As part of the hybrid service on June 13, 2021, Jeanne led a reflection with the children on the seasons of the year. Leah followed it with a brief teaching about one of the places the Bible speaks most explicitly about the seasonality of life, and led us through a prayer experience to reflect on the seasons we find ourselves in now.
Read Leah’s notes here and view both teachings below.
On Wearing Masks and Eating Meat
In this teaching, Leah reflects a bit theologically about some of the complexity of gathering in this coming-out-of-Covid season, and considers what insight some instruction to the early church might bring.
Read Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
Pentecost 2021
The group gathered for our first Hybrid outdoor service in 2021.
This brief teaching from Leah was part of Haven's first hybrid service held on 5/23/2021, Pentecost Sunday.
Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
Rebuilding Intergenerationally
Leah and Jeanne lead another conversation in preparation for the return to in-person services. This conversation focused specifically on what it means to build a community that is intergenerational and supports the needs of adults and kids.
Planning to Rebuild
Leah and Jeanne open up a community discussion about the next phase of Haven life, as we look towards beginning to hold in-person gatherings outdoors, currently scheduled to begin May 23.
Envisioning Again
In this Sunday gathering, Lead Pastor Leah Martens and Connections Pastor Jeanne Wong lead a conversation around revisiting the vision of Haven as we prepare to begin meeting in person once again.
Breaking Down My Lens of Binary Thinking
Image by Alan Levine
In this teaching by Connections Pastor Jeanne Wong, Jeanne shares some of her story and her process in moving beyond dualistic thinking and the way it impacts the journey of faith.
Listen to or watch her teaching below.
Revealing Resurrection
On Easter Sunday 2021, Leah concluded our series on The Stories That Sustain Us. In this teaching Leah reflects on the way resurrection is revealed in the New Testament stories and what it might teach us about experiencing resurrection in our current circumstances.
See Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the video of her teaching below.
A Different Kind of Triumph
In this Palm Sunday teaching, Leah considers the spectacle of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and compares it to other traditions, with the hopes that we might better understand what Jesus was communicating engaging the day the way he did, and how that can sustain us now.
Between Loss and Hope
“Jesus Wept” by Tabitha Kaylee Hawk. Oklahoma City Memorial. https://www.flickr.com/photos/tabithahawk/14384061966/in/photolist-nV55uo-4CFZXW-pff7NE-7cf4p9-229Fs3-3VwEJ-81Gv6r-2ky5x2A-scgA6R-aYLHac-eeGMSC-23BWkof-4x5tHS-7V8K9y-9dsPvL-sd3AmR-gqXTxi-gqXzLE-e51Wer-eaLsz3-278q7bE-4iFh4w-7JJa8E-2iMtEnW-eaLqgL-eaLqBd-eaLr3L-a699p2-eaLrrm-CQhFc-LTV4x-eaLrHm-EDTAh-9y7kwb-ehBV1n-dsmDY7-8YXaNk-7aNp4M-bUadH-4d3Gs3-dKvrip-4S53DD-LTV96-4S53Cp-acqnBj-LTLpN-LTV7x-sctoM-i4P3W-5DH6d7
This is a teaching by Leah Martens to mark the anniversary of a year since the pandemic began. In this "Story That Sustains Us", she revisits a story about Jesus being present to two sisters in the delicate place many of us have been inhabiting this year between loss and hope.
Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
Transfiguring Transcendence
Theophanes the Greek, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
In this teaching, Katie Kay helps us pivot in Lent to the latter part of the Stories That Sustain Us from the gospels, by looking at one that has mystified and inspired Christians through the ages. Here she shares her thoughts on the Transfiguration, and how that story may connect with us and sustain us today.
Listen to Katie’s teaching or watch the video below.
Walking on Water
In this teaching on another famous Jesus story, Leah looks at Matthew’s account of Jesus walking on water toward his disciples. In doing so, she invites us to consider how God might be present to us in challenging seasons, and how we might respond.
Read Leah’s notes here and listen to or view the teaching below.
The Good Soil That Gives Life
In this teaching by Connections Pastor Jeanne Wong, we look at one of Jesus’ most famous parables - a parable about a sower, seed, and soil - as we consider how this story might speak to us about the beauty of faith in Jesus and the transformation it can bring.
Read Jeanne’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
When We Emerge
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from Washington D.C, United States, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
This teaching by Pastor Leah Martens is the next in our "Stories That Sustain Us" series, looking at the life of Jesus through gospel stores. In this teaching, Leah starts by considering the recent performance of Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman (pictured above), and then turns to the story of Jesus preaching at his home synagogue in Nazareth. Her teaching considers how that moment can inform our own understanding of Jesus, as well as what it means to "emerge".
Read Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
From Water to Wine
In this second teaching in the "Stories That Sustain Us" story, Leah takes a look at a famous story - Jesus' first miraculous sign in the gospel of John.
Review Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
The Stories That Sustain Us: An Introduction
In this teaching, Leah kicks off our 2021 series with a personal story and an invitation to consider together “Stories that Sustain Us” from the life of Jesus, as related though the gospels.
Read Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.
Advent 4: Sacred Surprises
Sebastiano Mazzoni, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
In this last service of Advent, Leah shares the 4th and final teaching in the "Journey to Joy" series, reflecting on two different stories from different parts of the Bible that may help us frame the celebration of Christ's coming we're engaging this week.
Review Leah’s notes here or listen to or watch the teaching below.
Advent 2: Proclamation In the Wilderness
In this second teaching in our “Journey to Joy” Advent series, Katie Kay explores the proclamation of John the Baptist, and asks us to consider what it means that the good news of Christ is proclaimed in the wilderness.
Check out Katie’s notes, or listen to or watch her teaching below.
Advent 1: Look Up
In this first teaching in our Advent series, Pastor Leah lays the groundwork for beginning the Advent "Journey to Joy" together, even at the end of a challenging year. We also look together at a couple of the traditional texts for the first week of Advent, and consider their invitation to "look up".
Read Leah’s notes here, or listen to or watch the teaching below.
Healing the Collective
This final teaching in our series “Remembering there Collective” was given the week of 2020’s US Presidential election, and the day after Joe Biden was declared the President-Elect. In this teaching, Leah considers what healing for a divided country might look like with wisdom from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.
Read Leah’s notes here and listen to or watch the teaching below.