Faith Church Indy

Pastor Joey shares what he cut for time on Sunday, why we're not projecting missionary journey maps during sermons, and listen all the way to the end for a "poorly chosen analogy" (according to Joey).

It’s begun! The first missionary journey of the first formal, official missionaries starts on the island of Cyprus. Barnabas and Saul travel the island, preaching the good news of Jesus, before ending up on the west coast in the capital city of Paphos, where the city’s governor is interested in hearing more. But there’s a magician, an astrologer, a Jewish false prophet standing in the way… Join us or “The Prophet” from Acts 13:4-12 as we watch the gospel conflict with the powers of the age!

Pastor Joey and Claire talk about creating a "lifestyle" of evangelism and what that practically looks like.

We’re back in Acts! After taking off for Lent, we’re picking the story back up where we left off. The church has faced trials from without and conflicts from within, followers of Jesus have been scattered across the known world, and the center of missionary activity in the Church has shifted from Jerusalem to Antioch. And it’s in Antioch that the Holy Spirit shows up, calling out two of the best teachers to start traveling to spread the gospel and plant churches among non-Jewish people. Join us for “The Commissioning” from Acts 12:25-13:3, as the gospel turns to the Gentiles!

Our annual Good Friday service, remembering the death of our savior.

Celebrating our risen savior, Jesus! We conclude our study of Lamentations and are renewed by the good news of the gospel.

We chat about how the book of Lamentations ends and our desire for resolution.

For the first time, the suffering people speak for themselves, but there’s no “closure” – just the first steps beyond suffering in silence towards perspective and hope. How does this final poem help us identify and express our suffering? What hope is there in “raw” prayers like the one offered in Lamentations 5? Join us as we cry out “Restore us to yourself, O God.”

Pastor Joey covers what he had to cut for time on Sunday and we talk more about recognizing anniversaries of losses.

After the preacher’s call to prayer and his modeling of confession and repentance, we would expect the congregation to respond with their own voice, putting their grief, their guilt, and their grievance into their own prayer. But they need time, so the preacher re-narrates the siege and fall of Jerusalem, brining past pain into the light. He’s not just indulging in maudlin memories, he’s bringing the time for dwelling on the past to a close. It’s time to look to the future in hope of what God will do! Join us for “Exile No Longer” from Lamentations 4:1-22.

Pastor Joey shares his favorite "sad books" or biographies on grief to help give us language to grieve in the same way.

After sharing his own personal reflections from his past experiences of grief, the pastor becomes preacher, shifting into sermon mode. He wants to help the congregation take responsibility for their unfaithfulness, so he models a prayer of repentance they can use. His own experience, and his own prayers, become the pattern in which the congregation can learn to express their guilt and their anger to God, in their own words. Join us as we learn to “Pray Like This…” from Lamentations 3:25-66.

Pastor Jeff shares how he has been preparing for this series in his own time and gives an overview of our care ministry at Faith Church and how you can get the help that you need.

At the center of Lamentations, the focus and the structure shift. The narrator recounts his personal experience of suffering – what if felt like, and what his suffering seemed to tell him about God. But for the first time there’s hope – the narrator also remembers God’s kindness, love, and faithfulness, and he becomes a source of hope for others. It’s a patten we can emulate in our suffering. Join us as we look at “The Wounded Healer” from Lamentations 3:1-33.

Pastor Jeff and Claire are joined by Karl Pohl, Director of Worship to answer questions about new songs that are introduced this Lenten season.

It’s one thing to suffer hurts, losses, and griefs – but what do we do when it feels like God is the one who’s caused the pain? Where do we turn? Join us as we explore how lament helps give voice to our pain in “The Wrecked and the Wrecker” from Lamentations 2.

Pastor Joey shares background on the book of Lamentations because he had to cut it from the sermon and answers questions from our congregation.

In a world beset by griefs, how do followers of Jesus learn to faithfully and appropriately bring these griefs to God? Or are we being unfaithful when we tell God we hurt? Is God big enough to handle our pain? These questions and more are at the core of our Lenten series through Lamentations. Join us as we begin the healing process of rehearsing our griefs before God, as study Lamentations 1:1-22, “How Lonely Sits the City.”

Start this year’s Lenten season with a service of prayer, humility, and the reminder of our frailty and need of a savior.

Pastor Joey just preached the final sermon of this Acts sub-series so he wraps it up for us as we transtion into the season of Lent and studying Lamentations.