Teaching from the Integrated Faith community to help us grow UP in our connection to God.
Psalms | 2024
I have been coming back to Psalm 121 for 25+ years. Sometimes I read it with complete faith in the assurances it gives. And other times I read it when I am full of doubt and distrust, hoping to find some kind of comfort in the words. I think both postures are a perfectly valid way to come at the Psalms, and at Scripture in general. The Psalms invite us to feel all the ranges of human emotion, while reminding us of who God is and what God does. And so we hold both, together, at the same time.
Pentecost | 2024
Pentecost is not only a celebration of a past occasion, but a way to conceive present reality. Pentecost is the personal arrival of the Holy Spirit, the very power and presence of God, not only in the lives of those in an upper room centuries ago, but in the millions of people across the centuries and generation, on every continent, and countless civilizations.
Eastertide 2 | 2024
I truly believe that just as Jesus was present on the beach with the disciples, He is present with us as we live our everyday lives. It’s in the everyday that we are shaped by God. It’s in the discipline of showing up every day that we find transformation. The life that Jesus invites us to is hard and honest and good. Let’s share this life together.
Easter | 2024
Every year we tell this story again because this story is the very crux of our faith. Every other story in the Bible either moves us toward the cross and the empty tomb or into the life we lead because of the them. I would invite us to hear these familiar stories again with tender and open hearts. Maybe not to learn something new, but for reassurance and affirmation of the truth that Jesus is alive.
Lent | 2024
I think the invitation of Lent is to let these practices orient our hearts and minds to the truest truth: that Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again. And if we will believe it, and be caught up in the wonder of it, and allow our hearts to be transformed by it, it will become the foundation to everything else we do.
Rhythms | 2024
I want to offer two things. One is that these rhythms—the church calendar, the rhythms of Integrated Faith, and our own personal rhythms, are meant to give us life, not hold us back. They are meant to be a framework for life with Jesus, the trellis for the vine to grow on, if you will.
Epiphany | 2024
One of the major themes of Epiphany is light, especially given the story of the star. But what makes this light different than the light in Advent is that in Advent, we talk about the light that is for each one of us, individually. It is personal. The light of Epiphany is to remind us that Christ comes not only for us individually, but for all people.
Advent | 2023
If this feels like a season of light, let it be. Enjoy the warmth of the sun and the ease of life. Eat and drink and be merry. And understand that this season will not last forever. If this feels like a season of darkness, let it be. Lean into the mystery and uncertainty. Learn what God has to show you. Remember the story of creation, where the Spirit is present in the darkness. And have faith that this season will not last forever.