St. Paul's Church - Willington, CT

This week we took a break from our parables series as we were joined by our missionary partners, Evan and Chelsey Burgess. Evan brought a message on the meaning and significance of the word "Gospel" - a word that we use frequently but might not fully understand.

Jesus told three parables in a row about lost things being found. A lost sheep. A lost coin. A lost son. We considered what these parables reveal about what God is like, and how they call us to live.

Jesus told a parable about some people who were invited to a party, RSVP'd yes, but then gave lame excuses for not coming at the last minute. This week we considered how this parable is a warning, and what it reveals about the grace of God.

People call someone a "Good Samaritan" if they do a good deed for a stranger. But is there more to being a "Good Samaritan" than that? If we look at Jesus's parable, we find that the common definition of a Good Samaritan leaves out an important aspect of what the Samaritan represents.

Last week when we concluded the Galatians series, we paid special attention to Paul's exhortation: "Do not grow weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we don't give up." Similarly, Jesus also used the analogy of a harvest to describe the results of God's teaching working in our lives. In his "Parable of the Four Soils," he warns us that there are things that can harm...

Today we finished our Galatians series by looking at Paul's concluding commands. These commands, given to help a messed up church develop a healthier community, are just as relevant for churches today as they were then.

Mike Distefano, the Director of Faith and Justice Initiatives at Amirah, joined us this week. Using Jesus' words in John 15, he encouraged us to seek the true source of well-being.

This week, guest speaker John Vampatella showed us how one detail in Scripture (the disciple Simon's identity as a "zealot") can give us wisdom in divisive times.

Paul described three modes of life: (1) Life under the Law, (2) Life in the flesh, and (3) Life in the Spirit. Our minds can shift from one mode to another, sometimes multiple times in a day. This week we identified the signs of each mode, and how we can live more in the Spirit.

In this next section of Galatians, Paul reminds us of four essential qualities of a healthy Christian faith.

We had intended to have a guest speaker this week, but had to cancel service last-minute because of ominous weather reports regarding Hurricane Henri. Instead, Pastor Ryan offered a livestream reflection on John 2, when Jesus turns water into wine. Trust that "the best is saved for last"!

Galatians 4:8 - 4:20 reveals several things about how things are, including the fact that the Church has always had to struggle to be what it is meant to be. But Jesus said that the gates of Hell would not prevail.

Paul said that when the Holy Spirit dwells in us he cries out: "Abba! Father!" What does that mean? There are two main ways to think about yourself: (1) As an orphan in the universe, (2) As a child of the Creator. Jesus taught us to embrace the second option.

Part of the Bible records the Law God gave Moses. In Galatians, Paul argues that obedience to this Law is not necessary for being part of the family of God. But if that's the case, what was the point of the Law? How should we view the parts of the Bible that contain the Law today?

On missions: what our mission is, what should motivate it, and the joy of seeing it unfold.

On one of Jesus' hardest teachings: the cost of being his disciple.

In this next part of Galatians, Paul appeals to both the Galatians' experience and to the Scriptures to combat the false teachers.

This week we continued our series on the Book of Galatians by looking at Paul's confrontation with Peter: one apostle publicly rebuked another. Why? And what can we learn from the confrontation?

This Sunday we began a new series on Paul's letter to the Galatians. Of all Paul's New Testament letters, Galatians might be his angriest. But when we consider what made Paul angry, it may be his most encouraging letter, too. Paul was defending the Gospel from false teachers. This morning we identified what their error was, and why that error was so important.

An essential part of spiritual health is a regular intake of truth. The average American takes in 12.2 hrs of media a day, but how much of that media is actually the kind of truth that our souls need?

Most of us want to be a part of something more significant than our own individual happiness or success, and if we're not we languish spiritually. Today we identified three ways to describe the mission Jesus calls us to, and how we can start living with a greater sense of mission.

We continued our Dry Bones Rising series by considering the importance of fellowship: What is fellowship, really? Do church services really matter? As the threat of COVID diminishes, is returning to physical churches important?

14 months ago life changed. After all this time of pandemic life, many of us are feeling spiritually dry. Over the next few weeks, we'll be considering practical steps we can take to "come to life" spiritually. This week we started with the topic of prayer. Our spiritual vitality is directly connected to our relationship with God, and without communication there is no relationship. We identified f...

One time, Jesus said something so upsetting a crowd immediately tried to throw him off a cliff. What got them so upset? We identified the root of their rage, and what it teaches us about humanity.