trinity forest church

Act III of the Story story brings the good news to the bad news. If Act II was sin and the fall – creating the problem that we are separated from God and all our efforts in creation are bent and broken – then here’s the good news: In Jesus, God comes to the rescue of his people and his creation. Today we see Jesus standing before Pilate in John 18-19 and discover the heart of his mission. The really great news? You can be included by grace through faith.

In our third week of this series, we come to Act II of the story: the problem. Genesis 3 is the passage of scripture that anchors our understanding of the one big problem, the conflict at the heart of our life and all creation: sin and all its consequences. How did we go wrong? How broad are the effects? What is our fundamental question before a holy God? And is there any good news in the midst of all this bad?

We step into something new: The Story. Human beings live by stories – we read, watch, and listen to them and we tell them and pass them around. More than that, we live from stories – we look to them to make sense of our lives and know where we are on the journey we call life. Week 1 starts us out in Acts 14.  At its core, the gospel (“good news”) of Jesus is a story. It is a story where God is the author and the main character. And it is a story about reality – it claims to be the one true story of the whole world. Each of the next four weeks will take one key movement in this big story, making it clear from the Scriptures and showing its power in our ordinary lives. By the end of these six weeks, we hope you discover that you belong in God’s story – and are equipped to live out your part in it!

This Easter morning, we listen in on a conversation from that first Easter Day … but a little known story, later that day, in the evening, as it was getting dark. Because sometimes hope comes from the most surprising place – when you most need it and least expect it. Let’s listen and learn as Jesus shows us that though we might give up on God, he has not given up on us. And he has given each of us a new starting point for our story in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Palm Sunday means Psalm 118 – a prayer both on Jesus’ lips and in the people’s praise. We look at passion for God’s praise – in the streets, in the public square, and at the table after a meal. Along the way, we get a sense of what anger really is – a passion for what matters to you, a voice to be heard – and two key pictures of when it is rightly ordered (Jesus in the temple) and wrongly ordered (the leaders in response). We discover that this Psalm helps us see Jesus for who he is, give him the praise he deserves, and gain a passion for more people to enjoy him and praise him.

Psalm 137 stands out in the Bible as a white-hot cry of pain from a place of hurt. Let’s discover one more way the psalms teach us to be honest about our hearts before God and others… instead of denial or resentment and revenge, bringing our hurts to God and finding attention and healing. Thank God that his word embraces our very real world, in all its hurt and hardship. Reflection GuideDownload

Week 2 brings us Katie Macturk as a guest preacher from Storyhill Church! Continuing our “To be Honest” series, we sit with Psalm 126 and heart’s gladness and sadness. Looking back at the restoration that God has accomplished in the past gives us the confidence to ask God to restore us once more. The same God who has restored us before can restore us again! Reflection Guide

First of the new series! We look at Psalm 27 and the core human emotion of fear. Over these five weeks, the Psalms will both show us our hearts and teach us to be honest with our hearts to God. They teach us to pray, as David Taylor says, “Not to escape your life but to be open and unafraid about it”. Psalms help us express our hearts to God, not praying what we “think” we are supposed to, but what’s real and what we really feel. Today in Psalm 27 we get a prayer for when we are feeling fear – and learn to feel it and face it and take it to God, discovering help, wisdom, and faith. God is the one who over and over again in the Bible says these words: “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.” As Scotty Smith put it: the most frequently repeated command in the bible is “do not fear. Don’t be afraid.” and the most frequently repeated promise in the Bible: “I am with you”. May you discover the gift of fear – telling the truth, discovering your need and gaining a heart of wisdom — becoming whole-hearted, depending in love on the God who loves you, who has sent his son to secure a place for you, and who gives you his Spirit. He will never abandon or forsake you. Reflection Guide

Revelation 21-22 paints the most beautiful picture of God’s new creation – life in the new heavens and the new earth. We discover that it is a real place, packed full of God’s people, and filled with his presence. And that focuses and fuels our work as a church now: in this place, with these people, pointing to God’s presence and his call to salvation! Thanks for staying with us as we wrap up this series of portraits God paints to encourage his church in patience, endurance, and faithfulness in mission.

Revelation 19.2 starts with “for true and just are his judgments.” In these two chapters, we get the true word on Jesus’ return, his judgment, and his salvation. Come discover why these matters must matter to us and why they are safe in God’s hands. And hear the choice before you and the invitation to meet the judge …who is a friend.

Revelation 6-19 is the part of the book … “where the wild things are.” It’s the unrolling of the scroll: God’s plan to save and to judge. We look at chapter 6 plus selected scenes to discern what’s happening, what God does with his church, who the enemy is, where we live – and how we persevere. Note: this is a re-recorded “extended version” since our recording did not quite take when we were live on Sunday.

We keep pressing on in this letter …to Portrait #3: Jesus at the throne! Revelation 4-5 are the key to interpreting this whole book. Here we zoom in on the throne room scene to see Jesus, the lamb who was  slain, standing right there at the center. Join us in discovering how this vision redefines so much for us – our posture in worship, our grasp of power, and our ethics: how we live.

On Friday I adapted a bit of Revelation 4 for this snow day weekend when we can’t gather. The vision Jesus gives John shows us what’s true – even when we don’t perceive it, and even when everything seems otherwise. I encourage you take a few minutes this weekend to watch it, read Revelation 4, and use the short mediation or discussion guide posted at our website. And much joy as the snow falls! reflection guideDownload

Week two of Revelation! We’re looking at the “portraits” revelation paints and this one (ch. 2-3) is what Jesus has to say to the Church – back in the first century, in our age, and really in any age. It’s a mix of blessing, critique, and challenge. Jesus has words for us that carry notes of warning and promises of comfort and victory. If our church is going to be his faithful witness, we will have to walk his road of loving him and loving others. That means embracing discomfort, patiently enduring, and taking the next faithful step, over time, to the finish line. What is Jesus saying to us? To you?

Starting a new book! Our church will spend the next six weeks taking an extended tour through the book of Revelation. Imagine you’re walking through a gallery and seeing six pictures, six creative portraits representing Jesus and his work. That’s this book: Revelation isn’t a code to break or a puzzle to be solved – but a piece of poetic, prophetic, pastoral care for you and everyone else learning and living this faith in ordinary life. So take up the invitation! Don’t head for the exits, but sit up, lean in, and listen. Prepared to be amazed and challenged – and called to respond.

Happy New Year! We took this Sunday to dig deeper on what Jesus calls his church to in terms of community. Borrowing a little from Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his short book “Life Together,” we talk about how the good news of Jesus makes us sons and daughters in faith – and brothers and sisters of one another. This kind of deep community is the dream in all our hearts and in our wider culture, but it’s real and worked out by Jesus in the church. It’s hard… but it is good, and worth it. This is the love we are made to receive… and give.

It’s our last week of the “Do you see …?” series, looking through the eyes of the characters in the story of the coming of Jesus. What do they show us about Jesus, and how does their story illuminate our stories? This week we pick up the story of the magi (wise men) and the two kings (Herod and Jesus). We look at the journey (where are we going?), the search (how can we know?) and the challenge (how will we respond?). There’s something in here for both the believer and seeker as we look to Jesus!

Keeping with our theme of “Do you see…?” for Advent, we skip forward in the story of Jesus’ birth to when Mary and Joseph present their new baby at the temple and they meet Simeon and Anna. These two older people challenge our view of Jesus. He is not just the sweet little baby Jesus in the manger; he is the center of God’s story in the scriptures, and his mission is salvation for all nations. That Jesus both breaks our hearts and remakes our own stories.

This week we looked at the Christmas narrative through the eyes of Mary and Elizabeth as it is told in Luke 1. This passage teaches us something crucial for the Christian life today: because Jesus came to us, we can come to him. This advent season, may we all reflect anew on the miracle of Jesus coming to us as our Immanuel, a name that literally means “God with us”.

It was a joy to have Dr. Wes Vander Lugt as our guest preacher this week and look at the story lines of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Each week, we’re asking the question: do you see? This week we find people asking God that very question – and he does indeed see them. And they are liberated by the God who sees them … to see him and see others rightly. Let’s look through them and see!

This month we are extending the invitation: Do you see? It’s the first week of Advent, and we want to look through the eyes of the key women in the story of Jesus’ coming. What do they show us about Jesus and God’s reign? Do we see what they see?  For the first Sunday, let’s start way back at the beginning … with Eve in Genesis 3-4 and the 3 questions she asks. They are answered in Jesus.

As we move from the Essential Jesus series and are a step away from beginning Advent – what do the Scripture have to say about true worship? Lesslie Newbigin once said that the church is meant to be a sign, instrument, and foretaste of the kingdom of God. As we think, dream, and pray about our future at Trinity Forest – how can we hear the call to worship with our lips and our lives, our words and our works?

In John 8, Jesus offers us an essential encounter with grace and truth. In doing so, he shows us the movement of how his loving grace and truth work in our lives – and how they are to move in and through us to others around us as we love like he does. At the heart of the gospel is the double challenge of grace and truth. There are times God lovingly challenges us truth – confronting us with the truth of his word. But God lovingly challenges us with the invitation of grace – to receive and rest in him alone, to know the freedom that comes when we are not condemned, and to no longer bear guilt or shame. Today, if you hear his voice – come to him!

In John 7, the controversy grows and the curiosity about Jesus leads to a variety of opinions. Jesus lays before all a few challenges to help focus our response: who is he? What is he for? And how do we respond to the challenge? Looking through their eyes as they face these challenges helps us consider the options for our own life. May you come, drink, and find life.

What does it mean to say Jesus is life? Come along with us and see Jesus’ plan and purpose in feeding the 5000: it’s a sign that shows us the shape of his own life and ministry, the substance of what he offers us, and the shape of our own life in him. (Spoiler alert: it looks a lot like his.) And it’s all by grace – in him, we are chosen, blessed, broken, and given. Come to his table and taste the true bread from heaven.

Jesus encounters the paralyzed man at the pool – and it is an opportunity for his compassion, curiosity, and commands. The hope and healing on offer in Jesus becomes a clear sign of his intimate relationship with the Father: God’s compassion, mercy, and saving love in Jesus never take a day off. Jesus offers healing life to whoever believes. May we be persistent and patient both in mercy and hope as we share Jesus’ compassion with the last, least, lonely, and lost among us.

Come along with us and see the next encounter Jesus has, this time with an outsider: the woman at the well in Samaria. The invitation and good news Jesus shares with her – living water, eternal life! – is the free offer that addresses the thirst that is in every human heart. Come and see how Jesus offers us the deep gift of being known and loved, not rejected or abandoned. And find the freedom to extend that same invitation to others.

Come along with us and see John 3 and the encounter Jesus has with a religious insider: Nicodemus. The “new birth” Jesus brings challenges our assumptions about how we try get to God from our side. The good news of the gospel is that God has done everything from his side – and all we do is trust him in faith. Instead of religion working from the outside-in, the gospel works inside-out.