99 CHURCH

Many of us in the church struggle to live with a healthy, holistic, anxiety-free vision of our sexuality as it relates to our spirituality. But how does God actually feel about sex? And how are we called to engage our sexuality as a follower of Jesus? This week, we explore what sexuality is and how it is a vital part of our spiritual formation.

We all want to be happy. We all want to live fulfilled lives. The problem is, we often misunderstand what will bring us true happiness. Jesus tells us that happiness comes from generosity. That is, when we give ourselves, to those we love. This week, we explore the fourth and final movement of becoming the Beloved: Given.

We are all wounded people. To be human is to experience pain and suffering in life. Usually, our knee-jerk response to pain is to avoid it, or deny it, or distract ourselves from it. But as the Beloved, we are called to claim and embrace our brokenness. What if brokenness is just as intimate a part of our being as our chosenness and our blessedness? This week, we explore the movement of brokenness...

What does it mean to be blessed? When we think about the people in our world who are most blessed, who do we picture? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus radically redefines what blessing means and who are truly the blessed ones. This week, we dive into the second of four movements in our journey of becoming the beloved: blessed.

Deep down inside, there's a part of us that longs to be picked, chosen, and in essence, seen, known, and loved. To become the Beloved, we first have to know that we are chosen. Long before our parents, our friends, our peers, or anyone in our world picked us, we were already chosen by God. But how do we live from our chosenness? How do we embody it in our everyday lives? This week, we dive into th...

With every new year comes new resolutions. But instead of forming resolutions around activity, what if we formed them around identity? Instead of asking, "What do I want to do?" we asked, "Who do I want to become?" This week, we look to writer and theologian Henri Nouwen, to guide us on our journey of becoming, as we center our lives on one word that captures the heart of our faith: Beloved.

When most of us read the story of Zechariah, we assume that his muteness was a punishment for his unbelief. But what if silence wasn't a punishment from God? What if it was a gift? What if silence is an invitation for us to experience God in greater measure?

Many of us have lost the wonder of the Christmas story because we've sanitized all the humanity out of it. We don't see the fear in the eyes of a Middle Eastern teenager dealing with an unplanned pregnancy. We don't picture Mary hunched over the side of the road, throwing up because of morning sickness. We don't imagine baby Jesus, fresh out of the womb, covered with goopy fluids, blood, and hair....

There is faith after doubt. We conclude our Falling Upward collection by talking about some helpful ways to get us started on our journey of rebuilding and reconstructing our faith.

In the last decade, the term "deconstruction" has spread through the church like wildfire. And depending on who you talk to, or how your social media feed is curated, that's either a good thing or a bad thing. Deconstruction has become a buzzword, that often says more about the person using it, than what it actually means. What is deconstruction? Is it something to be feared or embraced? This week...

In the wake of another volatile, polarizing election, many people are feeling anxious, sad, angry, and troubled. But often times, church seems to be the last place we want to go when we're carrying these things. Perhaps it's because we've lost confidence that the church can be a place where we can mourn and sit in our sadness without someone trying to rally us out of it in the name of Jesus. This...

The Kingdom of God doesn't come pre-assembled. It's built up brick by brick, stone by stone, person by person. Paul says we are living stones, building up the house of God. What does it look like to be a living stone? This week, on this very special 6-Year Anniversary Sunday, Pastor Mickey shares his heart for our community in this season.

Sometimes, we make the mistake of thinking faith and certainty are the same thing. But there's a kind of certainty that becomes the opposite of faith, even a sin. It's the kind of certainty that needs to desperately hold onto our pre-conceived beliefs about God, rather than being open to what God is doing or saying. This week, we continue exploring doubt, as we talk about the sin of certainty.

Many people who enter seasons of doubt often feel like they're outgrowing faith. But what if you're not outgrowing faith, but growing out of one stage of faith into another? This week, we explore Brian McLaren's "Four Stages Of Faith Development," as we try to make sense of our journey through faith and doubt.

We don’t talk much about doubt in the church. Yet, the reality is, many followers of Jesus wrestle with doubt every single day. Doubt is often seen as the opposite of faith, but what if it’s actually a key component of faith? What if doubt isn’t an enemy of faith, but a companion of faith? This week, we begin a new collection of teachings exploring doubt, and how it can actually teach us more abou...

Ephesians 6:10-24 We conclude our journey through the book of Ephesians by wrapping up our exploration of the Armor of God. How do we stand firm in the face of life’s circumstances? How do we defend ourselves against the attacks of the enemy?

Ephesians 6:10-24 Have you ever found yourself unprepared? Paul closes his letter to the church in Ephesus with an exhortation to be prepared, standing firm against the schemes of the enemy by putting on the armor of God. This week, we explore the significance of these pieces of armor and what they represent in our lives of faith.

Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-9 This week, we explore the passage in Ephesians about submission, slavery, and patriarchy. If there was any passage in the New Testament that looks like a walking red flag, this is it. But what might we find if we look past the surface? Is there a way of understanding this text within its context that helps breathe life into our lives today?

Ephesians 4:25, 29-31; 5:6 In 2016, Christian alternative band King's Kaleidoscope released a song that stirred up controversy among Christians, leaving fans divided. On the song "A Prayer," the F-word was used two times. Christians were outraged and it sparked an interesting conversation in the church about language. Is cussing a sin? What does Scripture say about profanity? Or on a deeper level,...

Ephesians 4:26-27 Anger is a something we all experience, yet rarely talk about. Especially in the church. We think that Christians aren't supposed to get angry, so we end up suppressing our anger in the name of Jesus. But anger untreated, almost always causes us to make a mess in our lives, leaving a trail of destruction and casualties along the way. How do we deal with anger in a healthy, mature...

Ephesians 4:17-32, 5:1-20 As we walk through life, how often do we find ourselves reverting back to our old selves, living as who we were before we were made new in Christ? In today's passage, Paul exhorts us no longer walk in our former identity, caught up in the ways of the world. But how do we put on the new self? How do we allow resurrection life to flow through us?

Ephesians 4:11-16 When we think of the word “ministry,” we tend to think of it as something reserved only for those work in the church. We see the calling of pastors, missionaries, and worship leaders, as more sacred and holy than the calling of baristas, coders, and artists. But all of it is sacred and holy to God. Ministry is the birthright of the entire body of Christ, which includes all of God...

Ephesians 4:1-16 How do we grow up in faith? How do we mature into Christlikeness? In today’s passage, Paul drives home the point that you can’t be spiritually mature alone. God’s answer for our immaturity is the body of Christ. But how do we cultivate spiritual friendships that help us grow? This week, we talk about the types of friendships we need in order to mature.

Ephesians 3:14-21 One of the core questions we must ask ourselves on our journey of faith is: How do we get what we know about God in our heads down into our hearts? In today's passage, Paul models for us a way to pray that helps us not just get the Gospel known, but get it lived.