Getting past perceived barriers to unity in, and love beyond the Church
Part 4: Religious Barriers
August 18, 2024 • Taylor Schwab • John 4:1–42
Jesus always lead with relationship beyond barriers of all types. This is particularly evident in the story of the Woman at the Well in John 4. Jesus reaches to a woman and people whose worship differed from that of His Jewish people to reveal the true worship of God; a worship in spirit and in truth. Pastor Taylor finishes our series on Reaching Beyond Barriers by looking at how Jesus reach beyond the religious barrier that existed between them and how we can follow Him in doing likewise.
Part 3: Social Barriers
August 11, 2024 • Julia Schmaltz • Mark 10:46–52
We exist in a world of social hierarchy. Status and celebrity matter to us. Social status matters to us. "Cool factor" matters to us. But none of it matters to Jesus and none of it matters in the Kingdom of Heaven. Julia takes us through the incredible story of a blind beggar being treated as an person of honor in Jesus sight and someone worthy of attention, even though he was an outcast looked down on by the people around him. What does that look like for us? How do we go out and live in the Way of Jesus, Reaching Beyond Social Barriers to see the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven?
Part 2: Generational Barriers
August 4, 2024 • Taylor Schwab • Ephesians
In our current society, and throughout history, we tend to foster animosity towards generations that are not our own. It's so common and so easy to see the generations that are older than our as outdated and inferior. That we know more than they do. But God calls us to act differently. Pastor Taylor talks to us about how Paul in his letter to the church of Ephesus speaks about generations. About how the younger generations are to look up to the older and learn. About how the older generations are to see the younger as the future of both the church and of the world. God calls us to show mutual submission to each other across generations, out of a reverence for Christ. What's holding you back from taking your relationships with the generations around you to the next level?
Part 1: Cultural Barriers
July 28, 2024 • Cami Wittwer • Acts 10
There are a lot of things that we allow to divide us. Most of them are separations of our own creation though. Pastor Cami begins our new series on Reaching Beyond Barriers that we allow to create wedges in the body of Christ and reduce our ability to love the world well. She takes us through the story of Peter and Cornelius and how we can practically move past the Cultural Barriers we create and live more fully as the complete Body of Christ.
