OnMission Church

Ascension 2022He ascended into Heaven. Today we stand on the Mount of Olives. Hundreds of people had seen Jesus alive. Then, He gathered His disciples together here, and as He ascended into Heaven resuming His place within eternal majesty. Now He sends them on mission into the world to bear witness of all He said and did – He sent them to proclaim the good news of great joy to all people but it would not be easy.

A Sunday in Easter 2022Today we again peer into this vault that was once sealed by sin and death. The tomb is indeed empty. He is not here. Neither death nor sin nor this tomb could constrain Him. Death has lost its sting for all who, faced with the irrefutable fact that He is not here, now believe. Can you imagine? He is risen. He is not here; the implications are immense and the repercussions echo through eternity.

Resurrection Sunday (Easter) 2022.Today we are meditating on a controversial, yet factual event — the physical, biological bodily resurrection of Jesus. Like so much else today, doubts and questions have produced theories disguised as explanations that in fact muddy the waters, obscuring the Truth of the Gospel: Jesus Christ is risen - He is risen indeed! Today we contemplate the question Jesus asks: “Why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?”

Today we stand at a distance - there are three crosses and three men dying. The man in the center is ridiculed and challenged. “IF You are who You claim to be, prove it.” It is in dying this Man’s character is revealed and His claims proven. In this death, God reveals His Love. A death that man intended for evil, God uses for good on that Friday so long ago.

Today we're invited into the upper room for the last supper and we hear Jesus ask, “Do you still not know me?” We watch and listen as He uses the images of Exodus and covenant to lead us forward to new life. He offers us a new covenant; a covenant of Love in a Kingdom founded on Love given to all who know Him.

Today we're watching as a Man on a donkey approaches Jerusalem. He's surrounded by a singing crowd, and the city is in turmoil - the question on every tongue that day is the question many have asked across the ages: who is this? As He approaches He's weeping. But why is He weeping? These are the questions OnMission is exploring today.

Today we're looking at Jesus’ baptism. Why does Jesus approach John, and wade into the waters for baptism? Since Jesus is without sin, what lesson is revealed as He submits to receiving this baptism of repentance? As we follow Jesus down into the waters of the Jordan River we ask, why was Jesus there?

Today we're reflecting on the story of the magi who visited Jesus in Bethlehem...What motivated them to journey to seek this newborn king and to “worship” Him? Our prayer today is that this story would lead us to examine our own motives for seeking Jesus and reveal true hearts for worship - we pray God will reveal the things we are NOT seeing that separate us from Him.

It might disturb us that brutal stories with images of hate and violence are traditionally told so close upon the heels of the Christmas story. It is shocking that violence so quickly breaks in upon the peaceful worship and contemplation of the Christ child. But we must never forget, the image of the Cross is never far from the cradle in which Christ was laid.

Christmas Day, 2021 -To get at the crux of Christmas, the Gift of Christmas needs to be unwrapped and disentangled from all the consumerization, commercialization, secularization, and the hoards of other “izations” too numerous to mention that hide the true meaning of Christmas from us, and it needs to be returned to the profound celebration that the angel proclaimed and the star points us toward.

Christmas Eve, 2021 - Christmas Day we will recount the history of a unique virgin birth - of a Child born and laid in a manger. Now, on this Eve of Christmas, as we begin to ponder the events of that critical moment more than 2000 years ago, we ask the question that lies at the very crux of Christmas, do you know this Child in the manger?

Advent 4, 2021 - As we have moved through Advent, many of us will have heard songs and carols proclaiming “peace on earth” and heard Jesus called the “Prince of peace” - and quite understandably, many of us will ask “Where is this peace?” That is the question OnMission is exploring today.

Advent 3, 2021 - Ask 100 people, “What is Love?” How many would respond with what the Bible says Love is? Today Love is used so casually to mean everything from devotion, desire and delight, to enthusiasm, elation and lust - to understand Love is essential, yet it remarkably misunderstood. So let’s talk about Love.Love causes the Christ-follower to lift their gaze above and beyond this world and to fix their eyes on Jesus.

Advent 2, 2021 - Joy, that is the Joy the Christian knows because of all that Jesus is and has done, is more than giddiness or happiness. And, this Joy is in the world wherever there are people who Love Jesus. This is what OnMission is talking about this second week in Advent.

Advent 1, 2021 - In 1st John 1:1-3 we read that because Christian hope is focused precisely on Jesus, that hope will purify and reforms us - it changes the Way we live. This Hope is THE Hope Christians hope for - this is The unique true Hope for all people.