Curious About Our Roots

Our world feels like it’s one of those dryer balls tumbling around in a clothes dryer—tumultuous presidential elections, civil unrest from just about every corner as people have reached the breaking point—sick of being pushed to the margins and ignored for centuries. The relationship between the church and greater culture had drastically changed. Trends that we had been seeing for years have finally come to a head—people are worshiping less often, and the likelihood that someone new will walk into the church is as likely as someone attending a wedding they weren’t invited to. People are less likely to check ‘Christian’ on a survey, but more likely to Google, ‘How do I live a meaningful life?’ Many people don’t trust religion, but they are yearning for God. We're beginning a multi-week series where we're going to get curious together. We'll ask what is God up to? What’s God doing in this moment—in us, in our neighbors, and in the world? And how is God calling us forward? This isn’t about having to “fix the church,” or having all the answers, but opening ourselves to the movement of God’s Spirit, trusting that God is leading us to the incredible things we haven’t even imagined yet. If you think about it, this is how Jesus taught—through questions and parables and invitations, rather than easy answers. Today, curiosity leads us back to our roots—What did “being the church” look like in the beginning? Is there anything we can recover from those roots today?