Message: Gossip spreads like wildfire, feeding off curiosity and negativity. The best way to stop it is to refuse to add fuel to the fire. This means walking away when gossip starts, changing the subject, or simply refusing to listen. Sometimes, we may need to set a boundary, letting others know that we do not want to participate in conversations that harm others. Avoiding gossip doesn’t mean ignoring problems—it means handling them the right way, with honesty and love. By refusing to engage in gossip, we help create a culture of trust, respect, and kindness, where people feel safe and valued.

Prayer: Lord, give me the wisdom and strength to turn away from gossip. Help me recognize when conversations are heading in the wrong direction and give me the courage to steer them toward kindness and truth. May my words always reflect Your love and grace. Amen.

Partnering Together,
Shahna Clark 

Message: Gossip can be sneaky. Sometimes, it’s an obvious act of spreading rumors, but other times, it’s disguised as concern or even a prayer request that exposes someone’s struggles without their permission. It might be a complaint about a friend, a teacher, or a coworker, said behind their back rather than directly to them. Gossip thrives on secrecy, negativity, and speculation. As followers of Christ, we are called to be different. Instead of speaking words that tear others down, we must ask ourselves: Are my words helpful? Would I say this if the person were standing here? When our speech reflects kindness and truth, we show the love of Christ in our everyday conversations.

Prayer: Father, guard my heart and my tongue from gossip. Show me when I am engaging in harmful talk, even when I don’t realize it. Help me to use my words to build others up, not tear them down. May I be a source of encouragement, bringing Your grace into every conversation. Amen.

Message: Gossip may seem like an innocent exchange of information, but Scripture warns that it is dangerous and deeply damaging. It often feels enticing, like a “choice morsel,” because it gives a false sense of power or connection with others. However, gossip seeps into hearts, leaving wounds of betrayal, division, and mistrust. God calls us to use our words for good—to encourage, uplift, and bring unity. When we feel tempted to share something about another person, we should pause and ask: Is this loving? Is this true? Is this necessary? Choosing to speak life instead of gossip strengthens our relationships and reflects God’s love.

Prayer: Lord, help me to recognize when my words are not honoring to You. Give me the wisdom to guard my tongue and the courage to walk away from conversations that do not build others up. Let my speech reflect Your love, and may I use my words to bring encouragement and peace. Amen.

The Psalmist writes the following in Psalm 8:1–4 (NIV): 1 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! 

You have set your glory in the heavens. 

2 Through the praise of children and infants 

you have established a stronghold against your enemies, 

to silence the foe and the avenger. 

3 When I consider your heavens, 

the work of your fingers, 

the moon and the stars, 

which you have set in place, 

4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, 

human beings that you care for them? 

As beautiful as the creation of the canyon is by a marvelous God, we are called the pinnacle of His creation. Some days it is hard to believe that we are the highest of His handiwork. I find it even harder to believe some days when we are compared to monkeys. Yet, then I see the smile of a child or the sacrifice of an adult. I see the compassion and nurture of a mother or the strength of a warrior and I am reminded that all of these moments are reflections of the God we serve and love. 

You are not an accident! You are an amazing creation of God. 

“And God saw everything He had made, and behold it was very good.” Genesis 1:31. 

You are not a cosmic accident nor a mistake. God calls his creation good. What He calls good He too takes joy in its creation. Your life matters because you are made by God. 

Pastor Aaron

My youngest daughter was playing dress up the other evening. She had on a costume that was called Queen Esther. My wife, Angel, was sharing with her about the bravery and courage of Queen Esther to stand up to the decree of the king who was about to kill all of the Jews in the nation. It was a powerful moment for me and not so sure how powerful it was for my daughter. She began calling her dog the “Royal Dog”. As I was watching her do this, the Lord placed this thought in my mind. Your dog is only royal because your daughter designated her as royal. Just like you, you are only royal because I the Lord have designated you royal because of my Son.

Later the next day I came across this passage from Deuteronomy. The part that jumped out to me is that the people of Israel were not chosen because of their righteousness. They were chosen people because of the wickedness of the other nations. Their blessing came from God designating them as His people and not because they were inherently a special people.

This day as you live your life, remember you are a royal people because God has said so and not because of your own qualities. It is humbling to receive love because He chooses to love us rather than because we deserve to be loved. It redefines my heart to be a heart of gratitude rather than a heart of enlightenment.

Pastor Aaron Kruse

We went to eat at a local restaurant. When the waitress arrived to get our drink orders Ava placed her nickel on the table and told the waitress “This is for you.” The waitress seemed a bit stunned and said “Thank you” but left the nickel laying there. When we left it was still there.

It was later that night when the life lesson hit me. Why was Ava so willing to give her nickel before she ate? Because she did not depend on her nickel to provide her lunch for her. She depended on her father to do so. The past had proven that he always had.

Deuteronomy 15:7–11 (ESV): 7 “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, 8 but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. 9 Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin. 10 You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. 11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

Have you ever said, “One day, I will give.” or “When I have more money I will be generous.” These statements are proof that we believe our dependence is upon ourselves and not our Father who is in heaven. Thinking one day you will be more wealthy in order to give will never come. Where is the limit on wealth? Who do we believe provides for our needs each day? 

Remember as your Father in heaven has generously set His affection upon you, we should do the same for others. Be generous as your Father in heaven is generous with you. Live in a way that proves to yourself and others that your dependence is on your Father in heaven and not on yourself. In doing so, I think you will show honor to God and honor to those who are in need.

Pastor Aaron

But when Louis was still small, he slipped into the shop, and with curiosity started to handle all the fascinating tools. As Louis was inspecting an awl, the sharp tool used to punch holes in leather, he slipped and punctured a part of his eye with the tool. The injured eye became infected. The little boy could not keep his hands from rubbing and scratching the wound, and soon the infection spread to his other eye as well. When Louis was only 4, he became completely blind.

Louis was fortunate enough to study at the Royal Institution for Blind Youth in Paris. He excelled as an organist, and at twelve years old began asking the question “How can the blind read?” Over his summer break at home, Louis was determined to find the answer. As He moved and groped around his father’s shop in search of the right tool for his task, the awl presented itself as perfect for the job. The awl would make the raised dots he had seen in the French military system of “night writing.”

And with the very instrument that had blinded him, Louis worked and worked until he had created a system of dots whereby the blind could read and write, work math problems and compose music. In our text today, one man’s infirmity is another person’s gift to receive God’s grace.

John 9:1–7 (ESV): 9 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

Further on in the text you read that this blind man is giving testimony about Jesus being the Son of God because it is hard to deny the evidence of a person born blind who can now see.

Many times we despise our place in life or an event that has happened to us. Yet we forget that God allowed both the good and the bad in our lives for greater purposes than we can imagine. So many of the bad things that have happened in my own life have actually led to testimonies of the greatness of God in how he helped me overcome the bad to bring good in the lives of others.

Changing our perspective can change our  interpretation of life and bring back an attitude of gratitude towards the Lord and others.

Pastor Aaron

25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” 

Sometimes we forget that we are still carrying the same loads now as before we committed our lives to Christ. The invite came your way to join Christ in what he is doing in the world and you climbed aboard the wagon but forgot to set your burdens down. The burdens of doing the right things for God to love you or keeping the deal with God so that one thing of importance in your life does not fail. 

We forget that we are fully loved by God. We foolishly believe that the things in life will bring contentment rather than fully knowing God and finding His contentment in the shortcomings of life. Part of the curse of sin is the constant striving and struggles of things not giving us full contentment. 

I have known people who have traded in their brand new kitchens for better ones and others who have traded in brand new hundred thousand dollar motorhomes custom built for better ones. The “dream come true” failed to deliver what was promised and expected. 

Life with Jesus is easy if we are willing to trade in our false hopes for an eternal hope. We must be willing to let everything go to find everything we need that provides peace in our lives. Peace is what Jesus speaks about when he says his yoke is easy. He fills the void that all the other burdens of life fail to promise. 

Pastor Aaron

“A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command?  I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them.  That one is like a person building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built.  But the one who listens and does not act is like a person who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”

The image of a solid home that will not be wrecked by a flood is another common every day image to which the listener can relate.  I would argue that even in our time and context we can relate to this image.  Our faith is the home built on sturdy rock.  From that foundation and within that home we grow a heart capable of producing good fruit.  

Perhaps we can look at this lent as a growing season and work to produce good fruits of love, humility, mercy and kindness into our circles of influence with our friends and our foes.  It might be difficult, but as St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:58 we must be firm, steadfast and dedicated to the work of the Lord knowing that when we do the Lord’s work, we are not laboring in vain.

Cecilia Carroll 

 “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,

nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.

For every tree is known by its own fruit.

For people do not pick figs from thorn bushes,

nor do they gather grapes from brambles.”

The Lord is using the same imagery as the prophets of the Old Testament to make a point. The people to whom the Lord is speaking would be very familiar with caring for fruit producing trees and picking only the good fruit to eat, make into wine or olive oil. 

If we can agree with the premise that we are fruit, the next step is to inspect ourselves with the same care we inspect actual produce before purchasing.  

These were the questions that came to me when meditating on this passage:

Do I have blemishes or rotten spots that need attention? 

Am I feeding myself with good nutrients to grow in my capacity to live a life conformed to the Lord?

Spoiler alert, tomorrow, we finish the Sermon on the Plain and use St. Paul to give us a model to become “A good tree producing good fruit.”

Cecilia Carroll