John

Luke 3:1-6
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate
was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother
Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of
Abilene,  2  during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of
God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.  3  He went into all the
region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins,  4  as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet
Isaiah, ‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight.
5  Every valley shall be filled,
    and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
    and the rough ways made smooth;
6  and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”’

He had washed their feet. He had broken the bread. And now, in the quiet of that upper room, he was trying to prepare them for something they couldn't yet imagine — a world in which he would no longer be physically present, and they would have to find a way to carry on. His answer to their unspoken fear was a promise: that they would not be left alone. That something — someone — would come to dwell not just among them, but within them. This week, we sit with that promise and the mystery it carries - The Holy Spirit. Have you felt it? And do you know what to call it when you do? Join us Sunday as we ask these questions together.

Most of us have heard these words at a graveside. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. In my Father's house, there are many dwelling places." They are among the most quoted verses in all of scripture — spoken at the edges of loss, offered as comfort when comfort is hard to find. But Jesus first spoke these words, not at a funeral. He spoke them to a roomful of frightened friends the night before everything fell apart. This week, we return to those familiar words and ask what they meant then — and what they are still asking of us now.

Long before there were temples or thrones, there were shepherds. The stories of faith are full of them — Jacob, his sons, David — ordinary people who learned to tend living things and listen for what the land and the flock were telling them. In the ancient world, multiple flocks would spend the night together in a shared enclosure — and in the morning, each shepherd would call, and each flock would sort itself out by the sound of the one voice it recognized. This week, we stay with that image and let it ask us something honest: Do we know the voice calling us? Join us Sunday at 830, 11:00, or 11:30 am.

He has carried the label, "Doubting Thomas", for two thousand years. But what if we have been reading him wrong? Thomas was the disciple who once declared he would die alongside Jesus — hardly the portrait of a man without courage or conviction. This week, we take a second look at Thomas — and at the holy, necessary space where honest questions and deep trust learn to live together.

This Easter, we invite you to embody your identity as Resurrection People who recognize new life blooming all around us. As Resurrection People, we're called not only to proclaim the good news but to cultivate resurrection moments for those around us, bearing witness to beauty and new life in both nature and our neighbors.  This Easter, we celebrate that nothing God touches stays dead—and we are called to be agents of that same resurrection hope in our world.  See you Sunday!

WANT MORE? CHECK OUT OUR SOCIAL MEDIA!

NEW HERE?

CONNECT