In this second teaching in the "Story-Shaped Faith" series, Leah considers a familiar parable, "The Prodigal Son", and challenges listeners to be open to viewing it in a new way. Review Leah’s notes and listen to or watch the teaching below.
Leah begins a new teaching series on the parables of Jesus, called "A Story-Shaped Faith". In this first teaching in the series, Leah considers how the genre of parables were intended to function in the ancient world and what the famous Parable of the Sower might tell us about their import in shaping our spirituality. Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
On the first Sunday of the year, Haven meets virtually and considers together the traditional Epiphany story Matthew tells of Magi coming from the East to worship the infant Jesus. View Leah’s notes here and watch or listen to the teaching below.
In this last teaching in the series, Leah considers what we might learn from Jesus about repairing our relationships after they've been challenged, and how that might help us build friendships that last. Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
In this second teaching in the "Friendship Matters" series, Leah explores the various circles of friendship and how they are built up, and we hear a special story from four friends who have been there for each other for decades. Review Leah’s notes or take in the teaching and story through audio or video below. (To watch only the DeWitt and Jensen story, start at minute 29.)
This is the first teaching in a new series, called "Friendship Matters". In this first gathering, we explored a little of what science, voices from history, voices in Haven, and Scripture have to say about friendship. What does "friendship" even mean? Why is it important for us to think about? Why is it challenging? And how might God interact with the whole idea? Listen to the teaching or watch it below.
In this hybrid Sunday gathering, Leah shared her last teaching from the "Recovering the Sacred" series, inviting the Haven community to consider the practice of worship and how it might connect us with the Divine and help us experience the sacred. After the teaching, those in attendance were invited to interact with a number of worship experiences. A couple of those experiences have been included in a virtual format on this video of the entire service . Listen to or watch the teaching alone belo...
In this teaching from our "Recovering the Sacred" series, Leah considered the ancient practice of making covenants, and how it might be useful in our day as we think now about making commitments. Read Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
In this Zoom-only Sunday gathering, Leah teaches on the theme of "Sacred Texts" and considers how reordering our relationship to the Bible might be an important part of our recovering of the sacred. Review Leah’s notes and listen to or watch the teaching below.
During this hybrid outdoor gathering, Leah and Jeanne give a joint teaching on the idea of "Sacred Space", and why it might be relevant to think about the ways that places can connect us with the Divine. Listen to or watch the teaching below.
In this teaching from the "Recovering the Sacred" series, Leah explores how we might handle stories and texts from our sacred tradition that we find problematic, and what it might mean to "include and transcend" as we seek to rebuild and recover our spiritual practices. Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
Photo by Dubwise Version . In this teaching, we continued our "Recovering the Sacred" series with a conversation around "Sacred Vision". Leah joins with Ginny Prince to consider how God might impart encouraging vision to a community, which can be vital in the work of "reorder". The gathering included a collective listening prayer practice, but that has been omitted from the video out of respect for attendees' privacy. Listen to or watch Leah and Ginny’s presentation below....
During this virtual-only service, Leah shares a teaching inviting Haven to reflect on another element of cultivating intergenerational community: how we respond to the youth and young adults increasingly in the Haven space. She looks at what we might learn from Jesus in this area, with a story from early in the gospel John. Read Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
In this teaching, Leah reflects a bit theologically about some of the complexity of gathering in this coming-out-of-Covid season, and considers what insight some instruction to the early church might bring. Read Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
The group gathered for our first Hybrid outdoor service in 2021. This brief teaching from Leah was part of Haven's first hybrid service held on 5/23/2021, Pentecost Sunday. Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
In this Palm Sunday teaching, Leah considers the spectacle of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and compares it to other traditions, with the hopes that we might better understand what Jesus was communicating engaging the day the way he did, and how that can sustain us now.
“Jesus Wept” by Tabitha Kaylee Hawk. Oklahoma City Memorial. https://www.flickr.com/photos/tabithahawk/14384061966/in/photolist-nV55uo-4CFZXW-pff7NE-7cf4p9-229Fs3-3VwEJ-81Gv6r-2ky5x2A-scgA6R-aYLHac-eeGMSC-23BWkof-4x5tHS-7V8K9y-9dsPvL-sd3AmR-gqXTxi-gqXzLE-e51Wer-eaLsz3-278q7bE-4iFh4w-7JJa8E-2iMtEnW-eaLqgL-eaLqBd-eaLr3L-a699p2-eaLrrm-CQhFc-LTV4x-eaLrHm-EDTAh-9y7kwb-ehBV1n-dsmDY7-8YXaNk-7aNp4M-bUadH-4d3Gs3-dKvrip-4S53DD-LTV96-4S53Cp-acqnBj-LTLpN-LTV7x-sctoM-i4P3W-5DH6d7 This is a teaching by Leah M...
Theophanes the Greek, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons In this teaching, Katie Kay helps us pivot in Lent to the latter part of the Stories That Sustain Us from the gospels, by looking at one that has mystified and inspired Christians through the ages. Here she shares her thoughts on the Transfiguration, and how that story may connect with us and sustain us today. Listen to Katie’s teaching or watch the video below....
In this teaching on another famous Jesus story, Leah looks at Matthew’s account of Jesus walking on water toward his disciples. In doing so, she invites us to consider how God might be present to us in challenging seasons, and how we might respond. Read Leah’s notes here and listen to or view the teaching below.
In this teaching by Connections Pastor Jeanne Wong, we look at one of Jesus’ most famous parables - a parable about a sower, seed, and soil - as we consider how this story might speak to us about the beauty of faith in Jesus and the transformation it can bring. Read Jeanne’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from Washington D.C, United States, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons This teaching by Pastor Leah Martens is the next in our "Stories That Sustain Us" series, looking at the life of Jesus through gospel stores. In this teaching, Leah starts by considering the recent performance of Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman (pictured above), and then turns to the story of Jesus preaching at his home synagogue in Nazareth....
In this second teaching in the "Stories That Sustain Us" story, Leah takes a look at a famous story - Jesus' first miraculous sign in the gospel of John. Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
In this teaching, Leah kicks off our 2021 series with a personal story and an invitation to consider together “Stories that Sustain Us” from the life of Jesus, as related though the gospels. Read Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
