The Well Church of the Nazarene

This month we've been focusing on Psalms, using them to fill in the blank: "I have a reason to sing because ______." The goal is to remember that while life may not be perfect, we have a reason to sing. This week we're looking at Psalm 56. "I have a reason to sing because... God gives life.."

In this week's edition of The Podcast (for lack of a better name for now), Josh, Mara, and Paul expand on Sunday's sermon by discussing what it looks like to live a lifestyle of forgiveness.  Forgiveness is a common theme in the Psalms. What role did forgiveness play in David's identity as a man after God's own heart? Are there conditions to forgiveness? How important is confession in our relation...

It's easy to get lost, right? Even with a GPS. In regard to navigating life, however, how do we choose God's direction? What does that look like? And when you decide to change direction according to God's will, does that mean you have to go back and undo or fix every wrong single turn you've made in the past? No!  God's given us his Word. His direction. What we have to do is make the next right ch...

This month we're focusing on Psalms, and using them to fill in the blank: "I have a reason to sing because ______." The goal is to remember that while life may not be perfect, we have a reason to sing. This week we're looking at Psalm 119. "I have a reason to sing because... God gives us good direction."

The Psalms invite us to sing, to praise God, even when life's not perfect. This week's focus teaching centered on Psalm 23, in which we've been able to explore some of the many parallels between a shepherd and his sheep and God and his people.  Watching this discussion between Mara, Josh, and Paul, you'll learn a lot about sheep you may not already know--a lot of which we can relate to. It can be...

This month we're going to focus on Psalms, and using them to fill in the blank: "I have a reason to sing because ______." The goal is to remember that while life may not be perfect, we have a reason to sing. This week we're looking at Psalm 23. "I have a reason to sing because... God is with me during every period of my life."

Our praise may look different in different seasons, but nothing that we're going through--good or bad--changes who He is. We always have reason to sing. This week, Josh, Mara, and Paul look at Psalm 139, which we talked about on Sunday along with the idea that God fully knows us and loves us anyway. This psalm isn't unique. There are all kinds of songs throughout scripture that demonstrate the dif...

This month we're going to focus on Psalms, and using them to fill in the blank: "I have a reason to sing because ______." The goal is to remember that while life may not be perfect, we have a reason to sing. This week we're looking at Psalm 139. "I have reason to sing because God fully knows and loves me."

This week was the conclusion of our Amazed series, where we've talked about the life of Elijah. It's important to remember that it's not necessarily Elijah himself that was particularly amazing, but what God did in and through him. Pastors Josh, Mara, and Paul recap the highlights and takeaways from this series in today's discussion. Elijah waits, he listens, he goes, he finishes. What does a life...

God's vision is bigger than our vision--and He will finish what He started.

As we're going through this series, we're seeing how God works through his people in some amazing ways. One of the many things Pastors Josh, Mara, and Paul discuss this week, is how there are times we need to wait and rest in Him, and times when God's calling us to go. How do we know the difference? God doesn't want just our strengths and your gifts. He wants our weaknesses--even our failures. How...

God often speaks best when we are at the end of ourselves. Expect the unexpected!

[Quarantine Service] We serve a God who wants to be known. The work of Elijah the prophet wasn't just to tell the future, to proclaim the truth--it was to show and share God. He wants us to go, to move with Him. In our going, in doing the right thing, we draw the attention of others toward a God who is at work. When others see how we move, they see how God moves. Can people see God in and through...

We're looking into the life of Elijah this month, a prophet God used to interact with his people in amazing ways. But a lot of times we find Elijah at the mercy of others. This week's story demonstrates God's providence in our lives, and how he gives each of us what we need, day by day. The widow in 1 Kings 17 is yet another example of an ordinary person--a Gentile, widowed woman--that God uses in...

In the life of Elijah, we see 4 characteristics that are important if we want God to move in amazing ways in our lives: how to wait, how to go, how to listen, and how to finish. This week, we're exploring how God invites us to wait on Him.

Wisdom ultimately brings wholeness to the community. 

Wisdom is living in the right relationship with all aspects of our life. Proverbs 3:6 begins, "In all your ways, acknowledge Him..." God wants to be in the midst of our life, not separate from it. It's east to see that we need a right relationship with God, but we also need right relationships with others, with self, with our community, creation, systems, etc.

What does it mean to be wise? It's not about degrees or position. It's not even necessarily about age and maturity. Wisdom begins with God. God gave Solomon wisdom, but he didn't fully apply it, and as a result the kingdom was split in two.  Wisdom is more than knowing the right things to do. It's applied knowledge. It's right living that leads to right relationships. Are you seeking wisdom? Are y...

It has been an epic summer, and today we're discussing our takeaways from the last sermon in this series (from August 30), which was more or less a continuation of the story/lesson from last week. Most of us are pretty familiar with the story of Esther, but we want to explore more of Mordecai's role as a guide in her life. After all, without Mordecai, her story may have been significantly differen...

Concluding our "EPIC" summer series with today's sermon on Mordecai, the guide. Guides are necessary to join God's epic story. Are you serving as a guide? Modeling a right perspective and right action, inviting others to find their place in God's story? Are you listening?

In this second-to-last week of our Epic series, we've been talking about the life of Esther and more specifically, the phrase "such a time as this." How do you view where/when/how God has placed you in the world? What if you saw every thing you do, every circumstance you face, as having been put somewhere "for such a time as this?" Are you prepared to seize your moment(s)?  Bryan, Mara, and Paul t...

Esther is, in many ways, faced with the same issue as King David: Things aren't going as expected, and not only are the Israelites in exile, there are individuals seeking their destruction. Esther finds herself in a position of influence. She must carefully navigate her position to protect God's people, and rely on the counsel of others. But ultimately, she must seize the opportunity she's been gi...

Paul, Mara, and Bryan discuss last week's sermon re: Daniel in today's series discussion. 

Israel is still in exile, though we're several years past the days of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Once again persecution comes because Daniel will not go with the flow. He refuses to worship the king, and openly worships God. He's led to the lion's den, and once again God intercedes. The point of the story is this: whether God intercedes or not, we will worship only God.

In the sermon Sunday August 9, we talked a little about "Rack, Shack, and Benny" (a.k.a. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), and their part in God's epic story. Today, Pastors Josh, Mara, and Paul discuss ways the time we're living in now mirrors some of this time period when the Israelites were in exile. What does it look like to live faithfully in exile? How can we intentionally seek the welfare o...