Text: Psalm 146; Luke 4:16-21 | Listen to Message Apparently there’s some kind of debate in the church over whether or not Christians ought to be involved in social justice. One side seems to be saying the mission of the church is to proclaim the gospel – and engaging in ministries of justice is a distraction (or even disobedience). The other side seems to be saying that justice ministries are an integral part of what it means to show the love of Christ to our neighbors. The first group is usually conservative, suburban, and/or affluent; the latter group is often liberal,...
Text: Matthew 5:13-16; 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 | Listen to Message It’s the most oft-repeated summary of a Christian’s relationship with culture: “We are to be in the world but not of it.” On its face, this simple statement implies some level of engagement balanced with some level of separation (or Christian distinctiveness). So far so good. But in countless everyday activities extrapolated out over many years, that one basic principle has been applied many different – even mutually exclusive – ways by good and godly people. Rather than claiming to know who’s right and who’s wrong, we prefer to recognize the...
Text: Genesis 1:28; Ephesians 6:5-9 | Listen to Message It’s a common problem experienced by countless Christians: there’s a massive disconnect between our faith and work. We have no idea what the Sunday sacred has to do with the Monday-through-Friday secular grind. We’ve compartmentalized our Christianity to a few nights and weekends, and we live with spiritual amnesia the 40, 50, or 60 hours a week we’re on the job. “I’m just an electrician, just an attorney, just a student, just an accountant, just a teacher, just an architect, just a nurse practitioner, just an engineer, just an artist,” we tell...
Text: Romans 12:2 | Listen to Message “I just didn’t have peace about it.” “I felt like God was telling me to.” “Things got hard, so it was pretty clear to me God was closing that door.” “I put out a fleece and God seemed to be saying ‘no.’” “I thought it was the right call and I found a pastor who agreed with me.” Christians sure do have some bizarre ways of determining God’s will, don’t we? We follow our feelings, as if our emotions are infallible guides to our best life now. We claim “God said” this or that...
