July 2026 Messages
SERMON SERIES: VINTAGE VIBES
PAST SERMONS (OVER FOUR DECADES) REIMAGINED FOR MODERN LIFE
July 19, 2o26
My Worst: Best Moments
Our mission is to use our resources—both tangible and intangible—to minimize human suffering and enhance human well-being. This is godliness to us.
We live out this mission by faithfully stewarding the Six Holy Currencies—relationships, time/place, gracious leadership, truth, wellness, and money—engaging in a continual cycle of blessings through listening, learning, relating, and sharing so that our collective resources may bring healing, justice, and flourishing to others.
The “Jesus Before Christianity” series addresses the crucial need for clarity about what it truly means to follow Jesus Christ, beyond the label “Christian.”
“Go, tell His disciples and Peter…”
· Our choices are not wise
· Our judgment is not clear
· Our emotions are not steady
· Our decisions do not reflect our destiny
· Our behavior does not match our belief
But God allows grace to our failure. It is the moment when, even though we are not at our best, other people are at their best for us.
My “worst best moments” taught me this essential truth: God often reveals divine presence through human presence through human care, human mercy, and human companionship.
May we never forget the gift of those who stayed and become that same presence, that same grace, that same mercy, and that same companionship for someone else.
There are moments in life when God does not prevent the fall instead, God provides someone to catch us. Grace often shows up wearing the faces of people who refuse to let us fall apart alone.
There are seasons when God does not stop the storm instead, God sends people who sit with us until the winds pass.
There are days when God does not erase the consequences instead, God surrounds us with those who help us walk through them with dignity.
June 12, 2o26
The Gospel of Safe Space
Our mission is to use our resources—both tangible and intangible—to minimize human suffering and enhance human well-being, This is godliness to us.
We live out this mission by faithfully stewarding the Six Holy Currencies—relationships, time/place, gracious leadership, truth, wellness, and money—engaging in a continual cycle of blessings through listening, learning, relating, and sharing so that our collective resources may bring healing, justice, and flourishing to others.
The “Jesus Before Christianity” series addresses the crucial need for clarity about what it truly means to follow Jesus Christ, beyond the label “Christian.”
Luke 18:16 “Jesus, said suffer little children that come to me. For such is the kingdom of heaven.”
Luke 18:16 “People brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. “Let these children alone. Don’t get between them and me. These children are the kingdom’s pride and joy.”
Luke 18:16 “Some folks started bringing their children to Jesus to bless them. His students jumped on them for it. Jesus then gathered the children around him and said, Let these children come to me and don’t get in their way, for such is God’s movement.”
- Protected from emotional, social, or physical harm
- Received without judgment or pressure to conform
- Honored in their God‑given differences
- Free to express needs, limitations, and strengths
- Supported in their growth, healing, and belonging
A safe space is not merely the absence of danger it is the presence of dignity.
- God Chooses Our Beginning; We Must Honor Every Story
- The Children We Receive Shape the Church We Become
Worship has always been about making space for God and making space for God has always required making space for God’s people.
· When we welcome differences, we are worshipping.
· When we protect difference, we are worshipping.
· When we honor difference, we are worshipping.
· When we create safe space for difference, we are worshipping.
- “Safe spaces are built when we honor stories, we do not fully understand.”
- “A safe space is where difference is not managed but celebrated.”
- “Safe spaces are not accidental; they are the result of intentional love.”
- “A safe space is where no one has to fit a mold to belong.”
- “Safe space is what happens when the gospel becomes relational.”
- “The kingdom Of God looks like a circle with room for every story.”
July 05, 2o26
The Question That Won't Leave Us Alone
Our mission is to use our resources—both tangible and intangible—to minimize human suffering and enhance human well-being. This is godliness to us.
We live out this mission by faithfully stewarding the Six Holy Currencies—relationships, time/place, gracious leadership, truth, wellness, and money—engaging in a continual cycle of blessings through listening, learning, relating, and sharing so that our collective resources may bring healing, justice, and flourishing to others.
The “Jesus Before Christianity” series addresses the crucial need for clarity about what it truly means to follow Jesus Christ, beyond the label “Christian.”
“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? “The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven.”
· Some questions are not meant to be solved they are meant to be carried.
· Some questions disturb us because they are shaping us.
· Some questions unsettle us because they are growing us.
- Answers don’t always come wrapped in clarity.
- Answers don’t always silence the question.
- Answers don’t always close the book.
- Sometimes an answer is not a conclusion, it is a direction.
- Sometimes an answer is not spoken, it is lived.
- Sometimes an answer does not remove the mystery, it reveals the purpose.
This question is not a dead historical echo. It is a living, breathing, prophetic summons. It is God tapping us on the shoulder, shaking us awake, pulling us into purpose.
Psalm 11 gives us permission to name what we feel without shame. It tells us that faith is not the absence of fear faith is the refusal to let fear have the final word.
The church has lost its way because we were taught to measure righteousness only by:
- sexual purity
- abstaining from alcohol
- avoiding “worldly” entertainment
- what you smoke
- what you wear
- what you listen to musically
- strict dress codes
- modesty rules
- church attendance
- emotional restraint
- “looking saved”
- “acting sanctified”
- and staying away from anything that might “ruin your witness”
Matthew 23:27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.”
- how we treat the poor
- how we confront injustice
- how we advocate for the vulnerable
- how we tell the truth when lies are profitable
- how we resist systems that crush people
- how we love our neighbor in public, not just in private
- how we stand with the oppressed even when it costs us
- how we challenge unfair laws and inequitable structures
Nine Prophetic, Pastoral, and Practical Responses to the Question That Won’t Leave Us Alone
- The righteous stand firm and not powerless — we are God’s steady people in an unsteady world.
- The righteous hold truth — refusing fear, refusing falsehood.
- The righteous choose integrity — courageous character when compromise feels easier.
- The righteous protect the vulnerable — becoming shelter when systems fail.
- The righteous speak holy boldness — confronting injustice without being consumed by anger.
- The righteous build community — refusing division’s attempt to scatter us.
- The righteous pray with discernment — eyes open to what God is doing even when the world feels chaotic.
- The righteous rebuild broken places — one act of mercy, one word of truth, one step of courage at a time.
The righteous remain unshaken — we do not flee, fold, or freeze; we become living testimonies that God still reigns and still works through those who trust Him.
