The Source Houston

We are struggling with the concept of joy in the face of something ending. And it’s not the ending we want, but it’s the ending we need. We don’t like change, but if you want to work towards the goodness of God, if you want to see that good ending, it takes being a person of purpose, love, and hope. Ken asks, “do I really hate endings?” Sometimes good endings catapult us to more joy! Sometimes the...

How many of us when we look at any institution do we say “I trust that”? The more people that are involved, the less we want to trust it. Institutional trust is at an all-time low. It’s a hindrance, not a help. In the meantime depression, anxiety, isolation is on the rise. Too many people are trying to do it alone - because it does not feel safe to do it together. Somehow we have to create spaces...

At the heart of what we struggle with, so many times, is that we do not believe transformation can take place. We don’t believe we can fix what’s wrong without money or power that we don’t have. We want to see transformation in our lives, we want to see change for the better. But we feel like we’re not in a place to make that happen. When we talk about abundance, we get uncomfortable. It’s all sur...

Nehemiah knew the immense pain that his people were going through, and so he sought to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Because he knew that if people are ever going to switch from a life of survival to a life that is thriving, they need a sanctuary. If we want to be witnesses to the deep love of God, we need to be a people who create sanctuary. Nehemiah 2:9-12a, 15a, 16-20; 4:1-9, 13-15 fmhouston.c...

As the church prepares for a massive vote on the future of the church, Lance returns to the Book of Acts and the story of Pentecost. “When we talk about membership in the church, it comes from this passage,” he reminds us. “We are part of one body.” God is calling us to a Pentecost moment, to be all together, one body, one movement, a light shining brightly on a hill. “Movements begin with faith,...

Lance often is asked for things by his children that aren’t the best for them, and after turning them down for a long time, he’ll allow them to discover the downsides for themselves. Free will comes with choices. But it doesn’t shield you from consequences. When God tells that He knows the plans He has for us, sometimes it doesn’t feel like good news. Sometimes it’s not exactly what we were hoping...

When I hear the words “good news,” it feels good, doesn’t it? At the church, we love it. When we say “good news,” what does that mean? The idea of good news as something perfect, as paradise, feels good to say. But if we’re honest, something that feels good to say doesn’t make the world not gray.’ How often does the bad news weigh so much heavier than the good news? Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 fmhouston.c...

Ken doesn’t stay up for New Year’s Eve anymore. But the year has begun, and he’s not going to lean in with a soft start. And the scripture today isn’t a soft scripture. Every time we think about this star, we think about the journey of the wise men, but Herod saw something different. Herod saw a threat. Matthew 2:1-12 fmhouston.com

The shepherds waiting in the field were at the bottom of society. They were the forgotten, the unknown. They had no reason to believe that they rated a grand announcement of the birth of the Messiah. Sometimes, we wonder, “is the light of Jesus really here?” The shepherds got their answer in a dramatic fashion, ours may be more understated - but the answer for both of us is the same. The shepherds...

Peace is something we often say that we want. But how often do we chase after it? How often do we define peace by the terms of idleness? Yet idleness is something we’re very uncomfortable with. How often when we’re being called to be patient, we really don’t want to hear that word? How often do we confuse patience with idleness? James 5:7-10 fmhouston.com

In your early childhood, you learn to deal with anxiety, and that learned response carries over through your whole life. We think that the solution to anxiety is in our personality, but these things are formed for us long before that. So now, what do we do? Maybe dealing with anxiousness is not about our learned response, and it’s something deeper than our personality. Maybe there’s something that...

Righteousness is one of those words where we’ve lost its significance. It’s so far out of reach we put it out of our minds. But Paul is telling us there is no difference between righteousness and love. To live justly is to live rightly. To live justly is to love steadfastly. Look outward. Yes, it’s about Christ in you, but the question you should be asking is “how is Christ in them?” Philippians 1...

As we journey to hope, sometimes that can be complicated. Hope is one of those things that feels good to say, but when we look for it, can be hard to find. It’s so easy to believe we can’t. How many things get in the way? Plus, Ken tells the story of getting ripped off at the Alamo. 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 fmhouston.com

What if someone came up to you and said ‘you’re one of them ’?” We build places of trust and belonging based on the idea that there has to be a them . But what we’re doing is distancing ourselves in order to feel a little safer in this world. Faith in Jesus, being one in Christ, is something so much bigger than an ‘us and them’ reality. Galatians 3:23-29 fmhouston.com

Today’s message is from the Book of James, and that means that Ken is continuing his lifelong goal to get the church to love the Book of James as much as he does. James 2:14-26 fmhouston.com

Nothing can stop the story of the love of God. Not even a fire alarm. Mark 12:28-34 fmhouston.com

As we hit the crest of this political season, it’s easy to just pick a bad guy, or to not care about what happens. Unfortunately, our faith, whether you want to believe it or not, is super political. Politics is just part of what it means to be human. But Ken wants to be very clear: the ethic and life of Christ does not begin at the ballot box. That’s not where faith begins. Faith begins with peop...

What does it mean for us to be grounded in God through Christ? The writer of today’s scripture highlights this three different times, to let us know that being grounded is not just important, it is intrinsic to our being, it is the foundation of all things. 1 Corinthians 3:5-23 fmhouston.com

Ken went for a hike with some friends, and came across a massive tree, deeply rooted. And wondered what it would be like to be such a tree, with roots deep in the ground, fed by a babbling brook. To relate to it, he tells the story of Jeremiah, who is struggling to be a prophet of God. Because prophesy has never about prediction, it has always been about purpose. And what Jeremiah wants to see is...

We have spent the summer walking line-by-line through the Apostles’ Creed, trying to learn and understand our faith. And now, that we’ve come to the place to live it. If this is where we have rooted our entire lives, are we proclaiming it? Mark 8:27-30 fmhouston.com

Sometimes it’s just important to take a look. And this is going to be a “take a look” Sunday. Today’s sermon is about the resurrection of the body, and that’s a tricky subject to answer questions about. Because we can understand what the resurrection of the body meant then - but what does it mean to us today? 1 Corinthians 15:12-14, 20-23, 35-50 fmhouston.com

Kathrin Meier, the director of Neighbors In Action, an organization that works in Port Houston, a 97% immigrant community that is 98% low income, visits The Source to talk about what it means to partner with a community in need. “We think we take Jesus to the poor, but we really find him there.” Ken follows and continues the message. Matthew 25:31-40 fmhouston.com

When we talk about forgiveness, it stirs us up, right at the very the heart of things. It reminds us of the forgiveness we need, and the forgiveness we need to give. And those who feel like they don’t need to ask for forgiveness tend to elevate themselves over the people they view as worse. How do we talk about forgiveness without stirring up feelings of shame and guilt? Matthew 26:26-29 fmhouston...

Continuing our series on the Apostle's Creed. fmhouston.com

When we study the Holy Spirit, we often we try to narrow it down and make it so simple, that we miss out on the best parts. But the truth is so much more robust than we can imagine. The Holy Spirit shows us that our God is not a distant God. He advocates for us. And even in the darkest hours, where we feel isolated and alone, the Holy Spirit is with us. John 14:15-20, 25-26; 15:26-27; 16:7-15 fmho...