June 2026 Messages
SERMON SERIES: VINTAGE VIBES
PAST SERMONS (OVER FOUR DECADES) REIMAGINED FOR MODERN LIFE
June 28, 2o26
The God Who Refuses to be Boxed In
Our mission is to use our resources—both tangible and intangible—to minimize human suffering and enhance human well-being as an expression of godliness.
We live out this mission by faithfully stewarding the Six Holy Currencies—relationships, time/place, gracious leadership, truth, wellness, and money—engaging in a continual cycle of blessings through listening, learning, relating, and sharing so that our collective resources may bring healing, justice, and flourishing to others.
The “Jesus Before Christianity” series addresses the crucial need for clarity about what it truly means to follow Jesus Christ, beyond the label “Christian.”
Three Blind Men, Three Different Journeys
- Matthew 20:29–34 — One Touch
- Mark 8:22–25 — Two Touches
- John 9:6–7 — Mud in Your Eye
- God does not standardize people.
- God does not require uniformity.
- God does not demand that everyone fit the same mold.
Jesus shows us that difference is not deficiency. Variety is not a threat. Diversity is not a problem to solve it is a gift to honor.
- Apologizing for your process.
- Stop apologizing for the way God is working in your life.
- Stop comparing your journey to someone else’s path.
- Stop judging another person’s timeline as if you know their whole story.
- Stop expecting God to repeat for someone else what He did for you in the exact same way
When we demand that everyone experience God the same way:
- We shrink God to the size of our understanding.
- We confuse our experience with universal truth.
- We turn testimony into tyranny.
- Every generation tries to shrink God to something manageable.
- Every generation tries to make God predictable.
- Every generation tries to force God into familiar patterns, comfortable categories, and controllable expectations.
God breaks out of our assumptions. God breaks out of our traditions. God breaks out of our formulas, our fears, and our frameworks.
June 14, 2o26
The Neighborhood God Uses
Our mission is to use our resources—both tangible and intangible—to minimize human suffering and enhance human well-being as an expression of godliness.
We live out this mission by faithfully stewarding the Six Holy Currencies—relationships, time/place, gracious leadership, truth, wellness, and money—engaging in a continual cycle of blessings through listening, learning, relating, and sharing so that our collective resources may bring healing, justice, and flourishing to others.
The “Jesus Before Christianity” series addresses the crucial need for clarity about what it truly means to follow Jesus Christ, beyond the label “Christian.”
Luke 1:46 “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Luke 2:40 “And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.”
Luke 2:52 “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man”
“Our commitment is this: We will pursue growth, but we will not worship it. We will count people, but we will not reduce them to numbers. We will expand our reach, but we will not lose our mission.”
“When God is centered, growth becomes fruit—not a false god. And when people are valued, not used, the church becomes a place where real transformation can take root.”
“Tabernacle of Glory is measured in sending capacity, serving capacity, and healing capacity. Because God measures faithfulness by how we treat people.”
Luke 1:46 “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Luke 2:40 “And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.”
Luke 2:52 “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man”
The Neighborhood God Uses: Humans Becoming by Teneice Kirby
· It is a consulting and educational development organization rooted in dignity, equity, and belief that every person is always becoming.
· We build the structures and systems that produce real and lasting success for neurodivergent individuals designing environments that recognize, support, and celebrate the way they think, learn, and grow.
The Neighborhood God Uses: Village 360 by Kourtney Boulton
· Help churches identify the people, gifts, and resources already present withing their communities and knot them together into sustainable networks of care ensuring no family walks through crises alone.
· Knitting the village that grows families. Every family needs a village.
- The Neighborhood God Used: 12005 Soika Ave, Cleveland, OH
- The Neighborhood God Used: 8932 Quincy Avenue, Cleveland, OH Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church
- The Neighborhood God Used and is Using: Tabernacle of Glory formerly known as Pilgrim Emmanuel
- Good things don’t just come from here. Good things grow here. Good things thrive here. Good things begin here.
- People don’t grow from a moment; they grow from a movement.
- People don’t grow from a program; they grow from a pattern.
- People don’t grow from a Sunday; they grow from a system.
- We are the system; the adults, elders, parents, mentors, leaders, and church.
- We are the ecosystem; the soil where people either flourish or wither.
June 7, 2o26
The Art of Getting Out of the Way
Our mission is to use our resources—both tangible and intangible—to minimize human suffering and enhance human well-being as an expression of godliness.
We live out this mission by faithfully stewarding the Six Holy Currencies—relationships, time/place, gracious leadership, truth, wellness, and money—engaging in a continual cycle of blessings through listening, learning, relating, and sharing so that our collective resources may bring healing, justice, and flourishing to others.
The “Jesus Before Christianity” series addresses the crucial need for clarity about what it truly means to follow Jesus Christ, beyond the label “Christian.”
“He must increase, but I must decrease.”
Getting out of the way is not about letting others walk over you. To get out of the way is to recognize that not every moment requires my force, my opinion, or my control. It is humility to admit that my presence is not always the solution, and my intervention is not always the answer. So often we feel compelled to step into fixing, to correct, to assert, to shape outcomes.
- When stepping back creates space for God’s presence, that is wisdom.
- When stepping in protects the vulnerable, that is obedience.
- When stepping back prevents me from controlling others, that is humility.
- When stepping in confronts injustice or speaks truth, that is courage.
- When stepping back honors someone else’s growth, that is love.
- When stepping in honors God’s call on my life, that is faithfulness.
- Releasing The Illusion of Control
- Letting Go of Micromanagement So God Can Multiply
- Trust God’s Timing Instead of Trying to Rush the Process
- Letting God Grow People We Want to Fix
- When We Need To Be Right More Than, To Be In Relationship
- Remembering We Are Vessels, Not the Source
