Matthew 2:1-12

The hard part of faith isn’t scrounging up grace — the hard part is recognizing grace when it’s right in front of our faces. The hard part is recognizing and accepting and receiving grace when it’s moonwalking across our lives.

Ephesians 4:1-6

We this child go into the care of the Spirit, who will guide him, teach him, bring him to unexpected places, and bring him back to the unique image that God has placed within him.

Luke 12:32-40

Christ will not come again as a militaristic punisher. Christ will come again as a guest from a wedding banquet — Christ will come from a place of abiding joy and unmeasurable love.

Romans 5:1-5

God is so big, that even our faith—our very salvation—is an act of God... It is the faith of Jesus Christ which brings us into righteousness and peace.

Acts 11:1-18

Peter saw everything he was taught to avoid, and everything he was taught to reject, coming down in a sheet. He was being called by God to support and love Samaritans and eunuchs and Romans and foreigner gentiles. He was being asked to transgress the boundaries he formed and the lines in the sand he drew.

Luke 2:1-11

This miraculous deed is a sign that God is not content with our mere survival; God is determined to bring about joy and celebration within our deepest souls, for the whole human race. In Christ, we envision a community of Newton that is more connected, more alive, more stable, more enfranchised in every way.

Luke 3

Baptism was the start of Jesus’ ministry among us, stirring him to a life of radical peace, hospitality, healing, and hope. We see, flowing from Jesus’ baptism a life that was marked by relationships with the poor, sick, and morally disreputable. And that same baptism is wrapped around our waists, too, leading us back to the love and grace of our Creator.

Mark 10:17-31

Being a disciple of Jesus isn't about following the script and checking the right boxes that are found on the pages of our Bibles and Book of Confessions. It’s to become alive and participate in the music of the Gospel, to be changed and follow the voice of our Creator and Great Composer, to encounter the Spirit within and around and behind our vocations as baptized people.

Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-25

“The man who tried to be a superhero has come to realize that he’s not a superhero. Worse yet, Moses made himself a martyr by his own hand — trying to be so faithful, so righteous, so perfect, that he inadvertently destroys himself and his neighbors."

Psalm 78:23-29 and John 6:35, 41-51

Once we eat of the bread of life, we will come back again and again and again—because we know that there is a bread that never runs out, a Sustainer that never lets go. Once we go to God’s wide table, we’ll never be able to leave. Nothing else will ever compare.

Mark 5:21-43

What is God calling you to interrupt? What injustices are holding this planet back from God’s love? What conversations need to happen to interrupt bias or social scripts or structural obstacles? And how can you pull on the hem of Jesus’ garment, reaching out in courage?

Matthew 13:1-23

The most important thing might be to start telling a story. To start making meaning from the discouragement and disappointments of our lives, when the world was all wrong. And to do this in a way that tells of God’s love, protection, and providence. We are invited to tell a story about how God’s presence and grace made things alright, even when they were all wrong.