What actually makes a moral action Christian? Is it the deed itself? Scripture seems to indicate that when a moral code or law isn't practiced from the right motivation, we can end up using the very commands of God to promote self-righteousness, or worse, to judge others. In today's passage, Paul seems to indicate that the motive behind a good action matters as much as, or more than, the action itself. Ephesians 4:17-32 ‍

In our church world, where it is easy to equate surface action to obedience, Paul invites us to slow down and reconsider what might make something Christian. For Paul, the action itself is not necessarily Christian, but rather the action done in a specific posture resulting in the development of love, is what makes it Christian. Ephesians 4:1-16‍ ‍

In a culture that tends to believe success is the result of the self-made man or woman, we assume our will is uninfluenced, unpolluted, unbiased, and therefore solely responsible for the discipline we credit ourselves with. That belief leaves little room for grace and plenty of room for contempt and judgment. Today we explore how Paul digs beneath the will to get to what actually matters, the affections of the heart: Ephesians 3:14-21

Often we seek safety and comfort in sameness and homogeneity. It’s easy to see difference and diversity as something to solve or fear. Scripture has a different perspective. Paul thought the expression of God through the embrace of difference and diversity was worth imprisonment, and believed that these little communities of difference united under Jesus were proof to the world that Jesus had won. This week we invite you to explore Ephesians 3 with us and all it might be calling us to. Scripture reading: Ephesians 3:1-13

Often we bring preconceived ideas and doctrines into these dense, wordy texts. What if we began to simply ask, “What are these texts inviting us to see?” What if there is more to this whole thing than some eternal destination? What if Salvation is about the here and now? This week we invite you to explore Ephesians 2 with us and all it might be calling us to. Scripture reading: Ephesians 2

Maybe the structure of Ephesians is more prescriptive than the actual commands or teaching. In today’s talk we take a look at Paul’s prayer for his churches and how those prayers may shape the way we live as the resurrected body of Christ. Today's Scripture readings: Ephesians 1:15-23

Maybe the structure of Ephesians is more prescriptive than the actual commands or teaching. In a world where our identity is often tossed about on the waves of ever-changing circumstances, technology, culture wars, and opinions, Paul reminds us that who we are is based solely on God's love for us through the work of Jesus. Today's Scripture readings: Ephesians 1:3-14

Today, we wanted to step away from our normal flow and series to speak into our church. Many individuals in our little church have experienced loss and hurt over the last month. So today we took the opportunity to speak to the heart of that loss and hurt. Today's Scripture readings: Ecclesiastes 7:1-5; Psalm 103:1-14; John 1:1-5, 10-14,16-18; Proverbs 8:22-31

Today, we begin our series through the letter to the church at Ephesus. We have decided to study this small letter as a way to begin to grasp how the gospel in real life invites us to live. However, before we step into the actual book, we want to look at Paul’s first visit in the book of Acts and use this as a way to talk about idolatry.  Our scripture readings today came from Job 31:19-30, Acts 19: 8-10, 17-20, 23-28, 32, 35-38

Today we take some time to acknowledge America's 250th birthday. We currently face deep division within our nation, and much of that division runs right through the church. Our commitment to the extremes on either side is hindering our witness to the resurrected Jesus. The way of Christ calls us away from those extremes and shapes how we live as citizens in the countries we call home. The way of the cross isn't lived just for our own good, but for the good of this country as well.

Today, we wrap up our Eastertide series, the season that begins with the resurrection of Jesus and moves through the arrival of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church. As we close this short season on the Spirit's arrival, we look at how Luke identifies the church as the new and better temple

Growing up, the fruit of the Spirit versus the fruit of the flesh felt like a moral checklist, a list of behaviors that existed for their own sake. But there's a deeper purpose behind them, one that shapes us into a colony of heaven here on earth, the church.

Whether it's the first couple in Genesis or the picture of the church in Acts, the authors of scripture have a habit of creating literary icons, models for what something is meant to be. We see it in individuals, in marriages, in nations. This week, we explore Luke's literary icon of the church in Acts 2, a Spirit-empowered people.

Pentecost is the day we celebrate two events at once: the arrival of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church. Too often, the gift of the Spirit gets reduced to a doctrinal checkbox or sensationalized into a feeling or a language, missing the point entirely. Join us this week to discover why the Spirit was given to the church in the first place.

The Ascension of Jesus is often framed as "he went to heaven so I can too." That story is far smaller than what actually happened. Ascension is the story that releases us to be the body of Christ in the world, under the rule of a far more powerful king. Join us this week as we dig into what the Ascension is actually about.

Jesus did not come to simply improve our afterlife. He came to give us a life that is full, rich, and real right now. This week, we take an honest look at what that abundant life actually looks like in the everyday.

Every decision we make is driven by some kind of logic, whether it is what we want, what we fear, or what we have come to believe is true. This week we ask a simple but disruptive question: what happens to the way we think and live when we believe that love is the most powerful and lasting reality in the universe?

The resurrection was never meant to be just an event we observe once a year. This week we explore what it looks like to actually live it.

Today we move to our second scene on the way to the Cross. We turn to John’s telling of the garden arrest, where we encounter four different ways of responding to the way of the Cross.

On this first Sunday of Lent, we slow down and listen to the prayer of a dying man — Jesus’ final, heartfelt request to the Father. As we hear what matters most to him in that moment, we have to ask ourselves: Is the thing Jesus emphasizes so deeply the same thing we, as his Church, have chosen to emphasize?