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The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman might be described as a story that catches folks off guard – seeing something warm and human in an environment that is increasingly lacking in that element. Something akin to this … [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DANLg-hD29A]  How might you catch someone off guard today?

Worship this Sunday at The Table will be rooted in John 4.5-42. Read the full text here. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (John 4.7) Reflecting on your own childhood, who were the people or where were the places you avoided?  The Samaritan (think outsider) woman is the first person in John’s Gospel to whom Jesus reveals himself as the Messiah.  What is significant to you about this? How…

We pray in our weekly Kitchen Table gatherings for those places in our own lives and in the world that are in need of God’s healing, reconciliation, and hope. We also offer prayers of thanksgiving for the places that are experiencing redemption and new life. You’re invited to share your prayers in the comments section below. For prayer concerns, we hope you’ll follow the form of prayer inspired by O-So-So, the Korean song we’re using for our time of prayer…

The message from Sunday is now available on our podcast.  Visit this link to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or listen directly from our website.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3.16-17). William Willimon writes, God loved the world, loved so much that he gave. Not to condemn but to save, John says. Not to condemn. In the midst of…

This prayer is titled Lent in our United Methodist Hymnal #268: O God our deliverer, you led your people of old through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land. Guide now the people of your church, that, following our Savior, we may walk through the wilderness of this world toward the glory of the world to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen.

Worship this Sunday will be rooted in John 3.1-17.  Read the full text here. John 3.16 states:  For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Where have you seen this verse in public?  What feelings does this text bring up for you?  What questions does it engender?

Many of us gather each week in Kitchen Tables to watch over one another in love. Kitchen Tables are the primary place in our new community for sharing our prayers. We pray for those places in our own lives and in the world that are in need of God’s healing, reconciliation, and hope. We also offer prayers of thanksgiving for the places that are experiencing redemption and new life. You’re invited to share your prayers in the comments section below.…

Pastor Edward F. Markquart writes, [The] power of evil is trying to ruin your life, mess up your life, screw up your life, foul up your life, make you miserable, and make me miserable. You can call this power of evil by any name that you want. You can call him devil, Satan, Be-Beelzebub, or Lucifer. You may not like the biblical language like devil, Satan and Lucifer, so you may use contemporary language like the power of evil, The…

We begin our new worship series, Cross Purposes, this Sunday. This week’s reading will be Matthew 4.1-11.  Read the full text here. The reading begins, “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matt. 4:1-2). What has temptation looked like in your own life? What do you find most tempting today? How will you resist?

Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes writes, Jesus was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. — Luke 4.1-2 In Lent we enter The Forty Days. We are not walking a new path; we walk Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness. And in doing so we enter into the forty-day path of all the holy ones who came before him. So it’s a much richer journey than one of temptation alone. Along with…

Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes writes, Ash Wednesday Remember you are stardust, and to stardust you shall return. You are the ash of a great fire within a star. The star shines within you. You are the dust of the earth, given breath. The breath of God breathes within you. In fear you have shrouded that light, and led yourself by the darkness. In fear you have fled from the dust, only to cling to dust that has no breath. You don’t…