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Sacred Creative Vocation Isiah 6:1-8 <-- back Isiah 6:1-8 ​ Previous Next

Beyond Known Horizons Matthew 4:18, Mark 1:14-20 <-- back Matthew 4:18, Mark 1:14-20 ​ Previous Next

Going the Methodist M.I.L.E. Luke 10: 30-37 <-- back Luke 10: 30-37 Lay Member to Annual Conference and Pastor Shirley share the highlights and actions taken at the recent session of Annual Conference in June of 2023. Previous Next

Beyond Watch Beyond Mere Hype February 19, 2023 Luke 5:14, Mark 1:40-45 ​ Watch Beyond Chaos' Rule February 12, 2023 Mark 5:24, 1:29-39 Text describing the service goes here. Watch Beyond Bread to Eat February 5, 2023 Matthew 26:26, Revelation 21:1-6a ​ Watch Beyond Entraping Boundaries January 29, 2023 Psalm 51:10, Mark 1:21-28 Sometimes we are captured by the boundaries of our own making. Things have become so toxic in our lives that we are bound, imprisoned, by them. Today, along with the awestruck worshiping community in the scripture story, we experience the power of Jesus to call out unclean spirits–those things that rage within us, limiting our ability to love and grow. We can lean on the authority of Jesus in our lives to conquer and be freed to move beyond our boundaries. Watch Beyond Baptisim With Water January 8, 2023 John 1:43-51 ​ Watch Beyond Known Horizons January 22, 2023 Matthew 4:18, Mark 1:14-20 ​ Watch Beyond Belief Into Action January 15, 2023 John 6:42, John 1:43-51 ​

Reflecting the Sacred Peace: Sacred Knowing Isaiah 7: 10-16, Matthew 1: 18-25 <-- back Isaiah 7: 10-16, Matthew 1: 18-25 Uncertainty is a fact of life–this seems ever more true, but we remember that there is a Christ within us constantly birthing wisdom and a deep knowing if we will but listen with a contemplative heart. Previous Next

So Much is Out of Control Philippians 3: 17- 4:1, Luke 13: 31-35 <-- back Philippians 3: 17- 4:1, Luke 13: 31-35 What if we could let go of needing all things and all people to be "just so" and instead learn to dance with the unfolding of that which is not ours to control? Previous Next

Discipleship Being a disciple Learning As students of Christ Jesus we look for ways to grow in our devotion and service to God. Small groups, book studies, round-table discussions and other forums allow us to learn about God’s world and apply our faith to live as God’s people. Serving Our responses to the needs of God’s world have been exciting. We raised potatoes for the South Kitsap Helpline food bank, rebuilt homes destroyed by wildfire, collected house cleaning kits for Afghanistan refugees, sang Christmas carols at Ridgemont Terrace Nursing home, provided Thursday snacks for teachers at Marcus Whitman middle school, created birthday bags for children fed by the South Kitsap Helpline food bank, worshiped with residents at Stafford Suites and Life Care Center, hosted one of the sites for the Kitsap County Severe Weather Shelter, and more. Upper Room Devotion Books Upper Room Devotion Books are free to any who wants one, provided as a gift by our Women in Mission.

Unfold: Claiming New Possibilities Matthew 16: 13-20 <-- back Matthew 16: 13-20 Once out of the cocoon, the new butterfly has much to do to prepare for flight. Wings are not yet ready. Small and undernourished, they long for expansion — to move beyond this awkward in-between-ness. As we consider our own metamorphosis, we remember how Jesus renamed “Simon” as “Peter” — a description of “the rock” upon which the church would be built. Are we willing to accept that God’s possibilities may come in ways we never imagined, perhaps expanding our notion of who we are in this world? Previous Next

Shattered Matthew 11:28-30 <-- back Matthew 11:28-30 ​ Previous Next

Crossing Over: Transfiguration Sunday ​ <-- back ​ ​ Previous Next

Drawn In: Living the Creative Life with God Watch Drawn In: Hover June 11, 2023 Luke 4:1-13 Hovering is the creative posture of taking a moment to see the “big picture.” Clearing the decks in order to give ourselves space and time to think, to ruminate, to consider what is necessary, feels like a luxury but in fact both creativity experts and Jesus point to the importance of taking reflective time. Watch Drawn In: Dream June 4, 2023 Luke 4:3-21 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. Watch Resting July 9, 2023 Exodus 20: 8-11 Something grossly overlooked in the creative process is the place of effortlessness and play. In the story of creation, God rested. And this was very “good” as well! Staying too focused on deadlines and how every moment can be “productive” robs us of an important feature of what it means to be humans made in the image of God: rhythm. Pushing through is non-sustainable, and creativity suffers if we constantly labor. Celebration is necessary along the journey. God’s creativity is ongoing, so while the story said God was “finished” and then rested, really it was simply a pause to reflect, to observe, and to celebrate, and then God continued God’s creative work among us and with us. Watch Re-Integrate July 2, 2023 1 Corinthians 12: 12-19 Everything that is created is in relationship with all other things. God’s vision for birds had to do with the quality of the creation of air. How a song is experienced by those who sing it will change the composer’s perception of the song or even the song itself. Nothing exists in isolation. So too for our relationships with others. What happens for humanity is closely related to how we respond to each other. Are we willing to re-integrate, re-vise, re-vision our lives as we come in contact with others who are not like us? New possibilities await if we are willing to offer ourselves fully and be willing to be changed by our interactions. Watch Listen June 25, 2023 Acts 16: 6-15 “Listening” as part of creativity is about perceiving. We open our senses to see what is emerging. Perhaps what we start doesn’t end up looking like what we thought it would. Instead, once the act of creating begins, we listen to how the Spirit is guiding our next steps and unfolding possibilities we were previously unaware of. Without paying attention in this way, we act as if we have all the answers. And when we are up against something that doesn’t go our way, we see it as a negative. But what if those moments are simply Co-Creator God inviting us to see new ways of moving forward in our lives? Watch Risk June 18, 2023 Matthew 25: 24-30 God’s act of creating all that is, God’s act of entering our lives in the person of Jesus, God’s everyday act of creating new life–all these are acts of bringing that which is not into being—all acts of originality. To create is to assert ourselves in a way that is risky, that invites stepping into the unknown. Jesus told a story about people who did different things with the “talents” given to them. The one who took a risk and utilized those talents multiplied his gift in the world. What can you do to risk what God has given you to expand love and grace in the world?

Emerge Watch Journey: The Places We Will Go May 28, 2023 Acts 2: 1-4 Acts 10: 34-36 Oh, the colors, the beauty, the unabashed and exuberant expression of all that we are together! This celebration is like none other — brought to its fullest embodiment as we emerge and dare new heights! In the emerging of the church in the book of Acts, a series of events in the life of Peter leads him to the understanding that God shows no partiality and all are welcome in this journey of new life in Christ. Upon this rock, the Spirit builds a church that offers hope to the hopeless, strength for the weary, and new life to those who think theirs is over. Upon these things, this church will continue this mission to a world that so desperately needs a people who know the power of transformation! Watch Fly: Daring New Heights May 21, 2023 Mark 2: 1-5 Finally the moment has arrived! The butterfly launches into its new environment — the heights that are now possible through transformation into what it was always meant to be. Nothing will hold it back. When the crowds made it impossible for the friends of the paralytic to get him to Jesus, they broke through the roof of the home where Jesus was. We too can be roof-breakers, we can “raise the roof” into new ways of moving and being in the world. What was bound has been freed! Let us boldly look like, act like, know ourselves to be the healed and freed people we truly are! Watch Let Go: Leaving Behind What We Don't Need May 14, 2023 Exodus 16 Stretching to the fullness of new potential, the butterfly begins to sense the calling to new heights. Expansion of wings, however, means something profound — it cannot ever go back into the cocoon. Not even if it wanted to. And so it is time to leave it behind. The Israelites that left Egypt were aching for freedom and yet when faced with the disorientation of all that was new and familiar, many began crying to go back. Letting go of the past requires deep trust in the God who has promised to be with us always. Watch Unfold: Claiming New Possibilities May 7, 2023 Matthew 16: 13-20 Once out of the cocoon, the new butterfly has much to do to prepare for flight. Wings are not yet ready. Small and undernourished, they long for expansion — to move beyond this awkward in-between-ness. As we consider our own metamorphosis, we remember how Jesus renamed “Simon” as “Peter” — a description of “the rock” upon which the church would be built. Are we willing to accept that God’s possibilities may come in ways we never imagined, perhaps expanding our notion of who we are in this world? Watch Unwrap: Waking Up April 30, 2023 John 11:1-44 In the opening of the tomb of Lazarus, in the unwrapping of his funeral clothes, the community had to face their unknowing — and perhaps disbelief — and trust that the resurrection Jesus had facilitated was real. The range of emotions was vast. As the butterfly’s cozy environment cracks further open still, it is the effort of the process of emerging that makes change possible — waking up, rolling away the stone, unwrapping what will be. Watch Open: Into the Light April 23, 2023 Luke 24: 28-49 The story of faith is not one of arrival but of journey. The new butterfly’s struggle to push out of its confines produces a fissure that cannot be undone. There is no going back, the journey to a new existence has commenced. The post-resurrection story of Jesus opening the hearts of his fellow travelers along the road to Emmaus invites us to be companions of the one who will open us into the light of a new day. Watch Coming Out: Leaving Comfortable Places April 16, 2023 Hebrews 11:1-3 As ever-emerging spiritual creatures, we cannot contain our selves — the selves God has created us to be. Coming out as people and as a church from what we have known into a new identity is filled with anxiety and unknowing. Emerging will take effort and surrendering to “the assurance of things hoped for” even though we cannot yet see what the future holds. Watch Good Friday April 7 2023 April 7, 2023 https://youtu.be/XVpa3FTTlhE ​ Watch Maundy Thursday April 6, 2023 ​ ​