4/5 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Sermon Recap

Christ the Lord is Risen! So death is real, but it is not final.

Sermon Reflection Questions:

How would you live your life if you we’re afraid of death? ...

3/29 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Sermon Recap

Pastor Suzanne talked about the passage for Palm Sunday about Jesus arriving in Jerusalem on a donkey.She invited us to remember and reflect on the character of a God who enters not as a violent warrior, but as a humble king weeping over a city and longing for peace for the people who misunderstand him.She reminded us that as we think about our mortality, we ought to be comforted by the fact that God is a God who loves us first, who comes to us with open arms, ...

3/22 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Sermon Recap

Pastor Suzanne interviewed Connie Adams about her experience with chronic pain following a number of complications with surgeries.Connie shared honestly how difficult that season was for her and talked about how Psalm 139 and the bridge to “I Trust the Lord” helped ground her and focus on the character of God in the midst of her pain.She reminded us that (as a gardener) you are never closer to your plants than when you are pruning them. In times of pain, God is...

3/15 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Sermon Recap

Pastor Suzanne talked about the parable where Jesus instructs his servants to be actively prepared for his return because we do not know the day or hour that Christ will come back.

She talked about how often our human nature tempts us to put off for tomorrow something that we should do today and that often leaves us with regret.

She encouraged us to live with a sense of urgency and intentionality about living in line with our values while also acknowledging that

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3/8 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Pastor Bep talked about the parable of the “talents” in Matthew and encouraged us to consider the quote, “Blessed is the one who plants trees under whose shade they will never sit.”She encouraged us to be faithful to invest in the people God has placed around us. She challenged us to be faithful in taking risks with the gifts God has given us for the sake of building his Kingdom. 

Sermon Reflection Questions:

What gifts have you been given?Who has God placed arou...

3/1 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Pastor Suzanne talked about 1 Corinthians 13 and how Paul makes the case that when we stand before Jesus, the only thing that will last is love. She challenged us to consider how we are tempted to pursue the values that the culture places as significant more than we pursue love (i.e. promotions, achievement, busyness, etc.).She reminded us that that it will mean for each of us to love the people around us will look different, and encouraged us to take time to r...

2/22 Sermon Recap & Reflection Questions

Pastor Tony Vis was interviewed by Pastor Suzanne about his health journey, and particularly how he is living with intentionality now that he has started hospice care and is more aware that his days are numbered. If you didn’t get a chance to hear the conversation, we strongly encourage you to listen to both that sermon and the podcast interview we did with Tony earlier in the week (linked below).

Series Reflection Questions:

How are you feeling about the idea of...

2/8 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Pastor Aaron Vis (from Renew Community in Ames) preached on the Beatitudes. He talked about them as strange and radical ways of living in the world. He talked about what it means to choose mercy instead of retribution. He talked about the meaning of “purity of heart” as having a heart that is undivided in desiring the things of God. He talked about the difference between being peacekeepers verses peacemakers. And he asked us to consider if we are actually ready...

2/1 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Pastor Suzanne talked about how these “case studies” in the Sermon on the Mount are meant to help us get to not just the appearance of cleanliness, but to deal with the heart behind our actions. She talked specifically about how Jesus instructs us to deal with anger - describing it as a cycle which, if not caught, can lead to contempt, malice, and eventually murder. Suzanne offered 3 movements away from anger. Confess to God.Tell someone you trust and ask for s...

1/25 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Pastor Suzanne talked about how the “Beatitudes” in Matthew 5 are utilize a poetic format that was common at the time to talk about “The Good Life.”Jesus’ descriptions of the good life flipped expectations of that time, and flips the expectation of our time to tell us that “The Good Life” or “The Kingdom Life” looks like being desperate, mourning, merciful, persecuted, and meek. This would have been especially good news to the direct audience Jesus was talking ...

1/18 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Pastor Sara talked about Jesus’ time in the wilderness as a time where Jesus experienced the challenge of hunger and loneliness and sleepless nights. However, in the midst of this challenge and testing, Jesus did what humans across history had been unable to consistently do. He chose to trust God and remain faithful.We now get to lean on the faithfulness of Jesus so that we do not have shame when we fail to accomplish perfect faithfulness. She also talked about...

1/11 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Pastor Suzanne talked about John the Baptist and his call to the people to repent or “turn around” from the way they had been living as a response to the Kingdom of God coming. Pastor Suzanne talked about the ways that we often think about the act of repentance as intended to induce shame, but that is not the biblical understanding of repentance. She encouraged us to think about repentance as following God’s directions to “change course” to keep us heading in t...

1/4 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Pastor Suzanne kicked off our new sermon series called “All Eyes on Jesus” on the book of Matthew. She talked about how the book of Matthew was intended to help us understand how Jesus fulfilled and reimagined the words of the Old Testament. She reminded us that Christianity is a Jesus-centered faith, and therefore we the Old Testament is supposed to help us understand Jesus and Jesus is supposed to help us understand the Old Testament. We are spending some muc...

12/14 Sermon Discussion and Recap

Pastor Sara talked about how “Joy to the World” was not originally a Christmas song - it was a reflection on the second coming of Christ using Psalm 98. She reminded us that our ultimate hope was not in Jesus coming as a baby (though the promise of God with us is a comfort). Our ultimate comfort and hope is in Jesus returning and restoring all of creation. 

Reflection Questions:

Where are you still longing for all of creation to be restored?Is there anyone you co...

12/7 Sermon Recap and Reflection Questions

Sermon Recap

Guest preacher, Pastor Carl Boersma, preached on the song, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” and used Isaiah 11: 1-13, Jeremiah 31:33-34, and John 14: 27 to talk about the ways that the coming of Christ on Christmas Day brings peace. He talked about the 4 marks of that new day: Integrity of heartRelationship with othersPersonal knowledge of GodThe freedom to live fully

Reflection Questions:

Which of the above “marks of Christ’s coming” are you still hoping for...