The Third Place

1. Creativity

We operate in three places. The first place is our home, and the second place is our work. Our third place is any relational space where we engage with others - and this could be anything from a neighborhood barbecue to a book club. Participation in our third place is critical to our well-being and harmony with the world around us.

God actually created a third place for us, called The Church. It is not only a relational place with other people but significantly with the Spirit of God. It is where we pursue God's vision for us to become like Christ. As we come into this third place with our anxieties, struggles, corrupt thinking, and dysfunction we will find that God does a wonderful thing ... God creates in us and renews us. This creative activity brings about peace, order, and joy.

This is not automatic or without our involvement. We must have a willing spirit that cooperates with God's plan. Specifically, our activity is the practice of disciplines.

 Doug Ellis    |   January 11, 2026   |   Psalms 51:10-12

2. Vision

 Doug Ellis    |   January 21, 2026   |  

3. The Discipline of Serving

All disciplines create tension between where we are, and where we need to get to. They open us up to the power of God so that we may become reshaped, but most of us find our lives already so full of the world's routines, that we can hardly find a moment to read a morning devotion. Our worldly routine is the enemy of Christian adventure.

Where to begin? Of top priority is the movement from pride to humility, for pride is a fundamental block to God - as Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:5, "God opposes the proud." Most of us are infected with pride, preferring that others serve us and be beneath us. But, God has given us direction that we are to be servants rather than the bosses of others.

Today's message is on the discipline of serving. It is a discipline as important as prayer and the pursuit of the Word of God, and yet one that we too often neglect.

 Doug Ellis    |   February 1, 2026   |   Matthew 20:20-28