For as long as I’ve been a pastor — almost 15 years now — there’s one request that I often hear from long-time Jesus followers. When it comes to the preaching and teaching in church, some will often desire that it be “deeper.” They have been following Jesus their whole life, are familiar with all of the stories in...
Pastor Sten hit it out of the park again this week. He taught us more about the events of the first Easter weekend and made such a helpful parallel for us to understand about our own lives. The Saturday between Jesus’ crucifixion and his resurrection was relatively uneventful. As Sten...
A reflection on Sunday’s message: Recently at Midcurrent, we’ve been talking about “Seizing Your Divine Moment”. The 6 weeks of this series are helping me understand more deeply about the times I have asked for God’s guidance in a decision. Often, it’s when I’ve felt weary and unsure of where...
I recently read a question that helped me label something that I didn’t know was missing a label. We all know that some labels are superfluous and can make things complicated, but this one sunk in for a few days and has really helped: “Do you have a rich inner...
Incorruptibility. Read that again. I can’t say it’s a word I’ve pondered before, but wow— what magnitude. This Sunday, Pastor Sten helped us consider the real role of integrity in our lives, and most of all, its role when it is inconvenient and it will certainly cost us in some...
It’s like a Ferris wheel, really. The line to ride never ends: Dental visits, soccer schedules, what my sister-in-law thought of the unfinished trim in the dining room, mama failure. (& all this before I got out of bed this morning.) Unfriendly passengers stepping one at a time into my...
We just wrapped up a message series called Dangerous Prayers: 1. Search Me 2. Break Me and 3. Send Me. The second one got to me – here are my thoughts. “God purifies hearts.” ~Proverbs 17:3. I would rather He not; let’s be honest. I am comfortable where I am. ...
Last week in church, we talked about the fruit of the spirit and Jill shared her thoughts: I don’t have a good relationship with the Fruits of the Spirit. Or, I should say, I grew up with them, went to college for them, & choke on them now & again. ...
On Sunday, Sten said these words: “The way of Jesus isn’t always the easy way, but we follow it anyway.” I thought maybe if we could keep reminding ourselves how very ordinary the way of Jesus is, we could make things less hard for our worn out selves. (Here’s hoping.)...
On Sunday, Brian had us sing about waiting on God, & Sten talked about believing God for impossible things. This is what came of that mash-up. This. Is. Impossible. I can still see it in my 9-year-old brain, Alice standing on the squares of a giant chessboard with the White...
This week, we talked about the Bible…these are my thoughts! -Jill We’ve gotten pretty good at flashlights at our house. The structure is old, where we live. 80+ years. Which means outlets aren’t excessive, so neither are lamps. Which means when the little ones head upstairs at bedtime, they are...
This week we talked about doors. Especially, the ones we find ourselves locked behind- fear, pride, addiction, comparison, anxiety. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, the door has been unlocked. So why is it so hard to walk through sometimes? Jill Britz shared her thoughts. I can’t remember...
We’ve learned a lot walking through the Art of Neighboring message series….mainly, the BLESS acronym: Begin with prayer. Listen well. Eat together. And this last week, we talked about what it means to Serve. Jill Britz shared her thoughts with us… I’d Rather Not, Thanks. Maybe “serve” isn’t a wrecked...
[Written by Jill Britz] As I listened to Sten’s message about Who Is At Our Table, I thought about what keeps us from opening our doors in the first place. These words came from there. “Heart, not house” My couch is outdated, though. And I have a dog. Some people don’t like...
“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in...
In the final moments before his arrest, and eventual death on a cross, Jesus prayed for US. His one prayer request is that we would experience unity despite our diversity. WHY? Because Jesus knew that if we are ONE, we’ll get the attention of a world that needs to know...