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Holy Spirit April 12 2026 Teacher: Pastor Doug McHenry The Holy Spirit is the life-giving presence of God. “Now the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” – Genesis 2:7 The Trinity is One Being, Three Persons; one essence, three personalities; Father, Son, Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the life-giving presence of God and breathes into our lives, makes us new and we’re born again. It’s not something we achieve; it’s something we receive. We are not self-generated. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” – 2 Corinthians 3:17 “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” “That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realm…” – Eph. 1:18-20 “Then he said to me: ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’” “Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘My people, I am going to bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.” “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live…Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it,’ declares the Lord.” – Ezekiel 37:11-14 The Breath of God, the Holy Spirit, alone can bring dead things back to life. The Holy Spirit is the life-giving presence of God from the first breath in Eden to the new life of resurrection.

Confirmation Sunday April 12 2026 In this episode Middle School Director Jordan Black and High School Director Andrew Randoll host a Q&A discussion with 5 guests 'I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of his appearing and season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching. For the time will come when peaople wil not tolerate sound doctrin, but according to their own desires, will mulitiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. They will turn aside to myths. But as for you, exercise self-control in everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. ' 2 Timothy 4:1-5

Easter Service April 05, 2026 Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Sin is when we live contrary to God’s intention for creation.   Our relationship with God Our relationship with others Our relationship with ourselves Our relationship with creation Our relationship with truth At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” — Matthew 27:51-54 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. —Hebrews 6:19-20 His consecrating life-blood grants believers access to God in the holy of holies, indexing them as co-high priests, and enables them to participate with Jesus… — Andrew Rillera Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Maundy Thursday April 02, 2026 Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown “Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?’ ‘I am,’ said Jesus. ‘And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ The high priest tore his clothes. ‘Why do we need any more witnesses?’ he asked. ‘You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?’ They all condemned him as worthy of death.” —Mark 14:61–64 “The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him.” —Mark 15:16–19 “At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.” —Mark 15:33 “At three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’).” —Mark 15:34 “And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’” —Mark 15:39

Palm Sunday March 29, 2026 Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel.” Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him. Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!” — John 12:12-19 Hosanna = please save us! Jesus didn’t come to bring the kingdom in the way people expected. He came to redefine what God’s kingdom actually meant. — N.T. Wright When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. — John 19:13-16a Picture of Jesus Picture of Galilean Man When we get the story of God wrong, we get our own story wrong as well. — N.T. Wright

Lamentations March 22, 2026 Teacher: Pastor Leanne Benton Summary of “Your Kingdom Come: From Lament to Participation” (Based on “Lamentations March 22 2026 Final.docx” by Leanne Benton) The sermon reflects on Lamentations 5 as the closing message in a series on lament, showing how honest grief becomes a pathway to restoration and renewed participation in God’s kingdom. 1. Context of Lamentations Jeremiah writes after Jerusalem’s destruction in 586 BC. The temple is burned, leaders killed, families exiled, and the monarchy ended. The chapter outlines a progression of losses—inheritance, leadership, dignity, joy, and spiritual strength. 2. Honest Grief Is the Beginning of Restoration Israel begins their prayer with raw honesty: “Remember, Lord, what has happened to us.” They recount their losses: land, family security, dignity, joy, and the desolation of Mount Zion. Lament is described as an act of faith—standing between painful reality and God’s promises. 3. God Still Reigns In the center of the complaint rises a theological anchor:“You, Lord, reign forever.” Empires fall and temples crumble, but God's throne is immovable. This echoes Psalm 48 and shifts the focus from devastation to divine sovereignty—lament begins turning into hope when we move our eyes from what we see to who God is. 4. Participating in God’s Restoration The people pray:“Restore us to yourself… renew our days as of old.” The sermon emphasizes that restoration starts with returning to God—not rebuilding walls. Lament leads to acknowledgment of sin, repentance, and a desire for renewal. A proverb captures the shift from lament to participation: “Pray… and move your feet.” Believers become agents of justice, hope, and worship as they join God’s restoring work. 5. Surrendered Suffering Softens the Heart Suffering can either harden or soften a heart. When surrendered to God, suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope (Romans 5), and matures faith (James 1). Jesus reminds His followers that trouble is inevitable, but peace is found in Him (John 16). The sermon underscores that how a person responds to pain determines whether they become bitter or grow deeper in faith. 6. Hope Grows in the Soil of Lament The sermon highlights the spiritual mystery that when someone grieves without becoming cynical or closed-hearted, hope takes root. A heart that stays open in seasons of loss becomes softer, more compassionate, and more spacious. This becomes the very place where hope grows and where a transformative “pivot” in one’s story often occurs. 7. The Larger Biblical Arc Lamentations ends without closure, offering instead a plea for restoration. But Israel’s story continues—decades later, the exiles return under Cyrus, the temple is rebuilt, and hope rises again. The sermon emphasizes that lament is not the end but a doorway through which God’s kingdom enters. 8. Final Invitation The message ends with a reflective invitation: Some listeners are in seasons of loss and are reminded that God welcomes their lament. Others have come through seasons of pain and now carry softer, more compassionate hearts; they are encouraged to move toward others in need. A closing prayer asks God to meet His people “on the pile of rubble,” helping them grieve honestly, surrender fully, trust deeply, and step into renewed hope and participation in His kingdom.

Lamentations March 15, 2026 Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown To ask questions of God is not a lack of faith, but an expression of trust. Healing begins when hidden pain is brought from darkness into the light of God’s presence and the care of a trustworthy community. Discovering hope in hardship by intentionally remembering who God truly is. An essential part of healing involves honest reflection and a return to God. Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come? Why should the living complain when punished for their sins? Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say: “We have sinned and rebelled and you have not forgiven. “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us; you have slain without pity. You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through. You have made us scum and refuse among the nations. — Lamentations 3:37-45 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. “‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord. — Jeremiah 7:3-11 Repentance is part of lamenting: “We have confessed to being followers of Jesus without becoming truly shaped by the values he lived and died for.  We have, in fact, applied our religion in ways that benefit ourselves but bring harm to millions. — Soong Chan Rah The sad truth about modern spirituality is that we often avoid feeling our own pain and in the process avoid feeling the pain of others.  When this happens, it’s impossible to do the work of reconciliation…Lament requires us to take seriously the pain we see and feel and to open ourselves to how God might have us respond. — Rich Villodas I called on your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.” You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.” You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life. — Lamentations 3:55-58

Lamentations March 08, 2026 Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown The message explains that many people look forward to Lamentations 3 because it finally introduces hope, but that hope has to be understood within the structure and emotional movement of the entire book. Lamentations doesn’t offer quick fixes or simplistic spiritual answers; instead, it honestly portrays how real grief works. The book follows a chiastic structure — a literary “mountain” that rises toward a central point and then descends in reverse order. In Lamentations, the structure looks like this: A: Devastation B: Accusation C: Remembrance (the central peak) B’: Reflection A’: Petition This structure mirrors how sorrow actually feels: pain → hope struggle → pain again — but the second pain is different because it has been reshaped by remembrance. To illustrate, the speaker tells a story of a brutal bike climb up Smugglers Notch in Vermont. Reaching the summit felt like it should be the end, but instead the road immediately plunged downward into danger, rain, cold, and exhaustion. The lesson: reaching the “summit” didn’t end the struggle, but it changed everything. That experience parallels the emotional journey of Lamentations 3. In the chapter, we hear an exhausted “strongman” voice say, “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope…” This moment is the theological summit — but the book doesn’t end there. Pain returns in chapters 4–5. The city is still ruined. Exile is still real. But the heart posture has changed. Before remembrance, God felt like an enemy; after remembrance, the people can say, “Restore us, O Lord.” Hope doesn’t erase hardship — it reorients the heart within it. Lamentations 3 shows that hope is not automatic. The strongman speaks hope to himself: “This I call to mind…” “I say to myself…” Hope is fought for, practiced, and rehearsed, not simply felt. The passage reveals three essential truths about biblical hope: Hope is intentional remembrance. He chooses to recall God’s covenant love. Hope doesn’t replace lament — it deepens it. Even after declaring God’s faithfulness, he continues to speak honestly about affliction and waiting. Hope provides endurance, not instant relief. Waiting “quietly” for God is active, anchored perseverance. By the end, the writer’s circumstances remain unchanged — Jerusalem is still in ruins — but something inside him has stabilized. That inner steadying is itself an act of grace. The message concludes by reminding us that many of us are somewhere on that mountain: climbing, descending, exhausted, or caught in unexpected weather. Lamentations gives permission to tell the truth about pain. Hope is not pretending everything is fine but speaking covenant truths into unfinished stories. The lament tree in the lobby symbolizes this: a communal place to name sorrow and reach for hope together. Finally, the message points to Christ, who personally entered lament and suffering. So when we rehearse hope through clenched teeth, we are not failing— we are walking the same honest path God Himself walked. The storm may persist, but God’s mercies remain new every morning, and that is enough.

Lamentations March 01, 2026 Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown A healthy spirituality is always an honest spirituality. Healing begins when hidden pain is brought from darkness into the light of God’s presence and the care of a trustworthy community. My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within; my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city. — Lamentations 2:11 What can I say for you? With what can I compare you, Daughter Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you, Virgin Daughter Zion? Your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you? — Lamentations 2:13 A healthy spirituality is always an honest spirituality. The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. You walls of Daughter Zion, let your tears flow like a river day and night; give yourself no relief, your eyes no rest. Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at every street corner “Look, Lord, and consider: Whom have you ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the children they have cared for? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord? “Young and old lie together in the dust of the streets; my young men and young women have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of your anger; you have slaughtered them without pity. — Lamentations 2:18-21 Pray as you can.  Not as you can’t. — John Chapman A healthy spirituality is always an honest spirituality. Laments are prayers that erupt from wounds, burst out of unbearable pain, and bring it to language.  Laments complain, shout, and protest.  They take anger and despair before God and the community.  They grieve.  They argue.  They find fault…Although laments appear disruptive to God’s world, they are acts of fidelity.  In vulnerability and honesty, the cling obstinately to God and demand for God to see, hear, and act. — Kathleen O’ Conner God’s silence in Lamentations leaves wounds festering, open to the air and possibly to healing.  The benefit of exposed wounds is that they become visible and unavoidable.  Left exposed, they require us to see, acknowledge, and attend to them, and then perhaps there can be energy to attend to the wounds of the world. — Kathleen O’ Conner A healthy spirituality is always an honest spirituality. For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. — Ephesians 5:8-12 It is easier to let God heal my sinfulness than it is to let him heal my woundedness. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5 A healthy spirituality is always an honest spirituality. Healing begins when hidden pain is brought from darkness into the light of God’s presence and the care of a trustworthy community.

Lamentations February 22, 2026 Teacher: Pastor Daniel Bunn LAMENTATIONS 1:1-7 Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem (587 B.C.) Tisha B'Av Lamentations is meant to be felt. "How?" Lamentations names the pain and looks it in the face. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long (Psalm 32:3) What is hidden cannot be healed. How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? (Psalm 13:1) Lamentations invites us to name our pain before God. Truthfulness is not the absence of faith. Truthfulness requires deep faith. Where are you pretending everything is fine? What would it look like to be a little more honest? REVELATION 21:1-4

Teach Us To Pray February 15, 2026 Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. — Matthew 7:7-12 The aim is not to get God in on what I think he should be doing. Rather, the aim of prayer is to get us in on what God is doing, become aware of it, join it, and enjoy the fruit of participation. —Tyler Staton A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” — Mark 2:1-5 A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. — Dietrich Bonhoeffer Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened. — Exodus 32:14 God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. — Numbers 23:19 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Romans 8:33-34

Teach Us To Pray February 08, 2026 Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! — Matthew 7:7-11 (Luke 11:9-13) 3 Reasons for Unanswered Prayers: Not “no” but “not yet”Complex GoodsEvil ExistsGod does not delay to give what he has promised; rather, by delaying he stretches desire. By stretching desire he enlarges the soul. By enlarging the soul he makes it capable of receiving what he is preparing to give. — Augustine God always gives us just what we need, himself.  He even works to stretch our hearts so that we are able to receive what he gives. Safety and security are two idols we let go unchecked in the American church. “Safe? ... Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you” — C.S. Lewis Gracious Father, you are the God of peace, the sovereign King who gathers one Kingdom from many nations and calls us to belong wholly to you and to one another; Teach us to be with you before we strive to do for you. Quiet our anxious hearts, loosen our grip on lesser allegiances, and form in us the mind of Christ. Where opinions differ, give us charity. Where fears rise, give us trust. Where we are tempted to divide, make us one. As we seek the future of Redeemer Church, guide us by your Spirit. Grant us wisdom in discernment, patience with one another, and courage to follow wherever you lead.   Make us a praying people before we are a decisive people, that our life together may reflect the peace and unity of your Kingdom. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Teach Us To Pray February 01, 2026 Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown Since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus. — Luke 1:3 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” — Luke 10:38-42 The Good Samaritan shows us what love does. Mary reminds us where love begins. Prayer teaches us how to stay there. “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” — Luke 11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place.  When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” — Luke 11:1 “When you pray, say: Father…” — Luke 11:2 Prayer is about presence before it’s about anything else.  Prayer doesn’t begin with outcomes.  Prayer is the free choice to be with the Father, to prefer his company.  In our desire for certain outcomes or our confusion over not getting certain outcomes, we are tempted to begin there.  But we cannot brush past simply being with the Father and arrive at anything close to the sort of prayer Jesus won back for us.  Prayer starts with presence. — Tyler Staton Gracious Father, you are the God of peace, the sovereign King who gathers one Kingdom from many nations and calls us to belong wholly to you and to one another; Teach us to be with you before we strive to do for you. Quiet our anxious hearts, loosen our grip on lesser allegiances, and form in us the mind of Christ. Where opinions differ, give us charity. Where fears rise, give us trust. Where we are tempted to divide, make us one. As we seek the future of Redeemer Church, guide us by your Spirit. Grant us wisdom in discernment, patience with one another, and courage to follow wherever you lead.   Make us a praying people before we are a decisive people, that our life together may reflect the peace and unity of your Kingdom. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

My Witnesses January 18, 2026 Teacher: Pastor Michael White The golden rule Matthew 7:12   Intro: “We are an underwear family” I need you to get on board with this. It’s the done thing in our family I would assume that we are all underwear people, if not, please don’t tell me.   Families have characteristics.  Ways that they do things,  things they don’t do,  values they have.    When you think about your family, now or in the past, what things characterized your family? Maybe you’re a camping family Or maybe you’re a “we watch a movie on Friday night family” Maybe you’re a “we say grace even in restaurants family”   There are things that you do, that show what your family values. “Remember who you are!” You’ve been given an identity. A set of values You’re not just you, you represent a group of people.   Super familiar verse But I want to put it into its context and that’s going to add a layer to its meaning.   Scripture Matthew 7:12 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.   Context is king This comes at the end of the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5-7 That’s important What’s the sermon on the mount? Riff Jesus greatest concentrated teaching Important because he starts out with this. He is defining what his purpose is Showing what is important to him For the next 3 years he lives this out   When we get down to our verse…7:12    Doesn’t really feel related to vv. 7-11.   7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!  Then the golden rule comes and it doesn’t seem to follow. It goes back to 5:17  17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  That’s the overall rubric,  What does it look like to fulfill the law and prophets?   Jesus takes 2 chapters to illustrate how you do that. then it culminates in the Golden rule The law and the prophets are fulfilled in how we treat other people. That’s what the 2 chapters of the sermon on the mount are all about, how Jesus’ disciples should relate to other people. The proof of a relationship with Jesus is a changed heart that results in changed behavior toward other people Need to understand  This is a verse about Christian community, the church It’s not about being an individual.   It does affect individual behavior, but in the sense of how we as individuals fit into the group. This is about how the family behaves. Just like your family of origin has certain characteristics, The Golden rule characterizes the family of God This is how the family behaves as God fulfills his plan and purpose for the world. The movement of God from the moment sin entered into the world Until the point where evil is finally defeated once and for all Story arc that God is making a new creation.   The church.   We are living into God’s plan and purpose and  we do that by acting like the family of God. It’s fundamentally about redemption. As people come to know the good news of Jesus,  God is gathering them/us together, creating a new people, a new community of people who are living into the reality of God’s new creation.   It’s like this taste of heaven. Here’s where the Golden Rule comes in Those people are pointing to a world where only good is done to each other.   Can you Imagine what that would be like? People wouldn’t hurt each other No one would say terrible things to each other There wouldn’t be any war No one would need to be afraid It sounds like heaven… This is the profound point. This is the answer to the line of the Lord’s Prayer Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven A world where only good is done to each other That’s the kingdom of God.  That’s what we point to. That’s how disciples of Jesus live Do to others what you would have them do to you. This is the done thing.   This is how the family behaves.   This is how the new community reflects the character of God. This is how we live into the day when God’s rule is complete. That’s what the Golden rule is all about The Golden Rule in history Nobody really knows how it became known as the “Golden Rule”   But the story I like best is that the Roman Emperor Severus Alexander 222-35, was so impressed by the saying that he had it inscribed in gold on the wall of his chamber.   Severus Alexander   You’ve probably never heard of him, but he has a very famous descendent Severus Snape The Golden Rule isn’t original to Jesus. It exists in Judaism, particularly in Rabbi Hillel,  I’d show you a photo of him, but he doesn’t have any famous relatives and many other places,  Here’s the thing: it is almost always in the negative.   Don’t do to other people what you don’t want them to do to you. That’s a great rule.  Would you like it if someone did that to you? No?  Then don’t do that to them. Cutting people off on the freeway. Jesus takes that rule and does something interesting with it. Jesus puts it in the positive Takes it away from being passive As long as your not doing anything bad, you’re doing fine. By putting it in the positive makes it more demanding. Therefore everything you would like others to do to you, your yourselves be doing to them. It’s proactive “Hey, here’s this person in this situation.”   If I was in that situation, I would want someone to do this for me. You can’t meet everyone’s need.   It’s impossible.   But don’t use that as an out. There will be people God places in your field of vision Me in the supermarket You look lost can I help you. In the negative way of understanding the rule, he didn’t have to do that.   In the positive sense that Jesus introduces, this was a great way. It has little implications and it has huge implications. Maybe it means you open the door for someone who is caring an armful of packages. Maybe you stop and help someone who looks like they need help. Maybe you grant charitable assumptions instead of assuming the worst. Maybe you put yourself into the position of people who are affected by policies and procedures that don’t affect you and ask yourself, what would I want someone to do for me if I was in that situation? Water at Chautauqua We take the initiative to love people. It doesn’t say treat others as they treat you. We are called to live by a higher standard, a greater righteousness, a deeper ethic than  “pay each other back in kind” quid pro quo Feels like there could be this complex morality. But Jesus boils down to something super simple. There are 622 laws in the Old Testament All the teaching of the sermon on the mount is caught up in this summary.  This one thing… Whatever you would like other people to do to you be doing that to other people.   Raises issues of identity Whose family do you belong to? Maybe the more revealing question is: Whose family do you look like?   What are the things that characterize your life? Some of us, need to decide which family we want to belong to. Others of us, need to decide that we are going to be more serious about reflecting the family priorities. You can’t just dabble with Jesus In the public square there are people saying Jesusy things but whose lives don’t reflect anything of the Jesus that I know. What family are you reflecting? Whose family do you look like? Just because you show up at church, doesn’t mean that you are reflecting God’s family. The biggest problem to be overcome?  Our anger Inside and outside the church. We are all Jesusy until something happens that makes us mad or that we don’t like. Sajan and the capital fund. We grow.  We get mentored.  We watch other people live The longer you hang out with the family, the more you figure out what the done thing is. Which means that some us need to make sure that we are setting a good example and all of us need to continue to grow into the image and likeness of Jesus This happened in our family. Brian   3 criteria I’m a girl dad He’s a guy.   He contacts his parents 3 times a year. I have heard from Rachel and Allie Our family is not like that. Brian has learned That’s the done thing in our family I’m sure his parents don’t know he was deployed They’ll have three kids But he has learned what our family looks like We sink our roots in deeply into the family and we participate with the Holy Spirit in the creation of the new community I am a part of a group.   I am not just me.   I am an extension of us. All about relationships.   How we treat each other. How we love God, by loving others How does this help you make decisions? The Golden Rule is like a compass.   It doesn’t address every single situation.   But, it points you in the right direction. It might not tell you how long you need to do something or what the exact process should be, but it helps you find the right path. Friend is dealing with a difficult employee.   They do just the bare minimum to get by.   They are passive aggressive.   They are not actively undermining things. They seem to know just where the line is and they push it but don’t cross it. Before you put your management hat on.   It’s complicated.   And I haven’t told you the whole story. The Golden Rule doesn’t tell you when to involve HR, or when to start a performance improvement plan.  But it does tell you what your posture should be as you approach the situ

My Witnesses January 11, 2026 Teacher: Pastor Peter Mutabazi