Soul Stream

Using the analogy of Star Wars, Toby takes a different approach to Easter.

Using the Scripture of Luke 19:40, ""I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.", Toby applied this to the current topic of Saving Our Planet. Using several examples of the Earth showing its need for all of us to turn to conserving the Earth, Toby used the analogy of the Earth or the stones crying our for our recognition of the problem.

Turning now to the land in our Saving the Planet series, Toby gives many illustrations of just how amazing this planet is.

We'll explore the waters of baptism and, more particularly, the relationship between water and the original blessing of God. So often we forget that "in the beginning" when God created everything, God pronounced that it was GOOD! That we were and are GOOD! We'll explore the vital connection to our permanent status as beloved children of God and water. We'll also have a chance to remember and renew our baptism.

Toby will preach from John 4, which talks about the "living water" available to us in Jesus. You'll be astonished by how much we have in common with that weary Samaritan woman, who came to Jacob's well each and every day in search of water.

Pay careful attention to all of our many interactions with water, from drinking and cooking to showering and cleaning. The first step in repairing our relationship with the precious resource of water is to take a careful personal inventory of all the ways we use it. Don't forget the second part of this assignment - to google the floating island of trash in the Pacific Ocean. It is now twice the size of Texas and still growing. Having a visual image of this along with the facts surrounding it can be a powerful motivator in the way we live as stewards of the earth.

Taking a look at this annual trip to Detroit through the eyes of a college student who keeps coming on the trip; a student from the class; and an adult, who was making his first trip with the Kidz.

This Sunday will be Toby's final message in our Peacemaking series. He'll be preaching from Micah 4:1-5 and Philippians 1:1-14 and, in the process, he'll introduce us to several of his progressive pastor friends who have been working for peace through non-violent, creative acts of civil disobedience. These current, real-life stories will give us a vision of what peacemaking looks like in 2019.

This Sunday, our Peacemaking journey continues. Having examined Gandhi's brand of peacemaking last week, this week we'll turn to unique and powerful brand of peacemaking of the Berrigan brothers - Daniel and Phillip. The Berrigans were both Catholic priests who consistently put their freedom and their lives on the line to get us out of wars from Viet Nam to the Gulf War. Their story is absolutely incredible, so please don't miss it!

As our exploration of peacemaking continues, we'll turn to Matthew 5 for some of Jesus's wisest and most famous instruction on peacemaking. We'll also examine one of history's greatest and most innovative peacemakers - Mahatma Gandhi. Did you know that he named Jesus of Nazareth as one of his greatest influences?

This Sunday, we'll continue to explore the important work of peacemaking. Our readings - four of them for this week - will all come from what is known as the Jacob and Esau cycle, beginning in Genesis 25 and ending in Genesis 32. (Extra credit will be given to anyone who reads these 8 chapters before coming to worship this week!) The story of these two brothers - who are rivals even in Rebekah's womb! - is powerful and profoundly relevant to our exploration of peacemaking.

This Sunday, we will continue to examine God's call for ALL of us to be peacemakers. Last week we met Abigail, a wise and committed peacemaker. This week we'll talk frankly about the price of peacemaking. There is no doubt that being a peacemaker comes at great personal cost and sacrifice. We'll examine that cost through the lens of Jesus's sermon on the mount in Matthew 5 and Paul's call to offer ourselves as a "living sacrifice" in Romans 12.

This Sunday we'll explore what peacemaking is and why Jesus promised a special blessing to those who work for peace. You'll meet Abigail, an incredible peacemaker you may not have come across before. Her story will inform and challenge our story as individuals and as a congregation committed to peace.

Looking at Christmas as to God's choice of a young girl to bring forth his greatest gift.

We'll continue our exploration of peace, considering how we make and maintain peace in our relationships, one with another. We'll also examine Jesus's lineage according to Matthew - a very atypical report, as it includes several women in tracing Jesus's blood line. Could Matthew's unprecedented inclusion of women here be a clue for what is necessary for peace? Come and find out!

The road to peace and peacemaking begins with each of us developing peace within our own hearts and minds. We can't expect the world to be at peace when we haven't learned to practice peace in ourselves. Come this Sunday to learn how to take this critical first step on the road to peace.

Our series on "Being a Church for the Poor" continues as Toby will look at the dark side of some of the things we do for the least of these. What happens when the acts of charity we perform don't stem from a pure and loving motivation?

Matthew 25 and Hebrews 13, ask the question Joan Osborne posed in music in the 1990s: "What if God was one of us?"

Celebrating the kind of hunger God hopes we never lose. Jesus called it "hunger and thirst for righteousness." For Jesus, righteousness wasn't some sort of piety or personal holiness; rather it was everything in creation being in its right place, functioning as the Creator God intended. Poverty, hunger, war, and unchecked economic inequality are sure signs that we've lost touch with righteousness, that things are amiss.

What does Jesus tell us about abundance in our lives and how do we follow his lessons?

The service and the sermon are a celebration of the church being inclusive, and designed to reinforce the radical welcome Jesus extended to all people.

Our journey through the 7-Story Framework continues this Sunday with the long-awaited 7th story! We've seen what happens when people live out any of the previous 6 stories. History continues to reveal where stories of domination, revolution, isolation, victimization, purification, and accumulation lead. Thankfully, Jesus offers us another story, the Gospel story, the 7th story - as Brian McLaren and Garreth Higgins call it. Both this week and next we'll focus on this genuine and transforming love story.

Continuing our journey through the 7-Story Framework, our focus on this third week of the series will be on stories of purification and accumulation - the 5th and 6th stories. You'll be amazed how deeply rooted these stories are in human history and how far-reaching their corrupting influence has been.

Continuing the "The 7-Story Framework" he introduced last week, the two story types for this week will be stories of isolation or retreat and stories of victimization. These stories represent two of our favorite responses when the world disappoints us - either to run away or to declare that we are victims. Neither approach results in positive transformation or genuine Gospel living.

This Sunday we'll begin a new sermon and outreach series. Because our scriptures have over 2,100 references to the poor and our obligation to care for them, we'll spend the months of September through November exploring why Jesus made that his top priority. In the month of September, Toby will introduce us to what Brian McLaren calls "The 7 Story Framework," a profound way of understanding the world and how it got to the state it's in, with such an unequal distribution of wealth and resources.

Hope is our theme. So often we forget to hope and miss the opportunities God offers us for newness of life. Hope is central for the follower of Christ, and it is equally important to the recovering addict. Without hope, we are truly lost.

Acedia is an ancient term that is defined as grief; it can bury itself in our core and deny us joy. Miriam Hollar explains this phenomena and how it can be an addiction. Then, she talks about how to come to grips with this addiction by using some of the Twelve Step approach.

We'll continue our march through the 12 Steps of Recovery. We'll focus on the 12th step, which says, "Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

Miriam Hollar is no stranger to our pulpit and has become a true partner with Toby in the overall ministry of this church. She will continue our march through the 12 Steps of Recovery, focusing on steps 10 and 11. Her particular focus is the following articulation of the 11th step: "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood God, praying only for the knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out."

We march on through the 12 Steps, focusing on Steps 8 & 9. These are the steps of making amends and seeking forgiveness, and the parallels between these particular steps and the teaching of Jesus are undeniable. We'll examine the tough work of forgiveness - on both sides of the equation. This will be illustrated through the epic story of Jacob and Esau from Genesis 32 and 33, where the forgiveness process is likened to a wrestling match and a rebirth.

Instead of a sermon, Toby will be interviewing two people from Harbor Hall, the in-patient rehabilitation and treatment center for addicts in Northern Michigan. Dan Thompson is the Director of Spiritual Care and Supervisor of Resident Life at Harbor Hall. He is a certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor who has worked directly with addicts for nearly a decade and is a close friend of Toby's. Dan will be bringing with him Kurtice, a young man from Gaylord who recently completed Harbor Hall's treatment program for alcohol addiction. This conversation will be sure to inform, inspire, and ignite us, as we seek to better love those in our corner of the world who are fighting the good fight to live clean and sober lives.

we will take a careful look at one of the greatest spiritual advancements of the last two hundred years: the Twelve Steps. While many of us associate this roadmap to recovery with alcohol and drug users, I have found tremendous benefit and direction for my life through these very same steps. I know that you will too. We'll start with the first two steps, which are particularly pertinent for followers of Jesus living in 2018 America.

A look at Deborah as one of the women of the Bible and the impact she had.

This Sunday our celebration culminates with a message you won't want to miss. Toby will focus on Mary Magdalene, perhaps the most misunderstood and misrepresented woman in all of scripture. As we rediscover the real Mary of Mandala, we will also discover the truth about ourselves, our culture, and our God.

The loyalty of Ruth is the basis for this sermon, as Toby has the congregation reflect on times when the loyalty of a friend made a difference.

Taking the story of Esther, Toby posed the questions that all of us are put in a position in which we are called to do soething for others.

The sermon is about the time when Jesus visited in the home of Mary and Martha. When Martha complains to Jesus that Mary is not helping her, the reply offers all of us a way of life that lets us take care of ourselves.

Guest speaker Luka Knight told of her former life in the world of Human Trafficking. Luka told of her life since infancy until adulthood as a victim of human trafficking, and the few acts of human kindness that transformed her life.

The church celebrated what they had learned and accomplished in the last two months as the church focused on Kids at Risk.

Retired judge, Pat Morse; Wellspring Administrator, Darla Edwards; and teacher and parent Anne Buyze-Smith joined Toby to discuss some of the issues of kids at risk in the local area.

This Sunday we'll continue our journey toward a better understanding of at-risk children in our community and how we might minister more effectively to their particular needs. Toby will offer his first-hand account of growing up in an alcoholic family as a way of giving us rare insight into a population of at-risk kids we often miss.

Easte Sunday Sermon

Toby will challenge us by calling into question whether our ancestors really knew what they were doing when they lined the streets of Jerusalem, hailing Jesus as the king. And, if our spiritual ancestors were mistaken in their understanding of what Jesus had come to do, why do we keep celebrating this "Palm Sunday" the same way they did? Come and see!

Guest speaker, Steve Ferguson, discusses his being brought up as a Kid at Risk. Steve tells what it was like to be forced into a gang situation during his teenage years.

Toby has the participants observe nature as a means of meditation and prayer.

This message may change the way you look at Easter forever.

Toby continues this series with suggestions and practices that can help us be in the presence of God without words.

The ancient practice of Tonglen can be used to further our prayer life. Please note that there are parts of the podcast in which not words are being used as Toby gives us the opportunity to use this method.

This was actually the third in the Lenten Series, but unfortunately the first episode that was recorded. A continuation of learning out to breathe to be used in an attitude of prayer.