This summer, we are going to spend time with those words. Together, we will wrestle with passages we often skip over, soften, or explain away too quickly. Jesus speaks about money, enemies, family, power, sacrifice, holiness, and the Kingdom of God in ways that still disrupt people today. Some of these teachings may challenge our assumptions. Others may confront our comfort or leave us wrestling long after worship ends.

 

Again and again in the Gospels, people leave encounters with Jesus amazed, confused, convicted, angry, or transformed. Rarely indifferent. Jesus did not come simply to offer vague inspiration or easy answers. He came announcing the Kingdom of God, and that Kingdom has a way of turning our expectations upside down. This series is an invitation to listen carefully and to take Jesus seriously, even when his words are difficult. Because sometimes the teachings we are most tempted to avoid are the very ones that have the power to change us the most.

May 31 – Trinity Sunday

• Scripture Reading: Matthew 28:16-20
• Theological Considerations: They worshiped him; but some doubted. Christianity begins with mystery, not certainty. People often want God explained. Instead, Jesus gives them a relationship and a mission. In the “name” not “names”

 

June 7 – (Communion)

• Scripture Reading: John 4:4-41
• Theme: In the Bible, there are four gospels. These are the written testimonies that form our primary accounts of Jesus. And as John noted, “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” And indeed, Jesus did many miracles among the people as He moved about the Galilee. What about the testimonies of those people? How might their own personal “gospels” have changed the lives of their families, friends, and townsfolk? And what about us? How might sharing our own personal gospels – our “God moments” where we experienced first-hand, the touch of Christ, help others to understand the love of Christ?

 

June 14

• Scripture Reading: Luke 16:1-15
• Theological Considerations: This is one of the weirdest parables in the Gospels. Wealth is meant to circulate outward. Luke consistently presents money as a tool for relationship, mercy, hospitality, and community. The dishonest manager survives not by accumulating more, but by releasing debts and creating goodwill. He finally understands that relationships matter more than the ledger.

 

June 21 – (Father’s Day)

• Scripture Reading: Matthew 10:34-42
• Theological Considerations: On a day when many churches are leaning into nostalgia and family togetherness, we get to explore the idea that Jesus is not interested in preserving the appearance of peace if the price of that peace is truth. What if family systems are harmful?

 

June 28

• Scripture Reading: Matthew 15: 21-28
• Theological Considerations: Is this where Jesus gets corrected? He starts with silence, dismissal, but this woman argues with God – she demands to be seen. Religious people are often more comfortable defending the borders of grace than participating in the expansion of it. Sometimes faith sounds like refusing to leave the room when everyone else thinks you should.

 

July 5 - (Communion)

• Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:15-22
• Theological Considerations: Caesar’s image in on the coin, but God’s image is on you. Christianity often struggles to distinguish between patriotism from discipleship, civic identity from Kingdom identity, national symbols from sacred symbols. This text creates distance between God and empire without demanding total withdrawal from public life. What system does the coin represent? What system do you represent?

 

July 12

• Scripture Reading: Matthew 21:28-32
• Theological Considerations: Doing what is good vs. just saying you will. This parable is in the middle of the chief priests and the elders questioning him. Jesus is revealing their ability to know what answer is correct, but unable to apply it their own lives. Are there holier people than us out there in the world, who say the wrong thing, but do the right thing? How often do we say the right thing but do the wrong thing?

 

July 19 – VBS Sunday

• Celebrating the joy and community we built over the past week! "Small but Mighty"

 

July 26

• Scripture Reading: Mark 9:42-50
• Theological Considerations: Modern readers often either dismiss it as primitive exaggeration or flatten it into generic "avoid temptation" language. But the larger chapter suggests that Jesus is talking about how seriously we should treat the harms we normalize. Especially harms done to vulnerable people. What do we keep because it advantages us, even while harming others? The point is not: “God wants you to mutilate yourself.” The point is: anything that consistently produces harm should be confronted with urgency, not managed casually. And Jesus intentionally uses shocking language because humans are experts at accommodation.

 

August 2 - (Communion)

• Scripture Reading: John 6:30-66
• Theological Considerations: This teaching was so disturbing that many disciples leave Jesus afterward - proximity to Jesus is not the same thing as willingness to continue following when the teaching becomes costly, confusing, or offensive. And then Jesus turns to the twelve:
  “Do you also wish to go away?” That question still hangs over the church.

 

August 9 – Blessing of Backpacks

• Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:43-48
• Theological Considerations: Jesus does not say agree with enemies. He does not say become passive. He says love and pray for them. “Love your enemies” sounds beautiful when enemies are abstract – but modern culture increasingly runs on outrage, contempt, humiliation, and tribal loyalty. Entire political and media systems profit from keeping people emotionally enraged. Loving your enemy does not mean trusting them, excusing them, or moral surrender. “Love your enemies” is often weaponized to silence victims or prevent resistance to injustice. But Jesus himself confronts hypocrisy, overturns tables, rebukes power, and speaks prophetically against harm. Can you oppose evil without surrendering your soul to hatred?
  

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