Forgiving Your Past - Formed by Peacemaking E1
May 5, 2024 • Trey Van Camp • Genesis 12:10–20, Genesis 26:1–11, Exodus 34:6–7, Matthew 18:21–22, Matthew 6:14–15
All of us are shaped by our past. Where we come from, who we come from, and the way we were raised all shape who we are today in profound ways. Most of us have a basic awareness of our family of origin, but few of us have done the hard work of learning about our past to better understand who we are today. As a result, all of us unknowingly transmit the same narratives, patterns, pains, and expectations as our family before us. To make peace with our past is to return to an ancient tradition from the scriptures. Throughout the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, God tells His people to remember where they’ve come from, what God has saved them from, and the promises He has made (https://biblia.com/bible/csb/deut.%206.12, https://biblia.com/bible/csb/isa.%2046.9, https://biblia.com/bible/csb/ps.%20143.5). Making peace with our past means we must forgive our past. We must take intentional time to see where we come from. We learn about our family of origin to better understand where our behaviors and patterns come from, both good and bad. But most importantly, we look back in order to recognize God’s providence and care for us in our lives. By recognizing both positives and negatives in our past, we’re able to see how God has used our family of origin to shape who we are.
REST: resistance to Egypt [Sabbath E2]
February 19, 2023 • Trey Van Camp • Exodus 20:1–17, Deuteronomy 5:12–15
The idea of rest seems simple enough. We all want rest, but never seem to get it. Always just outside of our reach, rest seems either something to laugh at, or something to buy. But one of the most radical things Jesus teaches us is that he is able to offer us true rest without requiring us to work more, do more, or have more. When we practice Sabbath, we stop all our work and worry so that we’re able to become people of true rest. Like Israel, we remember that we’ve been saved from the oppressive yolk of productivity, and instead we’ve taken on Jesus’ yolk of ease. We reject that lie that our worth and value come from what we do, and that rest is a commodity we have to earn. In this way, rest is a countercultural rebellion against the powers and systems at war against God and his kingdom. To practice Sabbath is to accept the invitation to rest while living in a world of hurry.
STOP: the cadence of creation [ Sabbath E1]
Trey Van Camp • Genesis 2:1–3, Exodus 16:21–30
In our culture of restlessness, busyness, and hurry, setting aside an entire day to stop all work and productivity sounds anything but restful. Yet deep inside all of us is a yearning for true rest, which is why God offers rest as a gift in the form of the weekly Sabbath. In https://biblia.com/bible/csb/gen%202 God himself takes a day to rest from his work, weaving a rhythm of rest into the fabric of creation. When we live by this rhythm, working during the week and resting for a full day, we’re slowly transformed into people of true rest who are able to genuinely love others. But living outside of this rhythm wreaks havoc on our souls and relationships with others. To realign ourselves with this ancient rhythm, the first step is simply to stop. For 24 hours we commit to ceasing our work and turning our trust from our own hands to God’s provision.
Moses and the Tests of God
January 22, 2023 • Trey Van Camp • Exodus 14, Exodus 15, Exodus 16
In https://biblia.com/bible/csb/exod%2014, Moses finally leads the people of Israel out of slavery and into freedom. But before they can enter the promised land, God tests them. He puts them between Pharaoh and the Red Sea, he leads them to undrinkable water, and then he makes them wander long enough to run out of food. Each time, the Israelites complain. They would rather remain in slavery with stability than have their freedom without control. In many ways, the story of Israel is the story of the Christian life. Like Israel’s struggle to detach themselves from Egypt, we struggle to detach ourselves from our sin. To confront us with this reality, God tests us. But from the life of Moses, we learn that the best way to endure seasons of testing and turn our attention away from our old life of sin, is to practice praise.
Moses and the Reality of God
January 15, 2023 • Trey Van Camp • Exodus 8, Exodus 9, Exodus 10, Exodus 5:1–2, Exodus 7
Our society is obsessed with redefining reality. We look to technology, entertainment, and education to pull our attention away from the reality of sin and attempt to control our future. But at some point, reality hits us. Whether in the form of a global pandemic that shuts our lives down, or 10 ancient plagues that shut a nation down, God often allows us to experience harsh reality checks to reveal our idols and point us back towards him. When we practice communion, we remind ourselves of this reality. We remember that we are not God, that we cannot save ourselves, and Christ is the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus loves us, he’s rescued us, and he’s here when we’re willing to surrender our control.
Moses and the Burning Bush
January 8, 2023 • Trey Van Camp • Exodus 3:1–15
When Moses first encounters God, he’s at his lowest. Defeated, alone, and in the midst of an identity crisis, he finds himself wandering the wilderness embarrassed and ashamed. And it’s in this moment that God meets him. God reminds him that he is gracious, personal, and that he’s not done with Moses yet. But to take the next step of faith, Moses must be willing to accept his limits and come face-to-face with his true self. Like Moses, the two most important questions we can ask today are “who am I?” and “who is God?” And also like Moses, asking these questions invites God to meet us with both comfort and confrontation. He comforts us by reminding us that he is gracious and wants to restore us. But he also confronts us by inviting us to see who we really are. To engage with our true selves and receive clarity on who God is, we practice the Examen. By praying through pivotal moments of our lives, decade by decade, good and bad, we invite the Spirit to reveal both who we truly and who God truly is.
Moses in the Wilderness
January 1, 2023 • Caleb Martinez • Exodus 2, Exodus 1
Moses’ origin story begins like any other story: he’s born among a people in need on saving, he goes through tests and trials to shape him as a leader, and he receives his calling from a divine encounter with God. But in the middle of his birth and his calling, Moses finds himself in the wilderness. His past mistakes have led him to a desolate place where his identity is lost, and his hope is destroyed. Like Moses, all of us will find ourselves in the wilderness at some point. Our sin, fear, and suffering bring us to a desolate place where we come face to face with our own brokenness and the brokenness of the world around us. But in the wilderness, God speaks. Like Moses, God often leads us into the wilderness to separate us from the external noise of the world around us and the internal noise of our anxious souls. By leaning into seasons in the wilderness, we turn our focus to a God who hears us, remembers us, sees us, and knows us.