May 2025 “Receiving the Spirit’s flame: Spiritual gifts in the life of the church” video supplement
Watch the video. As we begin to dig into Scripture and talk about our spiritual gifts, it’s important to remind ourselves that these gifts are given to us by Someone who knows us intimately. A spiritual gift is nothing we can ever earn, and usually not something we’d...
April 2025 “Faithfulness” Bible study video supplement Session 4
Watch the video. (April) Session Four: Faith risks: Jairus and the Faithful Woman When both Jairus and the woman who is bleeding reach out in their pain and disappointment, Jesus meets them with compassion. Jesus is present in our actions as well, when our listening...
March 2025 “Faithfulness” Bible study video supplement Session 3
Watch the video. (March) Session Three: Faith adventures: Peter and Cornelius We do not always see eye-to-eye with our neighbor. And yet, we are called to love our neighbor. Peter’s experience with someone different gives the Holy Spirit an opportunity to teach Peter,...
February 2025 “Faithfulness” Bible study video supplement Session 2
(February) Session Two: Psalm 22 Watch the video supplement. David testifies that God is God and worthy of praise, even as David is in despair. It’s no wonder that Jesus cried out to God during the crucifixion using these very words. In our worst times, this psalm...
January 2025 “Faithfulness” Bible study video supplement Session 1
(January) Session One: Ruth and Naomi Watch the video. Ruth chooses to remain part of Naomi’s family, even after Naomi has lost everything – including her husband and sons. This intergenerational story of faithfulness during emptiness and sorrow helps us learn how to...
December 2024 “In God’s garden: What fig trees teach us about Advent” devotional video supplement
Watch the video. This Advent, we’ll learn from some surprising teachers: fig trees. Astonishingly vibrant, fig trees have a zest for life. Their roots have even been known to bust through plumbing and climb walls like ivy! Yet fig trees also have a dormant period—a...
Fall 2024 “Receiving grace: A study of Ephesians” Bible study video supplement Session 3
Session three: Living as children of the Light Watch the video What concrete advice can Ephesians give us on how to live a fuller, happier life? What poetic inspiration can it offer us for living as Christians?
Fall 2024 “Receiving grace: A study of Ephesians” Bible study video supplement Session 2
Session two: Grace-filled living—ancient and new What did the writer of Ephesians imagine grace would look like in Christian life and relationships? How can we live from grace in our own time, reading this letter through our cultural lenses and experiences? Watch the...
Fall 2024 “Receiving grace: A study of Ephesians” Bible study video supplement Session 1
Session one: Is grace real? We often focus on how we fall short and deserve God’s judgment. What if, instead, we remember God’s continual gift of grace? God invites us to lead lives of love and wholeness. What is grace, exactly? Grace does not take away the sin and...
Summer 2024 “After certainty: A biblical guide” Bible study video supplement Session 3
August 2024 After certainty: Compassion When certainty becomes judgmentalism, it contributes to divisions between people and within communities. The teachings of Jesus and the pastoral writings of the apostle Paul sometimes urge people to choose compassion over...
Summer 2024 “After certainty: A biblical guide” Bible study video supplement Session 2
July 2024 After certainty: Community When certainty in faith becomes the responsibility of the individual, this can isolate us from God and from community. The reformer Martin Luther’s own failures of certainty led him to return to passages in the gospels and epistles...
Summer 2024 “After certainty: A biblical guide” Bible study video supplement Session 1
After certainty: Curiosity Jesus’ ministry, during the uncertainty of the first century Roman occupation, often challenged the “certainties” of the status quo when it came to faith, power and relationships—both the relationships between people and God, and between...