A guided Sign of the Cross meditation for Week 2 of Reenchanted.

This week we're exploring what it means to repent of intellectualism and believe in embodiment — the idea that faith isn't only something you think, but something you live in your actual body. This practice is one small way to close that gap.

Using the ancient movement of the Sign of the Cross, we move through the mind, the heart, the past, and the future — slowly, with breath, with honesty. No performance required.

Find a comfortable seat, place your feet on the floor, and let yourself be led.

Reenchanted: A Series for Lent on Believing Again | The Local Church, Sundays at 10am at Woods Charter School

March 1, 2026

In our second week of the Reenchanted series, we talk about ditching the intellectual armor that keeps us isolated and stuck in "knowing" all the right answers. Stop trying to think your way to God, and start learning how to feel your way back to the wild, messy, embodied life you were meant to live. It’s time to repent of certainty and let your finite, beautiful body be the place where divine grace actually meets you.

Scripture: John 3:1–17

For more information about The Local Church, visit our website. Feedback? Questions? Comments? We'd love to hear it. Email Brent at brent@thelocalchurchpbo.org.

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This is the Week 1 grounding practice for Reenchanted: A Series for Lent on Believing Again — a Lenten series from The Local Church.

This week's practice is called A List of Mysteries. It's a simple guided meditation designed to help you slow down and practice sitting with what you cannot explain—not as a failure of understanding, but as an act of faith.

Take a walk while you listen if you're able. Or find a quiet place to sit and let your imagination do the moving.

This practice pairs with Week 1 of the Reenchanted series, where we explore Matthew 4:1–11 and what it means to repent from certainty and believe in simply believing again.

February 22, 2026

In this sermon, we explore the tension between our modern obsession with certainty and the ancient invitation to walk by faith. Using the story of Jesus in the wilderness, we see how the tempter’s demand for proof is a trap designed to replace intimacy with control. True reenchantment isn't found in five-star guarantees or "crystal stairs," but in the dark corners where we finally stop demanding data and start reaching for a hand to hold. If you’ve been waiting for a sign before you’re willing to believe, this is an invitation to loosen your grip, embrace the mystery, and find the new life that only begins in the dark.

Scripture: Matthew 4:1-11

For more information about The Local Church, visit our website. Feedback? Questions? Comments? We'd love to hear it. Email Brent at brent@thelocalchurchpbo.org.

To invest in what God's doing through The Local Church and help support these podcasting efforts and this movement of God's love, give online here.

February 8, 2026

In this sermon, we continue our series, Building the Beloved Community: A Blueprint from Dream to Reality, by challenging the gap between creed and deed—the painful disconnect between outward piety and lived justice. The 'breach' is the chasm between "what is and how God wants things to be," and our spiritual task isn't to retreat, but to run toward the vulnerability—brick and mortar in hand—and ask, "Where does it hurt?" This is the difficult but life-giving work of becoming Menders of Broken Walls and Restorers of Livable Streets, where God meets us and promises, "I’m here."

Scripture: Isaiah 58:1–12

For more information about The Local Church, visit our website. Feedback? Questions? Comments? We'd love to hear it. Email Brent at brent@thelocalchurchpbo.org.

To invest in what God's doing through The Local Church and help support these podcasting efforts and this movement of God's love, give online here.

February 1, 2026

In this sermon, we continue our series, Building the Beloved Community: A Blueprint from Dream to Reality, by diving into the structural integrity of the 'frame.' We move past the foundation of 'somebodiness' to see how the prophet Micah's call reveals the essential, non-negotiable components: to do justice, embrace hesed (faithful love), and walk humbly with God. These three elements are the core beams and joists of a life of faith, ensuring that your efforts do not collapse into self-righteousness, cheap charity, or burnout, so the Beloved Community you're building can actually bear weight.

Scripture: Micah 6:1–8

For more information about The Local Church, visit our website. Feedback? Questions? Comments? We'd love to hear it. Email Brent at brent@thelocalchurchpbo.org.

To invest in what God's doing through The Local Church and help support these podcasting efforts and this movement of God's love, give online here.

Due to the winter storm on the weekend, we were unable to gather in person. So Brent hopped online to offer a prayer and share a few thoughts about the death of Alex Pretti, what to do with our anger, and more.