Awaken Community

This week we begin a new series focussing on moments throughout scripture of significant transition. Pastor Micah start our series by looking at the instructions and encouragements that Jesus gives to his disciples in the final chapters of Mark's gospel: Love one another, remain in me, and take heart.

Pastor Micah finishes our series going Beyond the Map by looking at Acts 10 and the story of Peter and Cornelius. In this encounter, Peter is directly confronted with the definition he has been given of what it means to follow God, and called to walk beyond it into a new, more inclusive, definition.

We welcome Benny Roberts, Executive Director of Halle Q. Brown Community Center, to share with us today. Benny speaks on Romans 12 and Paul's comments that, in light of all that God has given to be in relationship with us, giving all that we are in-kind is simply the most reasonable course of action.

Guest Speaker Tom Albinson joins Awaken to discuss Acts 18:1-3, when the Apostle Paul visits one of the Jewish people that were forced to leave Rome. Tom shares stories from his work assisting refugees and invites us to consider how the greatest commandment can help us stay rooted in the work of seeing those displaced persons around us and abroad as our beloved neighbors.

Pastor Micah observes Acts 4:32-5:11 when Ananias and Sapphira drop dead for withholding resources from the community. He explores some of the reasons we might hold ourselves back from participating fully and vulnerably in sacred community.

Pastor Micah continues an exploration of Acts by looking at a moment where Peter and John face imprisonment for healing a man at the temple. How might our perception of power and authority shift when we consider how Jesus and his followers interact with the leaders in the temple?

Awaken begins a new series called "Beyond the Map" where we will explore places in scripture where the Spirit seems to be leading the followers of Jesus outside their categories for understanding God into a more expansive way of thinking and behaving. Pastor Micah starts with Pentecost Sunday and Luke's reworking of old stories in a new context.

Pastor Micah discusses the another aspect of faith that can be helpful along the journey; the practice of being WITH Jesus. In Mark 3:7-14, Jesus calls his disciples to “be with him” and THEN he sends them out. How do each of us uniquely experience the divine? Micah invites us into a practice of being present with God in whatever ways are most accessible to us.

Pastor Micah explores Luke 24:13-35 and the moment the disciples become aware of Jesus presence in their midst. They are made aware because of their lived experiences with an embodied Jesus, not because they had all the right answers about God. This is the life of faith - taking one next right step, in community, leaning on our past experiences, in the hope that healing and incarnation will draw close to us in our walk.

Guest speaker Stephanie Spencer visits Awaken again to discuss the concept of justice by looking at a plumb line and how it is used in tandem with a measuring line and a cornerstone to build structures in the ancient world. How do these simple building tools help us understand what it looks like to reconstruct our spiritual lives?

Pastor Micah discusses the parable of the mustard seed and the fact that this particular plant was considered a weed. How might this context change the way we view the journey of faith...and weeds.

Pastor Micah continues the series by looking at Numbers 2 and the tabernacle to understand the importance of living in connected community. People gathered around the tabernacle in a circle wherein they could see the one another face to face with the spirit of God between them at the center. They would bring whatever they had to offer with a glad heart for the sake of the collective. How might we do the same?

Awaken begins another series focused on rebuilding the foundations of faith after an unburdened series that unpacked unhelpful ideas within the evangelical tradition. Pastor Micah kicks things off with a discussion on sin and brokenness.

Pastor Micah delivers his final Easter message by looking at Jesus as the last scapegoat, breaking the cycle of redemptive violence that has become so normalized throughout human history.

Awaken's Director of Spiritual Formation, Cathy Solomon, delivers a refreshing exploration of the ways comfort has been used within white evangelical religious spaces as a means of avoidance. What does it look like to enter into discomfort for the sake of spiritual growth and connectedness to ourselves and our neighbors?

Pastor Micah unpacks the consequences of American Exceptionalism and Colonialism embedded within the Christian church. What does it look like to unearth, address, and let go of colonialism within our religious context?

Pastor Micah discusses yet another major belief in modern western christianity, the rapture. He unpacks what it is, where it's found in scripture (if at all), and how it gained such a significant following. By looking at the real world implications of such a belief, Micah encourages us to let go of escapism and be reminded of partnering with God on this earth here and now.

Pastor Jenna and Micah are co-teaching for the first time in Awaken's history on the impact of purity culture in the evangelical landscape. They unpack the shame and guilt that came with viewing our bodies as sinful first, while inviting us to consider what it would look like to let go of the binaries that exist within that framework.