FAQ: What is the Bible, Why Should I Read It and How?
The Bible has inspired me and challenged me and encouraged me and comforted me and guided me and what I know is this: I know that I need it. I know I need the Bible in order to become my best self.
The Bible has inspired me and challenged me and encouraged me and comforted me and guided me and what I know is this: I know that I need it. I know I need the Bible in order to become my best self. I know that because of the Bible I know more about who I am and who God is and what on earth I am here for. I know that studying the Bible has helped me to become more loving, more
passionate about justice and care for the poor, more capable of dealing with the difficult stuff of life...
It is not too much to say that Bible has saved me and still saves me when I spend time with it, it shows me my humanness and my profound hope…it is a way through which God gives me grace
upon grace upon grace...
FAQ: How Do You Live A Faithful Life?
Our worship service was led by our Youth Group where they shared the experiences and learning of their summer mission trip. David Finley spoke about our Frequently Asked Question: How Do You Live A Faithful Life?
It is back-to-school time here in Richardson, TX. This Sunday we did a "Walk For Schools" event where we prayed for our local schools. Our worship service was led by our Youth Group where they shared the experiences and learning of their summer mission trip. David Finley spoke about our Frequently Asked Question: How Do You Live A Faithful Life?
FAQ: Why Do Bad Things Happen?
A “punishing God” doesn’t sound like the God that Job knows but hears it so much he starts to think that maybe his friends are right, maybe everything happens for a reason. This phrase is so prevalent in our culture, it has become the go-to thing that people say when something bad happens, when there is some sort of suffering people say: oh well everything happens for a reason, God must have a plan for this.
A “punishing God” doesn’t sound like the God that Job knows but hears it so much he starts to think that maybe his friends are right, maybe everything happens for a reason.
This phrase is so prevalent in our culture, it has become the go-to thing that people say when something bad happens, when there is some sort of suffering people say: oh well everything happens for a reason, God must have a plan for this.
I want to say this very clearly: This idea that everything happens for a reason is a misrepresentation of God and it needs stop.
I hope we can each do our part to call it out as violation of the third commandment, which is to misuse or misrepresent God, because that is exactly what it does. No wonder so many people have turned away from Christianity, I would too if the impression I was given was of a God that caused bad things to happen.
There Is Freedom and then there is Freedom.
We have an incredible amount of freedom. We have freedom of choice. We can pursue what we want. We can buy what we want; now with one-click and same-day delivery.
We are also the most obese nation in the world. We consume the most opioids than any other country. We have 4 percent of the world's population but the greatest number of deaths by drug overdose by far. We are addicted to our smartphones. The average number of times a person in the US checks their smartphone is 80 times a day, that's once every 12 minutes. Sociologist Brene Brown observes through her research that: "We are the most in debt, obese, addicted, medicated adult cohort in history."
You can be in the land of the free and be in bondage. There's freedom. And THEN there's freedom.
We have an incredible amount of freedom. We have freedom of choice. We can pursue what we want. We can buy what we want; now with one-click and same-day delivery.
We are also the most obese nation in the world. We consume the most opioids than any other country. We have 4 percent of the world's population but the greatest number of deaths by drug overdose by far. We are addicted to our smartphones. The average number of times a person in the US checks their smartphone is 80 times a day, that's once every 12 minutes. Sociologist Brene Brown observes through her research that: "We are the most in debt, obese, addicted, medicated adult cohort in history."
You can be in the land of the free and be in bondage. There's freedom. And THEN there's freedom.
Grace and Goads
When our will is not aligned with God's will, when we are letting our ego drive and direct us instead of God, when we get on the fast lane to success and set aside God's purposes for our lives, we are goaded, we are prodded, we are nudged in the right direction...God is constantly and consistently trying to help us to go the right way but God doesn't force us to go...we can resist it...you can kick against the goads.
When our will is not aligned with God's will, when we are letting our ego drive and direct us instead of God, when we get on the fast lane to success and set aside God's purposes for our lives, we are goaded, we are prodded, we are nudged in the right direction...God is constantly and consistently trying to help us to go the right way but God doesn't force us to go...we can resist it...you can kick against the goads.
When you say yes to Jesus, yes to following him, something mystical happens, you feel this divine energy as close to you as your deepest breath, you experience for the first time your true self...you feel connected to the power in you which you always sensed was there but now you know for sure, you feel; when you claim the Christ in you, you feel the peace that passes all understanding and you know in your gut that you are part of something so much bigger than you and it is so good, and so right.
Christian Adulting
Most of the time it isn't walking on water...it's watering the garden, it's paying the water bill on time, it's advocating for clean water...and even that work--which may seem like exciting justice work--when you get down to it, but it mainly involves sending emails and calling people and setting up meetings...mundane but necessary tasks...doing these tasks as Christ would do them, with integrity and honesty and selflessness, that's Christian adulting.
Christian Adulting:
The practice of behaving in a way characteristic of a responsible follower of Jesus, especially the accomplishment of mundane but necessary tasks.
Following Jesus isn't all about performing signs and wonders. Sure, there may be some of that but most of the time it isn't walking on water...it's watering the garden, it's paying the water bill on time, it's advocating for clean water...and even that work--which may seem like exciting justice work--when you get down to it, but it mainly involves sending emails and calling people and setting up meetings...mundane but necessary tasks...doing these tasks as Christ would do them, with integrity and honesty and selflessness, that's Christian adulting.
Most of the time following Jesus isn't performing miracles surrounded by crowds, it's putting a band-aid on your grandson's booboo; it's walking for a cause like curing breast cancer; it's sitting by your friend as she receives chemotherapy treatment. Not exciting, not glamorous, but necessary...doing these tasks as Christ would do them, with integrity and honesty and selflessness, that's Christian adulting.
Holy Boldness
The people who stand in the gap between where we are and where God wants us to be are resisters. They are disciples who have prayed for and received the power of the Holy Spirit...and the Holy Spirit leads them to speak and to act in the name of Jesus...what these first disciples understood, what their witness has taught generations of followers of Jesus since, is that not speaking the truth and standing up for what is right is not an option. You simply cannot be a faithful Christian and sit in silence on the sidelines while atrocities occur.
Holy Boldness
The people who stand in the gap between where we are and where God wants us to be are resisters. They are disciples who have prayed for and received the power of the Holy Spirit...and the Holy Spirit leads them to speak and to act in the name of Jesus...what these first disciples understood, what their witness has taught generations of followers of Jesus since, is that not speaking the truth and standing up for what is right is not an option. You simply cannot be a faithful Christian and sit in silence on the sidelines while atrocities occur.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a pastor in Germany when the Nazi regime took over and he was one of the few faithful leaders who used his voice to speak out and organize against the Nazi movement. At the time most church leaders in Germany refused to openly oppose the Nazi regime, they remained silent about the Nazis and criticized Bonhoeffer for speaking out, so he had it coming at him from all sides, but he continue to speak with boldness. He said: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
Day By Day
Consider what stepping outside of our comfort zones to be led by the Spirit looks like. For some that may mean starting a weekly prayer practice, perhaps with family members, or friends. For others, stepping outside of comfort zones may mean going and talking to someone more about how God is impacting your life.
Consider what stepping outside of our comfort zones to be led by the Spirit looks like. For some that may mean starting a weekly prayer practice, perhaps with family members, or friends. For others, stepping outside of comfort zones may mean going and talking to someone more about how God is impacting your life, sharing the state of your souls w/others.
One way that churches seek to live a day-by-day faith, in addition to the normal pattern of programming and worship is to consider attending various small groups to grow spiritually with one another. Now, these are not the only avenues for us to explore in living out a day-by-day kind of faith. We all have so much to offer in terms of the different gifts we each bring, gifts of leadership, care, spiritual renewal, and more as we grow in faith together.
I truly believe that through God’s grace each one of us has the capacity to be a source of transformative faith, to others, and to ourselves as we follow God in community here and in our daily lives. But, we are encouraged to share that kind of transformation together, being led by the Holy Spirit, who makes it possible for us to be on the same spiritual page. The invitation to live a day-by-day faith is before us, what will our response be?
The Permission And The Power
You may say: cure the sick? But I'm not a doctor. Raise the dead? Cleanse the lepers? That sounds a little out of my league. Well maybe your marriage is sick. You have the power to work on healing your marriage right now. Maybe your friend is depressed. You have the power to reach out to her right now. Maybe some dream you have has died and you feel like the life has just been kicked out of you. You have the power to start again, to make something new. You are the committee. You have what you need within you already to cure the sick, to raise the dead.
You may say: cure the sick? But I'm not a doctor. Raise the dead? Cleanse the lepers? That sounds a little out of my league. Well maybe your marriage is sick. You have the power to work on healing your marriage right now. Maybe your friend is depressed. You have the power to reach out to her right now. Maybe some dream you have has died and you feel like the life has just been kicked out of you. You have the power to start again, to make something new. You are the committee. You have what you need within you already to cure the sick, to raise the dead.
You may hear that phrase 'cast out demons' and think shoot that is for some Pentecostal church or something and sure maybe so, but also this: Racism is a demon that needs to be cast out of our society for good. Sexism needs to be cast out. Homophobia needs to be cast out.
And we can sit around, literally sit around, and scroll and troll on Facebook and say: oh things should be different, and if only the powers that be would change things...No. You have the power to change things.
Becoming Deeply Devoted Disciples of Jesus Christ
I wonder if we pulled out our calendars right now and looked at this past week or this past month, or if we were to keep a running log of the hours in the day and what we did in each hour, it would be a good insight into our devotion...
Now if you have a group of people like those members of the early church whose calendars are for the most part synched, who all live in the same rhythm of life, who all give their time and energy to the same things, oh my the power of that!
Becoming Deeply Devoted Disciples of Jesus Christ
I wonder if we pulled out our calendars right now and looked at this past week or this past month, or if we were to keep a running log of the hours in the day and what we did in each hour, it would be a good insight into our devotion...
Now if you have a group of people like those members of the early church whose calendars are for the most part synched, who all live in the same rhythm of life, who all give their time and energy to the same things, oh my the power of that!
Sermon Notes:
Download "A Rule Of Life"
Listen To This Good News
"In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and…
Listen To This Good News
"In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separateness...now I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.”
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This large crowd has gathered because of the spectacle that has taken place, which is known as Pentecost, if you were here last week, we celebrated Pentecost, it is when the disciples receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and they are suddenly able to talk in all of these languages, so they can communicate the story of God's grace with everyone, and all these people gather together and they start hearing the good news in their native languages...
You see how God through the Holy Spirit is trying to reach them, each of them, trying to speak to them in a way they will understand, but they have these noise cancelling headphones on, they can't hear it, the word cannot be placed in their ear, it just bounces right off and instead of hearing the disciples' teaching about God's power--you know what they hear? Drunk people. That's what they say to each other, they say: oooh these people must be drunk! They try and write off what is happening because it so goes against everything they have ever heard about God--yes, these people must be drunk--because that is the explanation that fits in with what we know.
There is no way of telling people that they are shining like the sun...when they have these noise cancelling headphones on...so Peter stands up in front of the crowd and the first thing he says is enotizomai, he says: take off what is preventing you from hearing and let me put the word of God into your ear.
It is quite practically the first thing we have to do to hear God's word for us, Peter knows this firsthand, he saw Jesus constantly starting his teachings this way, telling people to listen and to hear: in fact the number of times Jesus says to the disciples and the crowds: "Listen!" or "hear!" is quite remarkable...and when Jesus is baptized the voice from heaven says: "This is my beloved son, Listen to him!" Of all the things God could have said or instructed the people to do, God says: listen. God says: take off whatever is preventing you from hearing so my word can be placed in your ear. It starts with listening. Transformation starts with listening.
The Holy Spirit...Here...Now.
The best way we can fulfill the vows we take at baptism as a congregation is to set a heart on fire - and the best way to do that, is have your own heart set on fire.
Seventh grade football games are fascinating! You can see which athletes have great talent and some who will need a lot of work. The great challenge of a middle school coach is to teach the athletes to love the game. The same is true for the next generation of our church. The best way we can fulfill the vows we take at baptism as a congregation is to set a heart on fire - and the best way to do that, is have your own heart set on fire.
A Community Of Friends
God knows we need people whose intention is to become a community of friends and who put it in the plan...God knows if you do this and I do this it is enough to change the whole world.
A Community Of Friends
God knows we need people whose intention is to become a community of friends and who put it in the plan...God knows if you do this and I do this it is enough to change the whole world. It really is...
It is striking to me that washing feet is the last thing Jesus chooses to do with his disciples, and the last thing he says to them is love one another like I have loved you, like he could have spent his last moments with them coming up with a strategic plan, he could have given them written out sermons or a list of do's and don'ts...
He doesn't do that because he knows that fundamental change will come, that the world will change, when each of us loves like he did...when we each do our part to become the beloved community...
Watch the video referenced in the sermon below...
Move The Stone
Jesus wanted everyone to see that death is not something to be afraid of...that there is a way through death, he makes the way for us, I am the resurrection, he says...
Move The Stone
Jesus wanted everyone to see that death is not something to be afraid of...that there is a way through death, he makes the way for us, I am the resurrection, he says...and even more remarkable than that is that Jesus invites us to join him in making the way for resurrection to happen...
To See Or Not To See
The beginner's mind is defined as an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as beginner in the subject would.
To See Or Not To See
The beginner's mind is defined as an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as beginner in the subject would.
Can you guess who in our society best exemplifies the beginner's mind? Children. Of course, right? You only have to be around a child for a few minutes to know what it is to live with a beginner's mind, everything is new to them, so they explore their environment, try things out, question, touch, smell, taste, they discover...maybe you can think of an experience from your own childhood or your children or grandchildren that is a good example of the beginner's mind.
Inclusive Discipleship
God knows…God knows your secret, God knows that thing you don’t want anybody to know, God knows and God still thinks you are worthy of love, yes God knows and still thinks you are worthy of belonging.
Inclusive Discipleship
God knows…God knows your secret, God knows that thing you don’t want anybody to know, God knows, God knows, God knows... and God still thinks you are worthy of love, yes God knows and still thinks you are worthy of belonging.
God knows and God still thinks you are precious. God knows and God still thinks you are a blessing. God knows, God knows, God knows and God’s knowing you fully doesn’t change how God feels about you, doesn’t change what God thinks about you, you are fully known and fully accepted by God, secrets and all.
Is that good news today or what? God knows everything about you and God’s love for you is unwavering, God’s love for you is steadfast.