Genesis 1-11 lays out every theme of the Bible – Tuesdays or Wednesdays – over Zoom starting soon.Last week we talked about the Church – Capital C – universal, invisible.This week, we will talk about the Capital O church – Our church. Some of us have been together for many decades. You are the church here. It has never been about a program or organ…

We’ve been looking at the Kingdom of God. The first week we started, I had mentioned that on this week we would revisit the relationship between the Church and the Kingdom. This week – Cindy follows people on – substacks and other places – and everyone is commenting on The Church – the Universal Church – knowing and understanding and appreciating T…

20240107Last week after our discussion time, there were some really good points brought up. Sue shared some great thoughts… John Ference and I were talking about the ‘already but not yet’ concept…Jesus’ first announcement of the Kingdom of God – both Matthew and Mark listed these similarly:Right after the temptation in the wilderness:Jesus came int…

I have been going over things our church has been growing in. This next one is one I think we've really excelled at...I think that we are becoming a Jesus People. Not the 70s Jesus people – nor a superiority like Paul spoke of when he talked about being ‘of Apollos, or Paul, or Jesus’ – but that we, as a community, are learning to live out the trai…

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.Isaiah – The prophecy has 2 fulfillments – 1 immediately following – and the word, virgin has a double meaning as well – virgin= young woman – but also means virgin, like, the virgin Mary…Luke 2: In those days Ca…

20231217Last week, at the very end, I talked about a strength of our church in the area of serving. I’d like to take a deeper look at this from the view of Advent. I’m going to do some weird things with the Bible to connect Advent and serving!Thank You for this time – and that You left heaven, not regarding equality with God a thing to cling to – Y…

It has been brought to my attention that while I study these things through the week – and mention things like the essentials and non-essentials – not everyone might know what I mean by the essentials.While the Creeds are not …The Creeds often deal with a response to certain heresies.Apostles CreedNicene Creed – 325 AD – dealing with an issue in th…

This morning I’m going to do two mini-sermons – there will be a bridge in between the two – and if you blink, you’ll miss it!This is about learning, unlearning, and relearning and the strengths of our church through the year.Matt Lynch – Flood and Fury – addresses how to view violence in the Bible. I have not personally read it – but “The Bible con…

We have been doing a series on things we’ve learned as a church. Last week – I mentioned this quote:Brennan Manning “Though it is true that the church must always dissociate itself from sin, it can never have any excuse for keeping any sinners at a distance.” (Ragamuffin Gospel)As I read that – I can see – for some, how they might have trouble and …

Another thing our church has done over the years – is being a respite for those who have been burned or wounded by church or other Christians.Here are some books that have helped me through this process:Larry Crabb – Shattered Dreams / The Pressure’s OffPhilip Yancey - Disappointment with God, What's so Amazing about Grace, The Jesus I Never KnewI’…