A Church that Pleases God

For two years, our congregation has done something countercultural in a distracted world: we have listened. Day by day, chapter by chapter, we have read the story of God together—from Genesis to Revelation. We stayed with the text when it was familiar and when it was strange, when it comforted us and when it challenged us. And now, as we celebrate the completion of our 730 Challenge, the question before us is not simply What have we read? but Who are we becoming?

Because Scripture was never meant to be completed like a checklist. It was meant to be received—and lived.

The final chapters of our reading took us into some of the most complex and hope-filled parts of the Bible: Daniel’s visions, Paul’s encouragement to persevere, the prophetic call of Joel, the wisdom of Proverbs, and the breathtaking promise of Revelation 21 and 22.

Across all of these texts, one truth rings clear:

God is faithful. God is sovereign. And how we live matters.

Apocalyptic passages do not invite us to fear or speculation. Instead, they form us into people who learn how to live with trust, endurance, and hope—especially when the world feels uncertain. Scripture trains us to see the end of the story so that we can live faithfully in the middle of it.

A church that pleases God is not defined by how much it knows, but by how deeply it listens—and how faithfully it responds.

Throughout Scripture, listening is always connected to obedience. God speaks not simply to inform us, but to form us. The Word of God calls us to lives marked by diligence instead of laziness, truth instead of deception, humility instead of pride, perseverance instead of weariness.

Wisdom literature reminds us that faith shows up in ordinary places:

• in how we work

• in how we speak

• in how we treat one another

• in how we resist shortcuts and choose faithfulness

Big theology is lived out in everyday faithfulness.

One image has held all of this together for us: the Welcome Table.

A table is where stories are shared. A table is where nourishment is given. A table is where strangers become family.

From beginning to end, Scripture reveals a God who prepares a place, who invites, who welcomes. Jesus gathered people at tables. And the Bible ends with an open invitation—“Let anyone who is thirsty come.”

Reading Scripture together has shown us where the table is. Living Scripture together means becoming people who set the table for others.

Our witness is not only in what we say, but in how we live as hosts of God’s grace—making room, practicing mercy, extending invitation, and pointing always to Christ.

A church that pleases God is not one that merely knows the menu. It is one that opens the door and says, “There is room for you here.”

The final words of Scripture do not close with fear, but with hope. Jesus declares himself the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. And the Spirit and the bride continue to say, “Come.”

As we complete this journey through the Bible, we do not leave the story behind. We step more fully into it.

We are not done listening.

On January 12, we begin 730+, a renewed journey through Scripture—this time shaped by the daily rhythm of Lectio 365. Having read the whole story together, we now return to it with deeper attentiveness, allowing God’s Word to move from our minds into our lives.

730+ is not about reading faster or checking boxes. It is about practicing presence.

Through Lectio 365, we will:

• Pause and listen for God’s voice

• Reflect on Scripture prayerfully

• Ask where God is inviting response

• Yield our lives again to Christ

If the first 730 days taught us what the story says, 730+ invites us to ask how the story is shaping us now.

This is how a church pleases God—not by finishing the Bible, but by being continually formed by it.

So we begin again. With humility. With expectation. With hearts open to the Spirit’s leading.

The story continues—and we are still being invited to the table.

We have heard the story. Now we live it.

May our lives become a welcome table— a faithful witness— a living testimony to the grace of God at work among us.

“The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.” (Revelation 22:21)

Pastor T