Join us for our Summer Series "Alive in the Spirit"

The Season After Pentecost invites the church to ask what it means not simply to believe in the Spirit, but to live as people made alive by the Spirit of God. Throughout the summer, our worship will explore how the Spirit forms ordinary people into the body of Christ — shaping communities marked by mercy, courage, hospitality, patience, reconciliation, and hope. Again and again, we will discover that the Spirit does not merely comfort individuals in private, but gathers people together into a shared life rooted in the presence of Christ. 

This year, our journey will especially follow the Revised Common Lectionary’s alternate Old Testament readings alongside selections from Matthew’s Gospel and Paul’s letter to the Romans. Rather than tracing a continuous thread through Israel’s story, the alternate readings echo and deepen the themes found in the Gospel passages each week, helping us hear Scripture as a conversation about the life God is creating among God’s people. Across wilderness stories, prophetic promises, kingdom parables, and Spirit-filled teaching, we will see how God continually breathes life into weary communities and calls the church to become a living witness to grace. 

“Alive in the Spirit” is ultimately a season about becoming. Becoming a people who carry one another’s burdens. Becoming a people who trust God in uncertainty. Becoming a people whose life together reflects the compassion, welcome, and peace of Christ. As we move through this long green season, we do so trusting that the Spirit is still active among us — still speaking, still healing, still gathering, and still forming the church into the living body of Christ for the sake of the world. 

Here are the scripture readings and themes for each Sunday.

June 7 — “Called Into a Family”
Primary text: Matthew 9:9–13, 18–26
Other texts: Hosea 5:15–6:6; Psalm 50:7–15; Romans 4:13–25
The Spirit forms a people not around worthiness, but around mercy. Jesus calls outsiders, touches the unclean, and restores life where hope has thinned. The church becomes a family because God’s mercy gathers people before they know how to belong.

June 14 — “A People Sent”
Primary text: Matthew 9:35–10:8, (9–23)
Other texts: Exodus 19:2–8a; Psalm 100; Romans 5:1–8
The Spirit forms a people who are gathered in compassion and sent in mercy. Jesus sees harassed and helpless crowds and sends ordinary disciples into the harvest. The church exists not only to gather, but to embody God’s nearness.

June 21 — “A People Who Rise”
Primary text: Romans 6:1b–11
Other texts: Jeremiah 20:7–13; Psalm 69:7–10, (11–15), 16–18; Matthew 10:24–39
The Spirit forms a people who have already passed through death into life. Because we belong to Christ, fear no longer gets the final word. The church learns courage not by becoming fearless, but by trusting the life of the risen Christ.

June 28 — “A People of Small Mercies”
Primary text: Matthew 10:40–42
Other texts: Jeremiah 28:5–9; Psalm 89:1–4, 15–18; Romans 6:12–23
The Spirit forms a people through ordinary acts of welcome. Jesus says even a cup of cold water matters in the kingdom. The church learns that grace is often carried in gestures too small to impress the world.

July 5 — “A People Given Rest”
Primary text: Matthew 11:16–19, 25–30
Other texts: Zechariah 9:9–12; Psalm 145:8–14; Romans 7:15–25a
The Spirit forms a people who are carried by grace rather than crushed by performance. Christ comes gentle and humble, meeting the weary with rest. The church becomes a place where burdens are not denied, but shared in the life of God.

July 12 — “A People Made Alive”
Primary text: Romans 8:1–11
Other texts: Isaiah 55:10–13; Psalm 65:(1–8), 9–13; Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23
The Spirit forms life where human effort alone cannot. God’s word goes out like rain and seed, creating fruit in uneven ground. The church learns to trust the slow, hidden work of grace.

July 19 — “A People Waiting in Hope”
Primary text: Romans 8:12–25
Other texts: Isaiah 44:6–8; Psalm 86:11–17; Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43
The Spirit forms a people who can live faithfully in unfinished fields. Creation groans, the church groans, and still hope is being born. God teaches patience where we would rather rush to judgment.

July 26 — “A People Held by Love”
Primary text: Romans 8:26–39
Other texts: 1 Kings 3:5–12; Psalm 119:129–136; Matthew 13:31–33, 44–52
The Spirit forms a people who are held even when they do not know how to pray. God’s love is deeper than weakness, suffering, confusion, or fear. The church becomes courageous because nothing can separate us from Christ.

August 2 — “A People Fed by Abundance”
Primary text: Matthew 14:13–21
Other texts: Isaiah 55:1–5; Psalm 145:8–9, 14–21; Romans 9:1–5
The Spirit forms a people who bring scarcity to Christ and discover abundance. Jesus feeds hungry bodies, not just hungry souls. The church learns to become a table where what seems insufficient is blessed and shared.

August 9 — “A People in the Storm”
Primary text: Matthew 14:22–33
Other texts: 1 Kings 19:9–18; Psalm 85:8–13; Romans 10:5–15
The Spirit forms courage through presence, not certainty. Christ comes to the disciples in wind and fear, calling them toward trust. The church learns that faith is not stormlessness, but the presence of Christ within the storm.

August 16 — “A People Without Borders”
Primary text: Matthew 15:(10–20), 21–28
Other texts: Isaiah 56:1, 6–8; Psalm 67; Romans 11:1–2a, 29–32
The Spirit forms a people whose mercy keeps widening. The Canaanite woman exposes the smallness of human boundaries before the abundance of God’s table. The church becomes faithful as it learns to recognize grace beyond its familiar lines.

August 23 — “A People Becoming One Body”
Primary text: Romans 12:1–8
Other texts: Isaiah 51:1–6; Psalm 138; Matthew 16:13–20
The Spirit forms a body, not a crowd of isolated believers. Grace gives different gifts without creating higher and lower places. The church becomes itself when every member belongs to the shared life of Christ.

August 30 — “A People of Genuine Love”
Primary text: Romans 12:9–21
Other texts: Jeremiah 15:15–21; Psalm 26:1–8; Matthew 16:21–28
The Spirit forms cruciform people through sincere love, hospitality, patience, and peace. Paul gives the church a vision of holiness that is deeply embodied. The way of Jesus becomes visible in a community that refuses revenge and practices mercy.

September 6 — “A People Reconciled”
Primary text: Matthew 18:15–20
Other texts: Ezekiel 33:7–11; Psalm 119:33–40; Romans 13:8–14
The Spirit forms a people who tell the truth for the sake of restoration. Jesus imagines community conflict not as disposable relationship, but as a place where grace keeps seeking the lost. The church becomes a sign of the kingdom when love does the hard work of reconciliation.