In this part of Colossians, Paul moves between the cosmic and the everyday —from grand visions of Christ as the center of all things to the ordinary details of life. He reminds the Colossians that everything we believe about God shapes how we live. But Paul also warns that there are competing stories, powers, and philosophies that try to pull us away from Jesus as our true center. Modern voices, like David Foster Wallace, echo Paul’s concern: “Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what t...
Aug 18, 2025•31 min
This week begins our new series, Cosmic Thoughts for Everyday Life , where we explore how the vast, sweeping truths about Christ connect directly to the smallest details of our daily living. Paul’s letter to the Colossians moves between cosmic-scale theology—Christ as the center of creation, redemption, and the future—and very practical issues like family relationships, work, and community life. For Paul, you can’t separate theology from everyday ethics.
Aug 11, 2025•39 min
The book of Jonah is a strange tale that you probably remember from Sunday School. It’s got a big whale, a rebellious prophet, a tree eating worm, and a repentant Nineveh. These features make Jonah perfect for the screen but a bit hard to understand as scripture. Should we read Jonah like any other prophet or is it a parable? That strange ambiguity takes some work to understand but it’s also what makes the book of Jonah so powerful. At the heart of the story of Jonah is a reluctant prophet frust...
Aug 04, 2025•40 min
The book of Jonah is a strange tale that you probably remember from Sunday School. It’s got a big whale, a rebellious prophet, a tree eating worm, and a repentant Nineveh. These features make Jonah perfect for the screen but a bit hard to understand as scripture. Should we read Jonah like any other prophet or is it a parable? That strange ambiguity takes some work to understand but it’s also what makes the book of Jonah so powerful. At the heart of the story of Jonah is a reluctant prophet frust...
Jul 28, 2025•28 min
The book of Jonah is a strange tale that you probably remember from Sunday School. It’s got a big whale, a rebellious prophet, a tree eating worm, and a repentant Nineveh. These features make Jonah perfect for the screen but a bit hard to understand as scripture. Should we read Jonah like any other prophet or is it a parable? That strange ambiguity takes some work to understand but it’s also what makes the book of Jonah so powerful. At the heart of the story of Jonah is a reluctant prophet frust...
Jul 21, 2025•37 min
The book of Jonah is more than a story about a reluctant prophet and a big fish—it’s a literary masterpiece rich with irony, symbolism, personification, and foreshadowing. In this week’s message, Abby invited us to read Jonah not just for its literal details, but for the deeper truths it conveys about the heart of God. Through the storm narrative in Jonah 1, we meet a prophet who runs from God, a group of pagan sailors who respond with surprising faith, and a God who responds not with punishment...
Jul 14, 2025•28 min
The book of Jonah is a strange tale that you probably remember from Sunday School. It’s got a big whale, a rebellious prophet, a tree eating worm, and a repentant Nineveh. These features make Jonah perfect for the screen but a bit hard to understand as scripture. Should we read Jonah like any other prophet or is it a parable? That strange ambiguity takes some work to understand but it’s also what makes the book of Jonah so powerful. At the heart of the story of Jonah is a reluctant prophet frust...
Jul 07, 2025•28 min
This week we conclude our series Reckless? , exploring the bold, relational, and non-coercive love of God. Today’s focus is the tension between suffering and hope, control and trust, certainty and identity. Romans 8 reminds us that even in the groaning of creation, the ache of uncertainty, and the absence of easy answers, God is with us. Not through domination or certainty, but through loving presence, secure attachment, and patient hope. This passage invites us to live as co-laborers with God—n...
Jun 30, 2025•38 min
This week in our Reckless? series, we explore a powerful and surprising truth: God's love is vulnerable . While vulnerability might seem weak or unsafe, the story of Jesus reveals a God who does not grasp at power or rule from a distance, but who gives , descends , and draws near —even to the point of suffering. Paul’s hymn in Philippians 2 invites us to take on the same posture: to live not from control or coercion, but from the strength of sacrificial love. To love is to be vulnerable. And to ...
Jun 23, 2025•38 min
On Trinity Sunday—and Father’s Day—we reflect on what it means to say “God is love.” This week, we explored the idea of God’s love being “reckless”—not in a careless way, but in a bold, self-giving, audacious way that risks for the sake of relationship. The Trinity shows us that God is not an isolated being but a community—Father, Son, and Spirit—defined by mutual love and inclusion. This loving community doesn’t just exist within God’s self but extends outward to us. God invites us to be part o...
Jun 15, 2025•26 min
Eastertide is the season we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection isn’t just a one time event to commemorate, it is instead a world altering reality that invites us into a whole new way of living. We see this on full display for the earliest followers of Jesus who found their lives and world upturned by their surprising king who defeated death, sin, and the powers of evil not through violence but love. Jesus’ self-sacrificial, other oriented love was vindicated in the resurrectio...
Jun 02, 2025•36 min
Eastertide is the season we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection isn’t just a one time event to commemorate, it is instead a world altering reality that invites us into a whole new way of living. We see this on full display for the earliest followers of Jesus who found their lives and world upturned by their surprising king who defeated death, sin, and the powers of evil not through violence but love. Jesus’ self-sacrificial, other oriented love was vindicated in the resurrectio...
May 26, 2025•30 min
Eastertide is the season we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection isn’t just a one time event to commemorate, it is instead a world altering reality that invites us into a whole new way of living. We see this on full display for the earliest followers of Jesus who found their lives and world upturned by their surprising king who defeated death, sin, and the powers of evil not through violence but love. Jesus’ self-sacrificial, other oriented love was vindicated in the resurrectio...
May 18, 2025•39 min
Eastertide is the season we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection isn’t just a one time event to commemorate, it is instead a world altering reality that invites us into a whole new way of living. We see this on full display for the earliest followers of Jesus who found their lives and world upturned by their surprising king who defeated death, sin, and the powers of evil not through violence but love. Jesus’ self-sacrificial, other oriented love was vindicated in the resurrectio...
May 12, 2025•22 min
Eastertide is the season we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection isn’t just a one time event to commemorate, it is instead a world altering reality that invites us into a whole new way of living. We see this on full display for the earliest followers of Jesus who found their lives and world upturned by their surprising king who defeated death, sin, and the powers of evil not through violence but love. Jesus’ self-sacrificial, other oriented love was vindicated in the resurrectio...
May 04, 2025•34 min
On this Easter Sunday, we reflect on the story of two disciples walking the road to Emmaus—grieving, confused, and unsure if hope has truly come. Through their journey, we discover that Jesus meets us in our unraveling, walks with us at the speed of love, and reveals himself not through quick fixes or perfect answers, but through presence, patience, and a shared meal. No matter where you find yourself today, Easter is a reminder: Jesus walks with you—and at his table, you always belong.
Apr 20, 2025•34 min
Missio Good Friday Service 2025
Apr 18, 2025•20 min
On Palm Sunday, we remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem—a moment of celebration, hope, and political tension. The crowd celebrates, expecting victory. The Pharisees fear conflict. But Jesus weeps, knowing that neither group fully understands the kind of King he is—or the kind of peace he brings. His kingdom is not won through force but through self-giving love, leading to the cross and ultimately to resurrection. As we reflect on this story, we are challenged to ask: What kind of king ...
Apr 13, 2025•38 min
As we continue our Lenten journey toward Easter, we turn our attention to a striking portrait of Jesus in John 13—kneeling, apron-clad, and washing the feet of his disciples. This is no ordinary act of hospitality. It’s a profound disruption of social norms, a voluntary reversal of power and status, and a love-soaked redefinition of leadership and community. Jesus, fully aware of his authority and origin, chooses to serve in a way that would have shocked his contemporaries. In doing so, he not o...
Apr 08, 2025•33 min
After Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, he observes the temple but does nothing—yet. The next day, he curses a fig tree that has no fruit, even though it is not the season for figs. Then, he enters the temple and overturns tables, condemning it as a "den of thieves." The following morning, the disciples find the fig tree withered, and Jesus teaches them about faith that moves mountains. These stories work together to highlight how religious systems can become fruitless, and Jesus’ call to a...
Mar 30, 2025•34 min
The Transfiguration is a pivotal moment in the life of Jesus, revealing his divine identity to his disciples in a dramatic way. Jesus, accompanied by Peter, James, and John, is transfigured on a mountain, shining with glory as he stands alongside Moses and Elijah. This moment marks a turning point in his journey toward the cross and challenges the disciples’ expectations of who Jesus is. Like Peter, we often try to fit Jesus into our own understanding, but the Transfiguration reminds us that Jes...
Mar 23, 2025•33 min
Portraits of a King - Feeding of the 5,000
Mar 19, 2025•33 min
Stories reveal who someone truly is. If we want to know what Jesus is like, we don’t just rely on facts—we look at the stories about him. This Lent, we are exploring six stories that reveal what kind of king Jesus is. Our first story, the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, shows us how he chooses to rule—not through power, performance, or control, but through trust, faithfulness, and sacrificial love.
Mar 09, 2025•34 min
Throughout this series, we've explored the vision of extending our table—how God calls us into unexpected places and welcomes unexpected people. As we conclude, we focus on how we’re not just invited to sit at the table but to contribute to the meal. Like a potluck, God calls each of us to bring our unique gifts to share.
Mar 02, 2025•29 min
Hope is not passive optimism—it’s an act of trust and courage. In this teaching, Heather explores what it means to cultivate hope and extend belonging, even when circumstances make it difficult. Through Jesus’ teaching and example, we’re invited into a bigger, more generous way of seeing and loving others.
Feb 24, 2025•32 min
As we journey through this series, we are exploring the vision and calling we believe God has placed on our community for 2025: Extending Our Table. This phrase is more than just an image; it is a posture, an invitation to expand our hospitality, embrace discomfort, and welcome the unexpected. In this guide, we will reflect on how Jesus models table fellowship in Luke 7 and consider what it means to extend our own tables in tangible ways.
Feb 16, 2025•32 min
At Missio Dei, we believe God is always calling us to something new while rooting us in His mission of renewal. This year, we sense an invitation to extend our table—to practice radical belonging, break down barriers, and witness to the hospitality of Jesus. But in a divided world, how do we gather and stay together? Join us as we explore what it means to build a community centered on Christ, not uniformity.
Feb 09, 2025•36 min
Our final installment in our series, Every Moment Holy explores how friendship is a holy practice that shapes us in profound ways—inviting us into renewal, connection, and love.
Feb 07, 2025•38 min
This week we explore how an obsession with efficiency can hinder wholeness and following the way of Jesus. While efficiency—the ability to maximize outputs with minimal inputs—can be a valuable tool, it becomes problematic when applied to every aspect of life. Instead of alleviating anxiety and creating space, an obsession with efficiency often magnifies stress and reduces life to measurable outputs. The Bible offers an alternative: patience. Biblical patience is not merely about waiting but abo...
Jan 26, 2025•32 min
Part 3 in our series, Every Moment Holy exploring how to live the way of Jesus with technology. The first 5 minutes of this sermon (introduction) were not recorded.
Jan 20, 2025•26 min
