The church is God’s positive agent of transformation, but so often people view the church as negative, limited and judgmental; defined by what we are against.

Walter Brueggeman writes this about followers of Jesus: “We are an odd people who specialize in cold water and shared bread, in welcome speech, hospitality, sharing, giving, compassion, caring, in small ways, setting the world fresh.”

Jesus invites us to ask, what is the church for? After all, Jesus came for the world God so loved. During the remainder of the summer we will explore stories from the lives of people who lived in the days of the early church and asked the same questions we have explored this summer:

What are we doing here? What does the Spirit invite us to be for so that all people might experience a more expansive life?

August 14, Worship with Dialogue, Acts 10
August 21, Worship with Communion, Acts 16:11-15; 40
August 28, Worship in Action, Acts 18:5-17
September 4, Worship with Communion, Acts 16:16-34
September 11, Worship with Dialogue, Acts 17:1-9
September 18, Worship with Communion, Philemon 1:8-22; Colossians 4:8-9
September 25, Freedom Sunday in partnership with IJM and local agencies and joining with thousands of Christians across the country who are coming together to bring an end to slavery.