Common Ground

Colossians 4:7-18 Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him), 11 and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. From Bonhoeffer to Martin Luther King Jr, words from prison mean something. St. Paul, in his last paragraphs in the letter to the Colossians is no different. He mentions ten people in the last few verses and each of them holds a special place in his heart as he writes from a Roman prison. Bars and chains give you a lot of time to think, to reflect on life and those who are important to you. Paul thinks of his friends who have been with him to the very end. What about us? Are we the kind of people that sit with friends in their imprisonment in order to further the gospel of Christ? Most of us have a hard time with discomfort. Yet Paul and his friends have a lot to teach us from

Colossians 4:2-6 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Questions abound on the structure and methods of prayer. How can we be more passionate, more consistent, less needy, and less wishful? Paul is about to end his letter and he asks for the small church to be devoted to prayer and there are a lot of lessons that we can take away from his words as we too become a small church devoted to prayer. Join us as we worship our resurrected king and pray for kingdom of God to come on earth as it is in heaven. 

Colossians 3:18-25 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. We live in the age of Lowe's. Or, maybe you're a Home Depot kind of family. We watch shows about home improvements and we love a good Pinterest board on quick DIY projects that could add value to our home. Yet, while we are quick to add monetary value, we are a bit more unsure on how to add spiritual value to our home, our marriage, and to our children's lives. This Sunday is 5th Sunday and we want to talk about the family. After talking extensively about the baptized and resurrected life of the Christian, Paul now moves toward interpersonal relationships and how to live the crucified and resurrected life in the here and now. While the surrounding context is hotly debated about wives submitting and slaves obeying, there is no arguing that the Christian home should be safe and hospitable for everyone to grow and to flou

Colossians 3:12-17 12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Having put off our old selves and put on the new in Christ, how then do we proceed?  When the followers of Christ have put to death that which is worldly, turning form anger, wrath, malice, slander and obscene talk, what is it to live in the reality that “Christ is all, and in all.”?  Paul continues this week by showing us what the clothes look like. Christ clothes us in kindness, humility, meekness and patience but it is not without challenge. How do we bear with one another in community when sin yet ensnares and wounds.  What does it mean to forgive as we were forgiven? Join us as we worship and rejoice in the Lord! Come and hear wha

Colossians 3:1-11 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. It's not that hard to think back to what we once were. It's also not that hard to look forward to a better version of ourselves. The hard thing is to become the person Christ has created us to be in him. So many things hold us back from our old friends, to our old habits, it's just not that easy to lay the old version of ourselves to rest. It's a funeral we struggle to arrange, and yet until it's a funeral that we have to go through. Join us as we look at this beautiful passage from Paul's letter to the Colossians church and we worship together the Christ who has raised us from the grave! Guest Speaker: Hans Labor 

Colossians 2:16-23 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ... If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? As the church was beginning in the years following the resurrection of Jesus, there were many rules that were trying to keep people from being unified in Christ. False religions grew up around Christianity trying to make the follower of Jesus slaves to the rules of their particular cult. These people were putting new rules on the people in the church and demanding that they follow their rules in order to have, not only salvation, but any kind of mystical experience with God. They demanded a strict

Colossians 2:6-15 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. The question that Christianity answers, is not what makes Jesus the more rational choice, but rather what makes dead things come alive? Paul combats the philosophies of the Gentile culture along with the traditions of the Jewish culture and he comes to the answer that it is Christ and in Christ alone that cancels the debt of sin and unites Jew and Gentile alike into a new family! Join us as we ponder again the magnitude of his sacrifice and offer of life! 

Colossians 1:15-23   He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. Have you ever wondered what God is like? What he looks like and the kinds of things he'd say and do if he were here? In the OT we hear things like, "nobody can see God and live." Why is that I wonder? What is it about the presence of God or the sinfulness of mankind that isn't allowed to see God? Yet Paul wants you and me to see and to understand the wisdom that, if you have seen Jesus, you have seen God. He is the image, the very picture of the invisible God! If you've been with Jesus you've been with God! Join us as we make much of Jesus and his glory in creation, the church, and in our lives!! 

Colossians 1:1-14 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. We forget. We forget where we parked. We forget where we put our car keys. We forget friends birthdays and we forget appointments. Paul knew humanities forgetfulness and he knew that since the church is made up of humans, we as a church forget too. The opening statements in Paul's letter to the Colossians are about remembering that we have been transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into Christ's marvelous light. He reminds us that we are the city shining on a hill. He reminds us that we are most joyful when we are thankful. He reminds us that we are most secure when we in prayer with our Father. He reminds us also of what Christ has done for us and that alone should spark our imaginations daily for Gospel living and Gospel hope. Join us as we begin a new series in Co

Revelation 19:6-10 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” Why do weddings make us cry? What is it about the promise of faithfulness and love that brings tears to our eyes? The final story of Revelation is no different. Christ has promised to come and dwell among us, to vindicate the evil done on earth and to bring heaven and earth together in a new creation where there are no more tears, no more darkness, and no more death! Weddings make us cry because they are the appetizer of the great and glorious wedding day. No bride has been happier than the church will be on the day of Jesus' coming! Yet how are we doing in the engagement period? Have we been faithful to our betrothed? Join us for the conclusion of our Revelation Series as we worship the lamb who is worthy and long for the day when heaven and earth shall be one! 

Revelation 18:20-19:4And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, “Alas, alas, for the great city     where all who had ships at sea     grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste. 20 Rejoice over her, O heaven,     and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!” How does it all end? Do God's people cry out forever? Is there a hell? Is there a heaven? What does the apocalyptic language of Revelation have to do with what is actually going to happen when Christ returns? Is God just, if evil is not done away with? How does God defeat evil? How will God judge the church? How will God judge the corruption of empires, the violence of empires, the greed of empires, the seductions of empires? What does the "Fall of Babylon" entail and why does all of heaven rejoice at the fall of the "unholy trinity" as we see it in Revelation 18 and 19? We have to understand this in someways is like Easter and Good Friday. There is no r

Revelation 14:12-13 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” We all have jobs. We are teachers, shop owners, contractors, plumbers, nurses, firefighters, as well as a variety of other things. We have vocations and many of us were trained for the jobs we do. Some of us wish we still had more training for we feel a bit shaky on the job, tons of responsibility and little margin for error. Yet when it comes to our Christian Vocation, what are we to be doing, learning, getting done in the mean time between Christ's first and second coming? What training should we be giving to others and receiving ourselves? The good news is that we find a lot of these answers in the book of Revelation. This resistance document would not be much of a d

Revelation 4 and 5 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”  And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. We come to the central image of Revelation: the throne of God and the lamb that was slain. Holding these two images in theological perspective, gives the church hope, for the lamb alone is worthy to bring about the justice and salvation of God. Yet, what does it all mean? While the world is in chaos and while Christians walk through unmentionable persecution, the worship in heaven is not only a foretaste of what is to come, but a format for how we are to fill the earth with worship now! Join us as we look only to Jesus the Passover Lamb, the suffering servant, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! He is worthy! 

Revelation 1:1-3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. As the bride walks down the isle her vail covers her face. What is to be revealed is kept hidden until the proper moment. The book of Revelation is that same word. It is an unveiling of the things to come and how the Lamb of God is the only one worthy to make all things new! Many people avoid the book of Revelation because it's either too scary or too hard to understand and we get that, but over the next five weeks we'll be "unveiling" several eschatological themes from the book of Revelation to encourage us to stand firm and to walk without fear until the Day of the Lord. Christ has promised a beautiful wedding, he as the bridegroom and the church as the bride. Join us as we begin to unveil the hope of heaven. 

Galatians 4:4-7 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.  Where Wonder was a meditation on Kindness and Three Billboards was a meditation on Anger and Grief, and Get Out was a meditation on the horrors of Racism, Coco is a meditation on Family and Memory. While many of our church family will be at the Women's Retreat, the rest of us will be pondering the love and pain that comes through and in a family. Coco, even though it's a cartoon, does not shy away from the pain that comes from abandonment and the traditions that families adopt when they've been wounded. However, when families can reconcile and find hope through the pain, it is a picture on this earth of God's great family. Join

John 4:5-10,39-42 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” Where Wonder was a meditation on Kindness and Three Billboards was a meditation on Anger and Grief, Get Out hits us with the horrors of Racism. Many in our country and even in our churches want to simply say that we are living in a post-Racial America, and yet there are films, books, and conversations that we have that we cannot turn away from and simply ignore. As the church, we are bridge builders to the kingdom of Christ, and the issue of race is a torrent that needs gospel-centered builders. Our Reel to Real series is a theological exploration of the films that are telling a story that highlight in this cultural moment, an aspect of God's overall redemptive story. G

1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:7-9; Ephesians 4:25-32 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Quite possibly the angriest movie we saw last year was Three Billboards. While Wonder, was a meditation on kindness, Three Billboards is a meditation on anger. Yet, there is so much more to point out theologically than just a world on fire. It is a hard movie to watch and an even harder film to wrestle with. It hits on many of humanities most broken aspects; from racism, to homophobia, to sexual assault, suicide, and even parenting. However, the true redemptive hope that Three Billboards leaves us with, is how we deal with our pain, grief, and longings for justice. Join us as we hope to connect the cross of Christ with the pain of the world. 

1 Corinthians 12:12-31 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. Wonder is a the story of a boy with many facial disfigurations, who is loved by his family and yet struggles as he navigates the halls of Middle School. This world comes at us cold at times and it takes those around us who see the world a bit differently to give us eyes to see. If you've read the book or have seen the movie Wonder, you are in for a treat as we take a look at some of the precepts from the film and work them around the cross and resurrection of Jesus. However, more accurately, we'll look at the church and how we are a place full of "Wonders" and yet we have produced some of the world

John 20:1-31 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Paul would say, "If Christ be not raised we are above all to be pitied." Not because we would be wrong, but because the hope of the world would be lost. Yet on that great glorious morning, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ the King of Kings, rose from the tomb and all of heaven shouted for joy and the earth shook. As we gather to worship, we are reminded that this is not the end. We can't wait to proclaim with you, that "He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!"  

Matthew 21:1-11 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” Palm Sunday is a revolutionary battle cry for a king! The only issue is, what kind of king are we shouting for? The crowds on that day shouted "Hosanna" which translated means "Save Us." What they meant was "save us" from the Roman occupation, however, what Jesus had it mind was a much more holistic salvation!