We long for God to form us into a people who love and belong as we Live in Community, and keep us rooted in Jesus as we Be Faithfully Present wherever God has placed us. But when the Bible has been used against people, or we find it hard to understand, how do me make it an anchor in our lives?

As Pastor Paul Morgun continues to take us through the Anchors series, we continue to discuss why the Bible is an important anchor to ground us in the truth and practices that help us Grow Spiritually. We are invited to wrestle with what that entails and how we make it a practice and foundation for our lives.

Pastor Paul Morgun uses this movement to remind us that the Christian life was never intended to be lived alone. From the beginning, Jesus formed a community around Himself. The early church did not simply gather for teaching once a week; they shared meals, prayed together, cared for one another, practiced generosity, carried one another's burdens, and opened their lives to each other.

This Movement is reflected in nurturing a culture of connection, where people are known and relationships can form, and cultivating communities of trust and belonging, where deeper relationships allow us to be vulnerable and grow together. There is a difference between attending a church and belonging to a community.

Pastor Curtis Anderson takes us through the final movement regarding embodying the love of Jesus wherever God has placed us. Jesus continually noticed the people around Him. He ate with outsiders, touched those others avoided, welcomed children, dignified the forgotten, cared for the poor, and moved toward people with compassion.

To be faithfully present means learning to live with that same posture.

This Movement is about learning to be faithfully present to the people and places God has already given us, paying attention to where God is at work and joining Him there. We embody the gospel through ordinary, tangible acts of presence, hospitality, love, and generosity in our neighbourhoods and networks, while intentionally moving toward those who are vulnerable. Cultivating relationships, sharing life, extending compassion, and seeking justice together.

The anchor is one of the earliest symbols Christians used to express their faith, a picture of hope, steadfastness, and a life held secure in Jesus. Pastor Paul Morgun starts by reminding us of the importance of God the Trinity as one of the anchors in our lives and walks with God.

Kick-Off Sunday is a celebration of a new season at Lakeview, a chance to gather, reconnect, and look with anticipation toward what God has for us in the year ahead. And as we step into this new season, we are introducing some new language that we hope will help give shape to how we live our mission together: Our Movements.

At the heart of these Movements is the invitation Jesus has always given: “Follow me.” Jesus invites us to find our whole lives in Him, to allow His presence, His way, and His love to shape who we are becoming, how we relate to one another, and how we live in the world.

Dr. Santosh Ninan takes us through our final sermon in our Exodus summer series. Throughout Exodus, God rescues, provides, guides, forgives, and forms Israel so that He might dwell in the midst of them. The tabernacle becomes a kind of new Eden, a sacred space where heaven and earth overlap and God’s presence is with humanity once again.

Jesus ultimately becomes the fulfillment of this story. In Him, God does not merely dwell in a tent or temple, but takes on flesh and moves into the neighbourhood. Jesus is God among people, and through His death, resurrection, and the gift of the Spirit, the presence of God now dwells within His people as a living temple. The story of Exodus ultimately points toward God’s desire to restore His presence to all creation.

Spiritual growth is not primarily about knowing more about God, becoming more religious, or simply trying harder to be a better person. At its heart, spiritual formation is about learning to live with God, receiving His love, becoming increasingly attentive to His presence, and allowing the Spirit to form the life of Jesus in us.

This Movement is reflected in practicing rhythms of life, embracing spiritual practices that ground us in God's presence, and we pursue spiritual maturity, cooperating with God's Spirit as we are continually transformed into the likeness of Jesus. Spiritual formation, then, is not measured primarily by how many practices we maintain, but by the kind of people we are becoming through them.

Dr. Santosh Ninan takes us through the events after the golden calf. Where God reveals His character at the very moment Israel least deserves it. After the rebellion of the golden calf, Yahweh describes Himself as “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love and truth.” God’s holiness is not separated from His mercy; His justice and compassion exist together within His covenant love.

This moment becomes one of the defining descriptions of God in the entire Bible, echoed again and again throughout Scripture. God is revealing not only what He does, but who He is. Jesus ultimately mirrors and fulfills this revelation perfectly. In Jesus, we see the fullest expression of God’s character, compassion toward sinners, mercy toward the broken, patience with failures, and faithful love.