by Jake Wise
Last summer, my wife and I had the incredible privilege of visiting Yosemite National Park with our family. We found ourselves on different pages and in a difficult season as we packed in the car to drive the 29 hours from Missouri to California. Miscommunication and my own sin and heart-idols had brought us to a point of confusion and frustration. In His infinite wisdom, God knew what the beauty of His astounding creation could do for a soul.
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by Soma member Daniel Wilhelm.
As I was driving early last Tuesday morning to meet with a friend for breakfast, I was proud of myself. I had woken up at 5:55 am, gotten dressed, and was ready to leave by 6:10 for our 6:15 meeting, only three minutes away from my house. I was feeling good—until less than a mile away from my house I looked to my left and saw the Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu martial arts studio with its lights on and several people inside practicing their defense techniques. I could see two men grappling on the ground, fully dressed in their Jiu-Jitsu uniforms.
At that moment I wasn’t feeling too cocky about my roll-out-of bed, 2-mile drive to eat food someone else would prepare for me.
I would like to tell you that this was the moment of revelation, but it wasn’t. The meeting with my friend was good and spiritually convicting. However, it was on my way back that God truly unpacked what he was showing me.
by Pastor Jon Nelson
A few years ago my mother lost her battle with cancer. While her death was not sudden, it was devastating. Over the following days I walked through a myriad of emotions that affected not just myself but my family also. Grief is a normal response to loss. It is an emotional process that affects people in many different ways. It is normal to feel like you are on an emotional rollercoaster, that your reactions are out of control. Although it is a normal process, it can be quite difficult to navigate, especially as a student. The grieving process can disrupt routines, impact deadlines, and make focusing on taking care of yourself and completing your assignments difficult. Sometimes it can be hard to disclose your struggles to others. You may not want to “burden” them or retell the same story over again. You may worry that you should “be over it by now” and that others won’t understand why it is still bothering you.
For the last few years, we have used the month of January the same way, we use this month as a catalyst to remind us about the importance of robust prayer, giving us a renewed resolve to carry us through the rest of the year. We have chosen to tackled three fairly large topics.
Jesus Christ has come and will come again. This is the hope of the Church whom He purchased with His blood. It is the eager expectation and desire of His people. His coming is our joy, for He is our treasure, our greatest good. Advent, formed from a Latin word meaning coming or arrival, is about the coming of Christ. It’s the traditional celebration of the first advent of Jesus and the anxious awaiting of His second. The season is a time for remembering and rejoicing, watching and waiting, and a time to reflect upon the promises of God and to anticipate the fulfillment of those promises with patience, prayer and preparedness.
Almost 2 years ago I announced that our family would be leaving the great city of Kansas City and moving 2 hours east to Jefferson City. Quickly my time hear is coming to a close as the residency has moved into the dreaded interviewing stage. Recently, I was invited to step into a process with the Rock Church’s Soulard campus. Overall, our time there was great and as we continue to pray through this process I wanted to share the sermon that I preached. This is not the quality of video or audio but hopefully you are able to enjoy God’s word. The title of this sermon is “Sign or Savior” and was based out of John 4:43 – 54. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did proclaiming it.
