Restoration Church Salina: Recent Episodes
Restoration Church
God calls His prophet Hosea to marry an unfaithful wife as an example to the Israelites of how their unfaithfulness hurts the heart of God. We see the familiar three-fold pattern of sin, consequence of sin and restoration play out in this story and it is a powerful reminder that God pursues covenant relationship with us even when we get distracted by sin. It is His kindness that leads us to repentance!
As much as we love the mountain top experiences, is that what we should be pursuing? Joel makes the case for finding God in the faithful pursuit of the every day. Boring? Not even! Joel points to the story of Moses as an example of the joy that comes with patience and even in those hard periods of waiting.
These five young girls fought against a system of injustice and won! They had a theology that was formed around the idea of a God who is Just and Good. A God who keeps His Word.
Do you have that kind of theology?
Trevor uses the story of Nehemiah to remind us to do the good work God has called us to, but not at the cost of those people around us. God doesn't just call us to work but is present with us along the way. This is good news!
Noah walked with God in justness, completeness and soundness long before he was called to build an ark. And because of his faithfulness, many were saved.
There are some powerful lessons that we can learn from his example so that we may also be found faithful when our times of testing come.
James 4 tackles the age old problem of power dynamics. As Christ Followers, we are called to use whatever power we hold to empower and lift others up, especially those without voice or power. In a way that makes space forothers on this journey towards the goodness of God.
How exactly do we do this? Fortunately for us, James gives us some pragmatic tips and tricks to living out this more humble approach to community. Tune in!
James gets into the faith vs. works conversation or does he? And then he continues to hammer home the concept that words really matter, especially as a Christ follower. How can we truly be rich in Godly wisdom if we cannot manage what comes out of our mouths? These three teachings are part of the same narrative so let's get into it!
James steps on the toes of the religious leaders of his day, calling them to live into the perfect law of liberty that Jesus brought. He talks about the danger of showing favoritism and defines what pure religion should actually look like. HE even calls them to a posture of mercy more than judgment in their dealings with the people. Good stuff!
The first chapter of James acts like a table of contents for the rest of the book, giving an overview of sorts. There are some very important lessons for those who follow Christ so let's dig in!
Prayer has nothing to with magic but it is full of mystery. Having a Biblical understanding of prayer makes all the difference in how and why we pray and ultimately, how effective our prayers are.
In this sermon, we talk about:
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Prayer in Scripture
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Posture of Prayer
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Heart of Prayer
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Purpose of Prayer
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Practices of Prayer
Such an important message so tune in!
Is the theme of Jonah “evangelizing unbelievers” like we’ve been taught since we were little? Or maybe more about the God of second chances? Or even the epic story of a whaleswallowing a human who lives to tell? Hmmm…
Has the story of Jonah become like a fairytale or lullaby? Told so many times that you never stop to ask the hard questions around this difficult story?
Let’s turn this familiar story on its side a bit and reimagine what we think we know...
Deborah was an incredible military strategist in addition to long-serving judge in Israel. What are some of the strategies she used that we can apply to our lives today? And what was her spiritual legacy? Hint: She did what was right in the sight of the Lord.
In Romans, Paul instructs us to "pursue hospitality". What does it look like to lay down our sense of scarcity, fears and selfishness to look for ways to show hospitality to this world? Let's find out!
Just as in a physical family, our stories are influenced by the stories of our spiritual ancestors. The Bible is rich with narratives about humans wrestling towards faithfulness, some more successfully than others. As we immerse ourselves in Scripture, these stories become irrevocably woven into our own story.
Today, Joel unpacks the story of Job and the way that he faced unthinkable suffering while staying faithful to God. This story brings up some BIG questions about suffering and justice. Tune in!
The ultimate "with God life" psalm that creates a powerful narrative of a God that fights for you, a God who creates safety in the midst of battle, a God who protects you and a God who loves you passionately. This is the reminder you need today!
What does it mean to live a "Psalm 23" life? He Provides. And then some. Psalm 23 is one of the more familiar psalms but Joel asks us to consider regularly meditating on it as a confidence (in God's goodness) building practice.
In this psalm, God chastises His people for making Him small, imagining Him to be just like us, imagining that He is okay with the evil they are doing. God doesn’t need us or the things we do for Him; we need Him, however, He does desire to be in holy relationship with us.
And He calls us to a heart of thanksgiving. Can we be people of holy thanksgiving and still allow our feet, our hands, our eyes, our ears, our heart…to run towards evildoing? Will a truly thankful person forget God, from whom all blessings flow?
Finishing up this series with the goodness of God. Every topic we have covered so far is wrapped in our understanding that God is, in fact, good. We even delve into the age old question "If God is good, why do bad things happen?". Join us!
Did you know that we are eyewitnesses to the life of Christ through the testimony of the Holy Spirit within us? Joel walks us through what it means to be empowered by our "With God Life" to be a witness here on earth.
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Wonder is what we feel when we encounter something powerful that we can’t easily explain. As God's people, we should Stop and Stare in Wonder as a practice of our faith. Wonder is an act of worship, of deep humility, and ultimately a powerful act of resistance against cynicism, numbness and despair. Let your Godly imagination take you to those places of wonder all around you.
Pastor Rachel exhorts us to live into the abundance that God has promised. Why are we, like the Israelites, so reluctant to go forward into the promised land of "more than enough"? What is in us that will settle for the land of "just enough" or even return to the land of "never enough"? Let us live like Caleb who says "Let us go for we are well able to overcome." Well able to overcome. Thanks be to God!
Worship is more than the songs we sing at church; it's a whole life response to His greatness. Worshiping God with our life means we hold Him with such reverence that our only desire is to bow down before Him in surrender, in sacrifice, in trust, in community and ultimately as our only purpose. Join Pastor Rachel as we imagine together what looks like to live a life of worship.
Trevor speaks to the difference between a praying life and a prayer life. God calls us to cultivate a life of prayer that is an outflow of our relationship with God. The rhythm of a praying life softens our hearts in powerful ways, allowing us to become more sensitive to what God is doing around us and how we might join in that movement.
This mysterious union, this exchanged life. This idea of not being able to tell where Jesus ends and I begin. So fully immersed together. Let's talk about Galatians 2:20 and what is might mean to a believer that "it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God".
Our story starts in Genesis 1 with a God who creates this incredible world and wants to have relationship with us. This Christian life will make sense when we surrender fully to this concept of a “with God” life. The game changer is when you make the switch to “how am I partnering with God’s work here on earth” instead of “how is He partnering with my work here on earth”? Let's dig into what it looks like to live a "with God" kind of life.
Somewhere in the Middle written by Adam Ormord
It is no coincidence that Acts 2 opens up with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit and ends with a call to sacrificial community. This is a new move of the Spirit and we need the power of the Holy Spirit to help us live in loving community with one another and follow Christ faithfully.
The Holy Spirit has been with us since before creation but the way He engages with the people of God has looked a bit different throughout the Old Testament, the Gospels and then Acts and the Epistles. Today, we are looking more deeply into the way He was present with Jesus which has incredible implications for Christ followers.
Luke 2:25 tells the story of Simeon, who was eagerly waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the fulfillment of that longing when he met the Christ Child. Advent is a season of waiting but this life of following Christ is really an Advent kind of life. And just like Simeon, we are in need of consolation, which we too have in the life of Christ through us. This is the heart of the Christmas Story!
As we wrap up our study of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells parables that involve drownings, body mutilation and torture? Pretty intense imagery, right? Trevor looks a little more closely at these stories in Matthew 18 and reminds us that this faithful journey of following in Jesus’ footsteps is indeed serious business.
What sorts of images spring to mind when you hear the word "miracle"? Using Matthew 14 & 15 as the text, Pastor Rachel looks at the patterns of solitude and compassion and healing miracles that Jesus models for us. We believe we are also called to bring compassionate healing into the places that God calls us and that springs from rhythms of seeking His presence. This is truly a beautiful gift for the follower of Christ.
Jesus honors the law of God, but speaks to the intent or the heart of the law rather than the letter of the law. Join Aaron as he unpacks Matthew 12 where Jesus goes back and forth with the Pharisees over just how the law of God should be lived out. There is so much here that we can apply to our own lives as we follow Jesus.
There's a whole lot of healing taking place in Matthew 9. Joel takes a new look at these familiar stories and walks through what it looks like to live in light of the healing of Jesus.
In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches His disciples how to pray in the most simple yet profound way. And introduces them to the radical concept of forgiveness, which ultimately sets us free to love well. Join us as we look with fresh eyes at each line of this famous prayer.
In Matthew 5, Jesus encourages us to live from the heart of the law rather than the letter of it and that can be a lot more difficult. Ideas like poverty of spirit or meekness or mourning or persecution don't exactly put us in mind of the #blessed we see on social media. And yet, living from this humble perspective that Jesus taught in the Beatitudes gives us the radical courage we need to live out our faith in ways that bring healing to our communities. It's the upside-down kingdom ethics that Jesus brings to the mix and we are here for it!
Matthew writes the story of Jesus through a particular lens, that of an outsider. In America, we may joke around about the IRS but to be a tax collector in that time period was not funny at all. Even in the genealogy, we can see Matthew's heart for those who are considered outcasts. Join us as we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, from an outsider's perspective.
Most people would agree that generosity means doing something for someone that is "above and beyond" normal kindness but the Bible talks about a generosity being a way of looking at the world. Using Matthew 6 as context, what does is mean to live from the view of a good/healthy/generous eye? This understanding is a true game changer!
Rachel and Trevor dig a little deeper into Biblical justice and a little philosophy as well, looking at four modern justice theories that are currently informing our culture but we do it through a Biblical lens. It is an interesting conversation around the truths and lies in the various models but it is also important to think about why we might find ourself leaning into one or the other. We even play a little Monopoly along the way. Libertarian Monopoly, anyone?
You may have heard it said that justice is when people get what they deserve, but God says that true justice brings wholeness into individuals, communities and all of creation. We look at scripture to see what a Biblical understanding of justice might look like for the people of God. Spoiler alert: God has a lot to say about this subject.
Launching a new series on reimagining The Good Life through the lens of Scripture. How does this Biblical idea of The Good Life line up with our traditional ideas of what it means to live The Good Life as citizens of earth? You might be surprised by our discussion around the differences between happiness and pleasure which change everything!
You have heard it said "protect yourself at all costs", but Jesus might say "you can protect yourself and others". Gayle engages us in a conversation around the ins and outs of setting boundaries. She asks us what kind of fence we put up with our neighbors? Is there a loving way to say "no" to those we love? Jesus shows us over and over what this idea looks like.
What does it mean to be faithful? It may seem to be a never ending road of joyless obligation and duty ahead but dig in with us as Joel points us towards an understanding of faithfulness as an exciting life of trust, of hope, of anticipation, of joy.
When we think of meekness, whispers of the word "weak" might spring to mind. Using a story about David in 2 Samuel 5 as context, Trevor walks us through a more nuanced understanding of the strength of meekness and why we should pursue it as people of God.
All of us are guilting of overestimating our own influence and underestimating the impact of Jesus in our professional, spiritual and social lives. Joel walks us through each of these areas with biblical context and invites us into a meaningful conversation about flipping the script on this.
In this message, we look a bit deeper into the story in John 20 where Jesus reveals Himself to His disciples and proceeds to breathes the Holy Spirit on them. What??!! We also add some flesh to the character of Doubting Thomas, who we think might have a got a bad rap. And we learn along the way something about our own faith and doubts. Join us for Easter in Real Time!
As we prepare to contemplate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, we want to first take a pause to reflect on the week prior when Jesus arrives in Jerusalem on a lowly donkey. Jesus loves to flip the script, doesn't he? Join Trevor as he paints us a picture of Jerusalem that week in history and also gives a timely reminder to join in with all that God is doing now.
The story of the cross actually begins back in the Garden. Gayle walks us through the origin story of the cross and how it leads to our recognition of our desperate need for the redemptive work of the cross.
Whether or not we choose to acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus, life can be a serious struggle. And it's not always as simple as "just having faith" or "God working it out for the best". Joel takes a look at how to view those "when things go wrong" scenarios through our faith lenses.
Have you considered the implications of Jesus coming to earth in in human form, fulling experiencing all that surrounds that? And yet, he didn't lose any sense of being a part of the triune God. David walks us through what it looks like to acknowledge Jesus as a human here on earth for a time and yet looks for his God-like character at the same time.
The Bible talks about "doing" for God and yet Jesus clearly calls us to "be still" with Him as well. We look at various passages that seem to promote each of these, including the familiar story of sisters Mary and Martha. What is our calling as followers of Christ? To be with Him or do with Him? Let's find out together!
How can Jesus call us to judge all things and also not judge others? Trevor unpacks this idea of what it actually means to judge and not judge and what it looks like for us to rely on God's wisdom in the middle of it all.
Did you know that God likes Science? Gayle, who also likes science, speaks to how science actually supports a Biblical understanding of the world around us and points to a God who creates and designs all things. Tune in for this fascinating discussion on the way that the science of insects testify to God's creativity.
Teaching from Daniel 1 & 2, Pastor Rachel speaks to the tension that we often feel between living in context with the community God has placed our bodies in and living in light of eternity in our souls. The solution to this tension is to look for the places where God intersects with our story here on earth, the places where heaven meets earth. Just like Daniel did.
David takes on the big topic of living in the tension of God's Sovereignty and Man's Free Will (or the ability of man to make meaningful choices). He talks about things like: If God is ultimately in control, how does that affect human choices? If humans are free to choose, how does that affect God's Sovereignty? There is no way we can resolve all of this in one message but hopefully, this will stir your imagination to go deeper.
Third in our series, Joel discusses the tension that exists in the prayer life of a believer. If God already knows what we have need of, why do we need to pray? Join us for this rich conversation around prayer and why it matters.
We talk a lot about living in truth and grace but how well do we really do that? Join us as we take a fresh look at John 4 when Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. In this He Says/She Says conversation between the two of them, we see what holding the tension of truth and grace truly looks like.
Trevor opens up this new series, where we discuss the ways that we live in the tension of "and" rather than "or" when it comes to Biblical truths. In this first message, Trevor shows that Scripture can be both a beautiful love letter from God and a call to obedience.
We read how Jesus calls himself "light of the world" in John 8. We have a little science lesson and we look into several passages in the Scripture to figure out what that even means and how we live accordingly, as followers of Christ.
In the final message in the Advent series, we look at young Mary, the mother of Jesus. Many scholars have painted her as this angelic, docile servant of God, which is no doubt true, but we also see another side of this brave young girl in her song, Mary's Magnificat. There is much we can learn from this young revolutionary.
In this 3rd Advent message, we watch Zacharias and Elizabeth experience the deep love of God through the miraculous and prophecy-fulfilling birth of their son John the Baptist, who came to prepare the way for Jesus. God's Love prepares the way for us to experience Him in ways that change us.
We continue this conversation with David on fellowship with God and its foundations of partnership and friendship with God. As a friend, we share secrets with God but more amazing is that He shares secrets with us! This leads into joyful fellowship in the light of God. Woohoo!
Join David and Rachel as they talk about the impact of Godly fellowship or Koinonia on the early church as well on the church today. David unpacks this "next level" fellowship that builds on relationship which is an incredible gift from God that we often don't unwrap.
Hope sets in motion the familiar themes of Advent. As we make preparation for the coming of the Christ child, as we anticipate the coming of the Christ child, as we wait for and watch for the coming of the Christ child, we put our hope in the very tangible promises of God. In this message, we look at prophecy in Isaiah 42 that speaks to how Jesus would bring hope to the world and how, as followers, we can also bring hope to the world.
The prophets told of a peace that Jesus would usher in but it did not end up looking quite like the people of God expected. Trevor unpacks this prophecy and points us to the peace of God for ourselves.
As we prepare for the Advent season, it is important to make time for sitting with our disappointments and despair at the promises not yet fulfilled, in our lives and in our world. There is much biblical instruction for bringing our laments to God so let's make space for this spiritual practice.
Continuing our series with Pastor Craig Hinca, a local creative and friend of Restoration Church. He talks about what it means to live out the idea of being created in the image of God. Local artists Lydia Witt and Debbie Temple illustrated their craft during the gathering.
Contrasting God's ideal intent with the messiness of our sin reality, Jesus' work on the cross means that we get to begin living into our inheritance of the "restoration of all things". But what does that even look like? Join us for this timely message. Part 5 in The Presence of God series.
This is our chance to glimpse into the mind of armchair theologian David Guillot around topics we are talking about on the weekends. In this episode, David goes deep about what it means to be in relationship with God.
Continuing in our series on how the Presence of God changes us, today's message focuses on how The Presence of God Creates Space...for diversity, for differences and for protection of others. The early church of Antioch gives rich context to creating space.
Continuing in our series on the Presence of God, Trevor unpacks the biblical concept of unity in a world where division seems to be the rule. Going deeper in our relationships is key.
In part 2 of this series, we talk about how the presence of God in believers is always at work, shaping our minds, our hearts, our thoughts towards the likeness of Christ. We begin to desire the things that bring life rather than death. We begin to transform into a different person, a person more in the image of Christ.
This is the first in a series of messages on the how the Presence of God changes the way we act, the way we see the world, the way we understand truth, the way we live. How now shall we live? In the Presence of the Holy God!
We have been talking about the Spiritual Practice of Hospitality mostly from the hosting angle. In this conversation, Joel visits with Nicki about why she is known as an amazing guest. The Bible has much to say about being a good guest so tune in as Nicki and Joel drop some wisdom about how that might look.
We have been talking about the Spiritual Practice of Hospitality, mostly from the viewpoint of being a host but the Bible also has much to say about being a guest. Today, Trevor wraps up this series with a teaching on what it means to be the kind of guest that bears witness to the work of Christ in our lives. Tune in as he points us to a more Biblical understanding of "guesting" and even gives some very practical suggestions for how we can live this idea out in our lives.
Joel visited with Kelly and Karen about their experience with fostering/adopting and the deep spiritual practice of hospitality that shows up. We shared a shorter video of that conversation in our weekend gathering and on social media but this is the extended audio version where the Coopers share in more detail just how God has and is changing them through this radical opening of their hearts and home to these children.
Continuing our series, we unpack the stories of Abraham Entertaining Strangers from Genesis 18 and Jesus telling the story of The Good Samaritan in Luke 10. Both of these stories teach us about what God desires from us in terms of hospitality. Closing prayer written and shared by Chloe Guillot.
Biblical Hospitality has a whole lot more to do with how we treat strangers than friends. It's the kind of hospitality that transforms the unknown person into a guest and then into a known person. It's the kind of radical hospitality that God calls His people to.