As a good Father, God knows that rest is in our best interest. Not only that, but it also brings Him glory as it shifts our focus from our own strength to acknowledging our dependency upon Him. 

As 2026 nears, I hope you will lean in and get curious about how we might actually be transformed in Christ. Rather than a monumental change in our church practices, I hope this is a small, one-degree shift for our community. That by adjusting the ship one small degree – shifting how we talk about the Christian life, how we plan our gatherings, and what we expect of ourselves and one another – we end up massively changing where we wind up. 

The answer the Bible gives to the question, How do we change?, is not easily definable, and it is not a step-by-step process. But it is an invitation into a living, breathing, loving relationship with the Spirit of God. It is both an active work and an expectant surrender.

I’m swimming in a current that is swiftly carrying me to places I did not intend to go. My goal hasn’t changed, I still desire to reach the other shore where I am a person who looks like Jesus, but the water around me doesn’t stand still–it is moving relentlessly away from who I want to be.

In this season of transition, it is a priority for our elders to ensure consistent, trustworthy leadership as we continue to evaluate our current bylaws and organizational structure. With that in mind, the elders are currently pursuing candidates for elder apprenticeship and are seeking input from the body.

In trying to encourage myself, I become a boastful hypocrite, looking down on others’ flaws while ignoring my own. My mind becomes a pendulum, swinging from celebrating others to despising myself to quietly exalting myself onto a pedestal.

The Son of God—Jesus—knelt to wash the feet of men who would abandon Him within hours. He served them anyway. He wasn’t waiting for appreciation or applause. He didn’t do it because it made sense socially. He did it because that’s who He is. And He told us, “I have given you an example, that you should do just as I have done to you.”

When Jesus said “love your enemies,” I believe he really meant it. What would my life look like if I loved others, even my enemies, as Jesus loves me?

God has chosen to reveal Himself through His Word, and He has told us that it is alive, active, and powerful. If Bible study is a discipline that feels hard, boring, or even stuffy and un-relational, I want to encourage you to take a fresh look.

I learned in that season that the discipline of worship is not that I always believe the words I am singing, praying, or meditating upon, but that I need to declare what is true out of trust that the truth of God will transform me. It is in the discipline of worship that my disbelief gives way to belief, and I am transformed into the likeness of my Creator.

The peace that Jesus offers is unlike anything the world can provide. Worldly peace is often fragile, dependent on circumstances, fleeting comforts, or temporary resolutions. It comes and goes with the rise and fall of situations, offering only momentary relief. But the peace of Christ is different—it is a deep, abiding tranquility that remains steadfast regardless of life’s storms.

Prayer is participating in a real relationship with the sovereign, all-powerful, triune God who spoke all creation into existence. It is an actual conversation between one who is limited, short-sighted, and marred by sin and One who is infinitely wise, perfectly good, and knows the end from the beginning.