Orchard Hill Church, Cedar Falls, Iowa

Jesus said that life in the Kingdom of his Father is often the polar opposite of how life works in the world around us. This kind of teaching was hard for Jesus’ original listeners to understand, and it is equally hard for followers today. We are always deeply tempted to go-with-the-flow and to live as everyone else lives. As we approach this season in our country where a pandemic rages, racial st...

Jesus said that life in the Kingdom of his Father is often the polar opposite of how life works in the world around us. This kind of teaching was hard for Jesus’ original listeners to understand, and it is equally hard for followers today. We are always deeply tempted to go-with-the-flow and to live as everyone else lives. As we approach this season in our country where a pandemic rages, racial st...

Jesus said that life in the Kingdom of his Father is often the polar opposite of how life works in the world around us. This kind of teaching was hard for Jesus’ original listeners to understand, and it is equally hard for followers today. We are always deeply tempted to go-with-the-flow and to live as everyone else lives. As we approach this season in our country where a pandemic rages, racial st...

Jesus said that life in the Kingdom of his Father is often the polar opposite of how life works in the world around us. This kind of teaching was hard for Jesus’ original listeners to understand, and it is equally hard for followers today. We are always deeply tempted to go-with-the-flow and to live as everyone else lives. As we approach this season in our country where a pandemic rages, racial st...

Jesus said that life in the Kingdom of his Father is often the polar opposite of how life works in the world around us. This kind of teaching was hard for Jesus’ original listeners to understand, and it is equally hard for followers today. We are always deeply tempted to go-with-the-flow and to live as everyone else lives. As we approach this season in our country where a pandemic rages, racial st...

Jesus said that life in the Kingdom of his Father is often the polar opposite of how life works in the world around us. This kind of teaching was hard for Jesus’ original listeners to understand, and it is equally hard for followers today. We are always deeply tempted to go-with-the-flow and to live as everyone else lives. As we approach this season in our country where a pandemic rages, racial st...

Jesus said that life in the Kingdom of his Father is often the polar opposite of how life works in the world around us. This kind of teaching was hard for Jesus’ original listeners to understand, and it is equally hard for followers today. We are always deeply tempted to go-with-the-flow and to live as everyone else lives. As we approach this season in our country where a pandemic rages, racial st...

Jesus never promised his followers that life on earth would be easy. In fact, he promised exactly the opposite. The uncertainty and turbulence we are facing right now do not shock or surprise God in any way. In fact, the early church started and thrived in turbulent times. We can, too. Followers of Jesus are called to face uncertainty with courage, perseverance, humility and hope. These are not op...

Jesus never promised his followers that life on earth would be easy. In fact, he promised exactly the opposite. The uncertainty and turbulence we are facing right now do not shock or surprise God in any way. In fact, the early church started and thrived in turbulent times. We can, too. Followers of Jesus are called to face uncertainty with courage, perseverance, humility and hope. These are not op...

Jesus never promised his followers that life on earth would be easy. In fact, he promised exactly the opposite. The uncertainty and turbulence we are facing right now do not shock or surprise God in any way. In fact, the early church started and thrived in turbulent times. We can, too. Followers of Jesus are called to face uncertainty with courage, perseverance, humility and hope. These are not op...

Jesus never promised his followers that life on earth would be easy. In fact, he promised exactly the opposite. The uncertainty and turbulence we are facing right now do not shock or surprise God in any way. In fact, the early church started and thrived in turbulent times. We can, too. Followers of Jesus are called to face uncertainty with courage, perseverance, humility and hope. These are not op...

Outdoor Church - Alice Shirey by Orchard Hill Church

The days ahead of us this fall look nothing like the days of last fall. The world ahead is not like the world behind us. There is loss, fear, uncertainty, anxiety and grief. Our plans change. But we need not panic. God has not abandoned us. God is with us. Moving forward, we can learn from the early church leaders who were scattered by persecution and suffering. In them - we find vision that can h...

The days ahead of us this fall look nothing like the days of last fall. The world ahead is not like the world behind us. There is loss, fear, uncertainty, anxiety and grief. Our plans change. But we need not panic. God has not abandoned us. God is with us. Moving forward, we can learn from the early church leaders who were scattered by persecution and suffering. In them - we find vision that can h...

Often, when we study people from the Bible, we feel as if we are studying larger-than life figures, people who are not at all like us, people who are extraordinary. Whether or not we recognize it, this can make us feel as if God can’t work through us because our lives are too “ordinary.” But what if God loves to work through ordinary people? What if God’s best work is often done in the quiet of ou...

Often, when we study people from the Bible, we feel as if we are studying larger-than life figures, people who are not at all like us, people who are extraordinary. Whether or not we recognize it, this can make us feel as if God can’t work through us because our lives are too “ordinary.” But what if God loves to work through ordinary people? What if God’s best work is often done in the quiet of ou...

Often, when we study people from the Bible, we feel as if we are studying larger-than life figures, people who are not at all like us, people who are extraordinary. Whether or not we recognize it, this can make us feel as if God can’t work through us because our lives are too “ordinary.” But what if God loves to work through ordinary people? What if God’s best work is often done in the quiet of ou...

Often, when we study people from the Bible, we feel as if we are studying larger-than life figures, people who are not at all like us, people who are extraordinary. Whether or not we recognize it, this can make us feel as if God can’t work through us because our lives are too “ordinary.” But what if God loves to work through ordinary people? What if God’s best work is often done in the quiet of ou...

Often, when we study people from the Bible, we feel as if we are studying larger-than life figures, people who are not at all like us, people who are extraordinary. Whether or not we recognize it, this can make us feel as if God can’t work through us because our lives are too “ordinary.” But what if God loves to work through ordinary people? What if God’s best work is often done in the quiet of ou...

Often, when we study people from the Bible, we feel as if we are studying larger-than life figures, people who are not at all like us, people who are extraordinary. Whether or not we recognize it, this can make us feel as if God can’t work through us because our lives are too “ordinary.” But what if God loves to work through ordinary people? What if God’s best work is often done in the quiet of ou...

Often, when we study people from the Bible, we feel as if we are studying larger-than life figures, people who are not at all like us, people who are extraordinary. Whether or not we recognize it, this can make us feel as if God can’t work through us because our lives are too “ordinary.” But what if God loves to work through ordinary people? What if God’s best work is often done in the quiet of ou...

Often, when we study people from the Bible, we feel as if we are studying larger-than life figures, people who are not at all like us, people who are extraordinary. Whether or not we recognize it, this can make us feel as if God can’t work through us because our lives are too “ordinary.” But what if God loves to work through ordinary people? What if God’s best work is often done in the quiet of ou...

The Gospel of Luke highlights Jesus on the road to Jerusalem and the cross. He met all kinds of people along the way. This guy stands out partly because of his audacity in the face of rebuke. Was it desperation or faith? I am going to highlight some of the contrasts in this passage. Be quiet/he shouted all the more - blind/sighted - rebuke and invitation - the crowd and the individual - Jesus of N...

Lydia was successful both in her professional work and in her social or spiritual work nurturing the budding Greek church. Most likely the knowledge and connections she cultivated as a trader helped her in her church work, and vise versa. In Lydia we see a woman whose skill and interest is not confined to one limited area. Indeed, we see that both her position in commerce and her knowledge of fait...

According to research by the Pew Institute, 94% of Americans have prayed in the last 3 months. Many of us pray when life gets difficult and these are definitely difficult days as we walk through this era of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this series called Powerful Prayers, our teachers want to invite us to pray four prayers found in scripture as a next step in our individual journeys of prayer. Each o...