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January marks the beginning of the new calendar year, but really September is when everything kicks off. Vacations end, school starts, football begins - this year we even have an election this Fall.
Storyline is so excited about what we are going to consider together this year. Mike Gathright kicked off a brand new series of talks that will help us get the most out of this fresh start!
Last week at the Gathering, Wes Reith gave a compelling argument for how we could understand and engage with salvation: it’s a process NOT an objective... but what now? What is the process of the process? If that is true, then what are we supposed to do?
This week at the Gathering, Paul Knapp dove deeper into the process of salvation and give us a more objective understanding of what it could look like to live a life of faith.
Humans have a bizarre propensity for objectives--we absolutely love them. We love achieving, we love succeeding, and we love how it makes us feel. But what happens when we fail? Or--what happens when the most important things we encounter turn out not to be objectives at all?
This Sunday at Storyline, Wesley Rieth spoke on what an objective is, what it isn't, and how Jesus saw objectives. Mike Koch and the band performed songs by Kacey Musgraves, Swtichfoot, and David Ramirez.
At Storyline we believe in the transformative power of story and the blessing that comes from sharing them. This Sunday we had the privilege of hearing stories from some of our Storyline friends.
We spend a lot of time and effort, much of it below the surface of our awareness, trying to figure out who we really are. Because our identity not only defines us, it guides us.
Maybe this is why the story of the life of faith in the bible is so surprising. We assume the bible is all about telling us what to do when really it is much more interested in suggesting to us - who we are!
This Sunday at Storyline's Gathering Mike Gathright considered the revolutionary and radical vision that Jesus has of our identity.
Figuring out who we are, personally and communally, is not something we think about often. But life has a way of begging this question. What now? What next? Why? The answers to basic questions like these are grounded in our identity. Who we are.
This month at Storyline's Gathering we've been considering the topic of identity; Sunday Mike Gathright continued this discussion by revisiting Jesus's view of the identity of His community.
Some things must be discovered and experienced - they can't just be learned or explained. Identity, who we really are, is one of those things. Jesus was very interested in people knowing His identity - and their own - but He seemed to want more for us than just the right answer. Why?
Last Sunday Mike Gathright explored Storyline's identity...this Sunday Mike Wyble focused in on our personal identity...how can we discover who we really are? And how does that discovery change life for us?
In large part the identity of an object and even a person is wrapped up in its design - what it is for. Jesus seemed to think people and communities were designed on purpose - and FOR a purpose - that have a dramatic impact on our identity, how we see ourselves and one another.
This Sunday at the Gathering Mike Gathright looked at Storyline's design, and what we are for. If you have struggled to explain what Storyline is to some of the people in your life (and we all have!) - this Sunday helps to describe it.
Some subjects are just taboo. Religion used to be the most controversial, now it is politics. But a close third is money. We don't talk about it in polite company and frankly, we rarely talk about it even with those we are closest to...why?
Jesus spoke about money a lot because he knew it is a tremendously powerful force in our life. This Sunday at Storyline's Gathering Mike Gathright explored the unique perspective Jesus has on our money and our hearts.
Has anyone ever given you something before you asked for it...maybe even before you knew you needed it, or wanted it? Jesus said God often works like that.
What might life look like if we believed it?
This Sunday at Storyline's Gathering Mike Gathright and John Williams looked at the beauty and transformational power of God's generosity toward us.
Sometimes its eavesdropping, sometimes it is innocent, but we have all been in a situation where we have over heard something. It can be uncomfortable, embarrassing even.
At least one time, Jesus taught in a way that many people would over hear him. It wasn't to make anyone uncomfortable or embarrassed, he did it to change their lives. And it did!
This Sunday morning at Storyline's Gathering Mike Gathright looked at the genius and grace of Jesus as he taught something that could only change you...if you OVER heard it.
It is graduation season...a time to celebrate what our young people have learned. But that begs the question - what have we been teaching them?
This Sunday at Storyline's Gathering Mike Gathright considered what God is trying to teach us all.
Some of us loved our childhood. Others? Not so much. But for all of us, childhood and children hold an almost sacred place.
Jesus shared a very high view of little ones - he called it being childlike. What is so special about that? This is the question Mike Gathright considered this Sunday at Storyline's Gathering.
For the past two weeks at the Gathering, Mike Gathright has explored the echoes of God in the world, in our life, and in our hearts.
This Sunday, Paul Knapp picked up where he left off and pondered two questions:
What is beauty?
How do we find it?
For many reasons when we think of God, most of us in the West think of a male deity. Father. That isn't wrong, but are we missing some essential aspects of the character of God when we limit "Him" to being a male?
This Sunday is Mother's Day and Mike Gathright considered what we might learn from considering mothers and motherhood with God's approach to each and every one of us.
