This week we stepped into Mary’s story—a story we often sentimentalize but rarely sit with in its full weight. Mary was young, poor, politically vulnerable, and living in a region familiar with Roman brutality. The angel’s announcement was not soft or harmless—it was revolutionary. A virgin pregnancy risked public shame, abandonment, and even execution. Yet Mary responds, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.”
Read MoreThis week we opened the season of Advent by exploring the story of Zechariah—an ordinary, faithful man living in extraordinarily dark days. Luke situates his story “in the days of King Herod,” a detail that signals disappointment, fear, and political and spiritual heaviness
Read MoreThis week we talked about gratitude—not the shallow holiday version but the deep, steadying practice that shapes the way we see God, ourselves, and the world. We looked at Paul’s words to the Philippians, a letter overflowing with joy, even though it was written from a Roman prison cell.
Read MoreThis week, we explored what it really means to feel rich. Paul writes to Timothy, “Command those who are rich in this present world to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” (1 Timothy 6:17–19).
Read MoreThis week, we explored what it really means to feel rich. Paul writes to Timothy, “Command those who are rich in this present world to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” (1 Timothy 6:17–19).
Read MoreThis week we talked about the practice of simplicity. Jesus warns us that life does not consist in the abundance of possessions (Luke 12:15). The problem isn’t stuff itself — it’s the story we believe about stuff: that more is better.
Read MoreAt the close of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells a story about two builders—one wise, one foolish. Both hear his teaching, both face the same storm, but only one house stands. The difference isn’t what they heard, but what they did with it.
Read MoreIn this final week of How to Know a Person, we explored Jesus’ teaching about conflict and reconciliation in Matthew 18. Jesus shows us how to handle the friction that inevitably arises in relationships—with gentleness, humility, and love.
Read MoreThis week we explored what may be the biggest obstacle to meaningful relationships: unmanaged expectations.
Read MoreThis week we turned the mirror around. Instead of focusing on how we see others, we asked: What does it mean to let ourselves be seen? To be known?
Read MoreThis week we explored what it means to see clearly. In Matthew 7, Jesus warns against judgment, but not in the way people often use that verse. He isn’t telling us to stop making wise decisions. Instead, the word “judge” here means reducing someone’s whole identity down to one action or trait. That’s what judgment does: it takes a single detail and makes it someone’s entire story.
Read MoreThis week we named how complicated relationships can be—partly because we’re complicated people, and partly because the culture we live in makes connection harder. We’re told that the goal of maturity is independence, that the strongest people are the ones who “don’t need anyone.” But here’s the truth: it’s hard to know each other when we think the goal is to not need each other.
Read MoreThis week we will look at the story of the church in Acts—the Spirit turning strangers into family, moving God’s presence from a building to a people, and sending witnesses across every boundary. The book ends open-ended, reminding us that it’s now our turn to keep writing the next chapter here and now in our own lives.
Read MoreThis week we will cover the heart of the Big Story—the Gospels. Each of the four Gospels tells the story of Jesus in a unique way, yet all point us to the cross as the center of God’s new world built on forgiveness and love. Together, they invite us to see Jesus more fully and to reorient our lives around His story of hope, mercy, and redemption.
Read MoreThis week we will cover how God meets us in our seasons of exile—turning displacement into hope, reshaping our faith, and leading us home through Jesus.
Read MoreThis week, we’ll look at 1 Samuel 8, where Israel demands a human king, choosing the way of Empire over trusting God as their true King. We’ll explore how this moment sets up a contrast between two kingdoms: one built on power and control, and the other—God’s Kingdom—on humble, self-giving love. We'll also consider how Jesus redefines kingship and invites us into the slow, faithful work of His Kingdom.
Read MoreThis week’s message explored Exodus 19–20 and the giving of the Law at Sinai—not as a list of rigid rules, but as God’s way of forming a people who reflect His justice, mercy, and love. We considered the difference between freedom from and freedom for, and how Jesus fulfills the Law by moving it from behavior
Read More
