St. Paul's Church - Willington, Ct

The Gospel of John gives an account of Jesus healing a man who had been disabled for 38 years. We considered what we can learn from the most unexpected parts of the story.

Today we considered what an exorcism story reveals about the demonic realm and about what can prevent our healing.

Why the healing of a paralyzed man has a lot to teach us about forgiveness.

What we can learn from a two-stage healing.

This week we considered why the healing of a centurion's servant is more significant than we probably realize. We also considered why Jesus responded to the centurion's faith by saying that "the subjects of the kingdom will be cast out in to the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

This Sunday we started a new series on Jesus's healing miracles, beginning with the account of Jesus healing a leper. We considered why Jesus's choice to touch the leper is such a "wow!" moment. (NOTE: due to a technical glitch on Sunday, the first two minutes of this sermon were re-rerecorded later).

On this Sunday, New Year's Day 2023, we had a reflection service. Pastor Ryan used 4 Scripture passages to pose 5 reflection questions to help us start 2023 off well.

At our Christmas Eve service, we considered how gifts can serve as a representation of the meaning of Christmas.

How the lights that surround us this time of year can remind us of wondrous truths revealed in the prologue to John's gospel.

Three ideas that can make your Christmas tree more meaningful.

We began our December series, "Seasonal Signs" today, where we're considering how the things we experience this time of year can point beyond themselves to the Gospel. This week's seasonal sign: Waiting.

This Sunday we continued our annual "Thanksgiving Sunday" tradition of hearing stories from people in our congregation about how God has worked in their lives. Thank you Ron, Aerie, and Vicki!

This week we concluded our Apostle's Creed series by examining the remaining lines: I believe in... "the holy catholic church and the communion of saints" and "the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting." Why do we confess belief in the "catholic" church if we are non-denominational? What does it mean to say that we believe in "the communion of the saints"? Why do we confess belief in resurrection TWICE in the creed? We addressed these questions and more.

What does it mean for the Church to confess that "we believe in the forgiveness of sins?" To help us understand what it looks like to live out this confession, St. Paul's member Dean Collins shared a powerful story from his own life.

This week we looked at the line in the creed that is most likely to make us nervous: "He will come again to judge." How can we be ready for this day?

This week: "I believe in the Holy Spirit." Why is it important to confess believe in three divine persons? What did Jesus teach about the Holy Spirit? Why did Jesus compare the Spirit to "water"? We explored these questions and more.

This week we continued our journey through the Apostle's Creed with: "On the third day he rose again, he ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father." We considered questions like: On a scale from 1-10, how important is the resurrection to Christian faith? How do we come to believe that Jesus is the risen Lord? What does it mean that Jesus "ascended"?

This Sunday we looked at one of the lesser known (and understood) lines in the Creed: He descended to the dead. The previous line already said that "Jesus died," so why do we also say "he descended to the dead"? We considered the significance of Jesus *DESCENDING* to *THE* dead, and why this confession can help free us from fear.

This week we continued the Apostle's Creed's confessions about Jesus. We considered why the "foolishness" of calling a crucified man "Lord" is actually wisdom.