does Peter encourage the people of God to “discard” and what are they to desire?

How does the story of God change how we see people?

If followers of Jesus are “priests” - What does our (your) vocation look like today?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

We thank you for the story of salvation that centers on Your Son. We are amazed again at the endless grace of Jesus that grants forgiveness and freedom. May Your Spirit shape us to continually receive, share and show the love of God through everything we say and do.

In the name of Christ we pray, amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

1 Peter 2:1-8

Psalm 19:7-11

Every other ethical system calls us to the costly effort of becoming what we are not. But in the full salvation already bequeathed to us in Christ, the new nature is already ours, waiting for expression, poised for growth, until its potential is triggered by our obedience to the word of God - Alec Motyer

What God desires from us, he graciously forms in us as we grow in our love for him. Ruth Chou Simmons

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

1 Peter 1:13-26 - Exilic Exercise

Anthony Garcia - 04/26/2026

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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

1 Peter 1:10-12 - Trust and Temptations

Jon Wolfinger - 04/19/2026

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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)

1 Peter 1:1-9 - Elect Exiles

Anthony Garcia - 04/12/2026

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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

Revelation 21:1-5 - The Kingdom to Come

Jon Wolfinger - 04/05/2026

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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

Mark 11:1-10 - The Kingdom Arrives

Jon Wolfinger - 03/29/2026

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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

Isaiah 35:1-10 - Kingdom Promised

Anthony Garcia - 03/22/2026

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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

Acts 28:17-31 - Finish Line

Jon/Anthony - 03/15/2026

Download

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

Acts 28:1-16 - Snakes Bite

Jon Wolfinger - 03/08/2026

Download

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

Acts 27:1-44 - Small Ship, Big Storm

Anthony Garcia - 03/01/2026

Download

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

Acts 256:1-32 - Power and Purpose

Jon Wolfinger - 02/22/2026

Download

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