A Long Obedience. A Clear Direction. A Determined People.
Every year we return to this moment. A collection of teachings about the future of our church.
Not because we’ve run out of ideas.
But because formation happens through repetition.
In A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene H. Peterson reminds us that Christian maturity isn’t built through quick fixes or dramatic spiritual spikes. It is formed slowly. Steadily. In community. Over time.
Brick by brick.
Layer by layer.
Year by year.
That’s what Future Church is.
We come back to the same place each year — not in circles, but like a helix. Spiraling upward. Returning to the same coordinate, but arriving changed. Here’s what we’ve called for in previous years:
The Church We Are Becoming
We have said it in previous. We’ll keep saying it until we experience it.
We want to become a church:
- Deeply formed by Jesus.
- That is the essence of community.
- Known for restoration.
Culture isn’t built in a moment. It’s layered. Intentionally.
Pathways Home
A pathway is a well-trodden route — the most effective way from point A to point B. We continue walking out paths for all of us and those in our world to find home.
Home is a place (the space where we gather).
Home is a people (the community we belong to).
Home is a Person (Jesus our saviour).
Increase
Increase through pain and loss.
Increase in grace.
Increase in compassion.
Increase in character.
Increase in faith.
Increase in intimacy with God.
Even when circumstances decrease, the kingdom can still increase.
The Word for 2026: CONTEND
There has been something stirring for months.
A tension.
A holy anticipation.
A sense that something is building. I haven’t quite had the language for it. Our recent trip to the USA came at just the right time.
New York City, Altars Conference with Church of The City NY — in a grand auditorium in Manhattan — I felt it.
Thirty minutes before the gathering began, there was electricity in the room. Expectancy. Reverence. Presence.
And it wasn’t production.
It wasn’t the ergonomics of the room.
It was something else.
There was a word that kept surfacing — not as a headline, but as an undercurrent.
A word tied to the tangible presence of God.
A word connected to revival spirit.
A word describing engaged faith.
The word was:
CONTEND.
And it hasn’t left me. It became undoubtedly obvious that the presence we were experiencing in that Salvation Army building was directly connected to a people who had been contending with God.
So I’m calling us to it.
Not just as language.
As practice.
What Does It Mean to Contend?
To stand your ground with courage and conviction for something so valuable that it is worth your effort, your voice, and your perseverance.
It is not quarrelsome striving.
It is purposeful, steady commitment.
To contend is to refuse apathy.
It is to move toward the sacred, the beautiful, and the true.
Its movement is forward — to preserve what matters.
In a nutshell:
Contend is determined perseverance.
It’s time to put yourself in contention with God.
Jacob: The First Picture of Contending
Wrestling at the River (Genesis 32:24–30)
Jacob is alone at the river.
A man wrestles with him until daybreak. It wasn’t just a man.
The encounter leaves him limping.
But it also leaves him blessed.
“I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
Notice what this is not.
It is not rebellion.
It is not defiance.
It is not deconstruction.
It is desperate dependence.
Wrestling is intimate. Close. Personal. It requires exertion. Intent. Tenacity.
Jacob doesn’t fight against God.
He refuses to let go of God.
And how does God respond?
Not with anger.
Not with rebuke.
With blessing.
Jacob is renamed Israel — “one who contends with God.”
In Scripture, divine renaming is never punishment. It marks calling.
Jacob spent his life striving through manipulation — with Esau, Isaac, Laban.
But at the river, he stops scheming and starts clinging.
Not superior strength.
Relentless persistence.
And it transforms his identity.
Contending in the New Covenant
Under grace, we do not contend for acceptance.
We contend from acceptance.
We do not wrestle to earn blessing.
We stand firm because we are already blessed.
Jude writes:
“Contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.” (Jude 1:3)
Grace settles our position.
Contending shapes our participation.
We are sons and daughters.
We are not throwing spiritual tantrums to get what we want.
We are consciously, actively, persistently aligning with His heart.
Hebrews tells us to hold firmly to the faith.
Ephesians tells us to stand our ground.
Some battles are not natural — because the issue is not natural.
And in Gospel of Matthew 15, a Canaanite woman refuses to stop trusting Jesus. He calls it “great faith.”
Great faith doesn’t strive to impress God.
It refuses to stop trusting Him.
Why This Matters Now
Apathy is easy.
Distraction is normal.
Comfort is subtle.
But revival environments are not accidental.
They are cultivated by people who refuse passivity.
People who pray when it would be easier not to.
People who gather when it would be easier to stay home.
People who believe when culture drifts.
The presence of God is a gift.
But engagement is a choice.
Questions for Our Church
What would change if we stopped spectating and started contending?
Where have we settled for comfort instead of conviction?
What prayers have we quietly stopped praying?
What promises have we loosened our grip on?
What would it look like for Co-Church to be marked by determined perseverance?
What if 2026 became the year we refused apathy?
A Culture of Contending
This is not about aggression.
It is about sacred focus.
To contend is:
- To show up.
- To hold firm.
- To pursue formation.
- To take spiritual realities seriously.
- To cling to God when letting go would be easier.
Not fighting against God.
Refusing to let go of God.
Future Church 2026
We are building something.
A people.
Deeply formed by Jesus.
Marked by community.
Known for restoration.
And this year, we contend.
From blessing.
From sonship.
From grace.
Brick by brick.
Layer by layer.
With determined perseverance.
Put yourself in contention.
Let’s build the future.
Together.
