6/1 Sermon Recap and Discussion Questions

Sermon Recap:

Suzanne talked about how diverse we are as a church. We have different original languages and cultures, different music preferences, different political opinions, and different theological understandings. She told us that the book of Romans was written to address a similarly diverse audience - to teach them how to live together to bring glory to God.Rather than an abstract book about theology, Romans is a book written to a particular church with a lot of diff...
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5/25 Sermon Discussion

Short responses to 4 questions

we did not get to on Sunday:

Can spiritual gifts change?The work of the holy spirit appears to be in the believer. What is the relationship of the holy spirit and the non-believer and is the holy spirit involved in our prayers for non-believers?How do you cultivate good soil for the Holy Spirit to produce fruit into?I have two adult children in their 20s who recently lost friends. When they ask why did God take them so young -- what do I say? ...
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5/18 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Sermon Recap

Pastor Sara talked about spiritual gifts, focusing on 1 Corinthians 12: 7. In this verse, Paul talks about spiritual gifts as “manifestations of the Spirit,” and encouraged us to consider the ways that our spiritual gifts uniquely make God visible to the world. We then took time to fill out a spiritual gifts assessment to reflect on how God has uniquely wired us. Below are links to the PDF of the assessment we took in person and a virtual test if you did not h...
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5/11 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Sermon Recap

Pastor Suzanne talked about the ways cultivating the fruit of the Spirit is somewhat like gardening. Our life is like a garden plot. Some of the things were planted in it by others (family of origin, friends, culture around us, etc.), and some of the things in the garden are things we plant and cultivate. Weeds naturally pop up in gardens no matter what, but daily surveying our garden and dealing with the weeds early helps them from growing deep roots. We need...
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5/4 Sermon Discussion and Reflection Questions

Sermon Recap

Pastor Suzanne talked about the ways that the Holy Spirit gives us assurance of God’s love and care and nearness. She talked about the process of adoption. In an adoption there is a gap of between the legal paperwork being signed and the child’s experience of safety and security in their new family. The child need consistent experience of love and safety to help them feel the truth of their adoption.Until they experience that, children will often return to the...
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4/27 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Sermon RecapPastor Suzanne began by suggesting that some gifts require humility and a learning curve before we can appreciate their value and benefits.  For many of us, this is true for the Gift of the Holy Spirit.John 19:30-34 invites us to see that Jesus didn't just violently die on the cross, but he also entrusted the Spirit to the world, in much the same way people leave an inheritance of value to others.  John visualizes this poetically as water pouring from Jesus' s...
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4/13 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Sermon Recap

•    Pastor Suzanne talked about the multiple things to see in the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. She invited us to look at the story and see the connection to the Jewish celebration of Passover. 

•    John makes intentionally adds details to his gospel that help us see the connection to Passover. (See image below) 

•    Suzanne emphasized that in the Passover celebration, the sacrificial lamb was not being punished for something. The lamb was a sign th

...
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4/6 Sermon Discussion and Reflection Questions

Sermon Recap

Pastor Suzanne talked about the religious leaders during Jesus’ trial and invited us to consider how it is possible to be both “deeply sincere and dangerously wrong.”She pointed out that the religious leaders had good reason to want to stop Jesus: he was claiming to be God. This was a heresy that the Old Testament says is punishable by death. They then become so focused on getting this accomplished that they are willing to use any means necessary. By the end o...
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3/30 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Sermon Recap

Pastor Sara talked about Pilate’s question to Jesus: “What is truth?”Pilate, due to changes in power dynamics in Rome, was left unsteady, and unsure what would bring him security, so he was left bending to the will of the crowds.She talked about how a lot of people in our postmodern world are wrestling with this question for a variety of different reasons. She encouraged people who are walking alongside people questioning their faith to consider asking questio...
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3/23 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Sermon Recap

Pastor Suzanne talked about the importance of making sure we are not compartmentalizing our lives in unhelpful ways. She talked about how Peter behaved one way around his fellow disciples and another way around other people. He was not able to integrate and live consistently and with integrity in a variety of environments. Suzane talked about 3 reasons we likely are not consistent everywhere we go: We want to feel accepted and like we belongIt’s easier- we cho...
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3/16 Sermon Recap & Reflection Questions

Sermon Recap

Pastor Suzanne taught us about the character Annas - who served as the high priest, but was removed from his position by Rome. Annas then appointed his sons as priests and continued to operate with authority behind the scenes.Annas was treated unjustly and then felt justified in his attempts to maintain power and even sanction violence. Annas should have been the person who recognized Jesus, and ended up being the person that assured his death. Suzanne asked u...
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3/9 Sermon Recap & Reflection Questions

Pastor Bep asked us to consider the power dynamics in the story of Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.

The Pharisees and Roman officials show up with physical displays of power: big numbers and weapons.

Jesus, however, displays his power through choosing submission to his arrest and by speaking truth instead of turning to manipulation or force.

Peter tries to step in to use power to control the situation by cutting off someone’s ear, and Jesus instead, use

...
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2/23 Sermon Recap & Reflection Questions

Sermon Recap

Pastor Suzanne talked about how the Holy Spirit invites us to choose into practices that bring peace. She talked about how the command “do not let your hearts be troubled” is more accurately translated “do not let your hearts be continually troubled.” Jesus himself talked about being troubled, but that we are encouraged to choose practices of slowing down that keep us from continuing in our anxiety and trouble.The world tells us that we will get peace through ...
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2/16 Sermon Recap & Reflection Questions

Sermon Recap

Pastor Suzanne talked about how we are living in a world where it is getting harder and harder to discern what is true/real.She gave us the image of a flashlight to describe how the Holy Spirit works to reveal to us what is true. She reminded us that Jesus is truth. So more than facts to argue with, truth is a person to submit ourselves to. If we want to know truth, we need to look at Jesus.She called us to two action steps:First, start with yourself. Rather t...
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2/9 Sermon Recap & Discussion Questions

  Listen to the Sermon   Scripture Reading

Sermon Recap

Pastor Suzanne talked about the Holy Spirit as our comforter (paraklete). In the passage Jesus is preparing his followers for the time when he will no longer be with them. He promises not to leave them as orphans (ones with deep grief), but to send them a comforter. She talked about how, in the Greek, the word for comforter refers to one who responds to a call to help (like the short clip from Mrs. Doubtfire) and comes...
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