Soma Tacoma: Recent Episodes
Soma Tacoma
We are an ordinary church in Tacoma, WA, with a vision to see every man, woman and child have a daily encounter with Jesus in word and deed. We pursue this vision by making disciples in the everyday stuff of life and living out our gospel identity by being with Jesus, becoming like Jesus, and doing what Jesus does.
www.somatacoma.org
May 19, 2024 | Dawson Jones | Romans 8:35-39
Question: “Who and what can separate us from the love of God?” (v35) Answer: “Nothing.” (v39) But be honest, do you ever feel like that just doesn’t ring true? Sometimes, honestly answering our experience of God’s love is a bit like the kids game with daisies: “He loves me, he loves me not.” Thankfully, this whole glorious chapter is about the assurance the Spirit wants to provide us. We are loved, and God wants us to know it!
May 12, 2024 | Mark Tilden | Romans 8:31-34
In Romans 8:31-34, Paul asks several rhetorical questions that are designed to help us see how the great truths presented in Chapter 8 affect the way we live on a daily basis. We'll look at the first four of Paul's rhetorical questions in verses 31-34 this week that help us live in a broken world without unhealthy fear!
May 5, 2024 | Brandon Wirth | Romans 8:28-30
Our culture puts a lot of stock into the idea of fate. It’s hard to find a Disney movie, top 40 song, or popular fiction that isn’t in some way subscribed to the idea of Fate or destiny. In Romans 8:28-30 Paul says we as Christians should “know” (v28 “And we know…“) that God is working all things together for our good. As God’s children we can have confidence that our lives are not controlled by some mysterious fate, but by a loving Father who is working everything for our good.
April 28, 2024 | Dawson Jones | Romans 8:26-27
Corrie Ten Boom once asked: Is prayer your steering wheel, or your spare tire? What do you feel when you hear that question? Perhaps it’s guilt, or desire, or frustration, or boredom, or fear, or longing, or more likely, a cocktail of many of those reactions. Romans 8 implies a trajectory of growth in prayer that might seem counterintuitive. We can start with pre-made prayers like the Lord’s prayer given to us by Jesus in which we learn to say “Abba, Father!” But suffering and the hard knocks of life often lead us to a wordless place of prayer. In that place where we are helped by the Spirit who prays on our behalf when words just don’t come to us. This Sunday we will preview our Prayer Practice Soma Lab that takes us through this progression of learning to pray: 1. Talking to God. 2. Talking with God. 3. Listening to God. 4. Being with God. Lord, teach us to pray!
April 21, 2024 | Ben Arnold | Romans 8:18-25
Rather than offering us the secret to avoiding suffering, Paul offers a very different approach. His answer is not to avoid it or even to white-knuckle it and just “hang on until Jesus gets back.” Instead, he invites us to lament with deep sadness over brokenness, while pressing in to our suffering with anticipation and great hope. God will fully and is also in the process of redeeming our suffering: “suffering—while not God’s ideal intention—is a necessary element in our becoming our truest, most beautiful, most heaven-ready selves” (Carl Thompson).
April 14, 2024 | Dawson Jones | Romans 8:14-17
One of the primary jobs of the Holy Spirit is to teach us to cry “Abba, Father!” like a desperate, trusting child would. Contrary to the opinion of American folk "Christianity," the Spirit’s primary job is not to shame us into getting our act together, it’s to assure as that we are in fact sons and daughters of the King.
According to Romans 8:14-17, the Spirit is committed to an ongoing role of convincing us that the unbelievable gospel implications, that we are heirs of God, really are true for you and me. Sons and daughters live differently in their Father’s world.
April 7, 2024 | Ben Arnold | Romans 8:12-14
Even after being given a new heart and receiving the indwelling Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, followers of Jesus discover that there is still something dark inside of us that keeps vying for our allegiance. Sin is desperately difficult to fix and as long as we are in these earth-bound bodies, we are locked in mortal combat with it. And yet, we're not alone in this fight. God is for us! With the indwelling Spirit's help there is hope, there is power, there is perseverance to keep fighting sin and experience true shalom.
March 31, 2024 | Dawson Jones | Romans 8:9-11
Romans 8:9-11 is an Easter resurrection message. It could be summarized as “an empty tomb for empty people.” Feeling empty or hollow, lacking substance or power? We have a promise of a very full future! We have a promise that the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead will fill us every day and will one day raise our bodies to their fullest potential. That’s not just fluffy wishful thinking. That’s solid hope. All because He is risen.
March 17, 2024 | Ben Arnold | Romans 8:5-8
In Romans 8:1-4, the Spirit reminds us what we've been saved from: condemnation, guilt, and the power of sin. But the good news of the gospel doesn't end there. We've not only been saved from something, we've been saved to something: a God-saturated life shaped by what the Spirit desires.
We often separate these two parts of the gospel--saved from and saved to--but they are inseparable and have a symbiotic relationship with each other. Viewed correctly, we can see in both of them a God who is deeply for us.
March 11, 2024 | Ben Arnold | Romans 8:1-4
Do you believe that God is for you? Not just that he loves you, in an obligatory way, but that he is truly, deeply, and thoroughly for you? Not for you if you reach a certain level of spiritual maturity or theological clarity. But for you, right now, no matter where you are in your journey of following Jesus?
As we begin a series in Romans 8 and listen to Paul's pastoral words, he passionately and worshipfully attempts to convince us of this simple yet profound reality: "God is for us" (v. 31). He is for us in our past. He's for us in our present. And he's for us in our future.
March 3, 2024 | Dawson Jones | John 15:1-8
Jesus last ‘I AM’ statement is a vivid metaphor very common to his listeners and not that strange to us, even if you didn’t grow up in wine country; “I am the vine. You are the branches.” Jesus is making clear at his last meal before the cross: this is how this works there’s God’s part and there’s your part. “Without God we can’t, without us, he won’t.”
February 25, 2024 | Dawson Jones | John 14:1-6
In John 14, Jesus talks about our home and how to get there. He both promises to prepare room for us to be with the Father forever (14:2), but also promises that he and the Father are ready to make their home in his followers right now. (14:23) And to his disciples’ question “How can we know the way?” Jesus replies: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” As Soma starts a new chapter in a new building, we begin by going back to Jesus’ ancient vision for his people to live in communion with God.
February 18, 2024 | Mark Tilden | John 11:1-37
“Death is not the way it ought to be. It is abnormal, it is not a friend. It isn’t right. This isn’t truly part of the circle of life. Death is the end of it. So grieve. Cry. The Bible tells us not only to weep, but to weep with those who are weeping. We have a lot of crying to do.” (Tim Keller). The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in John 11 focuses more on Lazarus’ two sisters and their grief in the death of their brother than on Lazarus. We’ll see how Jesus brings hope to them—and us—in the middle of suffering and grief.
February 11, 2024 | Kileeo Wideman | John 10:11-21
We all know what it's like to groan; to make some long, low and slow inarticulate sound that expresses our sadness, pain, despair or even something we’re just genuinely unhappy with. What if our groans are connected to our longings? And that through those longings,
God wants to lead us to exactly what he's given to meet them: himself. In Jesus’ 4th I AM statement, he says, “I AM the good shepherd” (Jn. 10:11). And we, like the people in Jesus’ day and the children of Israel under Pharoah, are groaning--longing-- for a Good Shepherd, one who can truly bring us into abundant life.
February 4, 2024 | Ben Arnold | John 10:1-10
Jesus is the supreme advocate--and healer--of wounded souls, and his declaration, "I AM the Gate" is actually a rebuke to those who abuse image-bearers in the name of God and an invitation for every wounded soul to experience healing.
January 28, 2024 | Dawson Jones | John 8:12-20
Have you ever tried to get through a dark room without stubbing your toe? Terrifying. Navigating reality without the light on is confusing, frustrating, and dangerous. In Jesus’ second I AM statement in the book of John he says: “I am the light of the world.” Jesus is again making an exclusive claim. He is not a light. He is the light. Jesus-the-light confronts us with the reality of our own darkness, but also guides us into a freedom where nothing need stay hidden.
January 21, 2024 | Dawson Jones | John 6
The first of seven “I AM” sayings of Jesus in the book of John. In John 6, Jesus first fills an outdoor stadium and gives bread to thousands, but before the chapter is over he clears the pews with a claim that few could stomach: “I am the bread of life.” Our prayer for our church is to be hungry for the person of Jesus first. He’s not just our provider, he himself is our provision. Where else would we go?
January 14, 2024 | Ben Arnold | John 8:31-59
What if two little words could get you killed? In answer to the question, "who do you think you are?" (John 8:31-58) Jesus responds with "I AM" -- two simple words that provoked some to believe in him and others to take up stones to murder him. Why such a strong reaction and why does it matter for you and me?
This message introduces the "I AM" sayings of Jesus by looking at Jesus' absolute declaration that he is the "I AM." We hope to rediscover and fully embrace the beauty of Jesus as the I AM and to open ourselves to his analysis of our hearts--and his promises to meet our deepest need.
January 7, 2024 | Dawson Jones
Sabbath is a spiritual practice first given as one of the ten commandments that is meant to reform our confidence in our identity in Christ on a weekly basis. Marva Dawn says that “on the Sabbath day we deliberately remember that we have ceased trying to be God and instead have put our lives back into his control.”
December 10, 2023 | Dawson Jones | Acts 13
The narrative of Acts is saturated with Spirit-dependent mission from beginning to end. Acts is bookended with two sending pronouncements, showing that the Spirit will empower us to be missionaries wherever the Spirit sends us and to receive the joy that comes with being near to the heart of our missionary God.
December 3, 2023 | Ben Arnold | Acts 1-21
"How do I know God's will for my life?" This question frequently brings more paralysis, discouragement, and questions than it does hope and answers. Perhaps it's the wrong question to ask in our pursuit of the Spirit's leading.
A little journey through Acts reveals the myriad of ways the Spirit leads his church and a reframing of the question above leads us to ask, how we do grow in listening to the Spirit's voice?
November 26, 2023 | Dawson Jones | Acts 9:31, 13:52
The Spirit is the one who comforts the church, and the one who can guide us through all of our emotions to real comfort and joy. The Acts of the Apostles is a book bursting with emotions. The ministry of Jesus evoked a variety of emotional responses in Luke’s Gospel, and the same can be said about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in Acts. In fact, each book has almost the same number of references to emotions, with eighty-six in Luke and eighty-nine in Acts.
November 19, 2023 | Ben Arnold | Acts 6:1-11
John Stott suggests that this story showcases a last-gasp satanic ploy, the culmination of a three-front assault. Satan's first two attempts--persecution from the outside (4:1-22) and hypocrisy from within (5:1-11)--had utterly failed. Now the church faces what is on the surface a simple justice problem: widows being neglected. But this situation was actually a significant threat to the unity and mission of the church.
The Spirit's answer to the threat is more simple and less dramatic than we perhaps expect. The church didn't need more programs and professionals. It didn't need more miracles. It simply needed (and still needs) more Spirit-filled people doing the work of ministry.
November 12, 2023 | Dawson Jones | Acts 4:32-5:10
The Holy Spirit is a church planter. In Acts 5, the birth story and sudden explosion of the church is interrupted by a startling story of the death of Ananias and a Saphira. The death of a salesman and a saleswoman. Two hypocrites die, and the newborn church stands as witness. The Spirit as church planter is committed to the purity of the church’s message and so is committed to the purity of heart of the church’s members. When hypocrisy seeps into the church, when people play the expected part in a spiritual movement, but have selfish agendas of their own, the Spirit acts. The Spirit won’t allow hypocrisy to alter the trajectory of his people, or paint a distorted picture of God. He takes it seriously, and so should we.
November 5, 2023 | Ben Arnold | Acts 4:1-31
In Acts 3-4, we get a first look at the missional "strategy" of the early church and discover that the pattern of the story in Acts is vital to how we approach being witnesses for Jesus. Our outward movement of boldness and courage is always fueled by communion with God and spiritual formation in community.
October 29, 2023 | Dawson Jones
What do a flashlight, compass, rubber duck, and a megaphone have in common? They’re all objects that could symbolize aspects of the Holy Spirit’s job description. Intrigued? As you should be. This Sunday we will worship together with our littlest disciples present and be reminded of what the Holy Spirit has committed to doing for us. What a Helper we have in Him.
October 22, 2023 | Dawson Jones | Acts 2:42-47
“With great power comes great responsibility” goes the cliché. But in the first chapters of Acts it is simply true. Acts 2 begins by showing us the power available through the indwelling Spirit of God, and it concludes in verses 42-47 by giving us a picture of the practices of the kind of church that God chooses to entrusts his Spirit too. This birth story of the church tells us that the church is marked by both power and practices. Power that leads to practices, and practices that are able to steward the power.
October 15, 2023 | Ben Arnold | Acts 2:1-41
Acts 2 gives us a stunning picture of a church filled with the Spirit of God, enjoying his presence. As they are filled with the presence of God through his Spirit, they receive spiritual gifts, including the gifts of tongues, prophecy, and miracles. What are these gifts and how do we pursue them?
October 8, 2023 | Ben Arnold | Acts 2:1-41
Scottish philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre said, “I can only answer the question ‘What am I to do?’ if I can answer the prior question ‘Of what story do I find myself a part?’” As followers of Jesus, this is true because the story we are a part of also defines who we are. And so, it is also true that we cannot ask “what are we to do” until we first ask, “who are we?” In the story of Pentecost in Acts 2, where we see the Spirit doing many things all at once. The Spirit first symbolically assures his people of their identity, who they really are.
October 1, 2023 | Dawson Jones | Acts 1:1-4
Jesus' ascension and the sending of the promised Spirit were the beginning of what could be called the Age of the Spirit; a new era, in which the Spirit baptizes, fills, comforts, purifies, leads, equips, and sends the church.
September 24, 2023 | Dawson Jones | Acts 1:1-4
Acts is the origin story of the church, a new genesis story in which an active Holy Spirit broods over the church and inaugurates the kingdom through a transformed and newly-formed people of God.
It is just as much a book about the “acts of the Spirit” as it is about the “acts of the apostles and the church.” As the Spirit baptizes, fills, comforts, purifies, leads, equips, and sends the church, the kingdom of heaven is displayed on earth and Jews and Gentiles experience redemption, reconciliation and intimate life together with God.
September 10, 2023 | Ben Arnold | Matthew 5:10-12
The last beatitude invites us not just to endure persecution but to embrace it as a mysterious opportunity for real joy. Whether it's being insulted or lied about for the sake of Jesus or experiencing more series persecution, the invitation is the same: "rejoice and be glad." As we hear Jesus' invitation to joy in persecution, we'll consider the ancient practice of Scripture memorization, and how it can lead us to prepare for and joyfully embrace persecution, small or big.
September 3, 2023 | Dawson Jones | Matthew 5:9
The Bible begins and ends with peace. Peace. This rich word, shalom, means and includes wholeness, healing, healthy relationships, social justice, satisfaction, flourishing (even sleep!), and ultimately, salvation. We live in between the peace-bookends where all of the above is fractured. And Jesus says: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” To paraphrase a great line from C.S.Lewis, “Everyone says peacemaking is a lovely idea, until they have to be the ones making the peace.”
August 6, 2023 | Matthew Antolick | Matthew 5:8
The sixth beatitude, "blessed are the pure in heart" (Matthew 5:8) reminds us that the life to be envied, the good life, is a life where we continually will one thing--experiencing the beauty, presence, and will of God in all of life. We dig in a little deeper and consider how the practice of contemplation can help produce in us an undivided heart.
July 23, 2023 | Dan Houston | Matthew 5:7
We revisit 5th beatitude, "blessed are the merciful." Mercy is active compassion, flowing (inward) from an experience of God’s mercy, that moves (outwards) in self-denying ways towards the misery and needs of others. We'll examine how the spiritual practice of slowingis needed as we develop increasingly merciful hearts.
July 9, 2023 | Brandon Wirth | Matthew 5:6
We often find ourselves craving the creature comforts of this world, but it never lasts and only leaves us malnourished. What would it mean for us to truly hunger and thirst for righteousness instead, and experience the full satisfaction of a Savior who calls us to “drink the water I give… and never thirst again”? One way we practice hungering for righteousness is through fasting. Join us as we learn how to engage in the spiritual practice of prayer and fasting.
June 25, 2023 | Kileeo Wideman | Matthew 5:5
Disciples of Jesus have always practiced rules of life in order to bring their lives under the rule, or hand, of King Jesus. And guess what? That's precisely what it means to be meek; "to be used to or brought under the hand." The invitation to the spiritual practices of the good life then, is a challenge to bring our whole lives under the hand of the God, in whose very same hand, is all things! And if it's in His hand, at the proper time, it shall eventually be ours for, the meek shall inherit the earth. Join us as we study spiritual practices that will help us to cultivate this blessed state of meekness.
June 18, 2023 | Andrew Cirillo | Matthew 5:4
In the midst of a world that is marked by brokenness and a culture that runs from the discomfort of mourning, Jesus invites us to engage with him in healthy mourning over brokenness and engaging in practices that help us mourn well with him be met with deep comfort in the valleys of mourning.
June 11, 2023 | Dawson Jones | Matthew 5:3
Over the summer, we are going to look at how spiritual practices help cultivate a beatitudinal heart. This Sunday we’ll go back to beatitude #1: blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We’ll be talking about a Rule of Life, a trellis of rhythms and practices that remind us that we are desperate and needy, that “apart from Jesus we can do nothing” (John 15:5).
June 4, 2023 | Ben Arnold | Matthew 7:24-29
At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' manifesto or constitution of the kingdom, his seemingly ominous and definitely sobering conclusion is yet another loving invitation to the good life. In the best sermon ever preached, Jesus doesn't want us just to walk out saying, "that was a great sermon." He invites us to so much more: to keep listening, keep practicing, and keep building our entire life on his good words.
May 28, 2023 | Kileeo Wideman | Matthew 7:13-23
These verses begin the “outro” to Jesus' kingdom manifesto. He doesn't end with a pep talk or a heart-warming story, but with a series of sobering warnings. Yet even these warnings flow from Jesus' deep heart of love. He doesn't want us to miss the good life--both now and in eternity. Jesus calls us to consider two ways, gives us three warnings, and reminds us of one future judgment day, all with the intent to move us to thoughtfully choose Jesus and his Kingdom over and over again.
May 21, 2023 | Dawson Jones | Matthew 7:1-12
Hey, I’m not judging.” “No judgment here!” “This is a judgment free zone.”We hear those phrases a lot. Also, nothing could be further from the truth. Judging others is happening just about everywhere (except in front of the person that we are judging.) In Matthew 7:1-12, Jesus reminds us that to put ourselves in the judge’s seat, handing out verdicts to those around us, while ignoring our own faults, sins, and needs, is comical (v3-4) and dangerous (v1-2.)He then brings us to the heart of the Judge, which is the Heart of our Father.
May 14, 2023 | Ben Arnold | Matthew 6:19-34
For several weeks, Jesus has been giving us a glimpse—one verbal window at a time—into what it looks like to live in his better kingdom. In Matthew 6, we will hear his invitation, the strongest one so far in his manifesto, to be “all in,” to seek his kingdom first and radically invest our life (our money, time, and energy) into what actually lasts. Yet, this invitation is not just an authoritative call from our King (it is that), it's a gracious invitation to evaluate and settle only for the best.
May 7, 2023 | Dawson Jones | Matthew 6:1-18We live in an era marked by what some sociologists have called performative individualism, in a time in which our individual self-expression better conform to cultural expectations…or else! The temptation under this pressure is to give in to the audience. Jesus says in Matthew 6:1: “Beware!” But his warning is against something even more subtle than cultural expectations. He warns against the danger of performing for points in religious environments. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before others in order to be seen.” Performative religion is dangerous. We can do the right things, even spiritual practices like generosity, prayer, and fasting (Matthew 6:1-18), for the wrong reasons. Attempts at spiritual formation, with the wrong motivation, can result in spiritual de-formation. Instead, Jesus invites us to learn to practice a hidden life in him and to learn the ‘enoughness’ of the Father seeing us in secret.
April 30, 2023 | Ben Arnold | Matthew 6:9-13In Jesus' incredible invitation to pray in Matthew 6, commonly called The Lord's Prayer, he wants us to catch a vision for the power and simplicity of humbly and audaciously asking a big God to do big things through us as "little" people.
April 23, 2023 | Dawson Jones | Matthew 5:38-48In this gritty world full of injuries to honor, lawsuits of the greedy, exploitation of the less powerful, people taking advantage of each other, and enemies devouring enemies, our personalities often come out: fight or flight? Jesus says, neither. Instead of letting his people fall into simple categories of pacifists or equalizers, Jesus invites us into creative confrontation: Don’t run away, and don’t fight back. Stand your ground, and surprise your enemies… with love. We are children of God, and after all, God so loved his enemy world that He gave his son for it.
April 16, 2023 | Mark Tilden | Matthew 5:33-37What would it look like to live in a world with no fine print? No hidden agendas? Where you could always count on people meaning what they say and doing what they say? Can you even imagine a world like that? Jesus encourages us to look below the surface of our behavior to the larger issues of the heart that manifest themselves in half-truths, broken promises, "spin", and lies.
April 9, 2023 | Dawson Jones | Revelation 3:14-22Revelation 3:14-22 is a letter from the risen Jesus to his Church. It’s an invitation to resurrection people to live in the presence and with the power of resurrected Jesus. What good news it is that Jesus is alive! As Andrew Murray put it: “A dead Christ I must do everything for; a living Christ does everything for me.”
March 26, 2023 | Ben Arnold | Matthew 5:21-26As Jesus begins six on-the-ground examples of heart-level righteousness in real life, he show us that that our everyday anger, dismissive words, and contempt share the same DNA with . . . murder. Jesus' words are convicting, but they are also a love-driven invitation into a deeper exploration of our heart and God's heart simultaneously.
March 19, 2023 | Dawson Jones | Matthew 5:17-20After describing the contrary personality profile of his kingdom citizens with eight unlikely attributes that we call beatitudes, Jesus brazenly brings up the controversial topic of authority, in which Jesus is once again after the depths of our hearts. Our postmodern culture tells us that the good life will be found when we establish laws for ourselves. Jesus’ good life involves him writing his law on our hearts.
March 12, 2023 | Dawson Jones | Matthew 5:13-16
After listing 8 beatitudes, essentially a personality profile of citizens of his Kingdom, Jesus gives his disciples two metaphors that describe their relationship to a world that doesn’t submit to him as Lord. The Church is called to be a distinctive display of the character of their King in a world gone mad and bad. Soma Tacoma, if living out her identity, can’t go unnoticed in our city.
March 5, 2023 | Kileeo Wideman | Matthew 5:10-12
The certainty of persecution is one of the great paradoxes of the good life. The good life not only demands a gospel explanation, but also frequently a gospel persecution. A late, great preacher once said, “If persecution is the thermometer, what’s your temperature?” Suffering is not an elective course in the life of the disciple. And Jesus says that if that’s you, then you are blessed! In other words, to live as Jesus did, is to get what Jesus got. And to be what Jesus is, is to eventually be where Jesus is! There is great joy to be found when persecution is a proof of membership in Jesus’ kingdom.
February 26, 2023 | Ben Arnold | Matthew 5:9
Perhaps nothing is so universally longed for, yet universally elusive than true and lasting peace. Into this confusion and longing, Jesus speaks the deeply challenging words, "blessed are the peacemakers." As the people of God, in pursuit of the good life, we are called to learn and then reflect the Father's heart in the extraordinary difficult yet rewarding work of peacemaking: active participation in God's ministry of restoring people to relational wholeness with him and one another.
February 19, 2023 | Dawson Jones | Matthew 5:8
In the words of the silly old bear, Winnie the Pooh: “Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” How’s your heart? What takes up room? Does it feel a bit divided? Those are the questions that Jesus' sixth beatitude in Matthew 5:8 brings up. Almost a hundred years ago a Danish Theologian named Søren Kierkegaard wrote a little book titled Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing. Thousands of years before, King David prayed: “Create in me a pure heart, Oh God!” When Jesus encounters someone with a desire for an undivided heart, a heart that is centered on the person and will of God, I can imagine him saying two things. First, and without irony: “Bless your heart!” And second: “Let’s do it!”
February 12, 2023 | Ben Arnold | Matthew 5:7
All over the world, including every street in Tacoma, including every family in our church, there is a deep longing in the human heart for mercy. One of our deepest desires is for others to see us, truly see us, in our needs and pain, and then show us kindness and help bring relief. The King invites us into the good life of receiving and giving mercy. This invitation is sobering, because mercy is a test of the genuineness of our faith. But this invitation is also beautiful, because showing mercy to "the least of these" (the widows, the orphans, the poor, the incarcerated, the refugee) is as if we have shown mercy to Jesus himself. In other words, mercy is an invitation to be with Jesus and actually experience his presence through our acts of mercy.
February 5, 2023 | Dawson Jones | Matthew 5:6
Jesus says: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” He is talking about one thing that we often think of as two things. What is on his mind is what Has always been the heart of God; Man being right with God and also God making all things right in the world. Personal holiness and also cultural wholeness. In a world in which our appetites have gone mad, Jesus says, hunger and thirst for righteousness, and you will be satisfied.
January 29, 2023 | Ben Arnold | Matthew 5:5
In Jesus' upside-down, counter-cultural vision of the good life, Jesus celebrates "the meek." True meekness isn't weakness or passivity. Neither is it merely gentleness, civility, or humility. Meekness is a spirit of patient and non-anxious zeal for good, rooted in the deep comfort and hope of God’s story.
To tell a person who is grieving deeply that they are “blessed” might be a recipe for a (deserved?) smack in the face. But Jesus has the audacity to say precisely that to his disciples: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Your story is marked by trauma and trouble, sin and Satan. It’s a mess, and sadly, we live in a world (and a church world) where often wounds are treated as sin, and sin is treated as wounds. In this chaos we need Jesus, the counselor, to help us accept the truth about all the brokenness inside and out. And we need Jesus, the comforter, to help us heal from all that sin and Satan and trauma and trouble have done to our bodies, minds, and hearts.
In a go-get-em world of "survival of the fittest" and "to the victor belongs the spoils" and "he who dies with the most toys wins," a life marked by dependence and a deep sense of our need doesn't sound much like "the good life." But in Jesus' counter-cultural kingdom manifesto, the Sermon on the Mount, he starts by declaring that the poor in spirit are the truly flourishing!
January 8, 2022 | Dawson Jones | Matthew 5-7
What is the good life? As followers of Jesus, we perhaps can articulate the "right" answer. But in our actual daily lives, we easily, even unknowingly, amalgamate either our culture's or our own "Christianized" version of the good life with the words of Jesus. His two-millennia old Sermon on the Mount is a radical and still-relevant reorienting back to what makes the truly good life. In his counter-cultural kingdom manifesto loaded with shocking verbal portraits, Jesus shakes up our skewed or incomplete versions of the good life and compellingly invites us into a different vision of life in the kingdom. His purpose then and now is that we would be so captivated by this good-life vision and so convinced of the power of God's grace, that we are transformed into what we see.
December 24, 2022 | Dawson Jones | Luke 2:10
Can the joy the Messianic psalms teach us to long for and expect really be wrapped up in this little baby boy named Jesus? Will this gift to the world, carefully wrapped by his mother, fail, meet, or exceed our expectations? The angels answer in a song that pierces the night air and our hearts - "Behold, I bring you good news of great joythat will be for all the people" (Luke 2:10).
December 18, 2022 | Andrew Cirillo | Psalm 45
The Messianic Psalms foretold Jesus as a mighty king, a righteous priest, and even one who would lay down his own life for his people. In Psalm 45, we see that the greatness of the Messiah doesn't end there for he is also a covenant-making and covenant-keeping bridegroom who has committed himself to his people in an eternal marriage where they can feel a deep belonging.
December 11, 2022 | Brandon Wirth | Psalm 22
What do you long for? What do you do with those aches and longings? Christ's entire human life, from his birth to his death, was aimed at securing lasting joy for us. Psalm 22 invites us to sit at the foot of the cross and see Christ suffering to secure our joy and meet the deepest longings of our hearts.
December 4, 2022 | Andrew Cirillo | Psalm 110
In Psalm 110 the Messiah is foretold as a righteous king who would also be a priest powerful enough to deliver his people from their enemies. Even in the midst of a broken world, we are able to find assurance in this Messiah and are able to face the trials of this life with the light-hearted joy of warriors who have seen the enemy shattered before them.
November 27, 2022 | Brandon Wirth | Psalm 2
During the 2022 Advent season, we will collectively aim our hearts toward the joy offered to us in Jesus Christ, our Messiah, by studying the “Messianic Psalms.” These Psalms speak of a coming Savior and offer God’s people deep joy amidst their longing. Psalm 2 shows us a God who sits in heaven and laughs, which brings deep joy and comfort to his people.
November 20, 2022 | Dawson Jones | Daniel 10-12
As the church we live in a time called the already-not-yet--a strange title, to be sure. But it simply means, Christ has come, but he will also come again. He inaugurated the Kingdom in his death and resurrection, but there is more to be done on the day that “those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.” (Daniel 12:3). So Babylon is our home for now, but, thank God, it is not our forever home. That means we need wisdom to be a beautiful-resistance church now, but we already have been given a glorious hope for the future.
November 13, 2022 | Ben Arnold | Daniel 9
Daniel 9 gives us a sneak peek into the secret prayer life of Daniel in. In between visions of magnificent beasts that encourage us as exiles that God is our absolutely sovereign King, we find modeled for us a prayer for renewal. Being a people of beautiful resistance means we trust our King and long for his kingdom to come--first in our hearts and then in our church and city.
November 6, 2022 | Dawson Jones | Daniel 7 & 8
We live in a world in which Jesus is King. As followers of Jesus, we believe that. Then we look out the window or read the news or get a rough phone call, and, well, it sure doesn’t feel like he’s King. Sometimes we want to ask (or scream), “what’s going on!?” The second part of Daniel is an answer to that question, both for Daniel and for us. Apocalyptic literature is strange and scary, confusing and controversial. People often dismiss it or write crazy complicated books about it. But apocalypse simply means "revelation." It’s a pulling back of the curtain to get God’s perspective on that burning question “what’s going on!?"
October 30, 2022 | Ben Arnold | Daniel 1-6
For our family gathering, we did a mini-review of Daniel and traced the theme of fear in three events in the life of Daniel and his three friends in Babylon. As exiles who life in a fear-filled world, our beautiful resistance response to fear is to remember that when we feel fear, God is always near.
Paul Dean from Soma Issaquah shares from Acts 20 his heart for gospel partnership between church members, church elders, and regional leaders.
October 16, 2022 | Kileeo Wideman | Daniel 6
In Daniel 6, we’ve got a new king, a new empire, and possibly even new gods. Yet our much older and more distinguished Daniel remains across reigns with a faith fully intact. Our brother has served as a distinct witness even while the people of God are under divine discipline. God is still with them! And the God of Great Reversals has, through the captivity of His people, taken a pagan audience captive to witness His distinct character! As the lions circle, Daniel’s worship is put to the ultimate test. Or is it? Is it Daniel on trial against mere jealous adversaries? Or is Yahweh on trial against all the false gods of the culture? We’ll answer these questions as we consider not just how our God delivers—but also what He delivers through His witnesses in their beautiful resistance against the many false gods of men.
October 9, 2022 | Dawson Jones | Daniel 5
During our season in Daniel we’ve been asking God to make us into a beautiful resistance; a winsome, but prophetic voice and presence in a culture gone mad. In Daniel 5, God crashes the party of a self-indulging king who won’t stop doing his thing. The writing is on the wall for this king and his kingdom, and Daniel points all parties at the party to the true King of the ball. As the church in Tacoma, we are invited to be the writing on the wall and a church of Daniels, who are faithful to show up at the parties of Babylon without partying like Babylon and point to the true King. And as we do, we’ll find that we might need to invite the Party Crasher to crash our own personal parties first. Whose kingdom am I living for? Whose party is it, anyway?
October 2, 2022 | Ben Arnold | Daniel 4
In Daniel 4, we get to re-enter the prolific dream life of Nebuchadnezzar. As God becomes a tree trimmer and King Nebuchadnezzar becomes a grass-grazer, the king finally wakes up to the reality that he's actually not the King. As we see our hearts reflected in Nebuchadnezzar and then have them recaptured with the beauty of a majestic God, we can resist a culture of self-determination with the beauty of humble ambition.
September 26, 2022 | Dawson Jones | Daniel 3
Living as citizens in our city and as citizens of the Kingdom of God will bring about inevitable collisions of allegiances. In Daniel 3, a hubristic king demands idolatry from the people of God, and the people of God in turn display a calm, beautiful resistance, knowing that the consequences might be ultimate. Our present post Christian-21st century culture makes similar demands, asking servants of King Jesus to bow down to cultural idols that Jesus doesn’t stand for. On top of that, we all have idols of our own hearts to deal with. Thankfully, though his ways and timing cannot be predicted, King Jesus will see his people through if we trust him to. That’s what he did then, what the Cross was all about, and what he continues to do now.
September 19, 2022 | Ben Arnold | Daniel 2
Daniel 2 drops into the drama of an agitated king's whose uninterpreted dream threatens to end the lives of Daniel and his friends. In a culture of fear and anger and confusion, Daniel and his friends beautifully resist with a calm and courageous missional presence. How were they able to respond this way and how can we resist a culture of fear with the beauty of missional presence?
September 11, 2022 | Dawson Jones | Daniel 1
How can Jesus followers be faithful to our King in a world that rejects him? Is it possible to be a present blessing in our city without becoming shaped by the values and practices of our city? Daniel is an example of the kind people that Jesus will later call his church to be: a beautiful resistance. A beautiful people that bring flourishing to the places that they have found themselves, even if they feel like strangers in a strange land at times. But also, a people of resistance that know that to walk in God’s ways since the exile east of Eden might come at great cost.
September 4, 2022 | Dawson Jones |
BLESS Rhythm #5: Sabbath. As we rest in God’s work, we regularly pause, celebrate, and play together, recognizing that we are God’s mission while on his mission, so we can rest while he works.
Series Page. BLESS PDF Booklet.
August 21, 2022 | Ben Arnold |
BLESS Rhythm #4: Speak. As we speak to the Father in prayer, we graciously and intentionally speak the true story of Jesus into the everyday life and stories of our believing and not-yet-believing friends.
Series Page. BLESS PDF Booklet.
August 8, 2022 | Dawson Jones |
BLESS Rhythm #3: Eat. As we experience the invitation and provision of Jesus at his table, we intentionally share meals with each other and with not-yet-believers, lingering for the shared experience of need and nourishment which point us to Jesus. At his table, strangers become friends, and friends become family.
Series Page. BLESS PDF Booklet.
July 24, 2022 | Ben Arnold |
BLESS Rhythm #2: Listen. As we listen to the Spirit, we listen to the stories of believers and not-yet-believers with love and curiosity so we can know who they are and how God’s story intersects with theirs.
Series Page. BLESS PDF Booklet.
July 10, 2022 | Dawson Jones |
BLESS Rythm #1: Bless. As we acknowledge and bless God for the blessings we have received from him, we intentionally bless God’s people and not-yet-believers with our resources so that they will flourish.
Series Page. BLESS PDF Booklet.
June 26, 2022 | Psalm 67 | Ben Arnold |
An introduction to Missional Rhythms for Everyday Life. Click here to download the guide for practicing experiencing God's smile mentioned in the message. Having experienced God’s blessing, we intentionally look for ways to bless others. While we listen to the Spirit, we listen with curiosity and compassion to each other’s stories. As we experience the invitation of Jesus to his table, we invite others to our table to eat and experience Jesus with us. As we listen to the Father and each other, we speak the true story of his grace. And as we rest in God’s work for us, we sabbath by pausing, resting, celebrating, and playing in faith. What motivates us to be on God's mission with him is his big story and his smile.
Series Page.
June 19, 2022 | Jeff Vanderstelt |
We look at the original home, Eden, and what it meant for Adam and Eve to be at home with the Father. To be at home is to be needy, and to have your needs fully met. When they believed it was bad to be needy, they ran away from home. Thankfully, God, through Jesus brings us back home to be needy once again and have our needs fully met with the Father.
June 12, 2022 | Ruth 4 | Andrew Cirillo |
We conclude our season in the book of Ruth and see what began in despair end with a grand reversal. The kindness of God not only meets, but exceeds the expectations of his people. Boaz becomes the ideal redeemer--who points to an even better one. Ruth and Naomi experience a grace-filled story--that points to an even bigger one.
Series Page.
June 5, 2022 | Ruth 3 | Andrew Cirillo |
As the barley harvest draws to a close, we meet the two widows, Ruth and Naomi, in great suspense. Will the God who has ended the famine, led them back to Bethlehem, and provided for them in the fields of Boaz continue to show up for them? And with God’s potential means of redemption now entering the story in the form of Boaz, we will ask with these women, “how willing is he to redeem?”
Series Page.
May 29, 2022 | Ruth 1-4 | Dawson Jones |
A special family gathering where we see that the whole story of Ruth shows us a big, powerful God involved in all the little, ordinary moments of our lives.
Series Page.
May 22, 2022 | Ruth 2 | Dawson Jones |
In Ruth 2, we find Ruth "under the wings of refuge," as a mysterious gentleman named Boaz puts it. God providentially provides immediate relief and daily provision through the faithful steadfast love of ordinary people, but with a greater unexpected redemptive purpose. We are a part of the same story. Our faithfulness and God's providence meet in even the smallest ways for the biggest purposes.
Series Page.
May 15, 2022 | Ruth 1 | Andrew Cirillo |
In this part of the story, we journey with Naomi and Ruth back to Bethlehem. In the midst of famine and despair, we will discover alongside these two widows how God is continuing to pursue His people when all seems lost. We are also invited to consider how God is not only writing a story of His unfailing love, but how he invites some of the most unlikely people into it.
Series Page.
May 8, 2022 | Ruth 1:1-5 | Ben Arnold |
Ruth: Unlikely People. Unfailing Love. This beautiful little story invites us to see our stories in light of God's big story and to believe that when unlikely people with ordinary lives find shelter in the refuge of God’s unfailing love, he writes beautiful stories of grace. Series Page.
May 1, 2022 | 1 Corinthians 15 | Dawson Jones & Ben Arnold |
A response Sunday. 1 Corinthians 15, more than any other chapter in the Bible, beautifully shows us how all of our hopes are pinned on the reality of a resurrected Jesus. Because of the resurrection, we have hope for our doubts, for our fears, for our futures, and for our dreams. Series Page.
April 24, 2022 | 1 Corinthians 15:12-58 | Dawson Jones |
1 Corinthians 15, more than any other chapter in the Bible, beautifully shows us how all of our hopes are pinned on the reality of a resurrected Jesus. Because of the resurrection, we have hope for our doubts, for our fears, for our futures, and for our dreams. Series Page.
April 17, 2022 | 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 | Ben Arnold |
1 Corinthians 15, more than any other chapter in the Bible, beautifully shows us how all of our hopes are pinned on the reality of a resurrected Jesus. Because of the resurrection, we have hope for our doubts, for our fears, for our futures, and for our dreams. Series Page.
April 10, 2022 | Jonah 4:5-11 | Dawson Jones |
The last part of Jonah shows us that like the pouting prophet, our happiness in our own comfort might rob us of the greater happiness of engaging in God's mission.
Jonah: Being God's Mission on God's Mission
Jonah tells the story of all the people of God; how we are God's mission while on God's mission. Jonah is not a story about a big fish. It's a story about a big God. To journey through the book of Jonah is to go on a long walk into the heart of God and his passion to make himself known to all people.
April 3, 2022 | Jonah 4:1-4 | Dawson Jones |
Jonah transitions from disobedience to obedience, but in his obedience he still misses the heart of God. Like Jonah, if we ever think that we've graduated from the saving belly of the fish, that self-righteousness will land us right back in a world of trouble. Thankfully, as we'll see with Jonah, God is waiting for us even there.
Jonah: Being God's Mission on God's Mission
Jonah tells the story of all the people of God; how we are God's mission while on God's mission. Jonah is not a story about a big fish. It's a story about a big God. To journey through the book of Jonah is to go on a long walk into the heart of God and his passion to make himself known to all people.
March 27, 2022 | Jonah 3 | Brandon Wirth |
We're invited once again into the heart of God as we explore Jonah chapter 3 and his half-hearted sermon. Jonah and the Ninevites experience firsthand a loving and holy God that recommissions runaways and works through weakness and despite our own rebellion. God's kind pursuit of Jonah and the Ninevites challenges us both as runaways and ambassadors. Salvation always belongs to the Lord.
Jonah: Being God's Mission on God's Mission
Jonah tells the story of all the people of God; how we are God's mission while on God's mission. Jonah is not a story about a big fish. It's a story about a big God. To journey through the book of Jonah is to go on a long walk into the heart of God and his passion to make himself known to all people.
March 20, 2022 | Jonah 2 | Ben Arnold |
We enter the belly of the fish with Jonah and listen in to how a runaway responds when God's grace chases him down. In Jonah 2, we learn that when God, in love, stops us in our tracks as runaways, we lean in and get real with God, look up and remember God, and let go and return to God.
Jonah: Being God's Mission on God's Mission
Jonah tells the story of all the people of God; how we are God's mission while on God's mission. Jonah is not a story about a big fish. It's a story about a big God. To journey through the book of Jonah is to go on a long walk into the heart of God and his passion to make himself known to all people.
March 13, 2022 | Jonah 1 | Dawson Jones |
As we study the book of Jonah, we should expect to be amused, messed with, and found--by God. Jonah 1 introduces us to a runaway prophet and reminds us why we run away from God and of what God can do through and to runaways.
Jonah: Being God's Mission on God's Mission
Jonah tells the story of all the people of God; how we are God's mission while on God's mission. Jonah is not a story about a big fish. It's a story about a big God. To journey through the book of Jonah is to go on a long walk into the heart of God and his passion to make himself known to all people.
March 6, 2022 | Ephesians 1:15-23, 3:14-19, 6:18-20 | Ben Arnold |
Spirit-dependence is, in one sense, the essential of all essentials. The health of all the other essentials will always be in direct proportion to our dependence on the Holy Spirit to give us power to see, become, and do what we otherwise never could.
Essentials from Ephesians: Being the Church in Tacoma
What does it look like to be an ordinary, but faithful, healthy church in our city? What are the essentials that will stabilize us and mobilize us to be present in our city in a way that invites others to experience the presence of God himself?
Series Website
February 27, 2022 | Ephesians 1:3; 2:11-13 | Dawson Jones |
By focusing on the heart of our missionary God, we can see mission through the lens of blessing – a blessing that is destined to spread as far as the curse is found.
Essentials from Ephesians: Being the Church in Tacoma
What does it look like to be an ordinary, but faithful, healthy church in our city? What are the essentials that will stabilize us and mobilize us to be present in our city in a way that invites others to experience the presence of God himself?
Series Website
February 20, 2022 | Ephesians 4:11-16 | Dawson Jones |
Ministry is not something that only a few professionals are called to. Instead, we want to see every person utilizing every gift and sent into every space so that through that diversity Jesus might be on fuller display in our church and our city.
Essentials from Ephesians: Being the Church in Tacoma
What does it look like to be an ordinary, but faithful, healthy church in our city? What are the essentials that will stabilize us and mobilize us to be present in our city in a way that invites others to experience the presence of God himself?
Series Website
February 13, 2022 | Ephesians 1:22-23, 4:11-16 | Ben Arnold |
Paul gives us a vision of healthy community in Ephesians 4:11-16 - relational joy, resilient love, real vulnerability, and restorative confrontation. The practices guide has several ideas to help your MC and DNA continue to grow towards this vision of health.
Essentials from Ephesians: Being the Church in Tacoma
What does it look like to be an ordinary, but faithful, healthy church in our city? What are the essentials that will stabilize us and mobilize us to be present in our city in a way that invites others to experience the presence of God himself?
Series Website
February 6, 2022 | Ephesians 1-6 | Dawson Jones |
Spiritual formation is the process of being increasingly formed and transformed by the character traits of Jesus.
Essentials from Ephesians: Being the Church in Tacoma
What does it look like to be an ordinary, but faithful, healthy church in our city? What are the essentials that will stabilize us and mobilize us to be present in our city in a way that invites others to experience the presence of God himself?
Series Website
January 30, 2022 | Ephesians 1-6 | Ben Arnold |
What are the major plotlines of God's big story of redemption and how does God's story shape our own stories in everyday moments of life?
Essentials from Ephesians: Being the Church in Tacoma
What does it look like to be an ordinary, but faithful, healthy church in our city? What are the essentials that will stabilize us and mobilize us to be present in our city in a way that invites others to experience the presence of God himself?
Series Website
January 23, 2022 | Ephesians 1-6 | Dawson Jones |
Gospel fluency is learning to apply the gospel of Jesus to every area of life, to become fluent in asking four important questions: "Who is God? What has he done? Who are we? How should I live?"
Essentials from Ephesians: Being the Church in Tacoma
What does it look like to be an ordinary, but faithful, healthy church in our city? What are the essentials that will stabilize us and mobilize us to be present in our city in a way that invites others to experience the presence of God himself?
Series Website
January 16, 2022 | Ephesians 1-6 | Ben Arnold |
Being God-centered means we are committed to pursuing God, pursuing all of God and pursuing all of God in all of life.
Essentials from Ephesians: Being the Church in Tacoma
What does it look like to be an ordinary, but faithful, healthy church in our city? What are the essentials that will stabilize us and mobilize us to be present in our city in a way that invites others to experience the presence of God himself?
Series Website
December 19, 2021 | Philippians 2:1-11 | Dawson Jones |
Defiant Christmas
The message of Christmas is a defiant one. In a culture of fear and anxiety, discontent and distraction, despair and cynicism, polarization and privilege, the invitation to hope, peace, joy, and love is a defiant invitation. Jesus is born into this world to offer us defiant hope, defiant peace, defiant joy and defiant love. Come, oh come, Emmanuel, and make us that calm, defiant people, marked by your presence.
December 12, 2021 | Luke 2:8-20 | Andrew Cirillo |
Defiant Christmas
The message of Christmas is a defiant one. In a culture of fear and anxiety, discontent and distraction, despair and cynicism, polarization and privilege, the invitation to hope, peace, joy, and love is a defiant invitation. Jesus is born into this world to offer us defiant hope, defiant peace, defiant joy and defiant love. Come, oh come, Emmanuel, and make us that calm, defiant people, marked by your presence.
December 5, 2021 | 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 | Dawson Jones |
Defiant Christmas
The message of Christmas is a defiant one. In a culture of fear and anxiety, discontent and distraction, despair and cynicism, polarization and privilege, the invitation to hope, peace, joy, and love is a defiant invitation. Jesus is born into this world to offer us defiant hope, defiant peace, defiant joy and defiant love. Come, oh come, Emmanuel, and make us that calm, defiant people, marked by your presence.
November 28, 2021 | Luke 12:32-34 | Ben Arnold |
Defiant Christmas
The message of Christmas is a defiant one. In a culture of fear and anxiety, discontent and distraction, despair and cynicism, polarization and privilege, the invitation to hope, peace, joy, and love is a defiant invitation. Jesus is born into this world to offer us defiant hope, defiant peace, defiant joy and defiant love. Come, oh come, Emmanuel, and make us that calm, defiant people, marked by your presence.
November 21, 2021 | Mark 1-16 | Dawson Jones & Ben Arnold | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
October 24, 2021 | Mark 14:32-42 | Mark Tilden | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
October 17, 2021 | Mark 14:1-31 | Ben Arnold | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
October 10, 2021 | Mark 13:1-37 | Justin Westcott | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
October 3, 2021 | Mark 11:27-12:44 | Dawson Jones | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
September 26, 2021 | Mark 11:1-26 | Dawson Jones | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
September 19, 2021 | Mark 10:13-52 | Mark Tilden | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
September 12, 2021 | Mark 10:1-12 | Ben Arnold | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
August 22, 2021 | Dawson Jones |
The spiritual discipline of asking boldly surrendering completely. Sermon series page with study guides.
August 8, 2021 | Dawson Jones |
The spiritual discipline of delighting in and drinking from God’s word. Sermon series page with study guides.
July 25, 2021 | Ben Arnold |
The spiritual disciple of agreeing with God about our sin and receiving his lavish forgiveness. Sermon series page with study guides.
July 11, 2021 | Dawson Jones |
The spiritual disciple of saying “no”. Sermon series page with study guides.
June 27, 2021 | Andrew Cirillo |
The spiritual practice of entering God's rest. Sermon series page with study guides.
June 20, 2021 | Dawson Jones |
A Rule of Life is like a trellis on which this vine-branch can grow. It is a scheduled set of practices that create space for us to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus does. Some have argued that the latin word for rule, regula, from which we get words like regular, has etymological connections to the word trellis. The image of a trellis for a vine is strong. When St. Benedict wrote up his first Rule of Life for his monastic community over 1500 years ago, his desire was that an intentional structured schedule would result in a balanced life of abiding in Jesus. Sermon series page with study guides.
June 6, 2021 | Mark 9:30-50 | Coby Strausbaugh| A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
May 23, 2021 | Mark 8:22-9:1 | Dawson Jones | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
April 25, 2021 | Mark 6:30-56 | Brandon Wirth | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
April 4, 2021 | Mark 5:21-43 | Dawson Jones | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
March 21, 2021 | Mark 4:35-41 | Dawson Jones | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
March 14, 2021 | Mark 4:21-34 | Ben Arnold | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
February 28, 2021 | Mark 3:20-25 | Dawson Jones | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
February 21, 2021 | Mark 3:7-19 | Mark Tilden | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
February 14, 2021 | Mark 2:18-3:6 | Ben Arnold | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
February 7, 2021 | Mark 2:1-17 | Dawson Jones | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
January 24, 2021 | Mark 1:21-45 | Ben Arnold | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark
January 24, 2021 | Mark 1:1-20 | Dawson Jones | A King Worth Following: The Gospel of Mark