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Have you ever tried to be perfect? Really perfect? To have the perfect clothes. The perfect look. The perfect occupation. The perfect family. Have you ever tried to be perfect in the ways that the world says you should be perfect?

Jesus challenges you to be perfect.

Really. He does.

But not just any kind of perfect. Not worldly perfect. “Perfect like our Father in heaven.”

Here’s the thing, the perfection for Jesus has nothing to do with looks, or clothes, or the average square footage of a Lamar County Home. It has to do with what happens on the inside of us … What occurs in our spirits … and how that influences what we do in the world.

In God’s vocabulary, pursuing perfection is pursuing holiness. Something that is holy is something that is set aside for the glory of God. And that can be just about anything! Our time can be holy. Our food. Our words. Our finances. Our children. Even our play! How can we, as the old hymn suggest, ‘take time to be holy?’ How do we invite God to be a part of all we do?

Join us for our new worship series Hallowed Be: Pursuing Everyday Holiness as we explore the life together that God wants for us, perfected in love.

A new series begins August 21:

Cliché Christianity: The Things Christians Shouldn’t Say and the Things Christians Should

There’s an old improv comedy game called ‘Should Have Said’, where the players, with the help of a moderator or audience, get chances to re-do their dialogue in usually hilarious ways.

In the game, the sketch could play out like this:

Performer One: I like that bicycle a lot.

Performer Two: I like it’s majestic wheels.

Performer One: I like it because it is blue.

Moderator: Should have said!

Performer One: I like it because it is red.

Audience: Should have said!

Performer One: I like it because it can fly!

Performer Two: Yes. My red flying bicycle built for two.

It can be quite entertaining when improv comedians can play the game out, until inevitably, one of the players can’t keep it up, and everybody collapses in a fit of laughter.

Christians often play this game too, except that we don’t get to go back and re-do a line, a conversation, a point. So, we turn to Christian Cliches, and in place of having something better to offer, we offer phrases and ideas that can cause more harm than help. In the Old Testament, the Prophet Job gets stuck with a certain group of friends, who when they have nothing to say that’s helpful, usually say too much as Job languishes in the hardest of circumstances.

Knowing that we can’t go back, that once something is said it can’t be un-said, what should Christians say and do in order to avoid Cliche Christianity?

Using the Book of Job as a conversation partner, we’ll explore the meanings behind some of the things Christians say:

“Everything happens for a reason.”

“God helps those who help themselves.”

“God needed another angel.”

“Love the sinner, hate the sin.”

“I’m #blessed.”

And, maybe, we’ll find better things to offer our friends, family, and community members, when they really need us to be the people of Jesus.

Our August 2022 Series:

Creator, God: An Exploration of the Beginning

The Bible starts with an origin story. Which would make sense, wouldn’t it? Any book should start at the beginning of the story, and the Book of Genesis is that story. Except that it is no normal beginning.

Genesis is the origin story of origin stories. It outlines the beginning of all things. It’s the story of why our creative Creator God would spin this whole thing into motion from the universe, to the world, to us. God starts big, but even focuses on the most minute details, from the tiniest bug, the tallest tree, and the most curious of humans.

But not just that. The first few chapters of Genesis provide the origins of many of the oldest questions of the church …

Is Genesis 1 to be taken literally? Is this a science lesson?

Why is there a second creation story in Genesis 2?

Does all the evil in the world originate from human choices in Genesis 3?

For three weeks, we’ll be on an exploration of the beginning of the first three chapters of the first book of the Bible. We’ll search this text for answers. We’ll discuss what this origin story is and isn’t. We’ll remind ourselves why we find our real answers in Jesus.

And, we’ll give thanks to our Creator, God.

Our January 2022 Series:

Weird Bible: Finding the Good News in God’s Strange Stories

The Bible is loaded with weirdness. Miracles, mythical beasts, angelic messengers, superheroes … it’s all there. Hidden in the bible are the stories that inspire literary epics and comic book movies. God writes strange stories and has partnered with human beings for more than a few extraordinary tales. For four weeks, we’re going to look at four of these strange stories from the Old Testament. We’re going to look at a few of the odd legends of the Bible and ask a big question:

What is the good news here?

*Masking and social distancing are STRONGLY encouraged as we gather.*