Messages

· Bryan Rosenfarb

James 4:13-14

A guest speaker's second message on the value of lineage, using the giant sequoias of Yosemite as a backdrop for James 4:13-14, which describes life as a mist that appears briefly and vanishes, and asking how to make a short life count within God's larger story.

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· Ben Hoyer

1 Corinthians 15

Beginning the series on the core value of lineage, this message turns to 1 Corinthians 15, reflecting on how the church receives and passes on a tradition it did not invent, just as Jesus came not to abolish the law and prophets but to fulfill them.

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· Ben Hoyer

Matthew 10:34

The second message on the value of peace examines Matthew 10:34, where Jesus says he came not to bring peace but a sword, contrasting worldly peace with the peace of God and reflecting on how Jesus absorbed injustice rather than overthrowing Rome or the religious leaders.

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· Ben Hoyer

Philippians 4

Opening a two-week look at the church's core value of peace, this message studies Philippians 4 and Paul's exhortation not to be anxious but to find the peace of God that surpasses understanding as an active force that guards the heart and mind.

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· Ben Hoyer

John 4

Part of a series on the church's four core values (story, peace, lineage, life), this second message on "story" turns to John 4 and Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, showing how the gospel takes root where the story of the cross intersects each individual's story.

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· Ben Hoyer

The opening message of a series on the church's four core values of story, peace, lineage, and life, focusing first on story as the story of Scripture, tracing how the Bible emerged from a community over centuries and how it differs from other religions' sacred texts.

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· Ben Hoyer

Genesis 23

The final message in the summer favorite-verses series looks at the cave of Machpelah in Genesis 23, where Abraham mourns Sarah and insists on buying a burial place from the Hittites, securing a permanent claim in the promised land.

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· Ben Hoyer

Exodus 15

Continuing the summer favorite-verses series, this message looks at Miriam's Song in Exodus 15 and the crossing of the Red Sea on dry ground, recounting God's deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt and the army pursuing them.

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· Ben Hoyer

John 10:10

Continuing the summer favorite-verses series, this message centers on John 10:10, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly," explored through Jesus' good shepherd discourse and the contrast between the shepherd who leads to life and the thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

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· Ben Hoyer

Zechariah 9:11-12

Continuing the summer favorite-verses series, this message looks at Zechariah 9:11-12 and its image of returning to the stronghold as "prisoners of hope" with the promise to restore double, set against the background of Israel's return from exile.

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