Kingdom Harbor

In the basement, they gathered around pizza and silly games, sang a song and then discussed ancient wisdom and timeless truth. There was laughter and seriousness, but mostly laughter. The junior high gathering drew in a random smattering of faces who heard about it through the grapevine or the little postcard passed around in the school hallway.

The monthly youth outreach night is hosted by MainStreet Covenant, and co-led by pastors Brendan Berndt and Jeremy Berg. “We are not trying to compete with other conventional church youth groups,” Berg notes. “We are trying to create a space for more honest dialogue and evenings centered around the questions the students bring.”

The topic raised by the students at a recent gathering was a doozy: “Why does God allow so much suffering and evil in the world?” The gathering is called Jason’s House, and every time they gather they take a moment to explain who the heck Jason was and why he matters today.

Harboring Revolutionaries

Meet Jason of Thessalonica, the first-century revolutionary you’ve probably never heard of. But in a world ruled by the iron fist of Rome, he was a key figure in an underground movement that would flip the planet on its head.

When Paul and Silas, two major targets of the Roman authorities, rolled into town, it was Jason who took them in. In a dark, flickering room in his home, he hosted a dangerous rebellion: Christian gatherings, hidden right under the noses of the empire. They weren’t plotting a violent coup with swords and shields. They were plotting a revolution of love, self-sacrificial service, and radical hospitality.

But the locals didn’t see it that way.

The city’s power brokers were furious. In Acts 17, they launched a furious mob against Jason’s house, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also!” Their crime? They weren’t giving their ultimate allegiance to Caesar, the supreme ruler of the world. They were pledging allegiance to Jesus alone—a new King with a message that directly challenged Rome’s power, greed, and oppression.

The empire saw them as troublemakers trying to break the system. But in reality, they were trying to turn an upside down world right side up again, powered not by politics or weapons, but by the raw force of the Holy Spirit. Jason wasn’t just a host; he was a revolutionary host, a man who staked his life and home on the belief that love—not power—would win the world.

A Scene from the Underground

This scene captures that very tension. Set in a rugged, crowded district of first-century Greek city, you’re not in a grand palace, but in the gritty, cobblestone streets of the real city. You can almost smell the smoke from the oil lamps. This is Jason’s clandestine space. You see Roman guards—uniformed and alert—standing watch at a nearby intersection, completely unaware that directly beside them, in this humble room, a world-changing event is happening.

A diverse group of early Christians, diverse in age and background, are gathered around a rough wooden table. These aren’t powerful people, but common folk. Look closely: Paul is there, eyes intense as he reads from a scroll by lamplight. Silas is in the crowd. And Jason? He’s the one by the doorway, alert and careful, the gatekeeper and protector of this “Revolution of Love.” They are taking the ultimate risk, living on the edge to turn the world right side up.

The image above captures the tension of that time. Look past the main group: through the doorway, Roman guards stand watch in the street, an ever-present threat. But inside, under the warm, secret glow of lamplight, Jason’s diverse community gathers around a rough table. This isn’t a peaceful bible study; this is a strategic meeting for a spiritual revolution. Paul is in the center, sharing “dangerous” words from a scroll. You can feel the determination and the risk in every face. This is the moment a counter-culture of grace and truth began to spread, right in the heart of the empire.

Back in Our Basement

Back in Pastor Berg’s cozy twenty-first century suburban basement, no Roman soldiers stalk the streets and they don’t need to gather in secret. Yet, a wild and wayward world still lurks outside the door. Confusion and pain, violence and idolatry, still fill the streets. Swords don’t threaten young people today, but lies, temptations, and sin of every stripe threaten to pull them down dark paths of destruction.

Pastor Jeremy Berg reflects on the choice of this passage from Acts 17 for a youth ministry saying. “In 2005, God called me into ministry while in the passenger seat of a Driver’s Ed car,” Berg recalls. “In my conversations with local teens, a recurring theme emerged: they were bored with church-as-usual, but fascinated by the person and teachings of Jesus; and Jesus was a revolutionary and anything but boring.”

From 2005-2007, Pastor Berg united with other local youth leaders to spearhead Revolution Ministries, a grassroots youth movement that used live music events to draw teens to events where they were invited to join the radical movement Jesus started 2,000 years ago. That effort drew kids 150+ to outreach events, and soon the Berg’s were hosting a weekly Bible study in their home with youth from a dozen different churches all uniting to bring the love of Jesus back into their school every day. “Acts 17 and this little known Jason figure captured our desire to see God turning the world of teenagers upside down through an encounter God’s saving love,” Berg remembers.

Now 20 years later, MainStreet Covenant Church is hosting gatherings that once again celebrate the “good trouble” associated with Jason and the apostles. Every month or so, the Bergs’ basement becomes a 21st century version of Jason’s revolutionary hideout. “But instead of cowering around an oil lamps with angry mobs outside,” Berg jokes, “we gather around pizza, play silly games outside, and discuss the radical love and lifestyle of Jesus of Nazareth.”

Berg is convinced that young people are looking for something real, honest, life-giving and morally compelling. They can smell hypocrisy from a mile away. They are suspicious of grown-ups who think they know everything. They are drawn to adults humble enough to say, “I’m wrestling with that question, too. Let’s explore it together.”

“Most young people aren’t rejecting Jesus,” says Berg. “They are wondering why so many adults who call themselves Christian and go to church don’t seem to look like Jesus or take his teachings seriously.”

MainStreet Covenant hopes to inspire other small churches who feel they don’t have the numbers and resources to have a youth group. MainStreet is essentially a House Church of about 25 people with only 5 middle schoolers and an annual youth budget of $500. Still, each month or so those kids are sent to school handing out little post cards inviting their friends to come check out Jason’s House on a Friday night. Each time they have ended up with a friendly little mob of middle schoolers filling the basement and stuffing their face with pizza, learning about the one true King Jesus, and by God’s grace hopefully having their little world turned upside down by an encounter with the gospel of God’s love.

“They dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting:“These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.  Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king—Jesus.” ACTS 17:6-7