Awaken Community

Pastor Micah wraps up the Awaken Values/DNA series teaching about justice. He used examples of injustices from current day alongside what scripture says about justice from the very beginning in Genesis through Amos and the new testament to educate, illustrate and stir in our church what his hopes are for us as we step into this value.  

Continuing our conversation about the DNA of Awaken, Worship Arts Director, Melody Olson, share about true beauty. She illustrates the difference between how culture defines beauty and how scripture invites us to see beauty. 

We enjoyed a word from Pastor Dave Johnson, formerly of Church of the Open Door, this Sunday. He spoke about what it means to be awakened - what it means to wake up to who you are, whose you are, and why you're here.

Continuing our conversation about the DNA of Awaken, Pastor Micah delves into the practice of hospitality. When we provide hospitality, we let others know we've been thinking of and planning for them. And this invitation is open to all of us - we're all able and responsible to be involved in our own way.

Week 3 of our DNA/Values series - Pastor Micah discusses the value of Authenticity by studying the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel.  As the first woman in scripture to take her struggle with infertility to God, we learn a lot from Hannah about what it means to be authentic in our lives and spiritual journeys.

Carrying on the series started last week, Pastor Micah introduces our next value here at Awaken: Holistic. In his message, he answers these three questions: What is holism? Why is it important? And what are the implications of a holistic approach to faith and spirituality?

This week, Pastor Micah launched a new series refining the values we hold here at Awaken. First and foremost, we value Jesus. In his message, Micah answers the question "If Awaken truly values Jesus, what would that look like?"

Guest speaker Stefan Van Voorst brought a wealth of his everyday experiences to illustrate the importance of connection. What does it look like in the context of culture today? And how does viewing it through the lens of our faith change or emphasize that? The slides Stefan used can be viewed here: PDF or PowerPoint

In the second and final part of the Reconciled series, Pastor Micah continues the conversation about what it looks like to be a reconciling church. Our goal as the Church should be to continue the reconciling work of Jesus on the cross - "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." (Colossians 1:19-20).

Guest speaker David Bailey, founder of Arrabon and Urban Doxology, challenged and encouraged us to be faithful fanatics of Jesus, leading us to become the reconciling Church.