ReNew Ames Messages

The way God came into the world was not what the people wanted or yearned for or prayed for. The way God showed up to rescue was unexpected. God often shows up unexpectedly. This is a paradox, God showing up unexpectedly. The all-powerful one shows up as an infant, the very essence of weakness and vulnerability. But it's also the one human reality that calls out of everyone who witnesses it a love...

This is the story where Mary goes to visit Elizabeth. It starts with Gabriel meeting Mary and goes through Mary's stay with Elizabeth. Traditionally it's called The Visitation. This story gives us three gifts to think about during the season of Christmas. First, the gift of community. Mary goes to see Elizabeth. Why? She needs someone. She needs safety. She needs affirmation. She needs someone to...

This story about John the Baptist centers on the question from the religious authorities: Who are you? J the B answers it by talking about who he is NOT. He is NOT the Messiah. I wonder if we should start where he starts. We are not the Messiah. One of the worst mistakes the church has made throughout history is claiming an identity and power that just isn't ours. When we have messianic ambition,...

"Come, thou long expected Jesus," the old Christmas carol says. We anticipate the story of a vulnerable family, an ordinary family of no consequence, in a stable. We talk of the arrival of a king, *the* king, so that we might celebrate God becoming flesh and bone in the form of a baby. Commonly the kingdom of God is talked about in future tense. Many of us were raised to think of heaven as the kin...

There's a Rob Bell quote that talks about how Scripture is like a gem - you keep turning it and new and different things come out of it. It's a good quote and a good way to think about scripture. There are sooooo many ways that people have interpreted this story for like 2000 years. It's a frustrating story for me. So today we're turning the gem and looking at the different ways people have interp...

Last week was the most important commandment - this week we go waaay back to the basics and talk about the ten commandments. We're starting by talking about the story of God saving the Israelites from Egypt. Basically a summary of the first 19 chapters of the book of Exodus. God parks them at the base of a mountain and says, "Okay, after I saved you, here's our arrangement. Here's how you live in...

There are a range of feelings in the room after last week's events. To ignore that would be unfair and dishonest. Let's talk about this story, though. We're near the end of Jesus' life on earth, for context. He's asked a question: What's the most important commandment? If you truly want to live life to the fullest - what's the most important thing? Jesus responds, love God - love people. That's it...

Paul says to Timothy in this letter that he's the worst sinner ever. Yeah, ever. So, this is when we talk about his story back when he was Saul and how maybe he was right. Saul was a really bad dude. He was a religious extremist who sought out followers of Jesus so he could get them arrested or kill them. But then Saul met Jesus on the road to Damascus (where he was going to go find more followers...

Yay, Zacchaeus! Okay, did this one about five years ago - now we're taking a totally different angle. Zacchaeus wanted desperately to see Jesus. Questions it raises: when was the last time we felt that kind of desperation to see Jesus? When was the last time we wanted more? More meaning, purpose, significance - more life? He couldn't see because of the crowd. When was the last time we pondered the...

Short little parable: two people go into the Temple and pray. A Pharisee and a tax collector. The tax collector goes home justified. Let's walk through this parable slowly and talk about how easy it is to think that we're "not like the Pharisee." Now there are also two words we should talk about: sin and sinner. Yeah, we have an aversion to those words for various reasons. BUT, Jesus insists on us...

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. Such a good story. I used to think I knew what this story was about - that I had it all figured out. But this story has depth, and layers, and we can learn so much more from it than we maybe expect. The basic read is that we should all be like Philip and courageously tell people about the good news of Jesus so that unacceptable outsiders might be changed and become...

Mark skips any kind of birth narrative in his story about Jesus. He starts with John the Baptist. And J the B is all about preparation. If you want to meet this messiah, you've got to be prepared! John was probably a member of the Jewish sect known as the Essenes. Too much to write in here - suffice it to say they were kinda like the Jewish version of the Amish - only super extreme! They focused o...

Today we're talking about the story of the workers in the vineyard. We human beings have this sense of fairness deeply rooted within the human psyche. Which is why when we read this story it immediately doesn't seem fair. Why did Jesus tell such a story? Probably because he wants us to stop and think - maybe see the world differently. It's always what he wants when he tells a story. It's why he te...

I'm gonna talk about who the best people in church are. No spoilers, you'll have to wait. There's a story where Jesus says that whoever welcomes a little child welcomes God. Whaaaat? What did he mean by that? I have three suggestions: 1) Maybe Jesus said it because kids teach us that our imaginations can help us understand the things of God. Jesus tells his followers that he will suffer and die an...

Speaker: Tony Vis Scripture: Philippians 1:18-26 http://bible.com/events/49315663

Speaker: Holly Thompson Scripture: John 13:18-30 http://bible.com/events/49305374

Speaker: Marlin Vis Scripture: 1 Kings 19:1-9 http://bible.com/events/49302038

One of our current focus team members, Brian Gelder, brings us perspective on the history of soil in the lands of the early Old Testament stories, and what questions some of those stories raise for us when we examine the full context of the culture and history surrounding them. There is benefit in taking a bird's eye view of these lands and stories, rather than just the Sunday School answers or th...

Paul responds with joy and in faith when in a tight circumstance. While imprisoned in Rome, awaiting judgment from Nero, he writes this letter to the church in Philippi. In the same fashion, we are meant to reflect before a watching world what God's intentions and character are. Speaker: Tony Vis Scripture: Philippians 1:12-19 http://bible.com/events/49295510

We're talking about what forgiveness actually is, and what it ISN'T. Forgiving others who have hurt us isn't easy, and a lot of us were taught that it means forgetting the fault and harm done to us in favor of being in relationship with that person again. In reality, forgiveness often is not a once and done deal, and it will have to happen over and over. Like every spiritual practice, repetition i...

Here's a weird one to tackle before sabbatical! It's an odd little story about the Sadducees confronting Jesus with a question about marriage after the resurrection. Here are some things that I notice about the story that might be helpful. First, I notice that just like the Sadducees had questions, we also have questions. The thrust of this part is this: it's okay to question spiritual things. It'...

"Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD." He's asking for mercy - you only ask for mercy if you've done something wrong. So I ask the question: why do we even care about something written by some king over 2000 years ago? There are all kinds of things in this world that indicate it isn't what God intended it to be. The Psalm starts as a personal lament - then it turns into a national lament. What...

Jesus is sending out the disciples to do what they've seen him doing for some time now. But there's a danger here in taking his words too casually. When we put them within the context of the whole of chapter 10, they begin to carry a bit more weight. So if we read these words a little more deeply - and NOT a simply casual reading - here are some things I think we'll notice: 1) Jesus people are mea...

Without joy, there is little fulfillment in belief. Speaker: Tony Vis Scripture: Philippians 1:1-11, 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 https://www.bible.com/events/49275906

It's pretty clearly established that Jesus is a terrible salesman when he tells people to follow him. He has 4 conversations that challenge people with what he's selling. But what is he selling? 1) He's selling rejection and extreme patience. Jesus gets rejected by Samaritans - a bunch of people who believe different things about all the things. James and John want to call down fire from heaven to...