All creation began with the dream of God, the will and intention for life to exist in the void. All of our actions are born out of desire, out of a dream and vision for the future. This is our birthright: to imagine and to create. What brings you alive? What truly moves your soul in the deepest way? What you create out of that answer is your greatest gift to the world and the way in which you are part of God’s unfolding and ongoing creative dream. We will use the story of Jesus beginning His ministry with a new interpretation of an ancient dream for God’s people to help stoke the fires of our own dreams for ourselves and this world.
9/7/2025: DRAWN IN WEEK 1: Hover
This Sunday we begin a new worship series called Drawn In, where we’ll explore the deep connections between creativity and spirituality. Far from being just for artists, creativity is woven into our life with God. In the opening verses of Genesis, we find the Spirit of God hovering over the waters of chaos—waiting, watching, and preparing for creation to burst forth. In the Gospel of Luke, we see that same Spirit hovering with Jesus in the wilderness, where uncertainty and temptation become the soil for clarity and mission. Both stories remind us that God’s creative presence is not absent in our own times of emptiness and wilderness.
As we step into this series, we’ll ask: What does it mean to pause with the Spirit instead of rushing ahead? How can our faith be a source of imagination in the midst of uncertainty? Just as God drew beauty out of the formless void and drew Jesus into strength through wilderness waiting, so too God draws us in—inviting us to hover, trust, and open ourselves to the creativity of the Spirit. Join us as we discover together how being “drawn in” can reshape our lives and communities.
8/31/2025: God’s Call to the Nations
This week, we remember that God’s heart is always wider than our own. Drawing from Jeremiah 2, we hear the prophet’s grief over a people who have forgotten the story of God’s faithfulness and turned inward, trusting “broken cisterns” instead of the living water. In Hebrews 13, we are reminded that the life of faith is not private or contained—it overflows in love, welcome, and sacrificial hospitality, even to those we don’t know.
This sermon invites us to see the stranger as gift and the nations as part of God’s table. It challenges us to step “outside the camp,” to leave behind fear and scarcity, and to trust the generous God who calls His people to make room for others. How might our church look different if we believed every act of hospitality was a window into God’s kingdom?
8/24/2025: The Work of Sabbath for Everyone
This week’s sermon explores the Sabbath not as a passive day of personal rest, but as an act of good and necessary work that makes rest possible for all. Drawing on scripture, we’ll consider how the command to keep Sabbath is not simply about stopping our own labors, but about creating the conditions in which our neighbors, families, workers, and even the land itself can breathe. True Sabbath is communal—it interrupts cycles of endless productivity and insists that everyone, from the most powerful to the most vulnerable, deserves the dignity of rest.
In this message, we’ll reflect on how Sabbath can reshape our daily choices, challenging us to think beyond self-care and toward community care. How do our habits of consumption, labor, and time either hinder or help others find rest?
8/17/2025: Guest Preacher Margaret Okada-Scheck
This Sunday, guest preacher (and dear friend of Pastor Jessie’s) Margaret Okada-Scheck brings a powerful message on courage in divisive times, drawn from the fiery words of Jesus in Luke 12 and the prophet Jeremiah’s image of God’s word as a blazing fire. With honesty, humor, and deep compassion, Margaret reflects on her own wrestling with righteous anger, the urgency of our moment, and the challenge of choosing faith-filled action when the world feels overwhelming. Through the story of Lutheran pastor and anti-Nazi resister Dietrich Bonhoeffer, she explores what it means to embrace “costly grace” and to live out Jesus’ teachings in tangible, everyday ways.
In a world awash with outrage, division, and constant bad news, Margaret invites us to ground ourselves in God’s unshakable love and to let that love fuel our courage. She reminds us that building bridges instead of walls, welcoming the stranger, and tending to one another’s hearts are not small acts—they are the work of God’s kingdom. This is a call to be lanterns for God’s light in the places only we can reach, trusting that together, our courage can spark healing, connection, and hope.
ALSO HERE IS THE LINK TO THE
FULL 2025 VBS SLIDESHOW