Today we continue our short series on “Practices of our Faith.” We often think of religion as confined to certain texts or spaces, and the practices of faith as things we do in addition to “regular life.” But our faith can be so much more — actually, that’s what Jesus’ life is an example of—he challenges us to live our faith—having it guide our life’s purpose and inspire the seeming minutiae of our daily routines. In this series, we’re exploring just three Christian practices that go beyond the typical practices we think of, like reading scripture, prayer, worship, and service. These additional practices particularly speak to our lives as we move into the busy holiday season—but really, they apply to life year round. Today, we’re looking at the practice of “household economics.”

We often think of religion as confined to certain texts or spaces. But our faith can be so much more — from guiding our lives’ purpose to enriching the seeming minutiae of our daily routines. Christianity offers timeless practices that help both Christians — and the world — to flourish. Practices that—woven together, form an entire way of life. Today we begin a short, three-week series in which we will explore just three of these practices, helping us to see that it’s possible to create a way of life that’s both attuned to present-day needs and taught by ancient wisdom. I chose three practices that I thought particularly speak to life as we move into the busy holiday season—a season that is filled with joys and struggles that are both unique to this time of year, and present all the year through. Today, we begin with the practice of saying “yes,” and saying “no.”

I once heard grief described as standing on the seashore. At first, the wet sand is uneven beneath your feet, and even the smallest wave causes you to wobble and sink deeper into the sand. Eventually, though, you come to a point where you’re steady (enough) and you’re better able to handle the waves. Until a large wave comes—completely out of nowhere—and you’re tossed off-balance, arms flailing, struggling to keep your footing once again. Grief, in the same way, is something that you think would dissipate over time—the longer you stand at the shore the easier it should be—you learn to live without your loved one, or you get used to being divorced, or you make new friends at a new job or in a new town—whatever the grief is, you expect it to subside with time. But if you’ve ever experienced grief, you know that rogue waves come—out of nowhere, pulling the ground from underneath your feet, causing you to fall or at the very least stumble with arms flailing, trying to find some firm ground beneath you.

We have come to the final week of our Curious Church series. For many reasons, we are heading into a new chapter as a church—as we think about how we use our building and prepare for a capital campaign, and as we pray about hiring a new staff person to attend to the people God has placed in our care; as we think about the way culture’s relationship with the church has changed over the past several years, and how we can use the unique gifts God has given us as a church to be in partnership with our community. And as with any big (or small) change, it’s important to listen to where to Spirit is leading—to get curious with God. Over these past weeks, we’ve wondered together—about God, about scripture, about ourselves, and about the kind of community we’re becoming. And if curiosity has taught us anything, it’s that God is never finished with us. That’s what Isaiah is trying to tell the people in today’s passage.

Today, we continue in our worship series—Curious Church: Wondering Our Way Forward. For many reasons, we are heading into a new chapter as a church—as we think about how we use our building and prepare for a capital campaign, and as we pray about hiring a new staff person to attend to the people God has placed in our care; as we think about the way culture’s relationship with the church has changed, and how we can use the unique gifts God has given us as a church to be in partnership with our community. And as with any big (or small) change, it’s important to listen to where to Spirit is leading. The best way I know how to attune myself to God’s Spirit is through curiosity—asking questions, and then opening myself to the Spirit’s prompting. So, in this series, we are getting curious together: “What does the next season look like for us?” “How is God calling us to be a safe space here and now, at this time in history?” This isn’t about “fixing the church,” or discovering all the answers, but opening ourselves to the movement of God, trusting that God is leading us to the incredible things we haven’t even imagined yet. If you think about it, this is how Jesus taught—through questions and parables and invitations, rather than easy answers. Today, curiosity leads us to think about our mission, and how God is leading us forward.

For many reasons, it seems we are heading into a new chapter as a church—as we think about how we use our building and prepare for a capital campaign, and as we pray about hiring a new staff person to attend to the people God has placed in our care. The best way I know how to attune myself to God’s Spirit is through curiosity—asking questions, and then opening myself to the Spirit’s prompting. So, in this series, we are getting curious together: “What does the next season look like for us?” “How is God calling us to be a safe space here and now, at this time in history?” This isn’t about “fixing the church,” or having all the answers, but opening ourselves to the movement of God’s Spirit, trusting that God is leading us to the incredible things we haven’t even imagined yet. If you think about it, this is how Jesus taught—through questions and parables and invitations, rather than easy answers. Today, curiosity leads us to think about what it means to be in community. And we have the opportunity to hear from Shannon Kantorowski, who is our Finance Manager here at BUMC. Shannon is someone for whom community has always been an important component of living as a follower of Jesus. Before coming here, she was trained to facilitate small groups, and she’s the one helping to start small groups here this winter. Each time Shannon and I have spoken about small groups and being in community, she’s spoken with such passion and excitement, and I’m excited for her to share that with you today. Let us welcome Shannon!

I have been at Brecksville United Methodist Church for 6 years, and together, we have stayed attuned to where God is leading us, allowing the Spirit to direct our every move. Even as the world has continued to change at a surprisingly fast pace, and we’ve had to modify and change to meet people where they are. And I’m proud of the ways we’ve stepped out in faith, trusting God even when we weren’t entirely sure where God was leading us. For many reasons, it seems we are heading into a new chapter as a church—as we think about how we use our building and prepare for a capital campaign, and as we pray about hiring a new staff person to attend to the people God has placed in our care. The best way I know how to attune myself to God’s Spirit is through curiosity—asking questions, and then opening myself to the Spirit’s prompting. So, in this series, we’re going to get curious together: what is God up to? “What does the next season look like for us?” “How is God calling us to be a safe space here and now, at this time in history?” This isn’t about “fixing the church,” or having all the answers, but opening ourselves to the movement of God’s Spirit, trusting that God is leading us to the incredible things we haven’t even imagined yet. If you think about it, this is how Jesus taught—through questions and parables and invitations, rather than easy answers. Today, curiosity leads us to think about the cost of discipleship.

We are in week 4 of our worship series—Curious Church: Wondering Our Way Forward. How do we stay attuned to the leading of God’s Spirit? I’ve found that the best way is to come to God with curiosity. “What does the next season look like for us?” “How is God calling us to be a safe space here and now, at this time in history?” So, in this series, we’re going to get curious together: what is God up to—in us, in our neighbors, and in the world? And how is God calling us forward? This isn’t about having to “fix the church,” or having all the answers, but trusting that God is leading us to the incredible things we haven’t even imagined yet. If you think about it, this is how Jesus taught—through questions and parables and invitations, rather than easy answers. Today, we are taking a look at the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, and wondering, “What happens when we become curious about ourselves?”

We are in week 3 of our worship series—Curious Church: Wondering Our Way Forward. I’ve found that the best way to stay attuned to the leading of God’s Spirit is to come to God with curiosity. “What does the next season look like for us?” “How is God calling us to be a safe space here and now, at this time in history?” So, in this series, we’re going to get curious together: what is God up to—in us, in our neighbors, and in the world? And how is God calling us forward? This isn’t about having to “fix the church,” or having all the answers, but trusting that God is leading us to the incredible things we haven’t even imagined yet. If you think about it, this is how Jesus taught—through questions and parables and invitations, rather than easy answers. Today, curiosity leads us all the way back to the Babylonian exile.

We are in week 2 of our worship series—Curious Church: Wondering Our Way Forward. A lot has happened in the past six years—both within our church, and in the world. Pastor Heidi says, "Through it all, we’ve stayed attuned to where God is leading, allowing the Spirit to direct our every move. And I’m proud of that. And yet, I find myself wondering, what does the next season look like for us? How is God calling us to be a safe space here and now, at this time in history?" So, in this series, we’re going to get curious together: what is God up to? What’s God doing in this moment—in us, in our neighbors, and in the world? And how is God calling us forward? This isn’t about having to “fix the church,” or having all the answers, but opening ourselves to the movement of God’s Spirit, trusting that God is leading us to the incredible things we haven’t even imagined yet. If you think about it, this is how Jesus taught—through questions and parables and invitations, rather than easy answers. Today, curiosity leads us all the way back to the wilderness.

Our world feels like it’s one of those dryer balls tumbling around in a clothes dryer—tumultuous presidential elections, civil unrest from just about every corner as people have reached the breaking point—sick of being pushed to the margins and ignored for centuries. The relationship between the church and greater culture had drastically changed. Trends that we had been seeing for years have finally come to a head—people are worshiping less often, and the likelihood that someone new will walk into the church is as likely as someone attending a wedding they weren’t invited to. People are less likely to check ‘Christian’ on a survey, but more likely to Google, ‘How do I live a meaningful life?’ Many people don’t trust religion, but they are yearning for God. We're beginning a multi-week series where we're going to get curious together. We'll ask what is God up to? What’s God doing in this moment—in us, in our neighbors, and in the world? And how is God calling us forward? This isn’t about having to “fix the church,” or having all the answers, but opening ourselves to the movement of God’s Spirit, trusting that God is leading us to the incredible things we haven’t even imagined yet. If you think about it, this is how Jesus taught—through questions and parables and invitations, rather than easy answers. Today, curiosity leads us back to our roots—What did “being the church” look like in the beginning? Is there anything we can recover from those roots today?

Jesus calls us to make some good trouble, to turn the world upside down.

For the past few weeks, we’ve been taking a look at some occasions in scripture when people of faith had “holy meltdowns”—when pillars of our faith like Moses, Jonah, and Elijah had big emotions. Because right now, there seem to be a lot of big emotions in the world. Something that might have bothered or annoyed us before, now has the potential to really set us off. It’s like we each have less of an emotional buffer, and then when you put us all together in society, we feed off each other and reactions get really intense really quickly. Traditionally, the church has told us that "good" or "faithful" Christians don't let their emotions get the best of them. But the truth is, there are times in everyone's life when they have "big emotions." Sometimes, even the most faithful people—those who love God and serve Christ with their whole lives reach a breaking point. In this series, we’re looking at these “holy meltdowns” to see how God worked in or through them, and think about how God works through us, too, in similar situations. We’ve looked at holy meltdowns in the prophets and in Jesus himself, and today we see a different kind of moment—a relational meltdown between two apostles: Paul and Barnabas.

For the past few weeks, we have been taking a look at some occasions in scripture when people of faith had “holy meltdowns”—when pillars of our faith like Moses, Jonah, and Elijah had big emotions. Because right now, there seems to be a lot of big emotions in the world. Many—if not most—of us are struggling with something: grief, sadness or depression, anxiety, anger… because life seems to be particularly “lifey” right now, and then add to that a news cycle, and media that seem to play on our emotions, and it’s a perfect storm to create holy meltdowns here and now. Traditionally, though, the church tells us that "good" or "faithful" Christians don't let their emotions get the best of them. But the truth is, there are times in everyone's lives when they have "big emotions." In this series, we’re looking at these “holy meltdowns” to see how God worked in or through them, and think about how God works through us, too, in similar situations. Today, we look at Peter and the infamous story of his regret.

What was Jesus so mad about, anyway?

In this series, Holy Meltdowns, we’re taking a look at some occasions in scripture when people of faith had big emotions—like Moses hitting a rock, Jonah getting bitter, Jesus flipping tables, and more. Because right now, there seems to be a lot of big emotions in the world right now. Many people—I would go as far to say “most of us”—are feeling overwhelmed by life and the news cycle, and we’re responding in ways that we may not normally—getting angry, impatient, frustrated, sad, or feeling hopeless. Traditionally, the church tells us that "good" or "faithful" Christians don't let their emotions get the best of them. But the truth is, there are times in everyone's lives when they have "big emotions." In this series, we’ll see how God worked in or through these “holy meltdowns” and think about how God works through us, too, when we have big emotions. Today, we’re looking at Elijah’s meltdown.

God asks Jonah "Do you do well to be angry?" It's a question we should all ask ourselves. As the world swirls through a period of division and change, when things don't turn out as we had planned, do we do well to be angry? Guest speaker, Rev. Sharon Seyfarth Garner, delivers an inspiring message that encourages us to stay curious, not judgmental.

Today, we begin a new worship series, “Holy Meltdowns.” Have you noticed that there seem to be a lot of big emotions in the world right now? Many people (most of us?) are feeling overwhelmed by life and the news cycle, and we’re responding in ways that we may not normally—getting angry, impatient, frustrated, sad, or feeling hopeless. Traditionally, the church tells us that "good" or "faithful" Christians don't let their emotions get the best of them. But the truth is, there are times in everyone's lives when they have "big emotions." In this series, we’ll take a look at some examples in scripture when people of faith had big emotions—Moses hitting a rock, Jonah getting bitter, Jesus flipping tables, and more. We’ll see how God worked in or through these “holy meltdowns” and think about how God works through us, too. Our first meltdown is brought to us by one of the greatest leaders in scripture—Moses.

Today we conclude our worship series, “Road Trip: On the Go with God.” Each year, we spend a few weeks taking a look at the stories our kids will delve into at Vacation Bible School. As Navigator Matt and Scout shared, this past week, our kids went on a figurative road trip, discovering that God’s presence is everywhere. Each day, they explored stories from the Old and New Testament that show this truth. Yes, this theme is for kids, but the truths they learned are universal. How often do we as adults wonder, “Is God still with me… here?’ When we leave behind the familiar, or when we feel like outsiders in our own story — the question arises. Is God still near, when we feel so far? Is God with me as I mourn the loss of a loved one? Is God here as I dream of a baby of my own? Does God know how scary and hard it is to sell my home and move? Does God see how tired I am—how much I want to do well for my family and those around me? In today’s scripture, we find Paul in a similar situation...

Today we continue our worship series, “Road Trip: On the Go with God.” Each year, we spend a few weeks before Vacation Bible School taking a look at the stories our kids will delve into at VBS. Tomorrow, our kids will be going on a figurative road trip, and discover that God’s presence is everywhere. The theme verse for the whole week is Joshua 1:9— “The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” And each day, they’ll explore stories from the Old and New Testament that show this truth. They’ll learn that God is with us on our journeys—when we’re joyful or lonely and when we go off course; God is with us near and far. Yes, this theme is for kids, but the truths they’ll be learning are for everyone. We each need the reminder that no matter where we go or what we experience on our journeys, God is with us. Today we turn our attention to the story of Zacchaeus