Advent is a season of great joy when we celebrate Jesus’ arrival as a baby. The God who loves us came to be with us as one of us to reconcile us to God the Father. Yet, this season of hope and joy, can often feel overwhelming as we face increasing busyness and debt along with relational conflict or reminders of the loss of loved ones. We aren’t alone in the tension between joy and anxiety. When the good news was first announced it came hand in hand with the phrase: “Do not be afraid!” These divine encounters brought fear, but also an invitation to witness miraculous births and the arrival of the reign of Jesus.
Join us as we listen to the stories of Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds who have incredible encounters with angelic beings. They are called to lay down their fears to accept a divine invitation into the story of the coming of the King.
In the Book of Jonah we find a profound message about God’s boundless compassion for all people, even those considered enemies. Jonah’s journey confronts our comfort zones, challenging us to share God’s mercy as freely as He does. Join us as we rediscover Jonah, seeing how this ancient story has a very relevant call for us today.
The next few months will be full of distractions as fall programs launch, the election approaches, and the stressors of our personal lives continue to pull on us. But Jesus invited his disciples to seek first his kingdom. We are invited as well to fix our eyes on the greater reality of the kingdom of heaven rather than the kingdoms of this world. The kingdom of heaven is here among us now and will soon reach its fulfillment as God the Father brings all things under the reign of Jesus our King of kings. Join us as we explore where and when the kingdom of God is, who is in and out of it, and its impact on how we live today.
We belong to a long line of men and women who have faithfully followed God, endured great hardship, and saw their weakness turned to strength in Christ. Hebrews 11-12 reads like a Who's Who of the Bible, sharing small snippets about these faithful people. This summer we have the opportunity to learn more about who they were and how their faith can compel us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
We likely have more content on the beginning, middle and end of Peter's life as a disciple of Jesus than we do on any other apostle. Which brings a richness to his themes of being chosen, identity, suffering, submission and humility. We are told this book was written to encourage and to testify to the true grace of God (1 Peter 5:12). 1 Peter was greatly needed to strengthen a church going through horrific persecution, but also serves as great encouragement to us as we become fully devoted followers of Christ.
Leading up to Easter Sunday, we take a look at the ministry of Jesus as presented in the Gospel of Mark. In order to better understand his identity, mission and calling, we stop at various points along the journey to the cross. Each one allows us to focus on a particular aspect of who Jesus was and what He came to accomplish.
Set in the time of the Judges, a time of great struggle and turmoil, this historical short story is a beautiful picture of how God’s compassionate and loyal love can be lived out between people. Framed by the opposites of famine and abundance, native and foreigner, death and life, curse and blessing, the book of Ruth tells of ordinary people who become agents of divine activity. In this short text, God does not speak or work miracles but God’s presence is evident as Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz care for one another with the generous, loyal love that God has for us. That care moves Naomi and her family from bitterness and death to the fullness of new life and inclusion in the royal line of King David. Their compassion and love become a model as we seek to live in community with one another and to be a church that offers each other a place to belong.
Advent comes as an invitation to slow down, reenter the story of Jesus's birth, and become more aware of God's presence with us. The word advent means "the coming or arrival of something long awaited." Our Advent celebrations look back to when Jesus came to earth as the long awaited Messiah and look forward in anticipation of when Jesus will come again and make all things new. As those who faithfully wait on God to return, we can step out of a culture of busyness to experience how God draws near by the Holy Spirit. This Advent we will focus on the traditional themes of peace, hope, joy, and love using videos from the Bible Project along with the Scripture passages that foretold Christ's coming and recount his birth. Join us this season as we seek to draw near to the One who took on flesh to draw near to us.
In September, we announced that Countryside would pursue a goal over the next 12-18 months of creating a sense of belonging at our church. We have started to talk about it regularly and this "mini-series" focuses on some of the steps we are taking to achieve it.
Philippians is the most joyful book in the Bible. The apostle Paul uses the Greek words for joy and rejoicing sixteen times in only 104 verses. This is remarkable given Paul’s circumstances when he wrote the letter. He was in prison, most likely in Rome as Luke reports in Acts 28. As dreadful as this was for him, Paul is joyful because of what Christ has done, and he calls on the Philippian Christians to rejoice for the same reason in any and every situation. But he did not just write to the Philippian Christians; he also wrote for us! We can have the same joy as Paul in all circumstances because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is the source of complete joy.
St. Augustine said "He who sings prays twice." The book of Psalms is a unique book of the Bible designed for Israel's times of corporate worship and prayer. Worship is our response to God based on who He is and what He has done, and the Psalms are a God-inspired response of worship. Throughout the series each week we will look at a different Psalm and uncover the riches contained in that Psalm, as well as different categories of worship and prayer throughout the book. In addition, we are encouraging our church to pray the Psalms as part of your daily worship and prayer to God; doing so will expand and enrich your prayer life.
The Book of Acts is a brief history that recounts the works of the Apostles of Jesus. It includes several bold sermons they preached throughout the Roman Empire, demonstrating how the Gospel is the power of God that saves and transforms believers. This series will delve into eight of these key sermons to uncover the Gospel's essential truths and its power to change lives. By examining each sermon's biblical context and cultural and historical factors, we aim to equip listeners with a deeper understanding of the Gospel’s transformative power, and its continued relevance for believers today.
He is Risen! He is risen indeed! You can respond like the disciples, who looked in the tomb and promptly went home. Or you can respond like Mary, who took stayed, pondered, took another look, and encountered the risen Jesus Christ.
