Pastor Jon Verwey
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Gathering in the same room creates the opportunity for community, but it does not automatically create community.
We were made for relationship—with God and with one another.
We need one another to become who Jesus created us to be.
Move toward God. Hold on to hope. Move toward one another.
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. —Hebrews 10:19–20 NLT
The church is not a collection of impressive people who have their act together. It is a community of broken people gathered around Jesus our Savior who is making them whole.
And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. —Hebrews 10:21–22 NLT
Christian community should be one of the safest places to remove the mask—not because sin does not matter, but because grace is available and transformation is possible.
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. — Hebrews 10:23 NLT
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. — Hebrews 10:24 NLT
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. — Hebrews 10:25 NLT
Remain teachable rather than easily offended.
Stop pretending we have everything together.
Take the risk of moving toward others.
Give people permission to encourage AND challenge us.
Gathering puts us in the room but encouraging others is what we are supposed to do once we get there.
Patience, kindness, gentleness, forgiveness, and self-control cannot be developed in isolation. They require actual people—often inconvenient people.
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.
Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load. — Galatians 6:2–5 NIV
When we bring our gifts, share our burdens, and walk through life together, The Holy Spirit works through us andmultiplies what becomes possible.
Sunday Unpacked: Going deeper in the Word, faith, and friendship.
Read: Together, we hear the Scripture from Sunday’s message read aloud.
Reflect: Slow down, sit with the Scripture, and listen for what the Holy Spirit is teaching us.
Respond: Share what we are learning and consider how to live it out.
Sunday Unpacked is a place to grow as disciples, deepen friendships, ask honest questions, and encourage one another to follow Jesus.
Connections: Sharing a meal, sharing life, and moving toward Jesus together.
What does this story show us about Jesus?
What might God be saying to you through this story?
What might you do differently because of this story?
Come to the table. Join the conversation. Let yourself be known.
Bring what God has placed in you.
Because we need one another to become who Jesus created us to be.