The Parish

GETTING TO LOVE | Jan Hux

Our image of God may have many layers created by a mix of happy and heartbreaking experiences, helpful and misleading teaching. But what if, after we scrape away all those images, what we find is love?

THE TOOLS OF LOVE | Aaron Holbrough

The idea that love is all we need isn’t wrong, it's just misunderstood.  It is time to open up this box and see what's inside.

EPIC TASK | Jan Hux

Today we look at Paul's take on God's work of bringing the kingdom of heaven - work that we are invited to be part of. It's an epic task but we'll find that the resources we are given are more than adequate.

SHINE | Aaron Holbrough

What enables us to Shine is not our diplomas or our successes but our time spent in the dark.

SALT OF THE EARTH | Jan Hux

Salting the earth is not an add-on to a list of things we need to do – it is the by-product when a community is flourishing, when it’s living life together in the Jesus way.

THE ART OF PONDERING | Jan Hux

As Mary returned to Nazareth after a tumultuous time away, she didn’t have pat answers or tidy explanations of what God was doing. But she had a heart full of memories and had acquired the skill of pondering them in a way that sustained and stretched her.

FOLLOWING A STAR BUT FINDING A SON | Aaron Holbrough

Sometimes you cannot take what you discover, but you can keep what is revealed. 

A GOD IN THE MANGER | Jan Hux

The Christmas story is ultimately a story about God, and what the shepherds discover on that wintry night in Bethlehem is a God Who is both infinite and intimate.

RETURNING HOME | Aaron Holbrough

You may not realize that Mary encounters two angels in the birth story recorded by Luke.  One gives her the courage to head to the hill country in Judea, and the other to return home.

OPPOSED OR PERSECUTED | Aaron Holbrough

It's one thing to say you are being persecuted because of Christianity, but it is a completely different thing to say you are being persecuted because of Jesus.  One enables you to flourish, the other has you criticizing coffee cups.

PEACE WITHOUT WALLS | Jan Hux

In our sadly divided world, peace has been reduced to the absence of conflict and is enforced with walls. But Jesus offers a better way!

A RENOVATION OF THE HEART | Jan Hux

Jesus announces the flourishing of those who are pure. But to get there we don't need to time travel back to an age of innocence - we need a renovation of the heart!

THE HOLY MATH OF MERCY | Aaron Holbrough

Mercy doesn't really add up....it multiplies-it's the Holy Math.

AN APPETITE TO FLOURISH | Aaron Holbrough

There are those who flourish not in the results of their efforts, but in their passion for it.  And the world is better for it.

MEEK is not WEAK | Jan Hux

Meekness has gotten a bad rap in contemporary life (probably because it didn't stand up for itself!) Seeing how Jesus exemplified meekness can give us a fresh, new perspective on the flourishing life of the kingdom.

THE MISFIT | Jan Hux

Flourishing are those who mourn, because they will be comforted.

BENT BUT NOT BROKEN | Aaron Holbrough

Flourishing are the poor in spirit because the universe of God is theirs.  
Here's the link to Nightbird on AGT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZJvBfoHDk0

AN INVITATION TO FLOURISH | Aaron Holbrough

If it feels as if you’re muddling through your days, looking at your life through a foggy windshield, you're not alone, and aside from not having a windshield, this might be part of our common humanity-And Jesus has something to tell us.