2000 years ago the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, and 2000 years later, we’re still asking the same question. Our hope for this series is that you would discover something new about prayer– that you might be able to experience God in a new way.
In response to recent events in Minneapolis, we as a church consider what faithful Christian witness looks like in moments of fear, violence, and public unrest. Drawing from Scripture’s consistent call to love the foreigner, honor the image of God in every person, and resist evil with good, we explore the Christian’s relationship to the state and the limits of political authority under God. Rather than offering policy prescriptions, we are called to courage shaped by Jesus—loving neighbors without exception, naming injustice with humility, and engaging the world through prayer, discernment, and suffering love.
We often confuse gratitude with positivity, treating thanksgiving as something to perform rather than a way of truthfully relating to God. In Luke 17, Jesus meets ten men in their suffering, and one returns in thanksgiving—not because everything is resolved, but because he recognizes who Jesus is. This return reveals that thanksgiving is more than acknowledgment of a gift; it is worship that trusts God’s presence even while healing is still unfolding. The invitation is not to deny pain, but to practice a gratitude that returns to God, holds suffering honestly, and receives the deeper wholeness Christ offers.
In a culture that is deeply spiritual but often wary of organized religion, we recognize that prayer can easily become detached from real presence and action. Drawing on Paul’s letter to the Romans in Chapter 8, we are invited to see intercessory prayer as more than words—it is a way of standing with others in their pain and bringing that pain before God. We see this calling fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the true mediator who intercedes for us and restores humanity’s original vocation.
In a season where prayer often feels confusing, disappointing, or out of reach, the disciples’ simple request—“Lord, teach us to pray”—remains our own. Jesus responds not with performance or perfection, but with an invitation into trust, presence, and relationship, addressing the barriers of disappointment, distraction, and discipline that so often shape our prayer lives. Through the Lord’s Prayer, we learn that prayer is both structured and flexible, honest and hopeful, rooted in God’s care for our daily needs and His desire to set the world right.
