2024 Breakthrough Calendar
Featured
Roots give us the stability and nourishment we need to grow and break new ground. As we seek to grow in our faith as individuals and as the church, looking back at the deep roots of the Methodist movement can help us look forward to our future. More than mere traditions or rituals, our Methodist roots are evidence of God’s Spirit moving through our history, the same Spirit who is breathing life into us today.
Week 1: Baptism | Mark 1:4
Week 2: Grace | Ephesians 2:4
Week 3: Personal & Social Holiness: Missional Connection | Micah 6:6
Week 4: Holy Conferencing | Colossians 3:12
Week 5: Communion | 1 Corinthians 11:23
Just as Jesus wandered in the wilderness for forty days, so too can we feel like we are wandering in the wilderness, as we face hardships, grief, temptations, and injustices. This Lent, we will discover what it means to wander these parts of life in honesty with God through the practice of lament. We will learn how crying out to God in our need can help us to fully embrace what it means to be human beings held and loved by a God we can trust. We will learn that even through the darkest valleys, Jesus both goes ahead of us and walks with us.
Ash Wednesday: Lament and Repentance | Psalm 51:1-17
Week 1: Why Lament? | Psalm 13
Week 2: Lament and Honesty | Job 13:1-13
Week 3: Lament and Surrender | Matthew 26:36-46
Week 4: Lament and Community | Esther 4:1-5
Week 5: Lament and Hope | Lamentations 3:19-24
Week 6 (Palm/Passion Sunday): Lament and Action | Luke 19:41-48
Holy/Maundy Thursday: Lament and Love | John 13:1-17
Good Friday: Lament on Our Behalf | Matthew 27:45-51
This spring, as we embrace the new life given to us in Jesus, let us expand our vision to realize that this new life is not only spiritual and not only human, but a new life for all of creation. We will explore our place in God’s wide creation and our special responsibility to care for the earth. As the environment suffers, we are called to take courageous action that reflects God’s plan for the flourishing of all creation.
Week 1 (Easter Sunday): Hope for All Creation | Mark 16:1-15 & Psalm 96:1-2, 11-13
Week 2: God’s Wide World | Psalm 104:5-24 & Job 12:7-10
Week 3: A Special Responsibility | Genesis 1:28-31
Week 4: Facing Creation’s Brokenness | Romans 8:19-25
Week 5: A New Creation | 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Trying to discover the purpose of our lives can lead to a lot of questions. Who am I? Why am I here? What does living with purpose look like? Often, the world is all too ready to give us answers – promising that finding the perfect job or achieving the next milestone will make us happy. But in this series, we will embrace the questions as an invitation to discover what it is that God wants to do with the story of our lives.
Week 1: Why Am I Here? | John 3:1-9
Week 2: What is a Purpose? | Matthew 5:13-16
Week 3: Who Am I? | Acts 9:1-19; John 21:15-19
Week 4: Purpose is Present | Matthew 14:13-21
Week 5: No Time Is Wasted | Proverbs 8:22-31
Week 6: Will Purpose Make Me Happy? | Exodus 16:1-20
Observing the widespread and severe effects of social disconnection on Americans’ health, Dr Vivek Murthy (Surgeon General of the United States) says that “loneliness and isolation represent profound threats to our health and well-being.” This reality reflects what our faith already teaches us: God created us for connection and community. Drawing on the experiences of the early church in scripture, let us relearn how God leads us into lives of meaningful relationship with Godself and one another.
Week 1: Connection Among Christians | Ephesians 4:1-6
Week 2: Connection with God | John 15:1-12
Week 3: Connection with Community | Hebrews 10:23-25
Week 4: Connection Across Barriers | Ephesians 2:11-22
Week 5: Connection with the Larger Church (World Communion Sunday) | 1 Corinthians 10:16-17
Life hands us difficult experiences that weigh us down: despair, anxiety, regret, darkness, and feelings of meaninglessness. In the midst of all this, God holds out precious and life-giving gifts – hope, peace, joy, love, light, and purpose. This Advent season, as we prepare for gift exchanges with friends and family, we will reflect on the gifts given to us by the greatest giver of all and how can we receive and embrace those gifts even in the most difficult of times.
Week 1: Despair for Hope | Psalm 121: 1-8
Week 2: Anxiety for Peace | John 14:27
Week 3: Regret for Joy | 1 Kings 8:62-66
Week 4: Fear for Love | 1 John 4:7-19
Christmas Eve: Darkness for Light | Isaiah 9:2-7
Week 5: Meaninglessness for Purpose | Jeremiah 29:11