It's Better When You're Here!

This week, we're excited to share a message from our guest preacher, Reverend Emily Hotho. As we listen, we pray that God will encourage, challenge, and strengthen us through His Word. So wherever you're listening from, let's lean in together and hear what the Lord has for us today. Passage: John 10: 11-16 CEB

Join Lee Bradley as he brings the message to us this week. Passage: John 3:1-18 ESV, Ezekiel 36:25-27 ESV, Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV

A life of faith will require us to come to grips with the questions that life demands of us. These questions aren’t easy. As the old adage goes, the truth will set you free—but not until she’s done with you. Today, I want us to look at what it means to be honest in community and to choose growth together. At Shepherds, belonging doesn’t require you to become less of who you are. But it will require something else. It will require bravery. Passage: Ephesians 4:1-7 CEB

Of all the things I love about Shepherds is that, as your pastor, I get to be very real with all of you. Today I want to share a part of my testimony and talk honestly about something many of us experience but rarely discuss—the connection between grief and doubt. Grief has a way of shaking us. It can stir questions we didn’t expect and doubts we never thought we’d have. But those moments don’t place us outside of God’s love—they often become the very places where we encounter it most deeply. My hope is that by the end of this conversation, we’ll be more prepared for when grief comes, more comfortable admitting our doubts, and above all convinced that there is no grief, no fear, and no darkness greater than the love of God. Passage: Romans 8:35-39 CEB

The concept of deconstruction has swept through the Christian world. More and more people who grew up in the church are taking a courageous, honest look at what they were taught—examining it, questioning it, and searching for new ways of knowing God. For many, deconstruction feels unsettling. For others, it feels necessary. And in many ways, it has become part of the lifeblood of Shepherd’s. So many of you have come to us from traditions that, for one reason or another, stopped working. You weren’t trying to walk away from God—you were trying to find Him again. In this new series, we’re going to reframe deconstruction—not as the end of faith, but as the beginning of a deeper story. A story that leads to a faith that is well-earned, broken in, honest, and above all, worth sharing. So let us seek—honestly and bravely—trusting that when we do, we will find God already meeting us there. Passage: John 10:7-15 CEB

Join us with guest Pastor, Greg Rusch, while Reverend Michael LeBlanc is out this week. Passage: 2 Timothy 3:14-17 NIV