Resurrected Lives: Waiting, Sabbath, and Transformation | Pentecost Sunday

Jesus’ famous last words dealt with being known by one’s love. What does love have to do with the poor, service, and justice? A lot, it turns out. Love isn’t just motivation to do work with and among the marginalized. Love is how we will be recognized as disciples, students of Jesus. On Sunday, we have the privilege of hearing someone who has walked this out in word and deed. Rob Morris, CEO and Co-Founder of Love146, will share his story, the story of his organization which works to eliminate child trafficking, and what love has got to do with it all. You don’t want to miss this!

- Series Description -

Jesus cares deeply about the marginalized. During this Lenten series, we will unpack God’s care for the poor, identification with this group, and the ways God moves on their behalf and calls us to do likewise. Oftentimes, we see people talk the talk with justice — saying the right things, using the in season buzzwords — but they are not caring for actual marginalized folks. Other times, we see people serving to the point of burnout and not modeling the world they are working so hard for. They might do good works but without much good news. Jesus is completely different. He has compassion, mercy, and deep love for folks who are marginalized. Jesus sees, stops, and cares, and He calls us to do the same. Will we? Over the Covid-19 pandemic, each our service and justice ministries got shut down — prison bible studies at Whalley and York, serving at Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK), and serving with Agape Church for the Homeless. As the pandemic shifted and more things opened up, we remained quite inward. We want that to change. We are praying that God’s work amongst us would inspire a new ministry for and among the poor and marginalized. Join us!

You shall not oppress a stranger; you know the heart of a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt (Exod 23:9).

The remarkable text from Matt 25 about the sheep and the goats and the "least of these" has been with us every week so far in our series on "Loving the Poor in Word and Deed" as we've explored how we serve and encounter Jesus when we feed, clothe, house, welcome, visit, and otherwise care for the poor. This week we continue our series with a look at how God identifies with the poor as he rescues a people from slavery in Egypt and enjoins those people--his people--to liberality, generous giving motivated by their own experience of rescue by God from affliction and lack. It's the model for the church of Jesus who was "anointed to bring good news to the poor" (Luke 4:18) and instructed his followers to "give to all who ask" (Matt 5:42).

- Series Description -

Jesus cares deeply about the marginalized. During this Lenten series, we will unpack God’s care for the poor, identification with this group, and the ways God moves on their behalf and calls us to do likewise. Oftentimes, we see people talk the talk with justice — saying the right things, using the in season buzzwords — but they are not caring for actual marginalized folks. Other times, we see people serving to the point of burnout and not modeling the world they are working so hard for. They might do good works but without much good news. Jesus is completely different. He has compassion, mercy, and deep love for folks who are marginalized. Jesus sees, stops, and cares, and He calls us to do the same. Will we? Over the Covid-19 pandemic, each our service and justice ministries got shut down — prison bible studies at Whalley and York, serving at Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK), and serving with Agape Church for the Homeless. As the pandemic shifted and more things opened up, we remained quite inward. We want that to change. We are praying that God’s work amongst us would inspire a new ministry for and among the poor and marginalized. Join us!

In the famous parable of the sheep and the goats, both parties are surprised by Jesus’ connection with the poor — even the ones who have seen Jesus through their feeding, clothing, visiting, and compassionate service. Through our hearing of the story, we don’t have to be surprised anymore that we can see Jesus in the face of the poor. Instead, our compassion for the poor and marginalized can now become our worship of and encounter with Jesus. With that hope, we’ll go deeper on Sunday as we listen to stories from our community about encountering God through the marginalized. You don’t want to miss hearing these dynamic stories from other ECVers as we continue to build courage for this work together.

- Series Description -

Jesus cares deeply about the marginalized. During this Lenten series, we will unpack God’s care for the poor, identification with this group, and the ways God moves on their behalf and calls us to do likewise. Oftentimes, we see people talk the talk with justice — saying the right things, using the in season buzzwords — but they are not caring for actual marginalized folks. Other times, we see people serving to the point of burnout and not modeling the world they are working so hard for. They might do good works but without much good news. Jesus is completely different. He has compassion, mercy, and deep love for folks who are marginalized. Jesus sees, stops, and cares, and He calls us to do the same. Will we? Over the Covid-19 pandemic, each our service and justice ministries got shut down — prison bible studies at Whalley and York, serving at Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK), and serving with Agape Church for the Homeless. As the pandemic shifted and more things opened up, we remained quite inward. We want that to change. We are praying that God’s work amongst us would inspire a new ministry for and among the poor and marginalized. Join us!

Who is “the poor”? What does that phrase even mean anyway? Throughout the Bible, that phrase is used to describe people God wants to remember, serve, include, and relieve. Yet, we often forget these people. During this Lenten season, we’re remembering this group and God’s call for us to serve the marginalized amongst us. In Matthew 25, Jesus has surprising news about who they are. Hint: it involves Jesus in a big way. Could Jesus’ revelation change our lives, our church, and our city? Come and see.

- Series Description -

Jesus cares deeply about the marginalized. During this Lenten series, we will unpack God’s care for the poor, identification with this group, and the ways God moves on their behalf and calls us to do likewise. Oftentimes, we see people talk the talk with justice — saying the right things, using the in season buzzwords — but they are not caring for actual marginalized folks. Other times, we see people serving to the point of burnout and not modeling the world they are working so hard for. They might do good works but without much good news. Jesus is completely different. He has compassion, mercy, and deep love for folks who are marginalized. Jesus sees, stops, and cares, and He calls us to do the same. Will we? Over the Covid-19 pandemic, each our service and justice ministries got shut down — prison bible studies at Whalley and York, serving at Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK), and serving with Agape Church for the Homeless. As the pandemic shifted and more things opened up, we remained quite inward. We want that to change. We are praying that God’s work amongst us would inspire a new ministry for and among the poor and marginalized. Join us!

Last week, Josh shared about how Jesus died for our sin not to be a big deal. But once we understand and receive the good news of Jesus’s rescue from sin… what happens next? How are we supposed to relate to our own sinfulness as people who have been set free from sin if we can’t stop sinning? This Sunday, for the second installment of our two-part series on Sin, Tina will be sharing more about what it means to walk with Jesus as everyday sinners in a world distorted by the accuser’s voice.

- Series Description -

S I N

Some people say sin is missing the mark. Others say sin is like drinking poison, weakening you with every breath you take. Some say sin doesn’t exist or, if it does, it doesn’t really matter. What does Jesus make of sin? What do you?

After exploring four weeks on hospitality, we will dive into one of the most contested topics when it comes to hosting others — SIN. Jesus was constantly accused of spending time with tax collectors and sinners, unsavory types. Religious experts thought Jesus minimized God’s law. Jesus wasn’t just full words and teaching on the matter either; he touched the untouchable who were thought to carry sin’s contagion. Our Sinless Savior wants to teach us a thing or two about how to view and engage sin, others’ and our own. Are we up for being learners?

- Series Description -

S I N

Some people say sin is missing the mark. Others say sin is like drinking poison, weakening you with every breath you take. Some say sin doesn’t exist or, if it does, it doesn’t really matter. What does Jesus make of sin? What do you?

Our January teaching series on Hospitality has explored how we need to be hosted by God with the gifts of love, home, and family that God gives us and then give those gifts in turn to others. We conclude our series with the gift that makes all of those (and more) possible-- the gift of himself in the Holy Spirit. When Jesus, who welcomes sinners (Luke 15:2), ascends to heaven, he sends the Spirit to his followers whose growing numbers represent an ever-widening circle of those into whose hearts God's love has been poured by the Spirit (Rom 5:5), a "spirit of adoption...bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Rom 8:15-16). The filling of the Spirit, again and again, leads and equips the church to extend God's hospitality, bringing near all those who were "far off" to be "members of the household of God" (Eph 2:13, 19).

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A Sermon Series on God's Hospitality and Our Own

The loneliness epidemic in our country impacts our city and our church. Even with people around us and in our lives, we can ask who is our family? Once we receive family, we have a choice. Do we hoard sacred and beloved relationships? Or do we connect other people to life-giving relationships and see that family grow. When we’re warmed, we provide warmth. That’s the hope. So, what does it mean that we have a God, who is a Loving Parent —one whom Jesus calls his “Heavenly Father.” Can we feast of this relationship and then minister family to others? Jesus seems to think so! The work of family is available, growing, and we’re a part of receiving it and passing it on.

Series Description - 

A Sermon Series on God's Hospitality and Our Own

Last week, we kicked off our series, Warmed, by proclaiming and experiencing God’s love. Even though God’s love is abundant, we can act like it is as scarce as warmth in the winter. How can we show God’s warmth to others when we haven’t received it ourselves lately? We need to be hosted first by God with the gifts God gives us (love, home, family, and the Spirit). Then, we’re called to give those gifts away to the Church, neighbors, strangers, and enemies. This week, we’ll explore how God gives us the gift of home. Through God being Creator of the world and our Maker, we can find Home in peculiar ways and help others find home too. 

Series Description - 

A Sermon Series on God's Hospitality and Our Own

Have you ever been so cold that you don’t share a blanket? When you finally get some warmth in the winter, sharing it is not so easy. Sometimes, we simply need to be warmed in order to share that warmth with others. This is often true for God’s lavish love and hospitality. How can we show God’s warmth to others when we haven’t lately received it ourselves? In our first sermon series of the new year, we will talk about the gifts God gives us (love, home, family, and the Spirit) as our Great Host and how we’re called to give those away to the Church, neighbors, strangers, and enemies. Come today to hear about and experience God’s love as God’s ultimate act of hospitality.