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Jesus, scandalously lowly.

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Jesus, scandalously lowly.

This might be as good a moment as ever to be reminded of the type of power Jesus came to display. God of all creation, gave everything up, to live among the poor and downtrodden, and face the offense that this wrought. Jesus' lowly statues was an offense to everyone - to the elites, the priest, and in our passage, his hometown.

And his answer in Mark 6? To send out the disciples in his power; to get close to people, to free them from evil, heal their sick and preach the good news. There is no clearer way to see the kingdom Heaven, than in the moments we see worldly power fail so spectacularly. So, whatever it is we feel about what’s happening on world stages, let us not fail to worship Jesus today.

By Hannah Flint

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Jesus, powerful kindness.

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Jesus, powerful kindness.

Power over disease. Power over demons. Power over death. What would a power like that feel like? Is it scary? Is it intimidating? Is it comforting? Is it kind?

In this talk, we zoom into two miracles given to seemingly opposite people, and find out that they have more in common than meets the eye. Along the way we’ll see how the power of Jesus and the kindness of Jesus are intertwined, and how Jesus meets us in the midst of our circumstance, if we open our hearts to him.

By Tavia Grubbs

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Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath.

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Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath.

Jesus declares himself Lord of the Sabbath. This is less about him arguing over Sabbath law, and more about him establishing his Lordship over everything, including that which we most hold dear.

This is confrontational and necessarily requires his hearers, as well as us, to consider where our hearts have wandered to other gods. When we’re confronted like this we have a choice: we can react defensively, with avoidance, or rejection. Or we can choose to humble ourselves and receive his Lordship over our lives - to do so is to experience not enslavement but freedom, life not death. His offer is of Sabbath rest for all of us - reconnection to God, and life as it was alway intended.

By Ed Flint

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Jesus, the forgiver of sins.

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Jesus, the forgiver of sins.

Jesus first encounters opposition to his ministry when he begins to proclaim the forgiveness of sin.

Things get confrontational when Jesus refuses to be limited to the surface issues of our lives. Declaring himself as the one who forgives sin means not only equating himself with God, but tells us we have a fundamental problem which only He can solve.

Often our requests to Jesus reveal that we only really want him to scratch the surface issues of our lives. But Jesus is primarily fixated on the state of our hearts. If we let him, he will transform our hearts to be ones after his own. This is where lasting peace, joy, praise, and freedom is to be found.

By Ed Flint

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Jesus, the inaugurator of the Kingdom.

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Jesus, the inaugurator of the Kingdom.

Jesus’ first public pronouncement concerns the arrival of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is God’s just rule over the universe where all pain and evil cease and joy and peace abound. The Kingdom has come because Jesus, the King, has come. So entrance into the Kingdom is available to all who follow him. Its markers are evil banished, the sick healed, and the authority of Jesus revealed.

By Ed Flint

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Jesus, the prophesied one.

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Jesus, the prophesied one.

Jesus doesn’t enter the world in a vacuum, he’s the long awaited Messiah. But he’s more than a human deliverer. He’s the divine Son of God.

This intro to the series is an invitation to expand our view of who Jesus is, and a challenge where we’ve restricted who we’re willing to let him to be.

By Ed Flint

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Sabbatical Reflections: Resting, in spite of…

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Sabbatical Reflections: Resting, in spite of…

The command to rest was written into God’s rhythm for life on earth, and was an instruction given to his people from the very beginning.

Jesus demonstrated his human need for rest (including quiet time alone, and down-time with His disciples) with prolific frequency.

So, what can we learn from that? That he’d got it all done in time for chilling? Or that he knew how badly he needed quiet time with His father in order to sustain him in his mission. If we look at the OG rest Psalm (23), we see that the green pastures and still waters of heavenly rest aren’t actually promised as relief from life’s woes, but are to be found right in the midst of them.

By Hannah Flint

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Sabbatical Reflections: Living with limits.

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Sabbatical Reflections: Living with limits.

Part of maturing as a Christian is learning to identify and live within the limits God places on our lives. There are limits to our capacity, our resources, our gifting and our calling. When we push beyond the boundaries of where God would have us we end up causing ourselves and others pain, and harming our relationship with him. We do this inevitably when we reject God’s lordship of our lives and choose to become arbiters of our own destiny. Jesus calls us back to himself. He loves us too much to see us hurt ourselves by stretching ourselves too thin. We can trust his limits to enable us to thrive.

By Ed Flint

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Come Alive: Learning to tell time.

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Come Alive: Learning to tell time.

Given the current cultural moment, it would be wise for disciples of Jesus not to sleep their life away and, instead, to wake up to the realities surrounding them. We are not the first to be charged with that task!

Paul’s challenge to the church comes with specific advice on how to partner with the Holy Spirit in not only learning to tell time, but to redeem it!

By Bill Dogterom

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Come Alive: Obedience in three, ten-minute sermons.

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Come Alive: Obedience in three, ten-minute sermons.

To celebrate what God is doing in our community, this week’s talk was comprised of 3 ten minute sermons given by members of bread in their first time preaching.

On the shared theme of obedience Amber, Paul, and Rebekah teach on obedience as an expression of our love for God, the joy that comes from obeying him, and the blessing that obedience brings to others.

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Come Alive: Life by the spirit.

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Come Alive: Life by the spirit.

“Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” [Romans 7:24]. This is the dramatic way Paul ends the seventh chapter of his letter to the Romans.

But just one chapter later he writes “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us!” [Romans 8:37].

What revelation did he have that got him so excited and full of faith after voicing such despair? And what does his discovery mean for us today?

By Ben Manusama

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Come Alive: When we are washed by Jesus.

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Come Alive: When we are washed by Jesus.

As we continue to look to Jesus to “Come Alive,” we’re considering the layers of meaning in Jesus washing his disciples’ feet in John 13. In spite of our resistance, Jesus is constantly moving toward us to show us his strength, his care, and ability to set things right in our lives. His Spirit is washing us from shame, fear, anxiety, or even just the disappointment of life.

Are we slowing down enough to let him care for us, and show tenderness to the more “unsightly” parts of us?

By Nelly D’Alessandro

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Come Alive: Authority, compassion, and hope.

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Come Alive: Authority, compassion, and hope.

In Week 3 of our Coming Alive series, guest speaker Jon Hans returns as we take a look at the first half of Luke chapter 7 with Jesus’ encounter with a Roman Centurion and a grieving widow. Who or what is the controlling authority in your life? Will you let God’s heart break for you or allow Him to speak dead things back to life? Jon explores these questions and more in our pursuit to come alive.

By Jon Hans

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Come Alive: God becoming real.

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Come Alive: God becoming real.

Continuing our “Come Alive” series, guest speaker Jon Hans shares his story of how God became real in his life through his experiences of growing up always the new kid, moving to West Papua, Indonesia as a missionary kid, and finding the God of immeasurable love in the midst of tragedy.

By Jon Hans

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Come Alive: What needs to be awakened?

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Come Alive: What needs to be awakened?

In this introduction to our “Come Alive” series, we explore Lazarus’ coming-alive moment in John. Mary and Martha’s friendship with Jesus is a great model for us, as we ask ourselves what parts of our selves still need to be awoken by the sound of Jesus’ voice.

We’ll also consider together the counter-cultural pursuit of Rest as another invitation to “coming alive” in Jesus more intentionally this summer.

By Nelly D’Alessandro

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A Fresh Word: The lostness, the foundness, the love.

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A Fresh Word: The lostness, the foundness, the love.

Looking into the parable of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin, we find God portrayed as an active Seeker of lost ones. God’s tenacious search and rescue is motivated by God’s tremendous love for us. These stories speak deep truths about who God is and how God feels about each of us.

By Lisa Borden

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A Fresh Word: God as our safe place, our home.

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A Fresh Word: God as our safe place, our home.

Unraveling the opening line of Psalm 91, we find God’s welcome to settle and be at home in the shelter of who God is. There is a YES/AND in that we cannot exist outside of God, AND we’re invited to choose to make our home in God. As we trust God to be our safe place, we begin to thrive.

By Lisa Borden

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A Fresh Word: God is big enough.

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A Fresh Word: God is big enough.

As worship expands our understanding of God, we will discover God is “big enough” for all that happens in our lives – and for us. In fact, worship – having put God in God’s rightful place – puts us in our place, as well – where we discover forgiveness enabling repentance. That leads us to an intimacy with God, enabling us to hear the invitation to mission – and to respond.

By Bill Dogterom