North Van Etten Community Church

06/06/2026

Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.

Mercy, not sacrifice

Go and learn what this means,
“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
—Matthew 9.13

Jesus quotes Hosea 6.6
(twice, in fact):

God doesn't want animal sacrifices,
but our hearts,

isn't interested in our religion,
but in our relationships.

God doesn't care what we believe,
God cares how we treat people.

Jesus says: choose the religion of Being in Love
over the religion of Being Right.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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06/05/2026

06/02/2026

Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
The great listening
There's a great listening going on.
If you listen you can hear it.
Animals hear things we can't, or won't.
The trees guard their silence
to hear the soil, hear the wind,
hear every word, especially the unspoken.
When you're buried earth listens so carefully to you,
to the soft tissues, and everything else.
Orbiting planets aren't just caught in math,
they're listening, sun and earth hearing and responding.
The universe holds its ear to your heart.
And there is a great listening among us, us jabbery people,
to the tales and the songs and the cries and the lies.
The sounds settle down in us
where only our bones can hear, but they do.
Beneath the roar and rattle you can hear this porous world
taking it all in, in the desert, yes, the ocean depths,
and even in the city, even in the deaf.
We can stop our ears with earbuds of noise,
or dismiss the jangle, open ourselves,
and join the great listening.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

Send a message to learn more

05/28/2026

Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.

In God

Let God be more than a little infinite.
There is no end to God, nothing outside God.
The only place God could create a world is inside God,
created out of love for love.
God is the Holy Thou at the heart of all things,
who creates and contains all things,
in whom the universe is a little part.

God is hard to find
like the universe is hard to find.
Nothing alone stands out;
everything is part of God.
It's only our understanding that's in small places.

Sin is acting like you're separate.
Salvation is being included anyway.
This changes you, over and over.

Live this day in God.

Breath prayer:
Love … in You

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve