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WISDOM AND FOOLISHNESS - from Sunday, January 26, 2020

1/26/2020

We think we have a handle on what is wisdom and what is foolishness. However, our understanding is generally shaped by the world and our culture. God has different ideas and ways. The prophet Isaiah gets us started, and then apostle Paul explains the difference in 1st Corinthians. Get your mind rattled.

Isaiah's prophecy reveals God's dismay over the empty, useless worship practices of God;s people. These people think they're doing just what God wanted, but they should think again. God is clearly upset as the people have designed ways and practices that suit them, not God.

Paul is explaining how Jesus, the crucified Savior, is the wisdom and strength of God. Really? How is it that the one who is supposed to be saving ends up dying, slain on a cross of the Empire? That isn't a savior; that's a dead loser, the Corinthians seem to feel. Paul explains how God's wisdom is the world's foolishness (and vice versa).

Take up the challenge in these passages by checking out the sermon video below.

01-26-20-sermon.mp3
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01-26-20-ff-answers.pdf
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01-26-20-wisdom_and_foolishness.pdf
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GREATER THAN YOU IMAGINE - from Sunday, January 19, 2020

1/19/2020

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We can be surprised by how much more there is to a person, place, or event than we had realized. Of course, the same applies to ourselves - we are greater than we imagine.

God has greater ideas than the suffering servant ever imagined in Second Isaiah. While the servant believes his mission has accomplished nothing and his efforts have been quite pointless, God isn't looking at results and outcomes. Instead, God admires the faithfulness of the servant. God sees someone who is undeterred by results and keeps faithfully serving. This fellow is so valuable that God decides the first mission was too small and gives him a new mission of mammoth scope.

John's gospel describes Jesus in his time amid the John the Baptist community. The gospel writer portrays John the Baptist heaping praises on Jesus - he overdoes it by a long shot. (The gospel's focus is supposed to be on Jesus and his unique authority, and the Baptist is made to support those claims of sacred authority greater than John's with wild enthusiasm.) This causes a couple of John's disciples to start tailing Jesus. Yes, they're a bit creepy, but they spend the day with Jesus. Although he seems pretty average, they are surprised to discover the depth of his wisdom, insights, and spirituality. They're sold on Jesus and will end up following Jesus when Jesus sets out on his own ministry.

This "greater than you imagine" aspect applies to our own experience in a couple of ways. Check out the sermon video below and see how things may be greater than you imagine.

01-19-20-sermon.mp3
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01-19-20-ff-answers.pdf
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01-19-20-greater_than_you_imagine.pdf
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JOINING THE MISSION - from Sunday, January 12, 2020

1/12/2020

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As we look at Jesus' baptism, we should be asking about our own. The prophet Isaiah shares God's word about the chosen one and details his mission. Matthew tells us about Jesus' baptism by John. Lots of questions and challenges are posed here.

In Isaiah, it quickly becomes clear that it isn't a conquering leader or a new royal being described as God's chosen one. The details of the mission and the resources employed by the chosen one don't square with those roles. This servant of God is advancing God's will for the creation, advancing the Kingdom.

John the Baptist is introduced preaching repentance and proclaiming that the Kingdom is at hand; time to get oneself right with God and the Kingdom way of life.

In Matthew, John is portrayed as surprised that Jesus seeks his baptism. A swirl of questions - none easily or fully answerable - arise. "Righteousness" figures prominently not only here but throughout Matthew's gospel. Recall the Beatitudes where "righteousness" is a condition, and the teaching that disciples must have "righteousness" surpassing the religious and spiritual leaders.

For us, the challenge is to live into our baptism, to be the key players on the team following Jesus' playbook and advancing the Kingdom faithfully. How do you see yourself contributing to this team? Learn more in the sermon video below.

01-12-20-sermon.mp3
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01-12-20-ff-answers.pdf
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01-12-20-joining_the_mission.pdf
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GAME-CHANGER - from Sunday, January 5, 2020

1/6/2020

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A new year, but is it same old thing ahead? Time for a game-changer? That is what God does - game-changes in a big way. Jeremiah has a wonderful prophecy, but it's really wacky, and the coming of Jesus has the Gospel of John re-write the creation story.

Game changers provide the catalyst for bold new directions. Some will talk about change, others will dream about it. Game changers make it happen.

Jeremiah's prophecy in ch. 31 describes what God will do to bless to God;s people. However, as wonderful as it all sounds, the context makes it rather wild. Having been conquered by the Babylonians, its landscape scorched and its holy city Jerusalem devastated, its Temple lying in ruins, its population decimated, defeated, and carried off to Babylonian captivity, the happy-talk of this prophecy seems incredible. Yet Jeremiah knows that God is a game changer in the biggest way.

The gospel of John goes even further. Jesus is understood to be such a game-changer that the opening of the gospel recasts the creation story - you know, "In the beginning ...." - and focuses on Jesus as the central act of God's new creation. John also knows that God's game-changing presence in Jesus is too much for most of the world to handle.

What are you up for? How much change will you embrace in the new year? God is ready to do more than you can imagine, but is there faith to go for it? Can your game change? Find out in the sermon video below.