Jesus’ parables help us understand that we do not understand. At the edge of the lake we are drawn no by Jesus into a life beyond our comprehension and control, a life of mystery, of relationship, of story. There we don’t gain control, we gain Him.

Eventually, the music stops and the lights flicker on (literally and metaphorically). This is for those who aren't quite sure if they feel particularly happy or sad, good or bad —perhaps just numb. This is for those who have ever set the goal of simply surviving the day. In other words, this is for human beings experiencing the realities of life. Jesus has an invitation for us.Journaling prompts:“Community” and “doing life together” are not auxiliary to the work of the church – they are central. Jesus’ yoke binds us one to another. How have you understood this yoke in the past and how might this understanding shape your ideas about church going forward? Divine favor rests on infants. How might this shape your picture of living a sent life?What is your relationship with the unknown? Does it make you anxious? Does it make you strive for control? How might Jesus’ invitation begin to gently offer you peace in the unknown?

A sermon by Jordan Rhea. Jesus sends out the twelve, and concludes his charge to them with a message of union. They are told to depart from Jesus, and yet, in this harvest work, they will be intimately connected to him, God, and all believers.

Jesus Christ introduces a new order of things into the world, not merely an updated order. Enter friction. Let’s be honest - none of us are eager to sign up for the hard life, but what if the inherent friction between the old order of things and the way of Jesus is indeed the way to a full, flourishing, and free life.Related Sermon - Would A God of Love Send Anyone to Hell?Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/episode/5s52OsUXYHBYY2961lCzJW?si=dfcca7a80ab64190Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/redemption-hou-podcast/id1747381433?i=1000656189377Prompts:Jesus invites us to follow Him. This is the singular invitation on the table. There is no lite or pro tier, just disciples. What about this might challenge you? What about this might free you?“I sing because I’m happy / I sing because I’m free / His eyes are on the sparrow / so I know He watches me.” This refrain has been sung by people over the years who have had plenty of reason to disbelieve the words coming out of their mouths. Take some time to get honest with God about how these words hit you at the moment. God is cool with honest prayers. Practice: Read and reflectRead Isaiah 60, which opens with a poem about the holy city reflecting God’s light. Then spend some time reflecting. Perhaps grab a writing instrument and a notepad. Have you ever found yourself at the end of your rope - tired and burned out? The light comes from outside of you. The light shines. That is simply what it does. Spend some time reflecting on this and getting curious on how this might allow you to exhale today.

Those called are those sent. Jesus’ call means we’ve been invited into God, which means we’ve been invited to participate in what God is up to, in the way God is up to it. This reality is not always one we would’ve chosen for ourselves, but it is our being faithful to the contours of a kingdom life.

Jesus tells us God is after one very particular group of people. In doing so fundamentalism of any kind is taken off the table. We are not a community of self-certain people. We are a community in desperate need of God.

For those of us burned by versions of Christianity which are about behavior management, culture wars, or bigger, better, brighter performances Trinity Sunday is an invitation to re-consider all of it. If we pay close attention, Matthew 28 and the Great Commission reveals a God who is love through and through and who is drawing all of the world into that love. This means the church is mission — the enactment of what all the whole world was made for.For those of us burned by versions of Christianity which are about behavior management, culture wars, or bigger, better, brighter performances Trinity Sunday is an invitation to re-consider all of it. If we pay close attention, Matthew 28 and the Great Commission reveals a God who is love through and through and who is drawing all of the world into that love. This means the church is mission — the enactment of what all the whole world was made for.Prompts + PracticeJournaling Prompts:what do those around you think about Jesus, think about the church? How does your experience of following Jesus and church resonate or challenge those notions?How do you tend to introduce or describe your faith to those outside the church? What does that reveal about how you see yourself as a follower of Jesus?What does inviting others into God’s life stir in you? What might change if you saw this invitation as an extension of God’s invitation into love rather than a sales pitch about eternal damnation?Practice — Generous Invitation:This week consider who around you might need to know they are loved and welcomed by God. What would inviting them into worship look like? Would it be here with you? Perhaps another church or tradition?Consider inviting them to join you Sunday for worship. Or if not that for a meal as an extension of divine hospitality and care for them. Whatever you do, pray. Pray that they would come to hear that they are loved and welcomed into God’s very heart in Jesus Christ.Journaling Prompts:what do those around you think about Jesus, think about the church? How does your experience of following Jesus and church resonate or challenge those notions?How do you tend to introduce or describe your faith to those outside the church? What does that reveal about how you see yourself as a follower of Jesus?What does inviting others into God’s life stir in you? What might change if you saw this invitation as an extension of God’s invitation into love rather than a sales pitch about eternal damnation?Practice — Generous Invitation:This week consider who around you might need to know they are loved and welcomed by God. What would inviting them into worship look like? Would it be here with you? Perhaps another church or tradition?Consider inviting them to join you Sunday for worship. Or if not that for a meal as an extension of divine hospitality and care for them. Whatever you do, pray. Pray that they would come to hear that they are loved and welcomed into God’s very heart in Jesus Christ.

Pentecost brings forth a radical transformation whether we are ready for it or not. The Spirit descends on all flesh and draws us into the realm be body of Jesus Christ. This forces us to reckon with the work God has done to make us one and the cross shaped postures that we will need to live into that reality.

The same God who raised Jesus from the dead is with us and we are with God. So Peter can tell a community like ours, that our suffering in this world should neither surprise us nor derail us from living into God's new reality — our past, present, and future are secured in Christ. Though it may be hard to see here and now, it is done.Journaling Prompts:What feels overwhelming right now? Where does it feel hardest to believe that keeping Jesus at the center makes sense?Christ has been raised and enthroned, but the world is not yet fully made new. How does living in that friction help you make sense of the tension you feel right now? Where are you tempted to resolve the friction prematurely — either by pretending the resurrection hasn't changed everything, or by pretending suffering shouldn't be a thing?Peter is not offering a coping strategy or escape — he makes a cosmic claim to encourage continued faithful resistance. If you took seriously the idea that something decisive has happened in Christ’s death and resurrection, what would change for you this week?Practice — Liturgy as Lab:Make a list of the things you are afraid of. Sit with each one. Ask: is Jesus inviting me toward something here — a person, a practice, a kind of courage? Or is he inviting me to release something — a need to control, a story I'm telling myself, a load that was never mine to carry?Take these to God one by one — not as burdens to be managed, but as cares cast on the One who cares for you, knowing they are already being carried before the throne of God by Christ himself.The whole pastoral logic of the passage is that something decisive has happened in Christ's resurrection (already), and on the basis of that, something will be brought to completion in us (not yet).

Few passages in Scripture have generated more controversy than 1 Peter 3:18–22. But underneath debate lies a single, staggering claim: the resurrection of Jesus is Christ’s victory announcement. Whatever in your life and this world feels permanent and immovable — systems, empires, powers, addictions, fears — Christ has put them all on notice.Journaling Prompts:What dominions seek to make a claim on your life right now — not just what you are afraid of, but what do you find yourself subjected to?However we understand Peter’s words, the image he points to claims Christ’s work means there is no where anyone can go that is beyond God’s redemptive reach. Where is this hardest for you to believe — in the world, in your own life, in someone else’s?Peter is not offering a coping strategy or escape — he makes a cosmic claim to encourage continued faithful resistance. What would change if you took seriously that the domains that threaten you and the world at large have already been defeated.Practice — Liturgy as Lab:The practice of Baptism becomes a prominent anchor Peter invited the church back to over and over again. It is the whole of our life in Christ, enacted in a single moment. What we are, and what we are catching up to.If you’ve been baptized: What would it look like to wake up each day and live into your baptismal identity as faithful resistance? Each day a death and a resurrection. Where do you find Hell and its domain acting as if it hasn’t lost attempting to claim your allegiance?If you’ve yet to be baptized: What story have you been told about what baptism is? What story is Peter telling? Sit with the difference. For Peter baptism isn’t a religious decision — it is conscription into Christ’s life and His New Creation. What would it mean to consider it on these terms?For everyone: Sit with one person this week and tell them what your baptism (real, anticipated, or questioned) means to you right now. Listen to theirs.To explore baptism with a pastor head to redemptionhou.com/baptism