Trusting God is not always easy, especially when life feels uncertain or promises seem delayed. Belief is just the beginning—trust is what transforms our lives Pastor Mia shares stories of Abraham and Jesus to illustrate how trusting God's promises, even when they seem impossible, leads to abundant life and spiritual growth. She encourages us to practice spiritual disciplines like worship and community, which help us stay alert and open to God's work in our lives. Ultimately, trusting in God's care allows us to live with confidence, readiness, and joy, knowing that God shows up for us always.

God’s treasure is worth everything we have, and God’s kingdom is already among us, waiting for us to receive it with open hands.

In the Parable of the Rich Fool, Jesus warns us to "Be on your guard against all kinds of greed" (Luke 12: 13-21). Greed, like all sin, is sneaky. We don't decide to be greedy. We slide into it with justifications.

We want things and money, often because we believe they'll provide security. However, things and money aren't the problem. The problem is within us. We allow things and money to get in the way of being rich toward God. Greed isn't an ecomonic issue. Both poor and rich can be greedy, and both poor and rich can be rich toward God.

Greed blocks us from trusting God and that behavior is nothing new. Pslam 49, from thousands of years ago, addresses trust in wealth and trust in God. So does Paul's letter to the Colossians, written just a few years after the resurrection. Paul portrayed greed as idolaty. Instread of trusting God to save us, we put our trust in something else.

Building trust takes time and it can be destoyed in moments, so we're naturally suspicious. In reality, we can't survive without some level of trusting. Pastor Mia reminds us that Scripture includes story after story of God keeping promises. God has always been faithful to us, even when were were not faithful to God.

An animated movie and the baptism of Jesus have something in common. Both are about change. The film "Inside Out" portrays the emotions of a young girl who moves to a new city, and Jesus's baptism was the beginning of a transformation that prepared people for the change of the coming Messiah.

Dealing with change is difficult and uncomfortable. Change can cause some of the emotions portyed by the characters "Inside Out" movies, including sadness, fear, and anger. When we change, we trade the certainty of how things are now for the uncertainty of what will be different.

Change is necessary for long-term survivial. Two businesses, Eastman Kodak and Blockbuster Video, were both worth billions of dollars in the 1990s. However, both filed for bankruptcy years later, because they didn't adapt to the growing use of digital photography and streaming video. Churches need to adapt as well. The COVID pandemic was the catalyst for the widespread adoption of livestreaming Sunday worship.

In addition to businesses and churches, adapting to fulfill the goals of the kingdom of Heaven is necessary for Christians. Those changes include implementing routines of Sunday worhip, daily prayer, community service, and being ready to share your faith story. This week's guest speaker, Patrick Miesen, reminds us that although those practices aren't easy, they're worthwhile. Faith pushes away things that provide short-term gratification in favor of things that are long term and meaningful.

The one constant in the universe is change. This week, Pastor Mia helps us understand how we were made for change. God created us to be moldable, like clay, to be shaped and reshaped. Neuroplasticity, the ability to rework our brains by building new neural connections, makes spiritual growth possible.

Change is constant, and so is God. As God molds and shapes us, we change but God remains the same. This theory is fundamental to understanding how prayer works. When we pray, we don’t convince God to do what we want. Instead, God has given us the gift of repentance which makes change possible.

With repentance, we can turn toward God by changing our hearts, our minds, and our ways. Go allows us to repent again and again and again. This is good news for all of us who mess up. It’s not complicated. When we go astray, we can start over. What matters is that we walk in the right direction, toward God.

On Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate the beginning of the human community called the church. This journey started when Jesus’s apprentices, the disciples, were filled with the Holy Spirit and became the apostles who went out to preach.

Today, the journey continues with us and the places we will go. Despite the rewards, faith journeys aren’t always without challenges. One of the difficulties is the realization that the destination constantly seems out of reach. The more we learn about God, the more we realize the day we know it all is never going to happen in this life. In this moment, we need to understand that God is found in both the journey and destination. God has been there all along—we need to realize it.

Part of a faith journey is constant change and constant reformation. One of the first changes after Pentecost is described in the Acts of the Apostles when Peter stated, “God shows no partiality.” Peter realized God accepts people who were not of Jewish descent, God accepts the people who worship him, and God accepts the people who do what’s right.

Peter’s realization was big moment in the church’s metamorphosis. Pastor Mia reminds us that there have been more transformational moments since then and more are to come. Every wall we build to separate ourselves, God will bring down.

Mark’s Gospel tells the story of four people tearing a hole in the roof of a crowded building so they could lower a paralytic down to Jesus for healing. They didn’t do the healing, however, they were essential to the story.

Healing for the paralytic was an urgent matter for the four . They couldn’t wait for Jesus to finish preaching to the crowd—they needed to get the paralytic to Jesus immediately. Their faith and creativity caught Jesus’s attention. He forgave the paralytic’s sins and gave the order to, “take your mat and go home.”

During the encounter with the paralytic, Jesus had a mission to forgive and to heal. He still has the mission to forgive and heal. Today, the forgiveness and healing is for each of us.

This week, Pastor Mia highlights an important theme in the story of the paralytic. With Christ’s healing, we can emerge from darkness like a butterfly leaving the cocoon and taking flight. To fly, we must be dedicated to our own healing and we need the help of others to make it possible.

Carrying a rock on the Camino de Santiago became a powerful symbol of letting go—of burdens, grief, or sin. As I journeyed, I realized the rock I needed to release was my hyper-vigilance, a habit born from years of living in an unsafe home environment. Though it once served a purpose, it had become damaging, and God made it clear it was time to lay it down. Letting go is never easy, even when we know it’s necessary. It requires deep trust that God will be present and faithful as we step into the unknown.

The transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly offers a vivid image of this process. As a caterpillar, clinging to the branch is survival; as a butterfly, letting go is the only way to soar. The spiritual life is much the same: we must release what no longer serves us, even if it once kept us safe. The mantra “gulp, leap, soar” captures this journey—pausing to breathe, taking the risk, and discovering that God’s faithfulness holds us up. Until we let go, we cannot experience the freedom and strength God has prepared for us.

The Israelites, freed from slavery, struggled with the uncertainty of the wilderness. They longed for the familiarity of Egypt, even though it meant bondage. God provided for them in new ways—manna and quail—teaching them to trust in unfamiliar freedom. We, too, often resist change, preferring the comfort of what we know, even if it limits us. Yet, the only way forward is to trust God and step into the unknown.

When Jesus rose from the dead, the whole world changed and there was no going back. The disciples who followed Jesus knew things would never be the same after the crucifixion, but they didn’t see the future clearly. When they encountered a stranger on the road to Emmaus, their eyes were opened. At that moment, the disciples discovered Jesus is Lord.

This week, Pastor Mia highlights the ways in which the disciples’ journey to Emmaus mirrors our faith journey. The disciples prayed together, and today Christians practice faith in community at Sunday worship, Bible study, and singing together. The disciples also ate meals together. Communion and fellowship are part of today’s worship experience.

On the road to Emmaus, the disciples experienced a mysterious encounter with God. Perhaps you’ve had a vision or a strong experience with God. Furthermore, Jesus opened the disciples minds to understanding the scriptures. The stranger the disciples encountered chastised them for looking for the God they wanted, instead of the God who is. We are no different.

For the disciples, faith was not the arrival but the journey. It is the same for us. When a stranger joins us and a truth is received, our lives are changed.