First Houston United Methodist Church

Pastor Lindsay explores the difference between a scarcity mindset and an abundance mindset. Just like Moses, we often focus on what we lack—skills, resources, confidence—rather than trusting what God can do through what we already have. God asks Moses a simple but powerful question: “What’s in your hand?”—reminding us that God doesn’t call the equipped; He equips the called.

Drawing from real-life experiences, Scripture, and the story of Moses, Pastor Lindsay challenges us to stop limiting God by our fears and insecurities. Instead, we’re invited to shift our perspective and trust in God’s power a...

Waiting and stepping forward can both produce anxiety—but what if neither had to control us? In this message from Exodus 3, we explore the life of Moses and discover how God’s calling brings clarity, courage, and confidence in every season.

Moses spent 40 years in Egypt and 40 years in the wilderness before God called him through a burning bush. What felt like delay was actually preparation. God was shaping Moses, preparing others, and aligning the timing perfectly. The message reminds us that doing the “right thing” at the wrong time—or without God’s call—can still lead to failur...

Pastor Lindsay reflects on Simeon in Luke 2 and what it means to wait on the Lord with hope. In a world that hates waiting, Simeon shows us a holy, faithful kind of waiting, one rooted not in impatience or certainty of outcomes, but in trust that God is bringing comfort and salvation in His time. Exploring the biblical meaning of waiting (qavah), this sermon reminds us that waiting and hoping are deeply connected, and that God uses waiting seasons to develop our faith, not destroy it. Whether we are ending one year or entering a new one, this message...

from creation, to His birth, to our lives today. Drawing from John’s Gospel, the Christmas story, and the journeys of the shepherds and the wise men, it shows how God’s light meets people in different ways: sometimes suddenly and brightly, sometimes quietly and over a long journey. Whether we feel close to God or far away, raised in faith or finding it on our own, the same truth remains—Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness, and He waits for us with joy. Even when life feels dark, there is real, unseen light guiding us home.<...

Jesus is the Light of the World—and when we encounter Him, His light shines through us. In this Christmas message, we follow the shepherds from fear to praise and discover how Christ’s light transforms ordinary people into bearers of hope.

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Lindsay explores a recurring biblical pattern: darkness descends, people despair, and God responds with unexpected new life—often in the smallest, most fragile form.

Beginning with Isaiah 9, the sermon describes the fear and political collapse in ancient Judah as the Assyrian Empire threatened destruction. In the midst of national crisis, Isaiah announces hope using prophetic past tense—speaking of God’s future salvation as if it has already happened: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.”

God’s promised solution is surprising: a baby. Historically, this refers to Hezekiah, who eventually became a faithful k...

This message explores the powerful connection between Genesis 1 and John 1, showing how the story of creation and the story of Christ reveal the same truth: God brings light into darkness—on purpose, with purpose, and through Jesus Christ.

From the very beginning, God’s first act was to speak: “Let there be light.” Light wasn’t an accident; it was intentional, good, and foundational. John picks up this theme to show that Jesus is that Light—the divine Word present at creation, the One through whom life and light came into being.

The sermon walks through Scri...

This message explores the last Sunday of the Christian year and the powerful way Scripture chooses to end the book of Psalms: with praise. Just like a playlist filled with every emotion, the Psalms cover the full spectrum of human experience—joy, sorrow, doubt, hope, anger, and deep trust. Yet after all the twists and turns, after all the cries for help and honest confessions, the final word of the Psalms is simple and bold: “Praise the Lord.”

As we approach Thanksgiving, the sermon invites us to let praise and gratitude be the final word in our own ye...

In a world full of filters, AI fakery, and half-truths, telling the truth has become a radical act. We often say “Nothing’s wrong” when something always is. We hide behind curated images, polite answers, and put-together masks.

Jacob did the same—his whole life was built on deception. He tricked his father Isaac, cheated his brother Esau, manipulated his father-in-law Laban, and lived on the run from the consequences of his own actions.

When Jacob hears Esau is coming to meet him with 400 men, fear hits him hard. He divides his people, he prays, and then...

How God Does Big Things | 2 Kings 5:1–14 (Naaman’s Story)

In this message, we explore one of the richest stories in Scripture — the healing of Naaman — and what it reveals about God’s power to do big things through our small acts of faithfulness.

From the unnamed servant girl who spoke hope, to Naaman’s hesitant obedience, every person in this story had one simple thing to do. And through their faithfulness, God worked miracles.

💡 Key Takeaways:

God invites us to participate in His work — not because He needs us, but because He wants us to sh...

In this All Saints message, Pastor Lindsay reflects on our human need for certainty — especially when facing grief and the mysteries of the afterlife. Drawing from Jesus’ comforting words in John 14, we’re reminded that even though we don’t have all the details about heaven, what we do know is more than enough.

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In this message, we explore how our assumptions shape our actions—especially when it comes to sharing our faith. Too often, we assume people aren’t interested in God or church, and that keeps us silent. But what if we’re wrong?

Drawing from 2 Timothy 4:1–8, this sermon challenges us to rethink those assumptions and recognize that most people are far more open to faith conversations than we think. Research shows that nearly 80% of unchurched people would come to church if invited by a friend—and even more are open to simply hearing about Jesus.

Pastor Lindsay re...

🎥 Summary for YouTube – “First Fruits: Go Serve”

Title: Go Serve – Finding God in Vulnerability Speaker: Pastor [Name not specified] Series: First Fruits Scripture Reference: Matthew 25:31–46

🌙 Opening Story

The sermon begins with a relatable moment — being startled awake by a child in the middle of the night. It’s a vivid image of vulnerability and comfort — how, when we’re scared or weak, we draw close to those who love us. Pastor connects this to how God draws close to us in our need — or more precisely, how we become aware of His constant closeness in our moments o...

The sermon “First Fruits: Giving to the Giver” (James 1:13–18) teaches that God is the source of every good and perfect gift, never the cause of temptation, pain, or suffering. Unlike people who can give both good and bad, God’s nature is purely good, and recognizing this leads believers to respond with gratitude and generosity. Giving back to God—through the biblical principle of tithing—is not about obligation but about faith and trust in the Giver. Using the “ten apples” illustration, the message shows how putting God first with our resources strengthens faith and reorders priorities. The preacher encourages belie...

Pastor Lindsay's sermon begins with two illustrations—a child questioning the need for sleep and a phone plugged into the wrong charger—to show how rest and connection are vital to life. Just as our bodies need rest to be restored, our souls need worship to be spiritually renewed.

The message connects to the church’s five spiritual practices—Gather, Get Connected, Grow, Go, and Give—rooted in Acts 2:42–47. This sermon focuses on Gathering, or worshiping God.

The biblical concept of First Fruits teaches that God deserves our first and best—our time, devotion, and resources. Wor...

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Lindsay's message emphasizes the danger of spiritual certainty and the need for humility in following the Holy Spirit. Using Peter’s vision in Acts 10, the sermon shows how God challenged Peter’s deeply held beliefs and expanded the church to include Gentiles. The lesson is that being Spirit-led often requires surrendering our own assumptions, even when we feel sure we’re right.

The preacher explains how the Spirit speaks—through Scripture, nature, other believers, and inner nudges—and offers a four-part test to discern the Spirit’s voice:

Does it align with the character of Jesus?

The message begins with a personal family story about baseball and habits passed down through generations, illustrating how traits and influences leave lasting marks. In the same way, God’s “fingerprints” can be seen in our lives through the character of Christ passed on to His followers.

The focus is on the apostle Thomas. While he’s often remembered only as “Doubting Thomas,” the sermon reframes him as Courageous Thomas. In John 11, when Jesus decides to return to dangerous Jerusalem to help Lazarus, Thomas boldly declares, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” This shows loyalty, c...

The message reflects on Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:43–48 about loving enemies. It begins by noting how quickly life and technology change, sometimes making the Bible feel hard to relate to. But enemy-making remains a timeless issue—whether personal, political, or cultural.

In today’s world, media and technology often fuel outrage and division, tempting us to create enemies out of people we disagree with. While not everyone feels they have “enemies,” negative judgments and divisions can easily become modern forms of enmity.

The sermon gives five practical steps for Christians:

Consume news wisely – Seek reliable...

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The message reflects on Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:24–34 about not worrying. Using vacation planning as an analogy, the speaker explains that focusing too much on details breeds anxiety, but keeping sight of bigger goals brings peace. Jesus’ call not to worry can feel unrealistic, but Scripture reassures us that worry is normal and that God continually encourages us not to fear.

The sermon explores Leslie Weatherhead’s framework of God’s will:

Intentional will – God’s ideal plan for us.

Permissive will – what God allows because of human free will.

Ultimate will – God’s fin...

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Psalm 8

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John 15:1-8

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Genesis 2:4b-9 and Revelation 22:1-5.

A "mom stop" on a family road trip lead to a life changing view of heaven on earth for pastor Lindsay.

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Galations 5:1, 13-25

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1 Kings:1-15a

Letting God care for us. Not trying to make all our decisions ourselves, but truly listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us.

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Romans 5:1-5 Brant Wallace speaks on how the Holy Spirit moves and empowers with the True Father

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Acts 2 -1-21

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Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

inviting the church to remain open, ready, and faithful as the story continues with hope and anticipation of Christ’s return.

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Revelation 21:10, 22–22:5 And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. God’s church is called to be a beacon of healing, justice, and light. FMH is called to join in this work far and near.

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Revelation 7:9-17 *SCRIPTURE

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying,

“Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb!”

And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the thro...

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Easter is not just a day—it is a season. For fifty days, we celebrate and contemplate the miracle of Christ’s resurrection. This is a time of renewal, of deep spiritual reflection, and of hope. It’s a season that reminds us of a profound truth: God does not simply delight in bringing new things into our lives—God delights in making all things new.

Resurrection is not just a past event; it is a present and ongoing reality. Renewal and transformation are what God is about—and what we can expect from God, not just in Eastert...

Easter is not just a day to celebrate what happened at some point in the past. It is a day to remember what is happening here now, in the present moment, in us, through us, in this city.

Sometimes we live with no expectations of miracles. Gathering the spices, thinking there is nothing beyond the pain or the grief of today.

But resurrection hope happens before we even recognize it. God rolls away stones we didn’t even realize could move.

Stop seeing the city as a tomb and start seeing it a ga...

Lance explores Palm Sunday as a day of contrasts - where Jesus was declared king, but his crucifixion was coming only a few days later.

And so we come to the very heart of our faith - that the king of all creation came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom. And that, through his passion and death, Jesus reveals the very heart of God.

Are we truly looking at our neighborhoods, our city, through the eyes and the tears of Jesus?

This week, watch...

This week, Lance offers a challenge: take a step to offer to someone in need. Because what holds us back from giving? Fear.

Faith isn’t about what you have, it’s what you trust in God to provide. And we trust because God is faithful.

Let us be a people who give, feel discipleship, and transform the world.

Matthew 6:19-21 & 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

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The Dead Sea only takes in water. There are no outlets. And so the water stagnates, and nothing can live.

The Jordan river receives water from the Sea of Galilee, and brings life to everything it touches.

Are we, today, more like the Dead Sea, or are we flowing like the Jordan river? Are we bringing life to everywhere we go?

Or, are we somewhere in between?

Imagine if we saw our neighborhoods the same that Jesus did. If we saw them not as buildings, but as people full of hopes and desires? If w...

How is the gospel taking root in your life?

We can’t grow our faith in isolation, and it most flourishes when we grow small. We experience church most personally and completely in smaller groups.

You’re learning, but you’re also being transformed as you work out your life together. We discover our purpose, and we help others discover their purpose as well.

Who are you discipling? And who is discipling you?

Being rooted in Christ means that we’re planted in a church community.

Faith is like a garden...

Lance remembers doing puzzles at his grandmother’s dining room table, and it sets him in mind of how the church operates: we are like pieces of the puzzle, but you don’t get the full picture when we are still scattered.

Imagine God bringing the pieces together at Main & Clay. As we come together as individual pieces of a puzzle, we begin to see how we fit. We want to build a shared culture, we want to gather together to grow disciples. To worship, to pray, to be discipleship with one another. To build each other up...

Lance asks us to consider what we are connected to - and WHO we are connected to. Because we have be connected first and foremost to our God and King to be connected to each other.

We cannot be Christian in isolation. We serve alongside each other, and in doing so, we stay connected to each other, and to the divine.

The life that we share in Christ is a life of love. And love never fails. It never ends.

John 15:1-17

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We are finishing our series “Thrive,” and Eric finds himself stepping in as the cleanup hitter to talk about joy.

Joy is both a state of being and a way of being. You can experience joy, and your life can express joy to others.

We are in a season of transition, and sometimes transition can be a little scary. But when we seek all of these things that have shown us how to thrive - clarity, witness, abundance, and kinship - as they come together, we experience joy.

We become the people that God...

Today is a graduation of sorts.

We celebrate what has led to this point, and we stand on a threshold, where God is preparing us for something yet unknown.

Because we know: the God who led me to where I was is going before me.

Thriving leads to joy! Are we living in God's joy or weighed down by worry conflict, or grief? The antidote is laughter and joy.

Nehemiah 8:10, 12:27-28a, 30-31, 38a, 40-41a, 42b-43

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Lance talks about when he first learned “I can do difficult things if I really try. But I can’t do it apart from community.”

The walls of Jerusalem were built in 58 days because they focused on their community, on each other.

We have a whole community outside the walls of the church that needs that kind of encouragement, that knows “you can do it! But you don’t have to do it alone.”

Are we committed to supporting one another and building one another up?  How can we create deeper kinship in the church?<...

A scarcity mindset leads to inequity, it leads to not sharing freely out of what we have been given.

To live a life of abundance, we need to open up our hands to freely share what has been given to us to everyone around us.

Abundance flows from our relationships. We need each other, especially in a time like this.

It will take all of us working together to make this next step happen.

Nehemiah 5:1-18

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Nehemiah wanted to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and God made provision because of Nehemiah’s faith.

Likewise, we may be smaller in resource, but we are not smaller in faith.

God has something more for us. But we just need to have faith as we rebuild.

Witness precedes the work. Let us then begin the work of rebuilding the church.

Nehemiah 2:9-12a, 15a, 16-20; 4:1-9, 13-15

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The hard thing about change, the hard part about grief, is that we so want clarity, but we want to skip over the hard part to get it.

We’re in a season where change is here, and there’s pain. It’s okay to name that. It’s okay to be there. Part of what it means to be who we are is to be there for a minute.

If we don’t take the time to weep, we don’t take the time to prepare for the long journey ahead.

Nehemiah 1:1-11,

Have you ever heard of someone trying to build a building without blueprints? To enter a period where we feel God is calling us to thrive, clarity is essential.

We are in a difficult position. We have to acknowledge it. We have to sit with the burden.

But we also sit with the burden of hope.

Nehemiah 1:1-11, 2:1-8

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When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the city, he started not with plans and construction, but with penitence and grief. Before the Israelites could build a new wall, they first needed a new spirit.

As this church enters into a new moment, we’re going to continue to follow the Nehemiah story, and we’re going to continue to move forward as one body in one direction.

Let’s take action together to rebuild this church that God dearly loves.

We need to seek God’s presence before seeking the promise of the futu...

As the church prepares for a massive vote on the future of the church, Lance returns to the Book of Acts and the story of Pentecost. “When we talk about membership in the church, it comes from this passage,” he reminds us. “We are part of one body.”

God is calling us to a Pentecost moment, to be all together, one body, one movement, a light shining brightly on a hill. “Movements begin with faith, not certainty.”

On the day of Pentecost, the disciples got busy praying.

We need a Pentecost moment, too. But it can o...

As Stephen explains, with so many of the pastors out on the West Campus this morning, “today you get me.” But what a lovely thing that ends up being!

Sometimes, no matter how many times God moves us, we keep ending up back in the same place. That’s not the plan God has for us!

Look around at where God has placed you. You are here. You are a piece of this community. Be part of it.

“It is our job not to be the generation that keeps God’s plans from moving for...

Lance often is asked for things by his children that aren’t the best for them, and after turning them down for a long time, he’ll allow them to discover the downsides for themselves.

Free will comes with choices. But it doesn’t shield you from consequences.

When God tells that He knows the plans He has for us, sometimes it doesn’t feel like good news. Sometimes it’s not exactly what we were hoping for.

But God has a bigger purpose in mind than anything we could ever imagine.

Jeremiah...

Lance remembers looking at his sons for the first time and thinking “who are you gonna be?”

Expectations can overwhelm us. Come to the waters and remember that you belong to God.

God is going to do a new thing. Can’t you perceive it?

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

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Today we remember the gifts that the Magi brought to Jesus. What’s the precious gift that you could give this king?

Jesus has given us quite a mission. Let’s see where he takes us in the year ahead.

My prayer for all of us that God would guide us to that perfect light.

Matthew 2:1-12

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Lance tells the story of a very odd thing: a king, born in a room for animals, lying in a feeding trough. As lowly an entrance as you could imagine.

But the story of this humble entrance is also the story of hope. Whatever mess you find in your life, that’s where Christ is born to you. Right where you need him the most, that’s where this gift will be.

Luke 2:1-20

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It’s easy for things to pile up, and if we aren’t careful, for anxiety to come and stop us in our tracks.

So what is the antidote? It is the state of our heart, the state of our mind.

A sense of gentleness and graciousness should mark the people of the Lord.

“Sometimes God calms the storm, but sometimes God calms His child.”

Philippians 4:4-7

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God is not just a starter, God is a finisher.

Look around at this church. It is easy to look at it and think that all the great things have happened. But God is not finished with us, and he is not finished with this church.

We bring the light out to those living in the darkness. That’s the power of the church.

Philippians 1:3-11

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We don’t like to wait, do we? We trust that God keeps his promises, but it is difficult to be patient.

But that’s how faith works. We are given just enough light to illuminate our next step.

We want to push away all of the darkness ourselves. But if we could, we wouldn’t have to rely on God.

We push back the darkness until Christ returns.

Let us be people who push back the darkness together.

By the way, pretty good Tigger impression in the sermon today...

Lance wraps up the sermon series by remembering an old SNL sketch, “A Thanksgiving Miracle,” of a bickering holiday family brought together by the power of song. “Sometimes we need to sing the same song.”

There are so many things that separate us into “us and them,” but what divides us pales in comparison to what unites us.

We have been clothed in Christ - when people see us, they should see Jesus.

Galatians 3:23-29

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To show the ways that faith and works are intertwined, Lance tells the stories of churches that stepped out in faith, preparing for a future that was not yet fulfilled - doing the work to bring about the promises of God.

Faith without works is like a beautiful sailboat without wind, and we cannot just wait for the wind to come upon us.

We have work to do. Let’s go forth.

James 2:14-26

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On social media this week, it has been tough to see how Christians have been treating friends and neighbors. It’s the antithesis of what Jesus desired when he took the sins of the world upon him on the cross.

God seeks to be the savior of all people, despite their worst behavior, and we are to show God’s will and God’s way in a divided society.

And together, we work towards healing a world that is divided with God’s love. We cannot do this hard work on our own.

Matthew...

Tuesday is Election Day. Some things may change, but our mission as Christians will not. We will still be called to “a more perfect union.”

No matter what happens, we are going to get up the next day and feed the hungry, clothe the naked, bring comfort to those who need it.

We’re going to wake up and keep loving God with everything we’ve got.

Mark 12:28-34

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As we reach the summation of our stewardship series, Lance takes the story of salvation and turns it around and asks us to pray first and foremost that we can be found in Christ… so that Christ can be found in us.

Together, we are the Jesus that an unbelieving world can see. And we have the opportunity to experience abundantly more.

We’re gonna experience the power of love, and we’re gonna do it together.

Poured into, and poured out.

Ephesians 3:14-21

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What does it mean for us to be grounded in God through Christ?

The writer of today’s scripture highlights this three different times, to let us know that being grounded is not just important, it is intrinsic to our being, it is the foundation of all things.

1 Corinthians 3:5-23

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God has called us to be about the work. He gives us the seeds and sends us to go sow them.

Our instincts are to look for the trees that are already grown and rest underneath them. But God calls us out of that rest, to take the seeds from those trees and spread them further out.

We may not be ever see the fully grown tree, but that is okay. We are called to sow.

We disagree sometimes. We find ourselves divided. But God has called us all to be about the...

God has blessed us all to be a blessing for the world, and we are ready for God to accomplish far more than we could ever ask or imagine. But we only truly become ready by being rooted in love

Where are you rooted today? In the love of Christ? In generosity? Or are you withering?

It’s hard to look past what has been into what will be. But we can move into the future unafraid… as long as we remain rooted together in Christ’s love.

Jeremiah 17:7-8

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We move into a new series as we enter stewardship - “Abundantly More” - and Lance wants us to see the great vision that God has cast before us.

Sometimes it’s hard for us in times of scarcity to look back on times before, and think that everything that was going to happen has already been accomplished. But even though everything is not what we want them to be, God is not finished with us yet!

We sit here today because of those who have come before in faith.But there is so much that i...

On a Sunday of student-led worship, three of our youth come forward to tell the congregation what they’ve learned about the nature of Jesus, and how the mission of the church has helped them see Him more clearly - the ways that they’ve come to know God, and the various moments and missions that have opened their eyes to see His nature and His love.

Matthew 16:13-16

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Lance jokes about discovering on social media that the Rapture supposedly happened this week - “I guess we all missed it.” But he talks about living in awareness of a future we know is approaching - how to live today as if tomorrow has already come.

We hold the hope of heaven, the hope of eternity, inside of us. And because of that, we can know that we are never alone. Nothing can rob you of the hope of heaven or the joy that God has put in all of our hearts.

Revelation 21:1-7

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One of Lance’s favorite things to do with his grandmother was to sit down with her photo albums, and have her tell him his story, even the parts he was too young to remember.

Likewise, Paul is opening up the photo album for the Corinthians, and showing them their story - even the parts they haven’t seen, weren’t there for, to help them make sense of their faith.

Because they, like us, danced on the edge of mystery - we know we are to be raised from the dead, but we have to acc...

There’s a lot of on-the-job training with the Holy Spirit. God equips those who he calls to him. So when God calls you, say “yes.” We have footsteps to follow in.

We are to forgive the sins of others, that is our work. Take up and follow Christ.

Matthew 6:12, 14-15

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When we gather for worship, we are gathering for worship with all the world, all the worship that spans distance and time and in fact all of eternity.

We don’t have to be perfect - but we are saints! And we should strive for perfection. For we have been set apart to be holy.

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

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To help us understand what the Holy Spirit is, Lance takes us to the root of the word, and shows us the ways the Spirit interacts with our lives. The Spirit is there with us - as a comfort, as a coach, as a wind that blows us towards where God wants us to be. But it’s on us to let it move us.

Lance wants us to be a people moved by the Holy Spirit - who actually pray for each other, who don’t play it safe, but follow in the direction that the Spir...

Judgment isn’t something we talk about all that often. But if there is a new heaven and a new earth coming, what we do in this life matters.

We are called to social holiness, and that means not standing in judgment over one another, but raising one another up.

2 Peter 3: 8-15a

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Lance looks at the Ascension of Jesus, and the mission Christ left us on earth. We are the body of Christ. We have to live that!

We’ve been given the power to fill every thing in every way with the heart of Jesus. And we’ve got work to do.

“We cannot lament the way of the world if we are not doing anything about it!”

Ephesians 1:17-23, 2:4-7

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Today, Amanda asks us “how do we let the Creed change us?” Today’s section talks about the risen Christ, and how having a risen Messiah changed everything for a people who had waited hundreds of years.

Have you ever tried to change a tradition? It can be harder than you think.

1 Corinthians 15:1-8

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In the wake of hurricane damage, power outages, and a Presidential shooting, Lance talks about the reality of living in a broken world, and what to do as storms in our life come with greater frequency and greater intensity.

We may be living in a broken world, but no one can stand between us and God. No one can separate.

Romans 8:31-39

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Today we get to the fulcrum on which all our faith pivots - the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

His cross opens up the way to eternal life. And we must pick up our crosses daily to follow him.

Hebrews 2:10-18

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Today, Lance looks at Pontius Pilate, the only human mentioned in the Apostles’ Creed (other than Jesus), and reminds us that this is a real historical event. This really happened.

Pilate knows that Jesus is innocent, and he keeps trying to keep Jesus from being killed. But Pilate could not save him, because Jesus was here to give himself away - so that everyone would have have a way to the Father.

John 18:28-19:16

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In the heat of summer, we get to remember the gift of Christmas.

In Jesus, we seen the beauty in life, what life was intended to be. And because of that, we can be truly alive, and can fully live.

“The virgin will have a song and his name is God Is With Us” - the story of Christmas is a story we shouldn’t be thinking about just once a year.

Colossians 1:15-20

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When Lance left the hospital with his first child, he couldn’t believe they were sending him out without an instruction manual.

But in life, we are not without direction. God sent Jesus Christ to show us to be fully alive - for us, he IS the instruction manual.

Jesus is the exemplar of what it means to be divine. He made the face of God known on this earth - one of sacrifice, and self-emptying love.

And he taught us how to follow him.

Philippians 2:5-11

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On our next step through the Apostles’ Creed, Lance covers “God as maker,” and how the very presence of creation around us reminds us that God is always with us. The stars in the sky above us show us that our God never leaves the one behind.

Then, a trip to Homeboy Industries in California, where gang members find their way into the church.

Isaiah 40:10-14, 18-31

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As we begin a period of what the church calls “Ordinary Time” - though Lance thinks it should be called “Extraordinary Time” - we begin a series defining what we believe, guided by the Apostles Creed.

We start with the story of the Prodigal Son, but it’s not a story about a son. It’s a story about a father. A father willing to run to his son and welcome him home during a time when no one could comprehend something like that. And it’s about a God that Jesus taught us to refer to as OUR Father...

When Nicodemus came to visit Jesus, he was confused about how Jesus was asking him to be “born again” - wasn’t the first time enough?

It wasn’t - but Lance reminds us that being born again is more than just a single moment, a story to look back to. What about the moments that are happening now?

Our call to faith isn’t a one-time thing. We don’t have to look back and say “that was the moment!” What about the moments that are happening now?

John 3:1-17

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On Senior Sunday, Lance tells the graduates - and all of us - to wait on God’s timing. As he ascended to heaven, Jesus called the disciples to intentionality. To pray, and believe, and wait for the Spirit. He calls for us to do the same.

“My prayer for you is that you hunger and thirst for the Lord more than anything else in this world.”

Acts 1:1-13

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Not long after Jesus returned, we see how the disciples have returned to their old life, despite Jesus having sent them off to spread the gospel to all the world.

But there is no place that we can run, no place that we can hide, that our Savior will not find us.

John 21:15-19

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In today’s story, we meet the disciples where they are fishing on the lake - they have returned to something familiar, some place they feel safe, in their grief. But Christ is coming to change all that, and give them a new spirit.

We can be trapped in grief, in distraction, the endless scroll of life. But, “if we’ll only look up, if we’ll only look within - we will find Jesus there.”

John 21:1-14

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When we meet the disciples in today’s scripture, they are behind locked doors on Easter evening. But as the disciples are about to be the first to realize, there is no locked door, no sealed tomb, that can keep our Lord contained. And that same spirit is about to be poured out upon us.

“No matter where you find yourself locked in the darkness, there is nothing that can keep our Lord away from you.”

John 20:19-31

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When we meet the disciples in today’s story, they are still in the thickness of grief - and they remind Amanda a bit of toddlers being picked up after being preschool.

But the Jesus who comes to them is simply WITH them, in their fear and their disbelief.

Luke 24:36-48

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As we begin a new series on “living as Easter People,” Eric tells us the story of the road to Emmaus - which, as he pictures it, is a bit like an episode of ‘Undercover Boss.’

Luke 24:13-35

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We notice different things in different ways. Every time Lance returns to the Easter story, he finds a new perspective.

The world prepares us to expect bad news. But when the women went to the tomb where Jesus was buried on Easter morning… if they had understood what Jesus had told them, they shouldn’t have been.

Sometimes we are the same as the women in this story - we’ve heard the words, but we don’t believe it yet. It calls for a change in perspective.

Luke 24:1-12

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As Lance reads through the Passion story, he is struck by the mockery that Jesus endures throughout. But as he notes, this was always the plan. Jesus could not save himself, and still save us.

But evil does not have the final word. Love does.

And remember: Sunday’s coming.

Isaiah 52:13-15; 53:1-3, 7-12

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As Jesus came into Jerusalem, he was hailed as a hero. The problem was that Jesus continued to not be who they had expected him to be. Where was their conquering savior?

Mark 15: 1-39

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We reach the last tenet of our core values: seek God daily. What does this look like? Maybe not what you think.

Seeking God isn’t just in the inward practices, it’s in the outward practices: justice, healing people, reformation.

Mark 10:35-45

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