Cultivating Wisdom

Sunday, July 19, 2026

Scriptures: Psalm 37

• Sermon Summary

  Bobbi titled her sermon on Psalm 37, "Sophisticated Wisdom," and in it she explores how we can constructively handle our burning internal emotions—like anger, jealousy, and bitterness—by actively manufacturing and deploying delight in our everyday lives. Bobbi directly confronts the common trap of reading the Psalms through a lens of transactional spirituality, reminding us that these poems are not rigid, quid-pro-quo guarantees but are instead raw expressions of human suffering and faith. In sharing our personal, lived experiences of first-person awe can quiet our critical egos and help us face life's threats collectively. Ultimately, Bobbi points to God as our true source of salvation, challenging us to actively step out into the world to circle around and guard what is good.

• Discussion Guide

  Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions and reflections are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.
  
  Summer Discussion Guide 2026

  If your group is meeting this summer and wants to talk about the sermons, here are a few questions that you could use to engage with our teaching. 

  • What specific part of the message resonated with you the most? Why do you think that particular part, or idea, or story caught your attention? 

  • Did the sermon speak into a particular struggle or question in your life or your faith journey right now?

  • How did the message challenge or encourage you personally?
    And what do you think the application could be for our church community? Was there anything that could strengthen or stretch us as a church? 

  • How did the exposition of the scriptures used in the sermon provide you with a new perspective of deeper understanding?

  ——
  It is good to remember that the conversation experience in the group is shaped by the personal stories of those who participate in it and how willing the people are to be open and vulnerable in the group.

  So if you’re leading the discussion, feel free to model and encourage person-centred and story-centred sharing by reflecting on how some parts of the sermon resonate with you personally.
  ——

  Additionally, what contributes to a more authentic group discussion is when people can share not about the abstract and theoretical applications, but one or two practical things they are taking away from either the sermon or the discussion. 

  So, you can end your time together with this question: 

  • What is one thing you are taking away from either the sermon or the discussion we’ve just had?

• Service Songs & Prayers

  CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 62

  MUSIC Curated by Rebecca KS.
  Mission House - Good God
  Elevation Worship - Call God
  Brooke Ligertwood - Holy Song
  Elevation Worship - Jesus Be The Name
  
  EUCHARIST INVIATION
  Written by Jarrod Kokot

  Today we gather around the Eucharist table.
  
  And as we gather, we think back to the meal that Jesus shared with his disciples as described in the scriptures.
  
  By repeating spiritual practices and ruminating on these stories we might notice hints of earlier Biblical narratives.
  
  Maybe this time, as we gather, we spot a certain symmetry found with the scene in the garden in Genesis, where humanity is faced with a test at the tree. There, as humanity fails the test, the Biblical imagination makes use of the words “see,” “take,” and “eat” and these are used to demonstrate “missing the mark” in the Garden of Eden story—and later stories.
  
  However, here at the table with Jesus, we see something different. Jesus demonstrated for us that in the garden, which encompasses the whole Earth and provides abundance for all, goodness is freely given to us of Godself. And we receive it in community, in equality, and in the fullness of dignity.
  Instead of see, we are seen, instead of take, we are given freely, and instead of eat, we are fed the the very life-giving nature of God.
  
  Pray with me.
  Loving God,
  The meal you share with us is one of surprise. One that upends our norms of transaction and ego.
  We give thanks for it, and for your presence.
  
  Teach us to walk in this abundance—an abundance available for each of us to receive and share.
  We pray this in Jesus name, amen.
  
  SERIES BUMPER
  Summer Songs Series