Wesley Foundation at MSU

Week 3 of delving into the book of Philippians.

Joy = grace recognized

Rejoice = being glad because the grace you recognize

The genius of God's way is that he designed our relationship with him to depend on what he did in Jesus instead of the best that I can do.

"I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." Philippians 3.12

A look into what we are keeping locked away from God and letting him in through the lens of Philippians Chapter 2 with guest preacher Will Rambo for the Orchard Tupelo.

1.) We want God to speak to us through his word.

2.) We want to learn to feed ourselves spiritually and to fall more in love with his word.

Colossians 2:7 — Join in the conversations that happened at Rooted Retreat in February! This episode includes Night 2 of worship by Black Voices Gospel Choir of MSU, Billy Stone, and teaching by Leanne Burris. 

Colossians 2:7 — Join in the conversations that happened at Rooted Retreat in February! This episode includes Night 2 of Seed Talks by Caroline Philips, Olivia Moore, and Wes Schrickel. 

Colossians 2:7 — Join in the conversations that happened at Rooted Retreat in February! This episode includes Night 1 of worship by Billy Stone and teaching by Leanne Burris.

Colossians 2:7 --- Join in the conversations that happened at Rooted Retreat in February! This episode includes Night 1 of Seed Talks by Rocky Shack, John Foster, and Paulette Buford-James.

We're all searching for a home. Somewhere we are known and belong to above all others. So how do we find it? We'll be looking into John 14 and what Jesus has to say about how we can come home. Join us!

Prayer - "Your prayer life is at its best not when you're praying about big things occasionally but when you're praying about small things continually. At its best, prayer is a living conversation with God. Before there was any sin or suffering in this world, there was prayer. We're told Eve and Adam walked and talked with God in the cool of the evening. So, prayer isn't meant to be the solution to our problems - it is that, also - but the satisfaction of our relationship and intimacy with God." [Pete Greig]

Worship happens when, through giving all we have to God, we meet Him in our hearts. Jesus says in John 4 that we are able to worship Him in Spirit and truth - but what exactly does that mean? Listen in to learn more!

"Throughout history, God has moved in mighty ways in particular seasons. You might know of these times as times of awakening. We believe it is His desire to do that again through our emerging generation. So the question is - are you awake?"

Gaslighting is a term you hear in the context of relationships. It's an action taken against someone - so how does that happen? And what can we do to stop it?

We’re unpacking two more terms of our time loaded with meaning and impact—truth and toxic. One we might want to pump the brakes on, and the other needs to be applied liberally.

Whether it was in a light conversation with a friend or printed on a book cover, you’re probably familiar with the term ‘triggered.’ It’s become a common descriptor of the state of being for us today, but what does it really mean? This week at Worship, we’re going to look at Exodus 2, an experience that would change the course of life for Moses and an entire people, and what it has to say to us when we find ourselves triggered.

John the Baptist is famous for saying, “Jesus must increase, and I must decrease.” The Message gives a fresh take on these words: “This is the assigned moment for Jesus to move to the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.” [John 3.30]

This week at Worship, we’re studying John 3.22-36 and taking a look at what it means for me to decrease and for Jesus to increase in my life. What if surrender, submission, & self-denial are actually the way to make the most of your life?

Luke 3-4, When college feels so much like a wilderness, how can we survive it and even thrive in it like Jesus did when he spent time in his own wilderness? The quick answer is found in what happened to Jesus right before his wilderness--and it can happen for us, too. Abiding in Jesus' identity leads to abounding in Jesus' faithfulness. 

2 Corinthians 9 - so you've been abiding, but what does it mean to abound? What exactly is it that's abounding? And who's doing it?

Two verses [John 15.5 & 2 Cor 9.8] and two words can make all the difference in the way 2023 plays out. Two simple words – in the right order. So which is it? Is it abound & abide? Or abide & abound?

Christmas Worship '22

Is it all hevel? Or is there more to the story?

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11. Hevel is our current reality, but it doesn't have to be our destiny. What if it's true that we're made for beauty and eternity instead of meaninglessness? 

A study of Ecclesiastes-Where can we find joy in a world filled with uncertainty? 

John 20:19-22 "When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit." 

From the very start of his ministry, Jesus is clear about his focus. Jesus is obsessed with, focused on, oriented around the huge idea of the Kingdom of God. When we follow Jesus, his focus becomes our focus...his obsession becomes our obsession...his priority becomes our priority. But what is the Kingdom? How does someone like me get in? And what do I do when I'm part of the Kingdom of God?

Mark 3:13-15 With Jesus. Jesus radically wants to be with you. His love for you knows no boundaries and his desire for a relationship with you has no limits. Jesus comes to be with you so you can be with him. 

Has God ever called you to something that you've never done before?  It can be intimidating because the unknown is scary.   It can feel overwhelming because you may doubt yourself and your abilities.  Let's take a lesson from Joshua and his calling while also looking for wisdom on what to do when we're on a road we've never been on before by looking at what God tells the Israelites to do through Joshua.  

Isaiah 59:8 paints us well by saying, "They don't know where to find peace."  Though this was written about a different people group, Isaiah's words speak to the landscape of our culture today.  Within so much hate and division alongside worry and fear, we are people in need of peace.  We long for more wholeness and peace because we were made from wholeness and peace.

Made for more: relationships.  One area of life where we often experience less than we're made for is our relationships.  All kinds of relationships, from family and friends to romance and roommates.  Created in God's image, we have the capacity for the same two adjectives that describe God's relationships -- holy and love -- to describe our relationships.  When it comes to relationships, what are your adjectives? 

Made For More: Meaning, Connection and Wholeness.  We long for more because we're made for more.  the Bible describes us human creatures as being made in the image of God.  That explains a w hole lot about us.  It explains our Creator's original design for us, and it explains our longings, like why we ache for a purpose, why we crave connection with others, and why we hunger for wholeness.  This image of God thing means that we're made for more than we're probably experiencing.  It means we're made for a meaningful purpose, connected relationships, and satisfying wholeness. 

Two big ideas from Luke 9.51-62:
1/ Jesus was stubbornly determined to do his mission for our good. 
2/ Jesus calls us to follow him with the same kind of resolute determination.  His path led him to the cross and beyond. Ours does, too.

Do you ever feel scattered kind of like tumbleweed? The nature of a tumbleweed is that it gets blown all over the place and it's not rooted in anything.  In Colossians 2, Paul gives us five ways to put down roots in the love of God reminding us that what we are rooted in matters. 

What does extravagant love look like? How does knowing that we are extravagantly loved call us to love extravagantly?  

What makes a bold goal bold is not that it’s your daring attempt to be your best version of yourself. We’ve tried that before, right? What makes a bold goal so bold is that it’s God’s audacious vision for your life. Tonight’s Bold Goals: Build something that’ll last (Luke 6.47-48). Live with power and purpose (Acts 1.8).

We’re coming up on our two-year Coronaversary. We’ve been limping along, locked-down, living our least life now, struggling through grief and sickness, and dealing with quarantine and isolation. But even in the middle of it all, we can partner with God and pursue his Bold Goals for us.

Over the next two weeks, we’ll take a look at four Bold Goals to make the most of the life we’re living. Tonight’s Bold Goals: 1/ Faith that amazes Jesus [Luke 7.1-10]. 2/ Growth that makes me all God created me to be [2 Peter 1.2-11].

Come to know and see Jesus for who he is in our waiting and the consolation of a hope well placed

“Waiting on God” while placing hope in Him instead of in what we are waiting for.

Pause. Rejoice. Ask. Yield. Our teaching series on How To Pray wraps up with a look at what it means to yield or surrender to God in prayer. One way to put it is "He must increase, and I must decrease."

At Worship,  we're in the middle of a teaching series on prayer based on the Lord's Prayer and the acronym P.R.A.Y. -- Pause. Rejoice. Ask. Yield.  This week, we're talking about asking.  "Prayer means many things to many people, but at its simplest and most obvious, it means asking God for help." (Pete Greig, How To Pray) Sometimes we're asking for help because of our own needs (Give us today our daily bread). Sometimes we're asking for what others need (Your Kingdom come).  Sometimes we don't get exactly what we ask for (Your will be done).

I’ve come to the conclusion that most people’s biggest problem with prayer is God.  They envisage him scowling, always disapproving, needing to be placated or persuaded in prayer." But Jesus says something completely different. The God to whom we pray is extravagantly kind, the father of the prodigal who comes running toward us with arms flung wide, whenever we approach him, wherever we’ve been, whatever we’ve done. [How To Pray, Pete Greig] 

The word P.R.A.Y. is our How-To-Pray outline.  Last week we learned that prayer starts with a PAUSE. Tonight, R is for REJOICE, because adoration focuses our prayer on the character of God. 

"Lord, teach us to pray." Lk 11.1

Keep it simple, keep it real, and keep it up.  That's pretty good advice about how to pray.

We all have our go-to set of answers to the question “how are you doing?” One answer that we like a lot: “busy.” 

How are you doing? Busy. 

We are doing busy? Is that even a sentence? Apparently it is. But God calls us to something different: stillness. Tonight, we’re looking at Psalm 46. 10 and asking this question: what kind of stillness do you need? Hope you’ll join us for a moment of stillness and worship tonight!

"Our hope isn't necessarily that good will eventually come, but that good is already happening.  Our hope isn't that God will one day work in our lives, but that he is already working." 

Hugh wraps up our "Worship" series on a teaching from 1 Peter!

This week at Worship, Katie teaches the beauty of worship through singing.

When it comes to worship, we have two basic options: Attend worship or embody worship. Guess which one Romans 12.1-2 cheers us on to choose!?!

This week at Worship, Hugh speaks on what grace upon grace means from John 1:16.

The faith-and-action of four friends was the catalyst for Jesus’ miracle of healing and forgiving a paralyzed man. The faith-and-action of the four friends challenges us to live a thriving life that bridges the distance between a broken world and the ongoing miracle of Jesus’ healing and forgiveness. It’s time for us to thrive like that!

When life crowds in with all its pressures, there is still room for us to creep up behind Jesus — if that’s all we feel we can do — and reach out to touch him, in that odd mixture of fear and faith, believing that his presence will change us. Sometimes Jesus brings a miracle and other times he meets a need always leaving us with a deeper peace than when he found us.

Two deaths…two socially un-distanced touches…two miracles…two lives restored…and an invitation to you to leave death behind and to live like God made you to live. This week at Thrive -- How Jesus' death-to-life miracles can change the way you live and die.

Jesus wouldn’t have been very good at social distancing in a pandemic! Isolation and separation would’ve hit him hard. Physical distancing would not have come easily to Jesus. The story of Jesus is the story of a man who was with people – sometimes in crowds, sometimes with small groups. Jesus frequently touched people. And there was power in his touch! In many of his miracles, Jesus broke all the coronavirus rules and touched someone.