The Source Houston

As we draw our series on The Lord’s Prayer to a close, Pastor Sylvia wants us to recognize how important it is for us to resist the temptations that trouble us. And in order to resist those temptations, the most important thing we need to do is pray. thesourcehouston.org

Ken is concerned that Church might have lost its vision: The Lord’s Prayer offers a glimpse of what the world is going to be - and it’s a vision in conflict of what the world envisions. thesourcehouston.org

Ken confesses that he is finding it hard to find hope in the world around us. But he is reminded of how the solution is always surrendering ourselves more fully to a God who created and cares for us. We are a people obsessed with control, but God leads us to a greater truth. thesourcehouston.org

1 Peter 5:1-4 One of Jesus’ defining characteristics was his humility. It was more than just a passing trait - For Jesus, “being humble was literally a death-and-life situation.” The closer Jordan looks at Jesus’ humility, the more she unearths our need to match that humility in our own lives. thesourcehouston.org

1 Peter 4:12-17 We have a habit of glazing over our own suffering when talking to others, or dismissing it because “others have it worse.” But your suffering matters. It is valid. And God cares about all of the things that hurt us and keep us up at night. However, suffering can refine us. If we let it, it can bring us closer to God. fmhouston.com

YouTube Notes: 1 Peter 3:8-12 As Timb takes his last chance to preach, he has a lot of hot takes, including why he hates the Bible, why you shouldn’t try to be a better person, and why he might be the Christian Batman. But his focus, ultimately, is on how we treat others. “My hottest take is gonna be this: God cares more about how we treat people than what we know. No one’s getting to heaven on pe...

This week The Source pastor Ken Coneby dives into chapter 2 of 1st Peter. The Chosen Stone and His Chosen People 4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained...

thesourcehouston.org 1 Peter 1: 13-16 Pastor Jordan Dives deep into first Peter. Jordan goes on to explain How we can be more Hopeful, More non conforming, and more holy.

Micah 6:7-8 Micah understands that justice and mercy are wholly the possesion of God. Being the people of God means letting Him lead you in all that you do. We are called to be a refuge. That is the Church's job. We are called to be something different. "No group in the world, no faction, no country, can escape the brokenness of humanity." fmhouston.com

Jordan tells the story of a woman she knew who found ways to give back even when it seemed like the world had given her nothing. There is unnecessary suffering in this world. It is our job to do something about it. God has gotten us this far with his generosity - we need to find the generosity to give back. thesourcehouston.org

God has called us to use our gifts, but Ken highlights the two things that we need to be aware of that keep us from using them. thesourcehouston.org

On a weekend in which we celebrate freedom and justice, we can look back at Scripture and see how God has guided humanity towards this from the very beginning. fmhouston.com

Some of us are uncomfortable with the word “prophet.” But prophets are not people who have power, but people who rely on the message of God. We need to be able to rely on that message the same way. Our call is to be a place of refuge from the brokenness of this world. God has given us gifts to share in community together. Because it is not a place that is the presence of God, it is in a community...

On Father’s Day, Ken looks at the way God loves us, and the way he’s finding he doesn’t measure up. As he looks at the period where the Israelites built the temple; Ken speaks about worship, and the false dichotomy of the old and the new. We make the old and the new our idols, and we lose sight of the whole purpose. thesourcehouston.org

As we exit the pandemic, there are many of us who are ready just to forget what happened and move on. But this is a powerful moment we should not let pass by: how do we step forward well and allow God to take the lead? In Joshua, the people of Israel are leaving the wilderness and entering a new land. As God pulled back the waters of the Jordan to allow them to cross, Joshua had the people get sto...

Ken digs into Jesus' words in Matthew 22 to show us that we just need to be a part of what God is doing in this world. As we embody the love of God, the more we find hope. fmhouston.com

Mandy considers her spiritual gifts, remembering that while her gift is teaching, she used to hate standing up in front of large groups. And yet, today she is preaching! She reminds us what Paul reminded the Corinthians: everyone has a spiritual gift - and all gifts are created equal. thesourcehouston.org

It is Donyale’s last podcast, and the group talks about the year of ministry that followed George Floyd’s death – the way their approach to ministry changed, and the need to be a church calling for justice. It’s a reconsideration of faith in politics, and call for faith in politics. The Ask Me Anything Podcast will be on a brief hiatus, but will return with new co-hosts later this summer! In the m...

Ken gets glasses to deal with eye strain and, as glasses do, they give him a little clarity. When Paul writes the Book of Romans, he's writing about the clarity he’s found. Paul is all about the Spirit. He believed that the central pursuit of the Christian life was living from the Spirit of God. Just knowing the law is not enough, we must commune with God. fmhouston.com

On a very loose podcast, the group tries to answer what to do when you feel you need your faith back, and how you're doing better than you think you are. This podcast sounds undedited, but trust me, it is very edited. Ask us a question! fmhouston.com/ama

The book of John starts with connecting Christ to Genesis, so that from the very beginning he can show the enormous magnitude of who Jesus is. We have been designed to be lost in the grandness of God. But even though we are impossibly tiny by comparison, “smallness does not mean insignificant.” thesourcehouston.org

A follow-up question about the New Jim Crow podcast series asks if the conversation about black imprisonment is perhaps too one-sided. The group… does not agree! Ask us a question! Fmhouston.com/ama.

Chapter Five brings us to a fitting bookend for our series, as the whole book has called us to a life of action. The verses remind Donyale of a Twitter hashtag: #nomorethoughtsandprayers - a call to people to bring about concrete action, not vague feelings. James was also bringing a similar mindset against those who said “go in peace,” yet did nothing to stop the problems of the day. But James als...

As we wrap up our discussion on Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow” with Trinity United Methodist Church, Kenneth Jackson returns to the conversation to address the problems of trying to address a system built to consistently, repetitively keep people down. It leads to a discussion about what the church – and what we, as individuals – are required to do by our love of Jesus and willingness to...

When it's time to plan a new sermon series, Ken always pitches the Book of James for a sermon series. Ken remembers a time when his father taught him how to lose control when driving in the rain - and learn how to regain control from the experience. Often, we try to gain control in our lives through selfish desires, or envy. But the truth is, we are often not in control of most of the things in ou...