St. Paul's Church - Willington, Ct

Tonight we considered the profound extent of Jesus' suffering and what that suffering reveals about God.

When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem the week before his death, people expected him to become a powerful political leader. Not long after the triumphal entry, Jesus upset their expectations by showing his power in a very different way. This Palm Sunday - with Jesus as our example - we reflected on how God's definition of power is different from the world's definition.

This week we looked at Jesus' last miracle before the Resurrection: the healing of Lazarus. This remarkable story has important things to teach us about the universal problem we all face: death.

This week we looked at what might be Jesus' strangest miracle: walking on water. On the surface this might seem like a frivolous miracle, but when we dig deeper we can see that Jesus is communicating his identity in a special way.

This week we looked at Jesus' fourth sign in John's Gospel: the feeding of the five-thousand. Jesus' miraculous multiplication of food says something both about who He is and how He can work through us.

This week we looked at Jesus' third miraculous sign in John's Gospel: the healing of a man who has been severely disabled for 38-years. This story ends with a pretty shocking surprise (one that's easy to miss), and the unexpected turn has some important lessons to teach us.

This week we looked at Jesus' second miraculous sign. We reflected on how the Royal Official's experience is similar to the experience of every Christian, and how his story can encourage us.

At our Ash Wednesday service we considered three ways to prepare for Easter during the Lenten season: (1) Eliminate distractions, (2) Practice self-denial, and (3) Practice confession.

This week we continued our Messages in the Miracles series by looking at Jesus first miraculous sign. Why did Jesus turn water into wine? What was he trying to communicate? Why did he seem reluctant to do it in the first place? And what does this miracle mean for our lives today?

This week guest speaker Phillip Beatty from Hartford City Church joined us and started off our "Messages in the Miracles" series with a look at the healing of a man born blind. Phil helped us to see what we can learn from the details of the story: Jesus' response to the disciples' question, the placing of the mud in the eyes, the incompleteness of the healing until washing, and more.

This week guest speaker Peter Scalzo shared about what God has taught him over the course of his 10+ year experience with cancer. Regardless of what trials we may be facing in our own lives, Peter's story is an inspiring reminder that "Christ living in us" has the power to give us strength in the midst of the storm.

What's it like to really meet God? A strange story in Genesis 32 about a wrestling match between Jacob and a mysterious opponent helps us to see: it's personal, it involves struggle, it leads to blessing, and it humbles us.

Over the last 4 months, something very significant has been happening in our culture: on an unprecedented level, people are speaking out about their experiences of sexual assault and harassment. An enormous cry of pain has risen up in our culture, and the Church needs to recognize that pain and the problem it represents. This week we talked about how the #MeToo movement indirectly affirms biblical wisdom, and how we as the church should be responding.

This week we looked at one of the most beloved Psalms. Psalm 139 is David's poetic declaration that "God is everywhere and He knows me." We considered what it means to be "fearfully and wonderfully made," what to do when God's all-pervading presence frightens us, how to understand David's hatred, and how to make the concluding prayer our own.

Our Genesis series concluded on the last day of 2017 with a look at the story of Babel. What did the people of Babel do that was so wrong? We considered how to avoid repeating their mistake as we plan for 2018.

On Christmas Eve Pastor Keith and his wife Tracy retold the Christmas story, reflecting on it from the perspective gained through the birth of one of their own children. God often surprises us, and the birth of Jesus is a prime example.

This week we looked at the events after the Flood. We talked about what Gen 8-9 has to say about diet, treatment of animals, the death penalty, rainbows, and Ham's sin - but most of all we talked about what this passage reveals about what God is like.

The story of the Flood in Genesis is troubling for many of us in this day and age, but when we look at it closely we find that it reveals not a cruel and capricious God but one who is truly good. This week's message identified five reasons why, as well as two things we can learn from Noah's example.

This week we continued our Genesis series with a passage that is usually skipped over because it's difficult to interpret. What are we to make of the long ages in the genealogies? Who were the Nephilim? Stubbornly refusing to skip over the challenging parts, we considered the possible answers to these tough questions. NOTE: Due to some technical problems, the very beginning of this message was cut off and the audio quality is reduced. Before the part that was cut off, Ryan explained that this passage is frequently skipped over and that one of his go-to resource books on Genesis didn't even address this particular passage. He then provided a list of four reasons to justify NOT skipping over the passage: (1) A lot of people are curious about the Nephilim, (2) This is part of the Bible, (3) If he was attending a church that was talking about Genesis he would want to know what the pastor had to say about the Nephilim...(the audio picks up at this point).

This week we looked at the story of Cain and Abel - the first murder. This story serves as a tragic warning, but it is also a comforting reminder that God is more merciful than we deserve.