1 Samuel 1: 1 - 20
How do we pray when we come against impossible situations in life? We can cry out for God to intervene, and we don’t stop asking until we see him respond to our trials. This message from Pastor Scott looks at the prayer life of Hannah in 1 Samuel, a woman in a dysfunctional household and struggling with barrenness, who did not cease to pray through her “anguish and grief” until God answered her prayers.
Psalm 69
How do we respond well to the suffering we experience in life? Psalm 69 exemplifies the way we can cry out to God in the middle of distress. Like David, we can tell God all about it, be as honest as we want, work through our anger in prayer, and praise God in the midst of affliction. Pastor Scott encourages Christ believers to persevere in our faith, as when we cling to Jesus, He who suffered and endured to the end will carry us through to the end.
Isaiah 6
What happens when we have a genuine encounter with a holy God? We become aware of our unholiness. Yet this response makes room for God to purify us, like the seraphim placing a hot coal on Isaiah’s lips (Isaiah 6). How do we prepare for these types of encounters with God? In this message Pastor Scott offers wisdom for how to cultivate and sustain a deep prayer life that will prepare our hearts for life-altering encounters with God.
Habakkuk
There are pivotal moments in time when all we can do is pray in desperation. God hears these prayers, and this sermon series is to help us see examples in the Bible of what God does and says in response to our cries. This message from Pastor Scott looks at Habakkuk’s prayers that wrestle through questions and faith.
Pastor Scott gives a pastoral talk that sets the stage for exciting things ahead for the church. As other parts of the country have been experiencing revival, a diverse collective of pastors and leaders in and around Providence have been meeting monthly to pray and petition for God to revive the hearts of people in our region. Scott shares about the citywide worship gathering that is happening on March 15 that birthed out of these unified prayers, along with Ren Church’s plans for shifting the way we gather on Sundays starting this May and how this schedule change will help us better disciple the next generation.
Worship is what we do with what we have been given. This includes how we manage money. God does not need our money as if He is a desperate, broke person demanding we give Him a tenth of what we earn; rather, He wants our heart. Learning how to be generous with our money shapes our character into the likeness of Christ, and our primary motivation ought to be worship, a “fragrant offering” acceptable and pleasing to God. Pastor Scott gives wisdom for how we can handle our spending, saving, and giving in a way that glorifies God.
Romans 12:3 - 8
Each of us has been given by God certain abilities, talents, and gifts that can be used to glorify Him and serve the body of Christ. Romans 12: 3 - 8 introduces a list of spiritual gifts, and there are so many other abilities that can be stewarded—even gardening or organizing things can be done unto the Lord. How do we identify our gifts, and then use these abilities in our local church community? Pastor Scott walks through nine practical thoughts to help us cultivate what God has given to us to be in turn given back to Him and to the Ren community.
Worshipping God is more than the 20-minute block of singing on a Sunday morning. Rather, we worship God with all that we are. This is what Christ believers will do for eternity. How we spend the time we are given is an act of worship. Pastor Scott goes through some practical guidelines for how everything we do in a day can be shaped to glorify God.
Pastor Scott returns from his recent trip to Israel! Listen to the prayers he wrote while in the gospel story’s landscape, along with reflections on what it means to be “a city on a hill,” and what mission and prayer in the holy land can say about God’s mission in Rhode Island.
John 13:34
About a hundred times in the Bible, Christians are called to love “one another,” which refers to serving fellow Christian believers. John Michaelson unpacks six aspects of loving one another that we can apply in our life today: how to be present in the community, show hospitality, tend well to relationships, meet practical needs, use our gifts to serve the church, and how to disciple one another.