One Problem
Based on a message by Joel Wydysh | Oct 4, 2026
6 Minute Read

Paul gives his readers plenty of time to recognize the problem in someone else.

Romans 1 describes humanity exchanging the truth of God for a lie, turning from the Creator and giving its attention to created things. It is a picture of people searching for life in places that cannot sustain it. We can read those words and find plenty to recognize in the world around us. Then Paul moves into chapter two, and suddenly the view changes. The person watching, evaluating, and judging is drawn into the conversation too.

“You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse!”

Paul writes in Romans 2:1. Paul keeps widening the circle until everyone is standing inside it.

The Exchange Beneath the Surface

The language of exchange runs through Romans 1. Humanity exchanges God’s glory for images, His truth for a lie, and worship of the Creator for worship of created things. Each exchange begins with the same movement away from the One who gives life.

That takes the conversation deeper than a list of behaviours. Paul is tracing what happens when human beings reach for life somewhere else. We look to success, control, approval, pleasure, knowledge, relationships, possessions, influence, certainty, or our own ability to get things right. Many of these things can hold a good place in our lives. They become something else when we ask them to carry the weight of our hope, identity, or security.

Scripture has been telling this story from its opening pages. In the garden, humanity is surrounded by the generosity of God and invited to trust Him as the source of life. Then temptation reaches into that trust and offers another way. That same pull continues through the biblical story, and it continues to feel familiar because we know how tempting shortcuts can be. We want life, and we reach for something close enough to promise it.

This gives us a gentler and more searching way to read Romans 1. The question underneath the passage reaches each of us personally: Where am I looking for life right now? What am I asking to give me something only God can give?

When the Circle Widens

Romans 2 brings another human instinct into view. We know how to notice what has gone wrong in someone else. We can see another person’s choices clearly, especially when their struggles look different from ours. Comparison can even give us a temporary sense that we are doing reasonably well.

Paul draws the person making those comparisons into the same circle. Knowing what is right does not place someone beyond the reach of the problem. Knowing Scripture does not do it either. Religious history, moral effort, and the ability to identify someone else’s failure all leave us facing the same need for God.

Right in the middle of this uncomfortable section, Paul gives us a beautiful glimpse of God’s heart:

“Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? … Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?” Romans 2:4

God’s kindness leads us toward repentance, toward a changed mind and a life turning home to Him. That kindness gives us freedom to be honest about ourselves. We can bring our misplaced trust, our habits, our judgments, and the places where we have searched for life elsewhere into the presence of Jesus.

Perhaps that changes the way we look across the room too. The person whose struggle is visible and the person whose struggle remains carefully hidden both need the life God gives. The person who knows the Bible well and the person opening it for the first time both depend upon His grace. Paul keeps bringing people who might have separated themselves from one another onto shared ground.

One Human Problem

By Romans 3, Paul gathers lines from Israel’s own Scriptures and places them together. “No one is righteous, not even one.” “All have turned away.” The people who had been entrusted with God’s Word can find their own story within those words. Gentiles are there too. Every dividing line people might use to establish who is doing better eventually loses its power.

Paul has brought us to one human problem.

Sin leads toward death because it pulls us away from the source of life. It distorts what we love, what we trust, how we see other people, and what we believe will satisfy us. Its reach can be deeply personal, and it can become woven into communities, relationships, and systems. Beneath all of it lies the exchange Paul began describing in Romans 1: humanity looking for life away from God.

Once we begin to see sin through that lens, some of our questions become more personal. Where have I been reaching for life? What has been carrying too much weight in my heart? Where might God’s kindness be leading me toward repentance?

Those questions bring us to Jesus.

The God Who Gives Life

The invitation to life runs through the whole biblical story. In Deuteronomy, God places life before His people and calls them to choose it. Through Ezekiel, He speaks of His desire for people to turn and live. Jesus eventually stands among us and says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Then He says something even closer: “I am the resurrection and the life.”

Jesus does far more than point toward life. Life is found in Him. His death and resurrection meet the power of sin and death at their deepest point, opening the way for humanity to share in His life. Paul will spend the rest of Romans unfolding what that means, and these opening chapters prepare us to hear it by bringing every one of us to the same place of need.

That shared need can change the way we see ourselves and one another. We can release the scales we use to measure whose failures seem heavier. We can become curious about the places where our own hearts wander. We can receive the kindness of God as an invitation to return again and again to the One who gives life.

Romans 1 through 3 leaves us with one problem shared across every human story, and it also begins turning our attention toward the One who has been offering life from the beginning.

So the question worth carrying with us is one we can return to throughout the week.

Where am I looking for life? And where is Jesus inviting me to find that life in Him?

One Problem

Join us as Joel shares how Romans brings every person to the same ground before God and asks a searching question: where are we looking for life? Paul traces the problem through Romans 1 to 3, showing how humanity turns from the Creator, how easily we judge the failures of others, and how every person shares the same need for God.

The invitation is deeply personal. We can notice the ways we compare ourselves with others, pay attention to what we trust to give us life, and bring those places honestly before Jesus. Paul keeps leading us back to the same truth: life comes from God. Faith grows as we release our own measuring sticks and learn to trust the God who gives life to the dead.


📖 In This Video, We Chat About:

  • Why Romans 1 to 3 brings everyone to the same ground before God
  • How judging others can keep us from seeing our own need for grace
  • What it means to ask where we are looking for life
  • How faith grows through trust, surrender, and following Jesus


🙏 Join us on this journey as we learn to follow Jesus in our everyday life. This is for anyone looking to deepen their faith or find some answers. This message gives a fresh view on understanding God's love and His plans for us.

  • Uncover how Paul connects sin with humanity’s search for life apart from God
  • Recognize the ways comparison and judgment can shape how we see ourselves and others
  • Learn how trust and surrender lead us back to the God who gives life


💡 Highlights of the Sermon:

  • Every person shares the same human condition
  • God’s kindness invites us toward repentance
  • Life is found in God, and faith grows as we trust Him


If you’d like to support what God is doing through Summerside Community Church, prayerfully consider giving through the link below. Your generosity helps share the hope of Jesus here in Summerside PEI and beyond.

Joel Wydysh • 10/4/2026


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From this Collection: Blog
November 8, 2026 • 7 Minute Read
One Freedom
The Trouble with Artificial Fruit Artificial fruit has one rather impressive quality. It can look perfectly ripe for years without ever needing water, sunlight, or a little attention. Set a bowl of it on the table, and everything looks wonderful. Of course, nobody wants to take a bite out of it. Following Jesus brings a genuine desire to grow, and it's natural to look for signs that growth is happening. Reading Scripture, praying, serving others, and making good choices can all be part of growing in our relationship with Him. Over time, though, it's possible to become so focused on doing the right things that we begin measuring our relationship with God by how well we're performing. We learn what a faithful life should look like, while some of our deepest attitudes and desires remain surprisingly resistant to change. Jesus spoke about recognizing a tree by its fruit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and the other qualities of His Spirit reveal the kind of life growing within us. And that's where things get interesting, because fruit grows from the life of the tree itself. No amount of arranging the branches can make it appear. That raises an interesting question about following Jesus. How much of our energy goes toward managing what people can see, while the deeper work of changing our hearts remains unfinished? Paul wrestles with that very tension in Romans 6 and 7. His explanation takes us back to what Jesus has already accomplished and the freedom that becomes possible through His Spirit. Learning to Live Free Freedom is a powerful word, especially for people who have spent years feeling controlled by something they wish they could escape. For some, it's a habit that keeps returning. For others, it's the need to be right, the fear of losing control, or the quiet belief that their worth depends on how well they perform. When Paul talks about freedom, he reaches back into one of the most important stories in Israel's history. God rescued His people from slavery in Egypt, led them through the Red Sea, and brought them into a new relationship with Him. Their old master no longer had authority over them. They belonged to the God who had rescued them, and they were beginning to learn what life with Him looked like. That same movement from slavery to freedom is central to what Jesus has accomplished. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus has broken the power of sin and opened the way into new life. Baptism becomes a picture of that reality. The old life is buried with Christ, and a new life begins in Him. Leaving Egypt was a significant moment in Israel's story, but generations of slavery had influenced how they understood themselves and the world around them. Learning to trust God with their future would take time. The same struggle can surface in our own lives as we follow Jesus. Old habits and ways of thinking can be deeply rooted, especially when anger feels justified, pride convinces us to defend ourselves, or fear makes it difficult to release control. Even with a genuine desire to follow Jesus, we can find ourselves returning to responses that have become familiar over the years. Freedom begins with what Jesus has already done. Learning to live in that freedom is an ongoing journey of trusting Him with the parts of ourselves that still resist His leading. When Knowing Better Doesn't Change Us God gave Israel His law to show them what it meant to live as His people. It revealed His character, His goodness, and the kind of relationships He desired for them. They knew what was right, and still they struggled. Think about a speed limit sign. It clearly tells a driver what the law requires, but it has very little influence over the desire to get somewhere faster. A driver might even start calculating how far over the limit they can go without getting caught. The sign has done its job. The heart of the driver is another matter entirely. Paul uses Romans 7 to explore that struggle. He describes wanting to do good and repeatedly finding himself doing what he knows is wrong. His words echo Israel's history and reach all the way back to humanity's first attempts to live independently of God. Our motives can be surprisingly difficult to recognize, especially when we're convinced we're doing the right thing. We might genuinely want to be patient with someone, while mentally rehearsing everything we'd like to say the next time they upset us. We can care deeply about justice and still find ourselves wanting to win an argument. Even our commitment to following Jesus can become tangled with the desire to prove we're doing well. It's worth considering how easily we can convince ourselves that our intentions are good, especially when there's something we're reluctant to surrender. And the mind can be remarkably skilled at explaining it all away. Pride begins to sound like conviction. Fear presents itself as wisdom. The very reasoning meant to help make good decisions can end up defending the impulses that need to change. God's instructions help reveal what is happening, and Jesus reaches into the heart of it. The more closely a person examines their own efforts, the clearer the need for His grace becomes. There comes a point where the most faithful response is simply to acknowledge the limits of human strength and trust the One who has promised to give new life. The Freedom of Surrender Paul brings this long and sometimes uncomfortable argument to a remarkable conclusion: "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus." - Romans 8:1, NLT Consider the weight of those words. After describing humanity's struggle with sin, the inability of the law to change the heart, and the frustration of wanting to do good while continuing to fall short, Paul arrives at Jesus. Through Him, God has done what humanity could never accomplish on its own. And through the Holy Spirit, the life Jesus has made possible can begin to grow within those who belong to Him. The Holy Spirit knows us in ways we're still learning to understand ourselves. He sees what lies behind our reactions, even when we struggle to make sense of them. As we grow more attentive to His voice, we begin to recognize the places where we've been relying on our own understanding and strength. And in those moments, we have an opportunity to trust Him with what He's revealing. Over time, His presence begins to influence the way we think and respond, allowing the character of Jesus to become increasingly evident in our lives. The question becomes one of surrender. Where might the Holy Spirit be drawing attention to something that needs to be released? It may involve the desire to defend ourselves or the need to control an outcome that feels uncertain. Surrender can feel especially difficult when the struggle has lasted a long time. There is comfort in having a plan and believing that enough determination will eventually make everything better. Trusting Jesus with those deeply familiar patterns requires humility, patience, and a willingness to listen. One of the most beautiful parts of this freedom is knowing that God continues His work even while people are learning how to live in it. In each act of surrender, the life of Jesus becomes a little more visible. And that brings us back to the fruit tree. The evidence of a healthy tree eventually becomes visible in what it produces. As we remain connected to Jesus, the fruit of His Spirit begins to tell the story of what He's doing within us. The next step may be as simple as bringing one familiar struggle before Him and praying, *Holy Spirit, help me recognize what is happening in my heart. Teach me to trust You here.*One Freedom

Joel Wydysh

Pastor of Community and Connections

November 1, 2026 • 6 Minute Read
One New Life
When Our Hearts Are Revealed The Israelites stood on the other side of the Red Sea with something they had never known before. Freedom. The waters had parted, they had walked through on dry ground, and the army that once held them captive was gone. Egypt was behind them, and a whole new life stretched out ahead. But freedom brought them into unfamiliar territory. The wilderness was full of uncertainty, and it didn’t take long for fear and frustration to surface. When food became scarce or water was difficult to find, their thoughts returned to Egypt. They remembered what had been familiar, even though that familiar life had been one of slavery. Pharaoh no longer had authority over them, but years of captivity had shaped how they thought and responded. They were free, and they were still learning how to live as free people. And that part of their story may feel closer to home than expected. What Comes to the Surface An unexpected change, a strained relationship, or a conversation that doesn’t go as planned can stir emotions that seem out of proportion to the moment. Fear and frustration can surface quickly when life becomes uncomfortable, revealing things we’ve carried for years without realizing how deeply they’ve affected us. A simple disagreement becomes personal. Someone else’s decision feels threatening. A familiar routine changes, and suddenly there’s an overwhelming desire to regain control. The reaction can be so immediate that we barely recognize what’s driving it. These moments can expose old wounds, unspoken expectations, or the ways we’ve learned to protect ourselves. A person who has experienced rejection may hear criticism where none was intended. Someone who has lived through uncertainty may struggle when plans change. Even a good thing can become difficult to release when it has provided security for a long time. The Israelites experienced this as they entered the wilderness. Their circumstances had changed dramatically, but their hearts were still learning to trust the God who had brought them out of Egypt. What might our strongest reactions be revealing about the things we’re still afraid to surrender? The Freedom We Are Learning to Live In Romans 6, Paul describes the freedom made possible through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Those who belong to Christ have been joined with Him in His death and raised to walk in new life. Sin no longer has the authority it once held over them. Paul goes on to describe a change in whom we serve. Once enslaved to sin, believers now belong to God. The direction of their lives has changed, and they are learning to offer themselves to Him in obedience. That freedom reaches into the way we relate to the people around us. Consider how quickly a conversation can shift from listening to defending ourselves. The need to be understood becomes so strong that we stop trying to understand the other person. Pride can make an apology difficult. An old hurt can influence how we interpret someone’s words, even when their intentions are good. The Holy Spirit can bring an old wound to mind during a difficult conversation or help someone recognize how fear has been influencing the way they treat others. His work reaches into places we’ve learned to keep hidden, bringing opportunities for honesty, repentance, and healing. And sometimes that means sitting with something uncomfortable long enough to recognize what is really happening in our hearts. Change can make this especially difficult. Familiar routines, relationships, and experiences carry memories and a sense of security. Releasing something that has been part of life for years can stir genuine grief, even when the future holds good possibilities. One person may feel excited about what lies ahead while another feels overwhelmed by everything that seems uncertain. Learning to walk together through those differences requires patience. It means recognizing that people can experience the same circumstances very differently and that their responses may be connected to stories and wounds we know little about. Jesus meets us in these moments. He knows what lies beneath our words and reactions, and He calls us to place those things in His hands. Surrender may involve acknowledging where we’ve been wrong, asking forgiveness, or releasing our need to control an outcome. At other times, it may mean allowing someone else the space to work through their own fears and struggles. The freedom Jesus gives opens the way for a different response, one shaped by His love and the work of His Spirit. Becoming People Who Love Like Jesus Later in Romans, Paul gives a beautiful picture of what this new life looks like in community: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.” (Romans 12:14–16) Paul’s words call for tenderness, humility, and a willingness to enter another person’s experience. Rejoicing with someone may require setting aside comparison to genuinely celebrate their happiness. Mourning with someone asks us to sit alongside their pain, giving them room to grieve without rushing to offer answers. Living in harmony calls us to listen with care, remain open to correction, and consider how our words and actions affect the people around us. These are deeply personal expressions of the life Jesus makes possible. He shows us what it means to love this way. He was attentive to those who were hurting, patient with people who struggled to understand, and faithful to the Father through every circumstance. He welcomed those others overlooked, spoke truth with compassion, and gave Himself completely for the sake of others. Following Him brings that same love into our relationships, even when doing so requires humility and sacrifice. The Israelites crossed the Red Sea in a single day. Learning to live as free people would take much longer. Their journey would reveal fears, frustrations, and patterns of thinking that had been shaped by years in Egypt. Through it all, God continued teaching them to trust Him. Jesus has opened the way into a new life, and His Spirit continues working in the places where fear, hurt, and old habits still influence us. Even the uncomfortable things that surface can become opportunities to trust Him more deeply. As we surrender those places to Jesus, we learn to walk in the freedom He has already given, becoming people who love one another with the patience, humility, and compassion He has shown us.One Humanity

Tracy Linkletter

Senior Leader

October 25, 2026 • 7 Minute Read
One Humanity
“Lose your measuring stick.” Imagine hearing those words from someone you've just met. They're a little unexpected, maybe even confusing. Yet they might be exactly what you need to hear, especially if you've spent much of your life measuring how well you're doing. People have all kinds of measuring sticks. Some measure success by what they accomplish, others by how much people need them, how well their family is doing, or how effectively they keep everything together. Even faith can become something to measure. Am I praying enough? Am I growing fast enough? Shouldn't I be further along by now? Living that way can be exhausting. And somewhere beneath all that striving is a question people rarely say out loud: Am I enough? Romans 5 offers a beautiful place to begin answering that question, and it takes us all the way back to the beginning of humanity. When Hiding Became Familiar In Genesis, God forms Adam from the dust of the ground and breathes life into him. It's a wonderfully personal picture of creation. Humanity was made to know God, to enjoy His presence, and to live in relationship with Him and one another. Everything about being human, including our bodies, emotions, thoughts, and relationships, was part of His good design. Then Adam and Eve chose to go their own way, and their relationship with God changed. Suddenly they were hiding among the trees, and shame had entered their story, bringing fear and blame along with it. It's surprising how familiar that garden can feel thousands of years later. People hide behind busy schedules, carefully managed appearances, and the reassuring words, “I'm fine.” They carry mistakes longer than necessary and quietly wonder what others would think if they knew what was happening beneath the surface. Sometimes that same fear follows them into their relationship with God, where prayer becomes guarded and honesty feels uncomfortable. Yet even in the garden, God came looking for Adam. His question, “Where are you?” reveals a God who continues to reach toward the people He created. That desire to restore what was broken runs throughout Scripture and leads us to Jesus. Loved Before We Had Anything to Offer Paul makes an extraordinary statement in Romans 5:8. “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Romans 5:8 (NLT) Consider the timing of those words. Jesus came while humanity was caught in its brokenness, with all the fear, selfishness, and failure that had become part of the human story. God's love was already reaching toward people before they knew how to respond to Him. That can take some getting used to, especially for someone accustomed to earning their place. Most of life operates on effort and reward. Work produces a paycheque, studying earns a grade, and even relationships can become tangled in expectations about what someone needs to do to deserve affection. It's possible to carry that thinking into faith, approaching God with the same measuring stick used everywhere else. Prayer becomes another responsibility to manage, obedience another opportunity to succeed or fail, and spiritual growth another area where progress needs to be measured. Yet Paul describes a peace with God that comes through Jesus Christ, a relationship grounded in what He has already accomplished. Consider how differently you might begin each day with the settled confidence that God already loves you. How would that affect the way you respond to mistakes, approach prayer, or treat someone who has disappointed you? Jesus lived with complete trust in His Father, and we see that trust tested in the garden of Gethsemane. Overwhelmed with sorrow as He faced the cross, He brought His anguish honestly before God and surrendered Himself to the Father's will. His grief was real, His suffering was real, and His relationship with the Father remained secure. That picture offers reassurance to anyone who has wondered whether their tears, questions, or exhaustion reveal a lack of faith. Jesus understands the weight of being human, and through His death and resurrection, He has opened the way for us to share in His life. How Much More? Paul draws our attention to two people whose choices changed the course of humanity: Adam and Jesus. Adam's choice brought sin and death into the human story, while Jesus, through His obedience, death, and resurrection, has made new life possible. Paul uses a phrase worth remembering: How much more. He wants his readers to grasp just how abundant God's grace really is. If the consequences of Adam's disobedience could reach so far, how much greater is the gift Jesus has given? Those words carry particular weight when life becomes difficult. Anyone who has watched someone they love suffer knows the helplessness of wishing they could somehow take the pain away. Anyone who has endured a long season of uncertainty knows how wearying unanswered questions can become. Paul speaks about suffering, perseverance, character, and hope because faith is lived in the middle of real human experience. God's love remains trustworthy through those experiences, and His Spirit continues working in people as they learn to lean on Him. How much more becomes a way of remembering the goodness of God when circumstances make that goodness difficult to see. And as that trust grows, something begins to change in the way people see themselves and the people around them. God's patience begins to influence how they respond when someone disappoints them. His forgiveness gives them courage to release an old hurt, and His generosity challenges the instinct to keep score. The grace that restores a person's relationship with God begins reaching into the relationships that fill everyday life. Becoming Human Together Ephesians 2 describes Jesus creating one new humanity, bringing together people who had been separated by deeply rooted divisions. A community shaped by that grace would be a place where people could admit they were struggling, offer forgiveness freely, and carry each other's burdens without keeping score. Someone's weakness would be met with compassion, and someone else's joy would be genuinely shared. Jesus is gathering people with different histories, experiences, and perspectives and teaching them to live together as those who have received the same grace. Much of that life becomes visible through simple, practical choices. Someone listens patiently when a conversation becomes difficult. A person who has experienced forgiveness finds the courage to extend it. A family carries one another through a season of uncertainty, or someone who has felt overlooked discovers genuine welcome. These are glimpses of the life Jesus is forming in His people as His Spirit teaches them to love as they have been loved. And perhaps that's part of what makes this picture of a new humanity so compelling. The work God is doing within a person gradually becomes visible in how they treat the people around them. Which brings us back to that measuring stick. Maybe you've carried one for so long that you barely notice it anymore. You know exactly where you fall short, what you wish you could change, and how far you think you have left to go. Jesus knows those places too. He knows the whole person, including everything that feels unfinished, and His love has already reached you there. What might happen if you began trusting that love enough to loosen your grip on the need to prove yourself? Jesus is restoring humanity to the life God intended, one rooted in His love and expressed through people learning to love one another. As people grow in trust, surrender, forgiveness, and compassion, the life of Jesus becomes increasingly visible through them. And perhaps that is where the words “I'm only human” begin to carry a different meaning, one filled with the hope of who we are becoming in Him.One Humanity

Heather Shea

Worship Pastor

October 18, 2026 • 8 Minute Read
One Story
A bookmark marks a curious place in a book. Everything before it has already happened, and everything beyond it remains a mystery. We can close the cover, set the book aside, or even turn ahead to discover how things work out. Yet part of the pleasure of reading comes from allowing the story to unfold, getting to know the characters, and discovering details whose significance only becomes clear later. Living through our own stories feels quite different. We carry memories of chapters already lived, along with hopes and questions about what lies ahead. Some experiences make sense when we look back, while others leave us wondering how they fit into the larger picture. And occasionally, we wish we could turn a few pages ahead, just to know how everything works out. That desire to know what comes next is deeply human. We care about the people in our lives, the decisions we're making, and the things we've worked hard to build. Uncertainty can leave us feeling vulnerable, especially when circumstances are beyond our ability to change. Abraham knew something about that experience, and his story offers an interesting perspective on what it means to trust God with a future we cannot see. A Promise Without a Map Abraham had no idea that thousands of years later, people would be reading about his life, studying his decisions, and finding encouragement in his faith. He was simply trying to follow God into a future he couldn't see. And when we read his story, we have an advantage he never had. We know what happens next. We know about Isaac, the generations that followed, and how God's promise would eventually lead to Jesus. Abraham knew none of that when he packed up his belongings and left home. In Genesis 12, God called Abraham to leave his country and travel to a land He would show him. Along with that call came a promise that Abraham would become a great nation and that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him. It was an extraordinary promise for a man who had no children. Years later, God brought Abraham outside and told him to count the stars, promising that his descendants would be just as numerous. Imagine standing beneath that enormous sky, hearing a promise that seemed increasingly impossible as the years passed. Genesis 15:6 tells us that Abraham believed the Lord, and God counted his faith as righteousness. When Paul returns to this passage in Romans 4, he draws attention to something his readers may have overlooked. Abraham was counted righteous before he received circumcision, the physical sign of God's covenant with his people. For the Jewish believers in Rome, whose identity was closely connected to their religious heritage, this was significant. Paul was helping them recognize that God's family had always been rooted in faith, and through Jesus, that family now included people from every nation and background. The Message paraphrase captures Abraham's response in a particularly meaningful way. "Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point." -Romans 4:3, MSG God had already begun something, and Abraham responded by trusting Him. He couldn't see how the promise would unfold, and his journey included questions, mistakes, and attempts to work things out himself. Yet God remained faithful, continuing to work through Abraham's imperfect life to accomplish what He had promised. There's encouragement in remembering that Abraham was living his story one day at a time, just as we are. The people we read about in Scripture were making decisions, raising families, facing disappointments, and responding to God with the understanding they had at the time. Their trust developed through experiences that often challenged everything they thought they knew. Seeing Beyond the Familiar In J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbo expresses concern that Frodo may be too attached to the Shire to seek adventures of his own. Frodo loves his home and the peaceful life he knows there. Gandalf, however, seems to recognize possibilities in Frodo that Bilbo hasn't fully considered. As the story unfolds, Frodo's love for the Shire becomes part of what gives him the courage to leave it. He begins to understand that protecting what he treasures will require a journey into unfamiliar territory. He sets out knowing very little about what awaits him, and the road will ask far more of him than he could ever have anticipated. That picture brings Abraham's journey to mind. God called him to leave what was familiar and follow Him toward something he couldn't yet imagine. And while our circumstances may look very different, following Jesus can lead us into places that challenge our understanding, our expectations, and our desire to know how everything will turn out. Consider how much energy we spend trying to manage chapters that haven't been written yet. We anticipate difficulties, rehearse conversations, and imagine outcomes that may never happen. Meanwhile, the relationships, responsibilities, and opportunities directly in front of us continue to unfold. Abraham's story encourages us to consider where our confidence rests during those times. He came to trust the character of the One who had made the promise, even when his circumstances seemed impossible. Paul describes him as someone who believed in the God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence things that do not exist. That understanding of God's character becomes even richer when we consider the larger biblical story. From the beginning, Scripture introduces us to a God who creates a world He calls good and makes human beings in His image. Throughout the generations, we encounter people whose lives reveal both the reality of human sin and the faithfulness of God. As we follow the story toward Jesus, we begin to recognize the patience, mercy, justice, and love of the Father revealed through His Son. The more familiar we become with Jesus, the more clearly we can recognize the character of the God we're learning to trust. And that can change how we approach the stories unfolding around us. Every person we encounter carries experiences we only partially understand. Their struggles, decisions, and hopes are part of a much larger picture than we can see. Remembering that each person bears God's image can help us approach one another with greater curiosity and compassion, recognizing that God's grace is at work in lives beyond our own. The One Who Knows the Whole Story Near the end of Romans 4, Paul brings Abraham's story directly to Jesus. The God who promised Abraham and Sarah a family when they could see no possibility of having children is the same God who raised Jesus from the dead. Paul explains that the words about Abraham's faith being counted as righteousness were written for our benefit as well. Through Jesus, who died for our sins and was raised to life, we are made right with God. The promise given to Abraham now reaches across generations and nations, drawing people together into one family through faith in Christ. This is the God we're learning to trust with the parts of our stories we cannot yet understand. And knowing His character can change how we see our own limitations. We recognize the places where we've fallen short, the choices we regret, and the struggles that continue to challenge us. Through Jesus, God's grace reaches into those very places, bringing forgiveness, healing, and restoration. We bear His image, and His Spirit continues working within us, drawing us toward the life He created us to live. Abraham eventually held the son God had promised, although he never lived to see the countless generations who would come to share his faith. He could only respond to God in the circumstances he was living, trusting that the One who had made the promise would remain faithful. We find ourselves in a similar place today, somewhere in the middle of a story that began long before us and continues beyond what we can see. Some chapters will bring unexpected joy, others will stretch our faith, and a few may leave us wondering how anything good could possibly come from what we're experiencing. What part of your story are you trying to figure out before it's time? Where might God be asking you to trust His character while the outcome remains uncertain? Abraham's story reminds us that faith grows as we continue walking with God, bringing our questions, our hopes, and our imperfect understanding into a relationship with the One who knows us completely. The next chapter may hold things we never anticipated. For today, we can pay attention to what God is doing right in front of us, trusting the One who raised Jesus from the dead and whose faithfulness has carried His people through generations. The story is unfolding, and we are learning to walk with its Author.One Story

Tracy Linkletter

Senior Leader

October 11, 2026 • 8 Minute Read
One Righteousness
Paul gives his readers plenty of time to recognize the problem in someone else. Romans 1 describes humanity exchanging the truth of God for a lie, turning from the Creator and giving its attention to created things. It is a picture of people searching for life in places that cannot sustain it. We can read those words and find plenty to recognize in the world around us. Then Paul moves into chapter two, and suddenly the view changes. The person watching, evaluating, and judging is drawn into the conversation too. “You must be born again.” Imagine hearing those words after spending your life learning about God. Nicodemus had devoted himself to understanding what it meant to live faithfully, and Jesus was inviting him into something beyond everything he had learned. He spoke of a new birth, a life that comes from God Himself. Nicodemus struggled to understand how such a thing could happen, and his questions opened a conversation that reaches into our own lives. The Things We Carry We all have ways of understanding where we stand with God. For some, confidence comes from years of attending church, serving others, studying Scripture, or trying to live with integrity. Those are meaningful expressions of faith, and they can become deeply woven into our identity. Over time, though, we may begin to lean on them as evidence that we have earned God's approval. Others carry a very different story. Past decisions, painful memories, or a sense of personal failure can leave someone wondering how God could possibly welcome them. Even when they hear about His love, something inside hesitates. They know their own history too well, and the thought of being fully known by God can feel uncomfortable. Paul addresses both experiences in his letter to the Romans. After describing humanity's tendency to turn away from God, he arrives at a conclusion that includes every person. “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard.” Romans 3:23 (NLT) That word everyone matters. Paul places the respected religious leader alongside the person who has spent years running from God. The person with an impressive history of service stands alongside the person carrying a lifetime of regrets. Each of us comes with a story, and every story reveals our need for the life God gives. After bringing everyone to the same place, Paul introduces two words that change the direction of everything he has been saying. But now. When God Steps In After spending the first part of his letter describing humanity's shared need for God, Paul turns our attention toward what God has done in response. Everything he has written about sin, the law, and our inability to make ourselves righteous leads to this declaration: “But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law.” Romans 3:21 (NLT) Paul is describing something God has already done. Throughout Scripture, God's law reveals His goodness and helps us recognize the ways our lives have wandered from His purposes. It gives us an honest picture of ourselves, including the places we would prefer to overlook. Think about looking into a mirror and noticing something on your face. The mirror allows you to see what needs attention, and that awareness is helpful. Yet seeing the problem leaves you needing something else to deal with it. In a similar way, God's law reveals our need for forgiveness and restoration. And this is where Jesus enters the picture. Paul explains that God makes people right with Himself through faith in Jesus Christ. The word righteousness can sound unfamiliar, especially outside church conversations, but at its heart is the idea of being in a right relationship with God. It speaks of standing before Him with the assurance that we have been welcomed and forgiven. The remarkable part is how this becomes possible. At the cross, Jesus willingly carried the weight of human sin. God's justice and love meet in His sacrifice, revealing both the seriousness of sin and the depth of His desire to restore us. Paul tells us that God freely makes people right with Himself through Jesus, whose death and resurrection have opened the way to new life. We can spend years trying to establish our worth through the things we accomplish, or allowing our failures to determine what we believe about ourselves. Our confidence can rest in what Jesus has accomplished through His death and resurrection. His grace reaches the person who feels certain of their goodness and the person who wonders if they have any goodness left to offer. Both are invited to trust Him. Learning to Look Toward Jesus During His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus brought up a story from Israel's history that Nicodemus would have known well. In Numbers 21, the Israelites were suffering after poisonous snakes had spread through their camp. When the people acknowledged their sin and cried out for help, God instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent and lift it on a pole. Those who had been bitten could look toward the bronze serpent and receive the healing God had provided. It was an unusual instruction, and the simplicity of it is striking. The people were suffering, and God had provided a way for them to receive life. Their response was to trust what He had given them. Jesus connected that ancient story to what would happen at the cross. Just as Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, the Son of Man would be lifted up so that everyone who believed in Him could receive eternal life. Nicodemus had spent his life studying the Scriptures, and now the One those Scriptures pointed toward was sitting in front of him. Jesus was inviting him to see the familiar story through new eyes, to recognize that the life he needed would come through the Son God had sent. It's possible to know a great deal about Jesus and yet struggle to trust Him with the deepest parts of our lives. We can understand forgiveness and grace while continuing to carry guilt as though it belongs to us forever. We can believe in God's love and quietly wonder how that same love could reach the parts of our own story we find difficult to accept. Even those places can be brought to Jesus, trusting that His grace is sufficient for everything we carry. His forgiveness allows us to acknowledge our failures with honesty. His grace gives us courage to release the need to prove ourselves. And as we learn to trust Him, the Holy Spirit begins forming a life that reflects the love and character of Jesus. A Life That Begins With Grace John's Gospel gives us a few glimpses of Nicodemus after that first conversation. Later, he speaks up when other religious leaders question Jesus. Following the crucifixion, he appears again, helping prepare Jesus' body for burial. We aren't told everything that happened within Nicodemus during those years. Yet something about his journey is worth noticing. The man who first approached Jesus at night eventually stepped forward publicly to honour Him after His death. We don't need to speculate about what Nicodemus was thinking. His story already gives us a glimpse of how faith can grow as someone comes to know Jesus. And that same possibility remains open to anyone who is learning to trust Him, wherever they are in their journey. Paul brings us back to the same truth in Romans 3. God has made a way for us to be right with Him through Jesus. We can come with our questions, our history, our accomplishments, and the parts of ourselves we find difficult to understand. We can acknowledge where we have wandered and receive the forgiveness Christ has made possible. The cross also changes how we see one another. When we recognize our shared dependence on God's grace, comparison begins to lose its hold. We become people who can offer compassion because we know how much compassion we have received. We can welcome others with humility, remembering that every person stands before God with the same need for His mercy. As you consider your own relationship with God, what have you been trusting to make you right with Him? Are there places where you continue trying to prove your worth, or parts of your story that make receiving His forgiveness difficult? His grace is already extended to you, and through faith in Him, a new life is possible. The life He spoke about with Nicodemus is the same life Paul describes in Romans. It begins with God's grace, received through faith in Jesus, and continues as we learn to live in the freedom His sacrifice has opened to us. Look to Jesus and live.One Righteousness

Colby Lidstone

Currently Reading
October 4, 2026 • 6 Minute Read
One Problem
Paul gives his readers plenty of time to recognize the problem in someone else. Romans 1 describes humanity exchanging the truth of God for a lie, turning from the Creator and giving its attention to created things. It is a picture of people searching for life in places that cannot sustain it. We can read those words and find plenty to recognize in the world around us. Then Paul moves into chapter two, and suddenly the view changes. The person watching, evaluating, and judging is drawn into the conversation too. “You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse!” Paul writes in Romans 2:1. Paul keeps widening the circle until everyone is standing inside it. The Exchange Beneath the Surface The language of exchange runs through Romans 1. Humanity exchanges God’s glory for images, His truth for a lie, and worship of the Creator for worship of created things. Each exchange begins with the same movement away from the One who gives life. That takes the conversation deeper than a list of behaviours. Paul is tracing what happens when human beings reach for life somewhere else. We look to success, control, approval, pleasure, knowledge, relationships, possessions, influence, certainty, or our own ability to get things right. Many of these things can hold a good place in our lives. They become something else when we ask them to carry the weight of our hope, identity, or security. Scripture has been telling this story from its opening pages. In the garden, humanity is surrounded by the generosity of God and invited to trust Him as the source of life. Then temptation reaches into that trust and offers another way. That same pull continues through the biblical story, and it continues to feel familiar because we know how tempting shortcuts can be. We want life, and we reach for something close enough to promise it. This gives us a gentler and more searching way to read Romans 1. The question underneath the passage reaches each of us personally: Where am I looking for life right now? What am I asking to give me something only God can give? When the Circle Widens Romans 2 brings another human instinct into view. We know how to notice what has gone wrong in someone else. We can see another person’s choices clearly, especially when their struggles look different from ours. Comparison can even give us a temporary sense that we are doing reasonably well. Paul draws the person making those comparisons into the same circle. Knowing what is right does not place someone beyond the reach of the problem. Knowing Scripture does not do it either. Religious history, moral effort, and the ability to identify someone else’s failure all leave us facing the same need for God. Right in the middle of this uncomfortable section, Paul gives us a beautiful glimpse of God’s heart: “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? … Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?” Romans 2:4 God’s kindness leads us toward repentance, toward a changed mind and a life turning home to Him. That kindness gives us freedom to be honest about ourselves. We can bring our misplaced trust, our habits, our judgments, and the places where we have searched for life elsewhere into the presence of Jesus. Perhaps that changes the way we look across the room too. The person whose struggle is visible and the person whose struggle remains carefully hidden both need the life God gives. The person who knows the Bible well and the person opening it for the first time both depend upon His grace. Paul keeps bringing people who might have separated themselves from one another onto shared ground. One Human Problem By Romans 3, Paul gathers lines from Israel’s own Scriptures and places them together. “No one is righteous, not even one.” “All have turned away.” The people who had been entrusted with God’s Word can find their own story within those words. Gentiles are there too. Every dividing line people might use to establish who is doing better eventually loses its power. Paul has brought us to one human problem. Sin leads toward death because it pulls us away from the source of life. It distorts what we love, what we trust, how we see other people, and what we believe will satisfy us. Its reach can be deeply personal, and it can become woven into communities, relationships, and systems. Beneath all of it lies the exchange Paul began describing in Romans 1: humanity looking for life away from God. Once we begin to see sin through that lens, some of our questions become more personal. Where have I been reaching for life? What has been carrying too much weight in my heart? Where might God’s kindness be leading me toward repentance? Those questions bring us to Jesus. The God Who Gives Life The invitation to life runs through the whole biblical story. In Deuteronomy, God places life before His people and calls them to choose it. Through Ezekiel, He speaks of His desire for people to turn and live. Jesus eventually stands among us and says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Then He says something even closer: “I am the resurrection and the life.” Jesus does far more than point toward life. Life is found in Him. His death and resurrection meet the power of sin and death at their deepest point, opening the way for humanity to share in His life. Paul will spend the rest of Romans unfolding what that means, and these opening chapters prepare us to hear it by bringing every one of us to the same place of need. That shared need can change the way we see ourselves and one another. We can release the scales we use to measure whose failures seem heavier. We can become curious about the places where our own hearts wander. We can receive the kindness of God as an invitation to return again and again to the One who gives life. Romans 1 through 3 leaves us with one problem shared across every human story, and it also begins turning our attention toward the One who has been offering life from the beginning. So the question worth carrying with us is one we can return to throughout the week. Where am I looking for life? And where is Jesus inviting me to find that life in Him?One Problem

Joel Wydysh

Pastor of Community and Connections

September 27, 2026 • 6 Minute Read
One Gospel
Paul begins his letter to the church in Rome with a few words that could easily be skimmed on the way to everything else: “This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus.” Before Paul speaks about faith, belonging, righteousness, Israel, the law, or any of the questions that will fill the pages ahead, he tells us where his own life is centred. He belongs to Jesus. His life has come under the leadership of a King. That matters because the people receiving his letter were trying to work out how to live together when they carried very different stories. A Church Learning to Be Family The church in Rome had lived through years of disruption. Jewish believers had been forced to leave the city under Emperor Claudius, while Gentile believers remained. The church continued without many of the people who had helped shape its early life. Years later, Jewish believers were able to return, and people who had once shared life together were learning how to become a family again. You can imagine how complicated that might have felt. People returned carrying history, Scripture, traditions, and ways of understanding faith that had shaped them for generations. Others had spent years learning how to follow Jesus and care for the church in their absence. They had changed too. Questions of belonging were woven through all of it. Who gets to lead? Whose traditions shape the community? How do people with different convictions share a table? What does faithfulness look like when the person beside you sees things differently? Paul writes into that tension with his attention fixed on Jesus. “The good news is about his Son,” he writes. Jesus comes from the family of David, is raised from the dead, and is Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul then speaks directly to the Gentile believers in Rome and tells them that they too have been “called to belong to Jesus Christ.” The gospel announces that Jesus is King, and His kingship creates a family whose centre is Him. The people in that family still carry their histories, cultures, personalities, convictions, wounds, and experiences. They bring all of it with them as they learn to live under the leadership of Jesus. When Jesus Gets the Final Word We each arrive with a story. Our experiences have shaped what feels familiar and trustworthy to us. We have preferences about church, relationships, money, politics, worship, community, and the way life should work. We carry things we were taught, things we learned through experience, and places where we have been hurt. Following Jesus brings all of this into relationship with Him, where we keep learning what it means to trust His leadership with the whole of our lives. That invitation reaches into places we may barely notice. It reaches the conversation where we already know what we want the other person to say. It reaches the relationship where an old wound still influences how we interpret someone’s actions. It reaches the decisions we make with our time and money, the people we instinctively trust, the voices we listen to, and the plans we have quietly settled in our own minds. Paul’s opening words to Rome keep drawing our attention toward the same centre: Jesus is Lord. Jesus is King. His kingship does not depend upon our agreement, and we spend our lives discovering what it means to trust Him with the final word. That can lead us into some honest questions. Where does Jesus already have freedom to lead in my life? Where am I holding tightly to my own way of seeing things? Which parts of my story might He be asking me to place in His hands again? These are questions of trust, asked in the presence of a King who has already shown us what His leadership is like. The King We Follow As Romans unfolds, we begin to see the character of this King. Jesus leads through self giving love. His life carries the shape of the cross. He welcomes people into His family and teaches them to live with the same generous love they have received from Him. The gospel carries God’s saving power to Jew and Gentile alike, bringing people with very different stories into one family through faith. This begins to change the way we see the person across from us. Someone can carry a different background, generation, tradition, or set of experiences and still belong to Jesus. Someone can challenge the way we have always understood something and still have something to teach us. Paul himself longs to visit Rome because he expects encouragement to move in both directions. He wants to strengthen their faith, and he expects his own faith to be strengthened by theirs. A family centred on Jesus can carry that kind of humility. We come with something to give and with room to receive. When Jesus has the final word, we can loosen our grip on the need for everyone around us to confirm what we already think. We can listen with curiosity and allow Jesus to speak through Scripture, through His Spirit, and through people whose stories are different from ours. The church in Rome was learning to trust that Jesus was able to lead people who did not all see things the same way. That same trust can make room for us to listen carefully to Him and to one another. One Gospel Paul writes to people surrounded by competing claims of power and allegiance, then announces the good news of Jesus Christ. He describes this gospel as “the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes.” One gospel. One King. People with many stories learning to become one family under His leadership. That life keeps growing in us as we place another part of ourselves into the hands of Jesus. Our plans, ambitions, relationships, convictions, habits, wounds, preferences, and hopes can all become places where we learn His leadership and discover His faithfulness. Jesus already knows the whole story we are carrying. He knows where trust comes easily and where surrender takes time, and He continues to invite us to follow Him with all that we are. The question of who belongs eventually brings us back to the opening words of Paul’s letter. Paul belongs to Jesus. The Jewish believers returning to Rome belong to Jesus. The Gentile believers who remained belong to Jesus. Their shared life begins with the One to whom they all belong, and He teaches them how to receive one another as family. One gospel. One family. One King. And Jesus gets the final word.One Gospel

Joel Wydysh

Pastor of Community and Connections

September 17, 2026 • 6 Minute Read
Deep Water
For seven days, families gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, remembering the years Israel had lived in the wilderness and the God who had cared for them there. Near the end of the feast, priests carried water to the temple and poured it out, an ancient picture filled with memory, longing, and hope. It was into that setting that Jesus stood and spoke. “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me. Anyone who believes in me may come and drink.” John tells us that Jesus was speaking about Holy Spirit, describing rivers of living water flowing from within those who trusted Him. The invitation carries the sound of another river. Centuries earlier, the prophet Ezekiel had been given a vision of water flowing from the temple. At first it reached his ankles, then his knees, then his waist. Eventually the water became deep enough to swim in, a river he could no longer cross on foot. Everywhere it travelled, life appeared. Even the waters of the Dead Sea became fresh. Trees grew along the banks, bearing fruit, with leaves described as bringing healing. The river keeps getting deeper, and everywhere it goes, life follows. When the Water Gets Deep Ezekiel steps into a river that is already flowing. He does not create its current or determine where it will go. Its source is the presence of God, and Ezekiel is invited to follow it into deeper water. Our life with the Holy Spirit begins in much the same place. We are learning to become available to the One who is already present and at work, allowing His life to reach further into ours as trust grows. Deep water gives us a beautiful picture of what that trust can become. At ankle depth, we can still feel the ground beneath our feet. We can choose our direction fairly easily. As the water rises, each step requires greater awareness of the current. Eventually our feet leave the bottom and the river carries us. That can feel vulnerable. Most of us have places where we like to know exactly where our feet are going to land. We have learned ways of protecting ourselves, making plans, holding tightly to what feels secure, and preparing for whatever might come next. Some of those patterns have been shaped by disappointment or pain. Others simply grew through years of trying to make wise choices and take responsibility for our lives. Deep water brings us to the edges of what we can manage for ourselves, and those edges have a way of revealing where our trust rests. Israel discovered this in the wilderness. God provided manna each morning, enough for the day, and told them to gather it fresh. Their experience in Egypt had taught them something very different about survival, so trusting daily provision took time. They were learning the character of the God who had brought them out of slavery and was now teaching them how to live as free people. Trust grows through relationship. We come to know God as we spend time with Him, encounter Him in Scripture, recognize His faithfulness, and learn to bring our uncertainty into His presence. Some days that trust feels steady. Other days it feels fragile. Both can become places of honest relationship with God. Perhaps that is part of what makes Jesus’ words at the feast so tender. He speaks to thirsty people and says, “Come to me and drink.” He invites us closer. Wherever the River Goes The water Jesus offers is life itself, flowing through the presence of Holy Spirit. Paul later describes believers as the temple where the Spirit dwells, which makes Ezekiel’s picture especially beautiful. The river flowing from the temple becomes an image we can carry into ordinary life. God’s life is at work within His people and spills outward into homes, workplaces, friendships, neighbourhoods, conversations, acts of forgiveness, quiet faithfulness, generosity, courage, and love. This gives us a fuller picture of the Spirit’s power. His presence can be experienced in ways that leave us amazed, and His work can also be seen in a person learning to forgive, choosing gentleness when anger would come easily, serving without needing recognition, remaining faithful through disappointment, or loving someone who is difficult to love. The fruit of the Spirit is evidence of life taking root and flowing outward. What the Deep Water Reveals In deep water, surrender begins to reach the places we have held tightly. Control can loosen its grip. The need to prove ourselves can grow quieter. Old wounds can be brought into the healing presence of Jesus. Even familiar ways of hearing God may shift as we enter a different season with Him. The river moves, and we keep learning the character of the One who carries us. There may be an area of your life right now where the water feels deeper than it once did. Familiar rhythms have shifted, and you are learning to trust God without knowing very far ahead or having the certainty you would like. Perhaps this deeper place is becoming another part of your life where you are learning to know Him. What would trust look like there? A River Full of Life Ezekiel’s river offers a beautiful answer without giving us a map of every bend ahead. He sees the water move toward a dead place, and as it arrives, that place begins to live. The river carries healing and fruitfulness with it because its source is the presence of God. This story of water runs throughout Scripture. A river waters the garden in Genesis. The prophets picture water bringing healing and restoration. Jesus calls Himself living water and promises the Spirit. Revelation closes with the river of life flowing from the throne of God, with trees growing beside it and leaves for the healing of the nations. One river. One story of life flowing from the presence of God. And we have been invited into it. Becoming More Available Deep water asks for trust because our feet cannot always reach the bottom. It gives us room to discover that the river was never depending on our ability to hold everything together. The Spirit has been moving long before we recognized the current, bringing the life of Jesus into places that need healing, restoration, courage, mercy, and hope. The invitation in this season may be as simple as becoming more available to Him. Where are you sensing the current of His presence? What are you holding that may be ready to loosen in your hands? Where might Jesus be inviting you to trust His life within you? The river is still flowing. There is life in the deep water.Learn the River

Tracy Linkletter

Senior Leader

September 17, 2026 • 7 Minute Read
Learn the River
You can learn a surprising amount about canoeing before your paddle ever touches the water. Someone can show you how to hold the paddle, how to steer, what to watch for when the current changes, and how to work with the person sharing the canoe. You can listen to stories from people who have travelled rivers for years and learn from everything they have experienced. Then you push away from shore. Suddenly the current is something you can feel. The wind matters. The depth of the water matters. The person sitting in front of you matters. You begin listening differently because you are actually in the river, and what you learned on land starts making sense in ways it couldn't before. Life with the Holy Spirit grows much the same way. Scripture gives us the story of God and shows us His character and ways. Other people can tell us what they have learned through years of following Jesus. All of that matters deeply, and as we begin living attentively with Holy Spirit ourselves, what we have learned becomes part of our lived experience with God. Learning the River When Jesus stepped into the Jordan to be baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him. Matthew tells us that immediately afterward, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. His baptism was followed by movement, and the life that unfolded from there was lived in continual relationship with the Father and the Spirit. That gives us a helpful picture for our own life with God. Saying yes to Jesus brings us into a relationship that keeps unfolding. We learn to recognize Holy Spirit as He leads us toward Jesus, reminds us of His words and ways, and helps us follow Him through the life actually in front of us. A river is a fitting picture because it requires a different posture than walking on land. On land, we choose our direction and put our feet where we want them to go. Once a canoe enters moving water, the current becomes part of the journey. We learn how to travel with something already in motion. Learning to live with Holy Spirit carries some of that same discovery. We begin to realize that God is already at work around us. Our part is to become increasingly attentive to where He is moving and how He is inviting us to respond. Paying Attention Anyone travelling a river learns to notice things. The current quickens. The water becomes shallow. Clouds gather in the distance or the wind changes direction. A bend blocks the view of what is coming next, so you pay attention to what is happening where you are. Discernment asks us to notice what is happening here and now, while keeping our attention on Jesus and listening for what Holy Spirit may be showing us. We may not know what is around the next bend, but we can become familiar with His voice and His ways as we travel. That also means learning to hold our circumstances with some humility. Calm water does not always mean we are heading in the right direction, and difficult water does not necessarily mean we have taken a wrong turn. The river can change quickly. What matters is that we remain present with God, attentive to what He is doing and willing to follow where He leads. What are you noticing in the stretch of river you are travelling right now? The answer may have less to do with figuring out what comes next and more to do with seeing clearly where you are. Learning Together Experience changes the way someone reads a river. A person who has travelled it for years notices things a newer paddler might miss, simply because they have seen the current behave this way before. Their experience becomes especially valuable when the water changes and we are unsure what we are seeing. The people around us can offer that kind of perspective as we learn to recognize Holy Spirit too. Scripture places followers of Jesus within a community where people pray together, learn together, share wisdom, offer correction, and help one another discern what God is doing. There is room in those relationships to bring what we are experiencing into the conversation, especially when we are unsure how to understand it. We can say, “I think God may be showing me something. Can I talk this through with you?” Someone we trust may help us test what we are hearing against Scripture, notice something we have missed, or recognize when our own desires and assumptions are influencing what we see. Their stories matter too. Someone who has already travelled through grief, uncertainty, transition, disappointment, or a long season of waiting carries knowledge of the river that can steady us when we reach similar waters. Some of the deepest formation in our lives happens through relationships that stay with us across many kinds of water. Years pass, circumstances change, and we discover that God has been using those friendships to help us know Him and understand ourselves along the way. What We Learn Upstream Every river eventually changes. Every river eventually changes. A calm stretch can carry you toward faster water, with rocks beneath the surface and bends that limit your view of what lies ahead. Storms can alter the conditions quickly, requiring you to draw on what you have already learned about navigating the river. When the water speeds up, there is little time to begin figuring out how to paddle. What became familiar upstream is already with you, and you discover how much you have learned simply by travelling the river. We can recognize something similar in our own lives. Holy Spirit may prepare us through experiences whose significance only becomes clear later. A skill developed years ago, wisdom gained through a difficult season, something learned through work, or a relationship that stretched us can become exactly what is needed in a situation we never anticipated. Looking back, we sometimes discover that God was preparing us long before we knew what He was preparing us for. That can change how we see the season we are living now. The experiences in front of us have value even when we cannot see where they are leading. Holy Spirit knows our gifts, our history, our limitations, and the parts of us that are still growing. He also knows what lies farther down the river. There is something deeply reassuring about realizing we do not need a map of every bend in order to keep travelling. We can learn what this part of the river has to teach us. Around the Bend There are also places on a river where paddling stops for a while. The water becomes too shallow, the route is blocked, and the canoe has to be carried until there is water again. Our lives have seasons like that too, when the familiar ways of moving forward no longer fit and we find ourselves in a landscape we did not expect. Staying present matters here as much as it does on the water. When our attention becomes fixed on getting somewhere else, we can miss what Jesus is showing us where we are. Holy Spirit remains with us through rest, waiting, healing, change, and all the places where the way forward is still taking shape. Matthew 14 gives us a picture of that trust. In rough water, Peter hears Jesus calling and steps out of the boat toward Him. His confidence rests in the One he is following, which brings us back to the heart of learning the river. Holy Spirit continually turns our attention toward Jesus, helping us trust Him through whatever kind of water we are travelling. Nobody learns a river in one afternoon. We learn by travelling it, paying attention, listening to people who have gone ahead of us, and staying close to those beside us. Over time, we become increasingly confident in the One who already knows where the river is going and what waits around the bend.Learn the River

Tracy Linkletter

Senior Leader

September 7, 2026 • 9 Minute Read
Get in the Water
Baptism is a word that carries a picture within it. To be baptized is to be immersed, plunged beneath the surface, surrounded by water until there is no part of you untouched by it. When the Bible speaks about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that picture gives us a beautiful place to begin. It invites us to imagine a life immersed in the presence of God, learning to live within the life He has already opened to us. For many people, the words “Holy Spirit” carry other things too. There may be memories of a particular church tradition, experiences that were deeply meaningful, questions that were never fully answered, or disappointment connected to things witnessed along the way. Each of those experiences becomes part of the story we carry. Jesus welcomes us to bring the whole story with us as we return to Scripture and allow our understanding of Holy Spirit to keep growing. When we follow the Spirit through the biblical story, we discover that His presence has been there all along. The Spirit Over the Water The Bible opens with a world waiting for life. Genesis describes the earth as formless and empty, with darkness covering the deep, while “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” The Hebrew word used for spirit is ruach. It can mean breath, wind, or spirit, and there is something wonderfully alive about all three. Breath fills lungs. Wind moves through trees and across open water. The Spirit hovers over creation, completely present and ready to bring life. The word translated “hovering” gives us the picture of a bird staying close to its young, watchful and attentive. Before anything begins to grow, before the waters are gathered or the land produces vegetation, the Spirit is there. Genesis gives us our first glimpse of Holy Spirit as the One who is present within the unfinished places, bringing life where life is waiting to emerge. That picture can stay with us when our own lives feel unfinished. Holy Spirit remains present within places we cannot quite understand, including situations where the way forward has not become clear. What might change in the way we see those places if we began to trust that the Spirit of God is already present within them? A few verses later, God breathes life into humanity. Breath fills what God has formed from the dust, and a human being becomes alive. From the beginning, the biblical story connects the Spirit of God with life. That thread keeps moving. A Presence Drawing Closer Throughout the Old Testament, Holy Spirit works through people in wonderfully varied ways. He gives wisdom and skill to Bezalel as he creates the furnishings for the tabernacle (Exodus 31:1–5). He empowers leaders and speaks through prophets, working through people such as Deborah with courage and wisdom for the particular place and time in which they live (Judges 4–5). Then the prophets begin speaking about something still to come. Jeremiah describes a day when God will write His ways upon human hearts. Ezekiel speaks of God giving His people a new heart and placing His Spirit within them. In a valley filled with dry bones, Ezekiel watches as the breath of God brings life again. Joel hears God promise that His Spirit will be poured out upon sons and daughters, young and old, men and women. These promises were spoken to people who knew disruption, exile, grief, and uncertainty. Their familiar world had been shaken, and God kept speaking about presence, restoration, breath, and life. He was drawing His people toward a future in which His Spirit would dwell within them. God’s desire for closeness runs through the whole story, and the promises of the prophets begin to take visible form when Jesus arrives at the Jordan. As He rises from the water, the Spirit descends upon Him like a dove and the Father speaks His love over His Son. Father, Son, and Spirit are present together as Jesus begins His public ministry. The same Spirit who hovered over the waters of creation now rests upon Jesus, who will live in complete dependence upon the Father and the Spirit. John the Baptist had already told the people that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit. The One standing in the river would open the way for people to live immersed in the presence of God. The Water Begins to Move After the resurrection, Jesus tells His followers to wait for the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost, wind fills the house, fire rests upon ordinary people, and voices begin speaking in languages they had never learned. Peter reaches back to the prophet Joel to explain what is happening. The promise they had been waiting for is unfolding among them. God pours out His Spirit on people. The rest of the New Testament begins to explore what life with the Spirit looks like. Paul tells followers of Jesus that they are God’s temple and His Spirit lives within them and among them. The Spirit grows fruit in human lives, gives gifts, helps people pray, leads them, and forms the character of Jesus within them. He creates a people whose shared life becomes another place where the presence of God can be seen. This brings the idea of immersion very close to home. Life with Holy Spirit reaches into prayer, relationships, work, creativity, decisions, conversations, disappointments, and the quiet thoughts no one else hears. His presence belongs within the ordinary texture of being human. We begin to recognize that He has been present in places we once overlooked. A conversation lingers in our thoughts and becomes an invitation to pray. Compassion rises unexpectedly for someone whose story we barely know. A familiar passage of Scripture suddenly speaks into something we are carrying. Beauty catches our attention on an otherwise ordinary morning, and for a few seconds we become aware of the goodness of God. Learning to live immersed begins with attention. We keep turning toward the One who is already near. Pouring Our Stories Into the River Our stories come with us into that life. The traditions we have inherited, the experiences that have awakened us to the reality of God, and even the disappointments that have left us carrying questions all become part of the way we understand Holy Spirit. These stories stay with us, sometimes for years, influencing what we expect and how open we feel to what God may want to show us. As we bring them into His presence, Holy Spirit can continue to meet us within our stories and deepen our understanding of who He is. The image of water helps here too. Water held in a bottle stays contained. A river moves, carrying fresh water onward as it follows its source. There are parts of our stories that can become contained in much the same way. We can hold tightly to one experience, one understanding, one disappointment, or one explanation until it becomes difficult to imagine that God might still have something to show us. Holy Spirit invites us to pour those stories into His living water and let Him carry them toward their source. Surrender can look like bringing our whole story with us, including the traditions that first taught us about Jesus, the experiences that awakened faith, the ones that left us confused, and the places where God acted differently than we expected. We can hold all of it openly before Holy Spirit, trusting Him to meet us within what we have lived and continue showing us who He is. After His resurrection, Jesus walked beside two disciples on the road to Emmaus who were carrying their own expectations and disappointments. As He opened the Scriptures, He helped them see their experiences within the larger story of what God had been doing all along. Their understanding began to change as they walked, and eventually they recognized that Jesus Himself had been with them on the road. Their story gives us room to consider our own. What might Holy Spirit be helping us see differently as we bring our experiences back to Jesus and allow Scripture to open our understanding of who He is? Come The final pages of the Bible return us to water as “the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come,’” inviting anyone who is thirsty to receive the water of life (Revelation 22:17). Genesis begins with the Spirit hovering over the waters, ready to bring life into creation, and Revelation closes with the Spirit still inviting people toward life. Between those two scenes, we find the story of God drawing near, breathing life into His creation and making His home among His people. We are living somewhere within that story, with places in us still waiting for renewal, questions we continue to carry, gifts we are learning to recognize, and trust that grows as we walk with Jesus. Holy Spirit is present there too, patiently leading us deeper into the life of Jesus. The invitation is beautifully simple: get in the water. Bring your story with you. Bring your questions, your history, your hope, your longing, and the parts you still cannot explain. Let Scripture keep introducing you to the Spirit who hovered over the waters, filled ordinary people, rested upon Jesus, came like wind and fire at Pentecost, and now makes His home within those who follow Christ. And as you move through the coming days, pay attention. Notice where life seems to be stirring. Listen for the quiet invitation to pray, to love, to create, to speak, to wait, or to move. Watch for the places where something that has felt stagnant begins to breathe again. The water is still moving. The Spirit is still giving life and Jesus is still inviting us deeper. The invitation remains open to every thirsty heart: come, get in the water, and discover where Holy Spirit is leading.Get in the Water

Tracy Linkletter

Senior Leader

August 30, 2026 • 6 Minute Read
Around the Bend
Most of us would probably like a little advance notice from God. A glimpse around the corner would be helpful. A few details about where a decision will lead, some reassurance that the thing we sensed Him inviting us into will unfold the way we imagined. We can pray, listen carefully, take a step of faith, and quietly begin forming a picture of what our yes will look like. Then the road turns. Plans can change in ways we never saw coming, leaving us to watch an opportunity disappear or something we prepared for move forward without us. We may find ourselves somewhere entirely different from where we thought we were headed, wondering how a path that once felt so clear could have taken such an unexpected turn. Those moments can bring honest questions to the surface. Did I hear God correctly? Did I misunderstand? What am I supposed to do now? The Psalms describe God’s Word as “a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path” Psalm 119:105 A lamp gives enough light to take the next step. There is a tenderness in that image because it describes a life of trust, one step illuminated at a time, with God close enough to lead us as we go. When the Plan Changes A heart prepared to serve can keep saying yes when the destination changes. We may sense God leading us in a particular direction and begin preparing ourselves for what lies ahead. Then circumstances shift, and the opportunity we expected takes a different turn. Questions naturally come with that. Did I hear God correctly? Was all that preparation leading somewhere? Those questions can become a place of deeper trust. God may be forming something in us before we understand where it will be needed. The willingness, compassion, courage, patience, or generosity growing in our hearts can become part of His work in a setting we never anticipated. This gives us a different way to hold our plans. Open hands leave room for God to guide the outcome while we continue offering Him our yes. The path may turn, and the work He has been doing within us continues into whatever comes next. Where might God already be using something He has been forming in you? God Is Already There Learning to live attentively with Holy Spirit can change the way we move through ordinary places, as the people and needs around us begin to hold our attention differently. A walk through the neighbourhood might draw us into prayer for the families who live there, while a practical need can invite us to serve or an unexpected conversation can help us notice the story another person is carrying. As our attention turns toward God, we begin to recognize more of what He may already be doing around us and how we might participate with Him. Prayer is part of that attentiveness. Romans 8 tells us that the Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes according to the will of God. When we pray for another person, a family, a school, a workplace, or a community, we are joining a conversation God has already begun. His care was present before the need caught our attention, and His Spirit is already at work in places we may only be beginning to notice. That can make prayer wonderfully simple, because the places we already move through can become places where we notice what is on God’s heart. A walk through the neighbourhood might draw our attention toward the families who live there, passing a school might prompt us to pray for students and teachers, and a conversation might stay with us long enough to become a prayer later in the day. These small moments invite us to stay attentive to Holy Spirit as we move through everyday life. And as we pay attention, compassion can become increasingly personal. Jesus consistently saw the whole person in front of Him. Throughout the Gospels, He draws near to people carrying complicated stories and receives them with dignity and compassion. Following Him teaches us to look with that same kind of care, allowing another person’s humanity to matter to us. Our own stories can become part of this too. Experiences that have marked us may deepen our ability to recognize pain, loneliness, fear, or hope in someone else. What we have lived through can open our eyes to people we might otherwise have passed by, giving compassion somewhere tangible to go. Who has been coming into view lately? Where might Holy Spirit be inviting you to pay closer attention? Walking Humbly With God Micah gives beautifully ordinary language to this kind of life: “to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” - Micah 6:8 Walking with God happens in actual places among actual people. We listen as we go, allowing mercy to become part of our responses and obedience to take form through the choices in front of us. A few quiet minutes with Jesus, a prayer offered while walking down the street, practical help when someone needs it, or an unexpected opportunity to care can all become places where faith takes root in everyday life. There is a steady companionship in Micah’s picture. We walk with God through plans and interruptions, familiar routines and unexpected turns. We keep learning His voice and becoming attentive to His presence, trusting that He is already at work beyond what we can see. Over time, the truths we have carried in our minds begin to become part of the way we live. As we keep trusting God, learning to see people as Jesus sees them, and bringing the people and places around us into prayer, trust and compassion begin to take deeper root in our everyday lives. And step by step, we discover that life with Holy Spirit can happen right where we are. Around the Bend We rarely know what waits around the bend. God does. He sees the family member who will need our care, the stranger whose story will touch something in our own, the neighbourhood that needs prayer, the unexpected interruption that will become an opportunity to serve. He sees the ordinary moments where a quiet yes will become part of something much larger than we can see. That gives us room to loosen our grip on the map. We can ask Jesus what He is doing here, in this place, with these people, in the life directly in front of us. We can carry our plans with open hands and trust that the God who has been faithful behind us is already present ahead of us. And when the road turns, we can keep walking with Him.Empowered For Love

Joel Wydysh

Pastor of Community and Connections

August 23, 2026 • 6 Minute Read
What Feels Like Home?
“Welcome home.” Those words carry a quiet warmth. They speak of a place where the door opens easily, where your presence is wanted, and where you can settle without wondering if you belong. Home gathers memories over time through shared meals, familiar voices, ordinary laughter, and the comfort of being known. Jesus uses this deeply human language to help us understand the life he shares with us. Home Comes Close In John 14, Jesus is speaking with friends whose world is becoming uncertain. They sense that change is coming, and their questions reveal how little they understand about where he is going. Jesus speaks peace to their troubled hearts and invites them to trust him. He tells them there is plenty of room in his Father’s house, and he promises that they will always be with him. Thomas responds with the honesty many of us carry: “We have no idea where you are going. So how can we know the way?” Jesus gives Thomas himself as the answer. “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). The way home is found in a living relationship with Jesus, where trust grows through knowing him and receiving the life he gives. As the conversation continues, the language of home comes even closer. Jesus says that the Father and the Son will come and make their home with those who love him (John 14:23). The word translated as “home” carries the sense of dwelling, staying, and remaining. Jesus is describing the settled presence of God within a person’s life. This is where the promise of Holy Spirit becomes especially beautiful. Jesus tells his disciples that the Spirit will live with them and within them. God’s presence, once associated with places such as the tabernacle and the temple, will now dwell in human hearts. Through Holy Spirit, the life of the Father and the Son becomes present within ordinary people living ordinary days. For anyone whose experience of home has carried disappointment or hurt, Jesus offers a faithful welcome. He brings the steady care of the Father into the places where trust has felt difficult. He comes with patience, giving us room to learn his voice and become familiar with his presence. What might begin to change as your heart learns that God has drawn near and chosen to stay? Learning to Remain In John 15, Jesus gives his friends another picture. He describes himself as the vine and his people as the branches, then says, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you” - John 15:4 A branch receives life through its connection to the vine. Fruit grows gradually as life continues to flow through that connection, often quietly and beyond what the eye can see. Remaining in Jesus can look wonderfully ordinary. It happens as we turn our attention toward him during a difficult conversation, remember his words while making a decision, or invite him into the thoughts that keep circling through our minds. It happens around kitchen tables, during the drive to work, and in the pause before we respond to someone we love. Each moment becomes another opportunity to live from his presence. Where has your attention been living lately? Our attention often reveals where we have been making ourselves at home. Jesus welcomes us to return to him as often as needed, bringing our questions, distractions, hopes, and unfinished thoughts. Every return helps us recognize his presence with greater ease. The Shape of Fruit As we remain connected to Jesus, his presence guides how we carry our gifts and who we are becoming. Spiritual gifts reveal the generosity of God working through a person, while spiritual fruit reveals the character of Jesus growing within that person. Paul places his teaching about love at the centre of his discussion about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 through 14. Love gives every gift its healthy shape and helps it become a source of grace for others. Teaching carried with gentleness helps people feel safe enough to learn. Leadership joined with patience creates room for others to grow. Discernment expressed through kindness brings clarity with care, while generosity rooted in love helps people flourish without becoming a project. Holy Spirit forms the character of Jesus within us so that what we offer carries the heart of the One who gave it. “The fruit of the Spirit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.” - Galatians 5:22–23 These qualities reveal what the life of Jesus looks like as it takes root in a human heart. They grow through days of abiding, returning, listening, and learning to trust. Over time, the people around us begin to experience his patience in our responses, his kindness in our words, and his peace in the way we carry uncertainty. Fruit also gives us a gentle way to pay attention to what God is forming within us. Is what you are learning about God making you humbler and easier to correct? Is your prayer life helping you become gentler with the people nearest to you? Is your desire for truth growing alongside patience and compassion? These questions create space to notice the quiet work Holy Spirit may already be doing. A Shared History With Jesus A home becomes meaningful through the life shared within it. Certain rooms hold memories because conversations happened there, tears were received there, and laughter filled the space. Our life with Jesus grows in a similar way. We begin to remember the morning he gave us peace, the season when his words steadied us, and the meal where his presence seemed especially near. These shared moments become part of our history with him. They remind us that Jesus has been present through changing seasons and that his Spirit continues to make the love of the Father known. Even the ache we feel when our attention wanders can become a quiet call toward home. Jesus keeps welcoming us into the communion he has already opened. Perhaps there is room today to linger with him for a few unhurried minutes. You might bring him the part of your heart that feels crowded, tired, or far away and allow his presence to meet you there. You might simply pray, “Jesus, make your home in me, and teach me to remain in you.” As we stay connected to Jesus, his life continues to grow within us. Love finds expression through the gifts he has entrusted to us, and everyday moments become places where others encounter his grace. Holy Spirit patiently forms a life that carries the character of Christ. The door is open. Jesus has made the way, and his welcome remains. Welcome home.Empowered For Love

Joel Wydysh

Pastor of Community and Connections