As the nation observes the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence we are called to give thanks and to tell the truth. We are called to live into a vision established not by our own patriotism, but the vision of the reign of God revealed in Christ.

There is a kind of hope that makes everything worse. We have all offered it. Most of us have needed it. There is another kind. It doesn't promise the weight will lift. But it will not leave you alone in it.   Jeremiah 28:5–9 | Matthew 10:40–42

A core belief of our congregation is "God's love is not earned but is a free gift to broken people." The question is, does God's love revealed in Christ leave us broken? Paul says, "By no means!" To be baptized, to be a disciple of Jesus, is to leave the old life, the brokenness, behind and embrace a new life, even if it is hard to change.

We are remarkably committed to carrying things alone. Even when help is available. Even when the effort costs us more than accepting it. Somewhere in all that stubborn self-sufficiency, a belief settles in so quietly we don't notice it arriving: no one is coming.   Matthew 9:35–10:8 | Exodus 19:2-8a | Romans 5:1-8

The world is very good at speaking final words over us. And we have been carrying some of them for a long time. But there is someone who keeps showing up, past the booth, past the crowd, past the bedside, and he is not done speaking. That word has your name on it.   Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

We have been gripping for a very long time. Managing the unformed places. Performing a certainty we do not have. Because somewhere underneath everything, we believe that chaos means God has already looked away. But that is not how this story begins.   Genesis 1:1-2:4a | 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 | Matthew 28:16-20

We have spent a long time on the bank. Watching. Admiring. Keeping ourselves dry and in control. But there is a current underneath all of it that has been moving the whole time, and it didn't ask our permission before it started. The question Pentecost keeps asking is the one we keep not answering.   John 7:37-39 | Acts 2:1-21 | 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

We are waiting. We have been waiting. For the door to open, for things to resolve, for real life to finally start again. What if we've been wrong about which room we're in?   John 17:1-11 | Acts 1:6-14 | 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11

We are exhausted. Not tired. Exhausted. And we cannot stop. We have been building altars about it for a very long time. And none of them are working.   But there is another way.   Acts 17:22-31 | John 14:15-21 | 1 Peter 3:13-22

An arrest. A sermon. A challenge. A response. The stones didn't come from the faithless ones. Just ask Caiaphas.   Acts 7:55–60 |1 Peter 2:2–10 | John 14:1–14