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Restore or Renew invited us to see what can and can’t be restored—and to recognize that renewal is God’s better idea woven all through Scripture.

Our Lay speaker, Karen Birkelbach preached that wilderness is where we, like Jacob, wrestle honestly and meet the God who renames us

Wilderness is where the noise finally falls away and we discover that God’s truest word comes in the quiet that steadies us

Wilderness is where our strength runs out and God teaches us to stand because others are willing to hold us up.

Wilderness is the place where God slows us down, strips away our illusions of control, and forms a people who can trust, listen, and follow.

When the scales fall from Paul’s eyes, the living water reveals a new truth, a new belonging, and a new life he never could have seen on his own.

At the river, Lydia opens her heart to the living water, and her whole household becomes a community where grace takes root and hospitality becomes the first church in Europe.

At the well, Jesus meets a weary woman with living water that names her truth, restores her dignity, and sends her home overflowing with what she came thirsty for.

In the eunuch’s baptism, we see our own story—people traveling through dry, cut‑off places who suddenly discover that God’s living water meets us right where we are and names us fully included.

John’s baptism called Israel to renewal, Jesus’ baptism revealed God’s solidarity and naming love, and our baptism roots us in that same identity and mission.