Philippians 4:4-9

Paul’s words are a rebuke of over-personalizing and over-individualizing faith. Instead, Paul might be telling us that if we ever want to find the peace of God, we have to do it with one another — Our liberation in God is bound up in one another’s.

Job 19:23-27a

Before any social or material change to his circumstances, and before anything concretely changes in his life, Job’s redemption comes in the form of an authentic articulation of his inner life.

Deuteronomy 24:17-18 and Jeremiah 2:4-13

The Hebrew people are commanded to communally remember the traumas of their ancestors, not for the sake of white-knuckled self-determination, but for the sake of their communal wholeness.

Galatians 6:1-16

Paul writes to the church of Galatia about the obsession to be right and its close bedfellow: the obsession to gain power over others. But Christ’s crucifixion gives us a very different set of rules and affections, ones which will surely lead us to plant seeds for tomorrow.

Acts 2:1-21

The Spirit pours out flames upon each of us, not for the sake of growing our finances, or for the sake of larger membership, but for the sake of our neighbors. We’re not a cargo freighter at sea; we’re a dinghy on a lake, and when we open our sail, can easily catch the wind of the Spirit.

Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5

The church has never, ever, ever been called to tune out. It has been called to be tuned-in, with a heart and set of eyeglasses that give it a different lens: a bifocal faith.

MAUNDY THURSDAY · John 13:1, 31-35

Jesus orders us to love one another, indiscriminate of whether others are citizens or immigrants; criminals or not; Christian or not; sober or not; mentally ill or not; politically-aligned or not; reciprocally loving or not.

Luke 9:28-36

For men who often lack friendships and emotional intimacy with others, it is extremely uncomfortable to chart a path toward a connection and belonging to others in Christ. But singing together—like times in Scouting and even military service—provides a ritual that moves us toward connection.

Luke 13:31-35

Singing itself might change us. After all, God’s people have sung for thousands of years. It’s a spiritual discipline that at face value seems superficial, but if we trust the Spirit’s work, it will shape this church and our lives.

1 Corinthians 12:12-33a

Like our own physical bodies, we don’t get to choose when our muscles work, or our vision remains, or our mental health reaches equilibrium. We don’t get to choose if we’re weak or not, and despite that inconvenience, it is a gift, because that is where the presence and hope of Christ enters into our lives.

Mark 12:38-13:2

God’s movement in Newton and Sussex County isn’t bound by our fears, or relief, or numbness, or uncertainty, or optimism. And I believe that this church, deep in its bones, for decades upon decades, is not committed to institutional preoccupation, but to that mission and calling that lives in the heart of God.

Ephesians 4:1-6, 25-32

Our own purposes and agendas and neuroses and wound-licking will never, ever, ever compare to unity in that Spirit. We will never be fed by our own grievances or resentment or apathy; but as we are united in the Spirit, plunged into deeper, mature ministry, we will find our souls transfixed. 

Romans 6:3-11

We’re tempted to think that Jesus came into this world to bring us access to the afterlife, to ‘heaven.’ But so much of Jesus’ ministry is actually about salvation… For life that stretches beyond our wildest imaginations.

Philippians 2:1-13

This moral pattern of humility is where the mission and ministry of Christ Jesus is made incarnate. It is not found in political influence, large voices, and big sticks, but Christ is incarnate in our frailty, relentless giving, and quiet, persistent service.

Psalm 78:1-7

The same love of God and fellowship of the Holy Spirit that was in this church one hundred years ago is still here, beckoning us to action. And we are writing our life together as one great liturgy that spans across seasons and pastors and hurts and traumas and arguments.

Exodus 5-8

God never, ever, ever drives us out into the wilderness to die. And we have a whole book filled to the brim with stories about the wilderness. Our Bibles are full of stories where people encounter the goodness, holiness, presence of God in real and special ways.