As we gathered together in worship for the first time in 2024, we revisited Jesus’ Parable of the Wineskins, and the ways it invites us to reconsider our assumptions about the form of the Church. How might God be calling us to embrace unfamiliar paths in which the life of Christ would resound anew in our lives and in the place we have been uniquely rooted?

As we shared in our first Christmas celebration as a church family, Pastor Mike offered a word of hope from the nativity story; a reminder that God isn’t waiting for us at some unknown destination, but has drawn near to us right where we are.

On this first Sunday of Advent, our inaugural journey through the liturgical calendar as a community, Pastor Mike invites us into this season of preparation and patient waiting, as we anticipate celebrating the remembrance of God’s incarnation in Jesus’ birth. How might this season disrupt and shape our time of celebration? May these weeks not be defined by spending and stress, but by an encounter with the true and living God, who joins us in fellowship to model a path of sacrificial love.

The liturgy and teaching from our gathering on November 22nd. Pastor Mike asks us to consider what it looks like to voyage together, as a seedling community attempting to follow in the way of Jesus, within the particularities of the space and time we inhabit? The voice of the Shepherd will lead the way. In the beloved community of Christ, all of you belong, and all of YOU belongs.

The liturgy and teaching from our gathering on October 22nd. As a newly established community, part of declaring the Lordship of Christ is identifying and discarding the idolatrous versions of Jesus that have wrongly been allowed to take root in our homes and communities. Our journey, directed by the Holy Spirit, always beckons us from the supposed seat of power to the margins, from judgment to mercy, from fear to love.

The liturgy and teaching from our gathering on October 1st. Before you were anything, you were already beloved. As we continue moving toward the vision that God is giving us for this new community, we need not be afraid of the unknown, because our Savior knows the way even when all we can see is darkness.

The liturgy and teaching from our gathering on September 10th. As we together make a step of faith into this journey, Pastor Mike invites us all to prayerfully discern the particular ways that we are called into to the shared work ahead.

If you were unable to join us for our first Sunday liturgy on August 20, we would love for to you give a listen to hear a bit more about the genesis of Vessel and our guiding ethos as we continue gathering together in this season of new rooting.