EMPOWER: A 6 Day Reading Plan

EMPOWER EVERYDAY DISCIPLES 

A 6 DAY READING PLAN

Day 1 - Creation

Reading: Genesis 2:4-15

BLESS Rhythm - BLESS

Intentionally bless someone today. In this specific passage we read that God breathed the breath of life into the man and the man became a living person. Who can you bless today with words that empower them and give them life?

Day 2 - Rebellion

Reading: Genesis 9:1-17

BLESS Rhythm - LISTEN

Take space to listen today. God is a God who confirms His covenant with a sign. As you take space, in what areas of your life do you need to recall the covenant and promises of God? 

Day 3 - Promise

Reading: 1 Kings 19:9-21

BLESS Rhythm - EAT

Invite someone to your table. Whether it is during a lunch break, dinner at home, or breakfast over the weekend. Think through how the gift of invitation, the art of meals, and the place of the table can be empowering to those in your life.

Day 4 - Redemption

Reading: Matthew 28:16-20

BLESS Rhythm - SPEAK

Read through this passage slowly. What spaces come to mind? Who does the Spirit bring to mind? How can you speak good news in that space or to that specific person today?

Day 5 - Church

Reading: Acts 16:6-15

BLESS Rhythm - LISTEN

Paul and Silas were sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit as they were on mission. Set aside 10-30 minutes of silence to listen. Repeat this phrase slowly… “Lord, I open my heart to you.” What do sense the Spirit speaking to you?

Day 6 - Restoration

Reading: Revelation 4:1-11

BLESS Rhythm - SABBATH

As you read this chapter in Revelation, remember that the worship you read about is not a some day but a current reality happening right now. As you rest today, behold God as worthy and glorious. 

What is my Role in God's Story? (pt2)

If that’s true…

then the question really does become- What Story Are You Living Out of?

Because, remember, everyone is living out of a story. None of us escape that reality.

We all have that set of assumptions about:

• What a good life looks like

• What’s wrong with the world

• What it means to be human

• Where all of this is going

And those assumptions are silently but steadily forming us. We feed those narratives with what we consume, the conversations we have, and the links we click- but even if we were to silence those streams of voices- there’s always going to be something or someone we orient our lives around.

So the question is not:

Are you living in a story?

The question is:

Are you living in the true story?

And this is where Scripture speaks with clarity.

From the opening lines of the Bible, God gives us a story.

Check back tomorrow and we’ll post a short and simple telling of The True Story of the World.

What is my role in God's Story? (pt1)

This is the first of a series of posts exploring what is our role in God’s story? Missio wants to see every man, woman, and child equipped to follow Jesus and lead others to do the same- but that only happens if we understand God’s story and see afresh our role to play in it.

In order to get to our role in God’s story though, we’ve got to start with some work below the surface. There’s a lot happening that we may not give voice to often, but like a good archeologist, we need to brush away the dirt and see what lies beneath the everday stuff of life we see.

On The Journey With You-

Kevin

Most of us don’t wake up thinking:

“What Story AM I Living IN?”

We wake up with “more pressing questions” don’t we? We wake up thinking…

• Is that my alarm already?

• What do I need to get done today?

• What’s on the calendar?

• Is that bill due today?

• Who left the ice cream out?

• What problems do I have to solve?

• Do I really have to go to school today? 

• Is the coffee ready yet? 

And without much processing, we start making decisions. Small ones. Everyday ones. Normal ones. But underneath all of those decisions, there’s a deeper current running and silently guiding those decisions. You are living inside a story and that story gives shape to your life. (Real quick, when you read story, don’t think fairy tale- think grand narrative that pieces together the big questions of life… Ok back to it.)

This story isn’t one we’ve scripted ourselves.

It may not even one we fully understand.

But make no mistake, It is shaping every, single decision we make.

And here’s an uncomfortable truth- If we don’t know the story we are in, we will naturally default to a smaller one than we were intended for. As one author says….

“I can’t answer the question what am I supposed to do, unless I’ve answered the prior question- of what story do I find myself a part?” Alistair McIntyre

Fun Fact: We all base our decisions on some set of presuppositions that we hardly ever consider.

Those of us who live in PHX know this in a pretty tangible way- we never check the weather when planning anything.  If you live elsewhere in the country- you check to see what the weather will be that day. You pack an umbrella, grab a winter hat, or plan your shoes based on if snow is coming- we never do that stuff. We assume that the weather will be warm or hot and sunny and go about our days.  (We also do stuff like give distance in minutes, not miles, “How far do you live from downtown Mesa?? Umm about 10 minutes.” but that’s a story for another day. Let’s keep going.)

The same is true of the stories guiding our lives. If your story is:

• I need to get as much as I CAN…

• I need to produce to have worth…

• I need to follow the rules for God to love me…

• I’m only valued if others approve of me…

• I need to look out for myself. No one else is coming to help…

Then your decisions will be (often intuitively) based on those assumptions about the world, what it means to be human, what’s wrong with this world, what can fix it, and what you are supposed to be doing with your time.

And over time, those lesser stories start to deform us.

When we start to get the life we’ve dreamed of in those stories we get prideful. When our goals gets blocked we can get depressed or angry. Those lesser stories lead us away from the truly flourishing life we were designed to have.  But it doesn’t have to be that way. Jesus’ claim was that he came to give “fully alive life.”

Track with me. Unlimited time on Netflix makes sense in one story, but stands in stark contrast to others. Moving in with your girlfriend / boyfriend only makes sense if you live in certain stories, not in others. Going into debt to get that dream vacation makes sense in one story, and seems absolutely ridiculous in another.

So Here’s what I want you to consider: 

What if the truest thing about your life is not what you’re trying to build, prove, or protect. Not your brand. Not your business. Not your relationship status. Not your family. Not your bank account. Not your political party. Not the size of your friend group. Not the square footage of your home. Not the trips you’ve taken. Not your time on Strava.

But what if it was the story God is already telling? One where you are deeply loved by God and have meaningful work to do in His world.

And what if your life actually makes the most sense when you take your place in that story?

Exciting A Kingdom Imagination: A Six Day Reading Plan

"A Kingdom Imagination looks forward to the restoration, allowing that vision to shape the contour of our lives today. It looks around at the brokenness of our world and imagines seeds of beauty, truth, and justice we can plant to seek the prosperity of our city. It looks back to the resurrection to remind us of the way the Kingdom has already broken into the here and now. 

So often we think of our imagination as make-believe, fantasy, oompa loopa type stuff with no bearing on reality. But our imagination can have powerful impacts on our real, ordinary lives. Consider the Artemis II astronauts; as children, they heard stories from their parents of watching Apollo crew members step foot on the moon. Their imagination was captivated so deeply that it set a trajectory for their own history-shaping journey around the moon. It filled them with motivation to do the hard thing, day after day, year after year, even when odds were slim that their vision would be realized. And when they accomplished their life goal, they came back changed by a new, imagination-shaping experience: seeing the moon with their own eyes, up close and personal. 

Kingdom imagination is similarly shaped by real history and a real future. None of us will likely ever go to space, but we have encountered the risen Jesus and will continue to see His Kingdom break into the here and now as we await its full arrival. So what if we let that reality captivate our Spirit-led imagination and shape how we live? How would our families, neighborhoods, and cities be transformed?"

Equipped : A Six Day Reading Plan

A New Creation Community is being equipped to take up their role in God’s Story.

God does not call a people into his story without also equipping them for their role in it. All across Scripture, that equipping takes shape as a deep reorientation—of vision, desires, and practices—so that a community learns to inhabit the God’s story as a faithful witness to God’s purposes. We see this in the garden with Adam and Eve, with the nation of Israel, with Jesus and his disciples, and even in Acts 2 with the first church. All through the story- God’s people are equipped to take up their role in the act of the story they are in.

We want to see all of Missio equipped to take up your role in God’s story. So we put together these 6 readings and practices to encourage you and excite you as you consider how you get to play a role in the unfolding Story of God!

Encouraging One Another: A Six Day Reading Plan

Every community has a sound to it.

If you listen closely, you can hear what shapes a people by what they say to each other. Some communities can drift toward critique or distance. Others carry a different tone. In a new creation community, the sound is the gospel.

We regularly come back to the good news of Jesus again and again. We remind each other who God is and who we are becoming because of him. We speak words that steady one another when life feels uncertain. This kind of encouragement is not just surface-level positivity. It is rooted in who God is, what God has already done and what He is still doing among us.

The Scriptures we’ve selected press us in this direction. Encourage one another. Build one another up. Speak what is true in Christ. These are not small suggestions, but they are practices that form a new creation people.

This reading plan is a simple way to step into that life together.

Each day, you will engage a passage that centers you in the gospel and a prompt that helps you pass that encouragement along. Around a table, in a quick text, during a walk, or in prayer, these moments begin to stack. Over time, they shape the culture of a community.

A people who sound like good news.

That is part of what it means to live as a new creation community. God is forming us together, and one of the primary ways he does that is through the words we speak to one another.

Encountering God: A Six Day Reading Plan

Happy Easter Season!

I’m so glad you are joining us on this journey of looking at what a new creation community is like. God’s new humanity isn’t just one thing, but can thought of as a multi colored mosaic that is made up of all kinds of people, giftings, and dimensions. We are going to take just a few of these tiles and begin to see a bit more clearly the sort of community God has called Missio to be.

First up is the that a New Creation community encounters the true and living God.

Let us not forget that the resurrection of Jesus reminds us that whether we sense God’s presence in a given moment or not- God is never distant from His creation, he has birthed a New Creation, is forming a new community, and wants us to continue to encounter Him as the source of life!

From what I’ve seen of Missio, most of us don’t need to be convinced that God is not far- at least not intellectually. But what we crave is learning how to recognize His presence experientally. When we do, we will find that God isn’t just in big, dramatic, carefully curated moments, but in the ordinary, everyday parts of life where we spend most of our time. God is a God who enters the everyday and encounters us as we walk through life.

The story of Scripture is a story of encounters. God forming humanity and breathing life into dust. God calling out to people who are hiding. God revealing Himself in the wilderness. God miraculously revealing himself. God stepping into human history in Jesus. God meeting people, transforming them, and sending them. And one day, God dwelling fully with His people again.

This reading plan was curated by leaders in Missio as an invitation to step into that story afresh. We don’t want to just understand facts about God and his story academically we want to participate in it more fully. So slow down. Pay attention. And respond. May we be forever changed as we encounter the true and living God together.

GUIDE:

Each day in this reading plan pairs a passage of Scripture with a simple BLESS Rhythm.. These are not just tasks to complete, they are ways of making space and living into the story we are meditating on.

So take your time. Stay present. And ask God to meet you as you move through the story. May you encounter the true and living God through his word, spirit, and community this week.

-Kevin-

Good Friday With Missio (Mesa)

The breath & the blood of Jesus, as they were expended for the sake of the world - things were changing. Come gather with us to view some specially curated Art pieces (Originally by Scott Erickson) as well as a simple liturgy of scripture, song, and art from 6-7pm.

* The art installation is open from 4-8 with a liturgy from 6-7pm. There is no kids specific environment, so we ask that parents keep their children with them for the duration of the gathering and. their time in the Missio space to allow all particiapants space to contemplate and worship.

God Moved in Reflection Guide

Friends,

Over the last few weeks we have been examining the life of Jesus through the lens of ‘God moved in.” That God took on flesh and blood and dwelt among us. Or as Eugene Peterson once penned in his paraphrase: The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.” We have been encouraged in John’s gospel to look at the life of Jesus and see that He is in fact not distant, but close. We see God moving into different spaces with the hope that as we take up our role in the story of God we can be encouraged to do the same. That is the hope of this reflection guide, whether using this resource solo, with your MC, or friends who friends that aren’t a part of Missio the hope of this guide is help you be encouraged by a God that moves towards us in love. Praying the spirit encourages you and puts into mind where God can be moving into the neighborhoods of your communal and personal formation. As we look to live as people that are formed by God, together, for the sake of others.

Camino de Phoenix - Silent Saturday

In the center of our valley, there’s a patch of small mountains tucked among the urban sprawl. Now, compared to the vast wilderness that surrounds the outskirts of our city, these mountains are pretty nondescript. The classic desert landscape along rolling hills that make way for a couple of taller hills that, technically, are mountains (trust me, I checked). Compared to the Superstitions out east, or especially the San Francisco Peaks up north, these mountains seem more like a dusty wrinkle along the surface of our great state. But this spot has actually become one of my favorite places in the world, and I’d like to invite you in to see why. 

While they don’t have the elevation, majesty, wildlife, or mystique of other ranges outside of town, these mountains do share one key ingredient that makes them special to me: quiet. 

In that central location in one of the largest and continually fastest growing metro areas in the US, I’ve found what seems like the rarest gift: silence & Isolation. A place where the only marks of urban life are the occasional plane overhead and the well-worn trail underfoot. Where the weekenders are speed-hiking Camelback & Piestewa down the street, these trails see only light traffic and bring you through small valleys that totally remove you from the fast-paced noise just a few hundred feet away. 

Sound interesting to you? Well then I have an invitation.

Along with our extended family at Missio Phoenix, we will be guiding a prayer walk/hike along the Camino de Phoenix on Silent Saturday, April 4th, starting at 8:00 am. 

The Camino was organized by the Spiritual Formation Society of Arizona as a pilgrimage in the heart of our city, a chance to make space for an encounter with Jesus along the way. Of course, we can experience the renewing love of God in any area of our ordinary lives (even the noisy ones). But this is an invitation to clear a few hours and cultivate your awareness of him while experiencing God’s creativity in our city and the desert wilderness. 

We’ll be upgrading the route by starting at the legendary Cultivate Coffee (you may have heard of it), then journeying down the AZ Canal Trail until cutting across through Dreamy Draw Recreational Area. The destination will be Canaan in the Desert, a prayer garden that features the Stations of the Cross. We’ll start in the city, journey through the desert, and end at the cross and empty tomb. Sign me up!

Some helpful information:

• Start: 8:00 am, Cultivate Coffee, 505 W Dunlap Ave UNIT E, Phoenix, AZ 85021

• End: Midday, Canaan in the Desert, 9849 N 40th St, Phoenix, AZ 85028

• It is about a 9 mile walk/hike. The Dreamy Draw portion is considered moderate.

• We’ll provide a printed map and prayer guide at Cultivate.

• There are restrooms and water fountains at the entrance to Dreamy Draw, about halfway through the walk. Bring lots of water!

• This is a one-way journey, so plan to leave a car at Canaan in the Desert and carpool to Cultivate. Kenny will provide a shuttle back to Cultivate for up to 12 people between 11:30 and 12:30. Text him to reserve a spot (623-297-6993). 

• Kids are welcome to join if they’re up for the physical challenge and the reflective atmosphere.

So, if you’re able, join us for a prayer walk/hike on Silent Saturday to encounter Jesus along the way, at your own pace.  Connect with Kenny if you have any other questions!

Lent 2026: Encountering Jesus On The Way

Lent is the forty-day road that leads us toward the cross. And it starts next week!

Over the next 40 days we will rediscover that the love of God is not abstract or sentimental but costly and dynamic in its expression. We will thoughtfully engage with practices, encourage one another in grace, and encounter Jesus along the Way. As a season, Lent asks us to walk with Jesus long enough to be confronted, to be exposed, and to be changed- and to ask the questions of loyalty, faith, and what we truly believe is a flourishing life. The colors around our gathering space will change from Gold (celebration) to Purple (Preparation) as we enter into this season together as a church family- and our prayer is that Missio will prepare our own hearts to experience God afresh this season.

Background

The historic Church has walked this Way for centuries. The forty days of Lent have traditionally been set aside for repentance and preparation. New believers were readied for baptism. The whole community practiced prayer, fasting, generosity, and self-examination. Participating in this season has never been a means to earn God’s grace, but these intentional activities clear space for us to receive it afresh. This isn’t a season to try impressing God with self-discipline or sacrifices, but to actively remember the path of following discipleship is not always easy, but it is with Jesus- and that is enough. Lent has always been a season of returning too. During these days we focus on Returning to the gospel. Returning to dependence on God. Returning to the meaningful mission of living for the sake of others. Returning to the way of Christ and encountering him in our everyday experiences along the way.

This year, we will walk Lent under one simple Phrase: Encountering Jesus on the Way. Here are the things we want to lead our MC’s and friends into and how we see each connecting to the journey of Lent.

LENT INVITATIONS

Sunday Gatherings

Throughout Lent, our Sunday gatherings will continue our encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John. Week by week, we will listen to his words, watch his interactions, and see how people respond when Light steps into the room and invites us to see everything differently now that He has arrived. God has moved in and we will continue to encounter him along the Way.

Ash Wednesday | 6am Gathering

We will begin early on Ash Wednesday (6am) because Lent begins with intention and an explicit expression of our need for Jesus. Matt and Ben will lead our community in receiving ashes as a sign that we are dust and that our lives are sustained by God’s mercy. Ashes have always been a mark of humility. A physical reminder that grace meets us honestly in the gritty realities of everyday life. A life that is always lived in the awareness that someday we will die.

This early morning gathering (6-6.45am) on Feb 18th is the first step on the road this Lenten season and we hope many from across our network of MC’s will be able to join us in downtown Mesa. (See video at end of post.)

A Forty-Day Fast

We are inviting Missio to consider a full forty-day fast.

Choose something personally, as a family, or even as an MC to lay down for the next 40 days. Fasting has always been a part of the life of the church annd exposes what we lean on and reveals how quickly we reach for comfort. Fasting retrains our desires and points us explicitly back to Jesus. Each time you feel an absence, let it become prayer. Let it turn your attention back to Christ. (Remember- This isn’t a sin you are stopping- that’s called repentance- this is a comfort or practice you put aside for 40 days to practice self control and rely on God.)

Fridays | Fasting From Food Together

On Fridays, we invite you to fast from food during the day as a community.

Each Friday we want to lead our community in remembering the cross. We want to let physical hunger teach us dependence. We will let discomfort draw us toward the One who gave himself for the life of the world. The one who called himself our very Bread.

A Practice of Generosity

Throughout church history Lent has also been tied to generosity. As we fast, we free up time, money, and attention. We do not want to keep that “extra” to ourselves, but allow the Spirit to open our imaginations to what we could do for the sake of others with the room we’ve made.. We encourage you to practice intentional generosity throughout these forty days. Give an increased percentage toward the work of the kingdom through Missio. Quietly support someone in need. Open your table and share your food. Share what you would have spent on going out to eat with neighbors. Be creative, and remember that generosity trains our hearts away from scarcity and towards abundance. (Feeding of the 5k anyone?) It reminds us that everything we have is a gift and aligns our lives with the self-giving love we see at the cross.

Lent Journals

Our Lent Journals will be available to help you walk the road intentionally. Scripture. Reflection. Practices. A companion for the journey. Anjelica beautifully designed these for last year, but they will serve us this year as well!

Good Friday Gathering (Time TBD)

Lent leads us to Good Friday- the day when we remember the brutal murder of Jesus and the world changing victory that it won. We aren’t sure the form yet, but we will definitely be having a Good Friday gathering.

Remember: Lent is not about stepping out of our everyday lives, but it is about encountering Jesus in them as we purposefully and proactively consider our apprenticeship to Jesus.

God has moved in.

Now we encounter Him Along the Way.

2026 Annual Report (Missio Mesa)

Here’s a snapshot of some of what we’ve been up to over the last year. We are grateful for your ongoing prayer, support, and shared work of following Jesus and leading others to do the same! The gospel is good news of Jesus and his kingdom- and it’s taking root in our midst!

Walking With Jesus Through the Gospels

What if we started this year walking with Jesus and letting him speak to us through His story?

There’s a lot of ways you can do this, but we are inviting our Missio Dei Communities family to walk together in a reading and response plan through the gospels to start this year.

Basically- There’s 89 chapters and 90 days in January- March and we want to slowly walk with Jesus and learn from him. Each day t

This is perfect for MC’s, families, DNA groups, or individuals who want to discover (whether for the first time or afresh) what it is to walk with Jesus in his kingdom way of life!

(if you are reading this and late to the party- no worries, you can double up on readings and catch up OR just join with us on the day we are on!)

First Priority of an MC Leader

The first priority of an MC leader is not making disciples. It is being a disciple. If we set out to do something for Jesus without first being with Jesus, we will eventually burn out, grow cynical, or worse, begin shaping people into our own image instead of his.

But when we follow Jesus by grace, grounded in his gospel, and responsive to his Spirit, we are changed. We grow. We are formed. And out of that life with him, he leads us into the work of making disciples. He always takes the lead in that work. Our part is to stay close enough to follow him, rather than trying to do for him what can only be done with him.

Make no mistake, Missio. Leaders in the church of Jesus do not sit safely on top of the pyramid above the community. They lead from the front edge, living the very life they invite others into. They taste the joy, frustration, and wildness of the Spirit-filled life first, and then call others to join them in following Jesus. You don’t have to be perfect, but you do have to be following Jesus. That kind of leadership is life giving. It is humble. It is costly. And it is drawn straight from the gospels.

Questions to Consider

1. Read the Gospel of Matthew. What do you notice about following Jesus from this telling of his life, death, and resurrection?

2. Have there been moments when you tried to make disciples out of your own strength rather than an overflow of abiding in Christ? What happened?

3. In your current season, is there anyone the Spirit may be inviting you to bring into shared formation, community, and mission as you follow Jesus?

4. Who should you forward this post to so the two of you can talk about it over coffee?

ADVENT 2025

I didn’t grow up observing Advent, instead Christmas day was where all the action

was supposed to happen. Looking back on this, I now see that without Advent,

Christmas falls extremely flat, like carbonated soda sitting out for too long. It wasn’t

until I started following the liturgical year in community that I realized the beauty of

Advent in its fullness…

-Ben

Here are some resources we’ve put together for our Missio Communities and friends to enter fully into this season of shared life together. Enjoy.

Advent: Waiting That Forms Us

Advent: Waiting That Forms Us

Advent slows us down in the best kind of way. It pulls us out of the rush of the “holiday” season and invites us to breathe, to notice, and to wait. We live in the space between what is and what will be, holding on to the promise that God is not finished yet. The story of Israel’s long wait becomes our story too. And while the world tells us to hurry up, Advent teaches us to linger. It invites us to let longing do its work in us and to let hope stretch our faith a little wider.

We learn to hope.

We learn to work towards peace.

We learn to experience Joy.

We embrace the reality that we are dearly and deeply loved.

For a community like ours, Advent is more than just a tradition on our annual church calendar. It shapes the way we live together on mission in the world. We are not just remembering the birth of Jesus way back when. We are announcing that God has drawn near and is still redeeming all things. Each candle we light for hope, peace, joy, and love is a quiet, yet visible act of defiance against the darkness around us. It is our way of saying to our neighbors and to ourselves that light wins and there is a final act of the Story yet to come.

Advent forms us into a waiting people, but it is not a passive waiting. Advent trains us to pay attention to the work of God that is already unfolding in our city, in our families, and in our lives. When we gather around the table or share a meal with someone who feels forgotten, we are living the story we celebrate, and holding on for the ending of the story we long for. When we choose a way of simplicity, thanksgiving, and generosity- We are declaring afresh: Christ has come. Christ is here. And Christ will come again.

That is the heartbeat of Advent.

This year may our hearts, our homes, and our MC’s lean into this season with eyes opened to what is and imaginations still brave enough to dream of what is yet to come!

Praying the Hours- November

This is our final set of prayers for our Philippians series. We hope you are able to find some quiet spaces in your day to pray the hours with us.

You are loved.

The Dark Sky of Complaining

Yesterday we posted about Paul’s call to the kingdom outpost in Philippians- that the “dark skies” of the culture they were in provided the perfect backdrop for “shining like stars” as they followed the way of Jesus and joined him on his redemptive mission in their city. It was a good reminder taken from our teaching on Sunday, but we’ve got a little more work to do in that text.

I also don’t want to miss this point: He succinctly and strategically points to a key symptom of lack of unity and trust- he pinpoints complaining and arguing. And he didn’t even have the internet. He knew from his experience in the Story of God and starting communities of light in dark cities, that one of the easiest ways to tell if hearts had drifted from their shared mission wasn’t the seemingly big activities of rebellion- it wasn’t how many murders were being committed in the church plant- it was often betrayed by the side conversations that happened. In modern times it was the side conversations out of the group chat. .

This is something we really need to pay attention to. In a culture where grumbling is commonplace- followers of Jesus are called to joyful dependence that God is at work even in the most miserable of situations. The good fruit, the light, the witness, comes as we experience those things and don’t give into grumbling or complaining. Paul wasn’t arbitrarily picking out sin- he was highlighting the commentary we get in the Pentateuch of how Israel often  responded in the wilderness “with grumbling.” This movement of their mouths betrayed the conditions of their hearts, and it will for us as well.  Grumbling and complaining is the opposite of the humble posture of Jesus and the pattern for the church. 

• Sometimes we call it “venting” 

• Sometimes we call it “just saying it like it is”… you know just quietly about a person instead of to them.

• Sometimes we call it “prayer requests” and spill all the tea - rather than just bringing it to the Father and trusting him to work. 

Paul would call it sin and say it’s to be avoided as the people of God.

In our MC’s and across our network of disciples our prayer is that we are a people who are lights in the darkness and who don’t snuff out that beautifully light with grumbling and complaining. 

• It may mean some texts go unanswered.

• It may mean some conversations go awkward when we call others (gently) to repentance.

• It may mean that we have to take an inventory of just how much complaining we may be participating in.

But following the way of Jesus leads to a full and flourishing life- one lived out of freedom and joy. And that will shine like stars in a dark sky!

Blessings this week as you continue to work out the implications of your salvation with a sober and awe-filled posture!

The Darker The Sky. The Brighter the Stars.

Back in 1958, the city of Flagstaff passed the nation’s first lighting ordinance to preserve the visibility of the night sky for Lowell Observatory. Decades later, in 2001, Flagstaff became the world’s first International Dark Sky City, setting the pattern for others to follow. Since then, places like Sedona, Fountain Hills, Camp Verde, and Tucson have all earned Dark Sky Community recognition, each one intentionally dimming its artificial glow so that we can still look up and see the stars. They understood a simple principle. The darker the sky, the brighter the stars seem.

That same image is alive in Philippians 2, where Paul tells the church to “shine like stars in the world, holding out the word of life.” He isn’t writing to people living in easy times, he’s writing to a small kingdom outpost in a dark and difficult empire. Yet Paul doesn’t tell them to curse the darkness; he calls them to shine within it.

Just as our dark sky cities limit excess light so the heavens can be seen, followers of Jesus limit our self-promotion and pride so that the light of Christ can be seen through us. We become living constellations of grace, ordinary people, saved by God’s grace and filled with his Spirit whose humility, unity, and love make Jesus visible.

The darker the sky, the brighter the stars.

The deeper the humility, the clearer the reflection of Christ.

The work of participating in God’s unfolding story, of responding to his grace as a community in a specific place and time, it’s going to take some purposeful activity- but it’s entirely worth it.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”[c]Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. Philippians 2.12-16

As God’s new humanity Paul was calling this kingdom outpost in Phillip to participate in something that God’s people have always been called to be- a light in the darkness. Whether it’s in Deuteronomy, Daniel, Isaiah or the words of Matthew- the people of God are called to respond to the work God is doing in them with lives that are lived to the glory of God and the good of their neighbors AND that is full and flourishing…

As we often see in Paul’s writings, Paul sees the church as people of a new Exodus. God had rescued Israel out of the Egypt of sin and death through the Passover action of God in Jesus, and now on the way home to the true and greater promised land, a restored creation. The good news of Jesus and his kingdom are words of life that guide the way this new community is to orient themselves in their cities, networks of friends, and families.

May we continue following Jesus with Joy this week- and may we faithfully follow the Spirit to take up our role in God’s unfolding story wherever he has us placed for his flory, our joy, and the good of those around us!

Praying the Hours (October)

Prayer in the hours is a way of letting Jesus set the pace of our days. When we pause in the morning, afternoon, evening, and night, we are reminded that our lives are not our own—we are caught up in His story. Celtic Christians prayed with the rising sun, in the midst of labor, at the table, and before rest.

In the same way, we pause at these times to remember that “our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…”