'Encounter on the Road'

On the first Easter Sunday, two people were walking away from Jerusalem — away from where everything had fallen apart. Seven miles out on a road heading to Emmaus, they were still talking, trying to make sense of a world that had stopped making sense. One is named Cleopas. The

Read More
Rev. Jonathan Beck
'The Parade unlike any other'

Two weeks ago the St. Patrick’s parade rolled down the street in front of our church. One hundred and sixteen floats. Cabbages flying through the air. Beads, cups, carrots, potatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, lemons — everything you need for an Irish stew, caught by parade goers lining

Read More
Rev. Jonathan Beck
'We Intend to Keep Showing Up'

 There is a church in west London built in 1829. Same stone walls. Same Gothic arches the Victorians raised with their own hands and their own offerings. It is called Holy Trinity Brompton — HTB for short. It is home of the Alpha Course, begun in 1977, and one of the most influential Anglican churches in the world. Since then, it has planted 184 new churches and reached over two million people through its ministry in 146 countries — all of it out of a building someone else

Read More
Rev. Jonathan Beck
'There Is Always a Herod'

n 1971, historian Robert Conquest published The Great Terror, his landmark account of the Soviet prison system. What he found wasn't simply brutality — it was architecture. Walls, guards, systems layered upon systems, each one designed to make escape not just unlikely but logically

Read More
Rev. Jonathan Beck
'The Barnabas Effect'

“Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means ‘son of encouragement’), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.” — Acts 4:36–37

 We meet Barnabas in two verses. Not a speech. Not a sermon. A transaction. Barnabas — a

Read More
Rev. Jonathan Beck
'Appointments: When God Arranges the Meeting'

I love hearing stories about how people met — especially couples. Somewhere in the story there is almost always a pause: “If I hadn’t gone to that party… if that friend hadn’t invited me… if I had left five minutes earlier…” There is a sense of fragility to it all. The relationship that shaped an

Read More
Rev. Jonathan Beck
'The Great Disruptor: What God Wants to Interrupt in Your Life'

You hear the word everywhere. Disruption. It's the golden calf of our age.

In boardrooms, it's thrilling—the way Uber disrupted taxis, the way Google disrupted research, the way startups keep disrupting last year's billion-dollar companies. Disruption equals progress, innovation, and winning. We celebrate it. We chase it. We build business plans around it.

Read More
Rev. Jonathan Beck
'Learn to Discern'

In Acts chapter 6, the church faced a delicate situation. The Greek widows were not being cared for like the Hebrew widows. This situation needed special attention too since the unity of the church was at stake. Peter told the group to find leaders who could come up with a solution and

Read More
Rev. Jonathan Beck
'Praying for Boldness: A Prayer Initiative for Our Church'

"Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus." After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." — Acts 4:29-31

Read More
Rev. Jonathan Beck
'Same Spirit, Different Responses'

Whenever God is at work, a response is unavoidable. Luke tells us that on the day of Pentecost, as the Holy Spirit was poured out, the crowd was “amazed and perplexed” and asked one another, “What does this mean?” (Acts 2:12). Just one verse later, we’re told that “some, however,

Read More
Rev. Jonathan Beck