Sexual Formation

1. This is an invitation to conversations that matter. If we don’t talk about things that matter, our faith will cease to be relevant– and let's be honest, sex matters.

2. We are all sexually broken, fractured, and misshapen; that means our conviction and our theology are aimed toward compassion and healing, not guilt or shame.

3. We need to pursue a better story; we must investigate what we believe about sex. We genuinely believe that the story of scripture, rooted in the life of Jesus, contains a more compelling and beautiful vision of sexuality than anything else on offer. While we may come to different conclusions on its implications, all Jesus followers are responsible for offering a better invitation.

What does Christianity have to say to those who experience same-sex attraction? 

1. We must approach the subject of sexuality with as much humility as possible. 

2. We must pursue nuance and thoughtfulness concerning our faith and sexuality. 

3. We must pursue faithfulness to Jesus. 

There are six scriptures relevant to the conversation on same-sex intimacy. 

Pastoral Position is that God’s design for sex is to be experienced in a lifelong union between two sexually different persons, male and female. 

The termsprogressive sexual ethic and traditional sexual ethic seem to be the most clear and generous on the subject.

Genesis 2. 

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky… But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.  Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. –Genesis 2:18-20,21-25

Much of the interpretation of this passage revolves around the Hebrew phrase, kenegdo ezer; suitable helper (Genesis 2:18, 20) 

The progressive position highlights this noun's emphasis on likeness. Eve’s qualification to be a “suitable helper” was simply that she was another human being. 

“In other words, the animals are not similar to the man—in the way that the woman will be. The animals are certainly different from the man, but that is not what the story is interested in. It is pursuing not differences but someone similar to the man, someone similar enough to be “his partner”, and someone strong enough to be his “helper.” –James Brownson

The traditional position highlights the modifying word kenegdo; a compound word combining “different” and “the same.” 

God said he would make a corresponding helper. Under this interpretation, Eve’s qualifications for being a “suitable helper” were her human likeness and her sexual difference. 

Genesis 19.
This is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is not about same-sex relationships. This story is a straightforward condemnation of sexual violence, not sexual orientation. 

Leviticus 18:22 & 20:13
In Leviticus, Israelite people are given instructions for living distinctly from the surrounding cultures.  

“You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” –Leviticus 20:18

“‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.” –Leviticus 18:22

“If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” –Leviticus  20:13.

The progressive position interprets these texts in one of two ways. 

The first argues that these texts refer to idolatrous temple prostitution. 

The second progressive interpretation is that Leviticus' instructions no longer apply to New Covenant Christians. 

“In practice, Christians do not follow the dictates of the Old Testament. If they did, polygamy would be legal, and forbidden would be things like tattoos, wearing mixed fabrics, eating pork and seeding lawns with a variety of grasses—and the Christian day of worship would be Saturday, not Sunday.” – John Shore

The Traditional Perspective suggests that Leviticus 18 – 20 is still authoritative for New Testament Christians.

“Just because some Old Testament laws aren’t binding for Christians doesn’t mean no laws are.” –Preston Sprinke

Chapters 18-20 include instructions on:

• incest (18:6–18; 20:11–14, 17, 19–21)

• adultery (18:20; 20:10)

• child sacrifice (18:21; 20:1–5)

• bestiality (18:23; 20:15–16)

•  theft (19:11)

•  lying (19:11)

•  taking the Lord’s name in vain (19:20)

•  oppressing your neighbor (19:13)

•  cursing the deaf (19:14)

•  showing partiality in the court of law (19:15)

•  slander (19:16)

•  hating your brother (19:17)

•  making your daughter a prostitute (19:29

• turning to witches or necromancers (19:31)

Romans 1

“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” –Romans 1:26–27.

The interpretive task is determining what Paul is condemning as “exchanging natural sexual relationships for unnatural ones.

The progressive perspective argues that what Paul is condemning here is sexual excess and perverse lust. Roman Grecco males had unmitigated sexual access.

“[it is] the sin of asserting oneself and one’s group at the expense of others… it is not desire itself that Paul opposes, but excessive desire, which directs itself toward what is not rightly ours, overcoming self-control and obedience to God.”– James Brownson

The Traditional Perspective believes Paul was aware of mutual same-sex intimacy and is denouncing it. 

Paul’s inclusion of female same-sex intimacy in verse 26 gives the impression that he is condemning all same-sex relationships, not just excessive lust or sexual violence.  Verse 27 seems to include the language of mutuality; “men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.” (Romans 1:27)

“Notice the pattern of exchange in Romans 1. Humankind “exchanges” the Creator for creation; females exchange sexual relations with males for females; males exchange sexual relations with females for males. And all of this seems to stem from a departure of the way God designed us, as seen in Genesis 1–2.”–Preston Sprinkle & Wesley Hill

Paul seems to draw on the Creation narrative, which states that men and women were created in God's image to rule the world together. 

1 Corinthians 6 & 1 Timothy 1:11. 

“Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” –1 Corinthians 6:9–10

“We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.” – 1 Timothy 1:9-11

The meaning of these two passages are wrapped up in the meaning of two greek words–  “malakoi” and “arsenokoites,”. 

The progressive position argues that “malakoi” and “arsenokoites” are about slavery, prostitution, and pedophilia.

If these passages were about pedophilia and prostitution, Paul would be condemning exploitative sexuality, not necessarily mutual same-sex relationships. 

The traditional position argues slightly distinct definitions for these two words. 

Malakoi may refer to the passive participant, but more broadly to men trying to be women. 

Arsenokoities is a compound word meaning “men who sleep with men”; and emerges from two words in Leviticus 18 and 20. 

 “There they are. There is no way around them; there is no ambiguity in them… It is impossible to explain away these texts.”–Walter Brueggeman.

 We are invited to wrestle with the whole biblical text. 

Sexual Formation

1. This is an invitation to conversations that matter. If we don’t talk about things that matter, our faith will cease to be relevant– and let's be honest, sex matters.

2. We are all sexually broken, fractured, and misshapen; that means our conviction and our theology are aimed toward compassion and healing, not guilt or shame.

3. We need to pursue a better story; we must investigate what we believe about sex. We genuinely believe that the story of scripture, rooted in the life of Jesus, contains a more compelling and beautiful vision of sexuality than anything else on offer. While we may come to different conclusions on its implications, all Jesus followers are responsible for offering a better invitation.

Two stories in particular have dominated the American imagination and most distorted our understanding of sex.

The Shame Story proposes one simple rule– no sex before marriage. A whole generation of teenagers grew up believing “don’t” was all Christianity had to offer on the subject of sex.

The Secular story says that a life of unrestricted sexual pleasure is the life you’ve always wanted. The Secular story doesn’t liberate sex; it commodifies it.

The Christian Vision of Sex stands in deep contrast to the stories that dominate the American landscape and insists that (1) bodies matter, (2) holy union is coming, and (3) there can be a better witness to the world.

The Corinthian Way.

Corinth was a significant city in the Roman world and was known for its sexual excess. The temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, and the patroness of prostitutes, was at the center of Corinth's religious life.

“Corinthianize” was a term that meant to live a promiscuous life or to have sex outside of marriage.

This sexual liberty was enjoyed exclusively by Roman males, creating a horrifyingly exploitative environment.

‘When your organ is stiff, and a servant girl or a young boy from the household is near at hand and you know you can make an immediate assault, would you sooner burst with tension? Not me: I like sex to be there and easy to get.’ – Horace

These promiscuous and sexually exploitative practices were smuggled into the Corinthian church.

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” –1 Corinthians 6:11–13.

“I have the right to do anything” is a slogan that reminds us we are not all that far from the Corinthians.

“The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. – 1 Corinthians 6:13b-14

The Gospel Alternative.

The Good News is that, through Jesus's death and resurrection, all creation is being renewed, healed, and restored. Everything broken mended; all evil undone; all wrong made right.

Paul argues that you do not have “the right to do anything” because someone has a claim on you.

The actions of God in Jesus tell us how immeasurably valuable he finds us and our bodies.

Bodies Matter

By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” –1 Corinthians 6:14–16.

Sex matters because creation matters.

Christianity insists that the physical world matters, creation matters, and bodies matter.

Jesus’ body was brought back from the dead; this means there is still hope for healing from the ways we’ve mistreated or misused our bodies.

Orthodox Christianity has a much higher view of sex than the shame story or the secular story.

The Christian vision identifies marriage as the space in which bodies are most honored.

Holy Union.

But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. –1 Corinthians 6:14–17.

Our sexuality points us back to our deep longing to be united with God.

“We are not fulfilled persons who occasionally get lonely, restful people who sometimes experience restlessness, or persons who live in habitual intimacy and have episodic battles with alienation and inconsummation. The reverse is truer. We are lonely people who occasionally experience fulfillment, restless souls who sometimes feel restful, and aching hearts that have brief moments of consummation…The soul is not a something that has a capacity for God. It is a capacity for God.” – Ronald Rolheiser, the Fire Within

We are longing beings.

"You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you." –Augustine.

Our sexual desire is an ache to connect with another human. It is the impulse to move toward intimacy, vulnerability, and bonds.

“The very word sex comes from a Latin verb that means to cut off or sever, and sexual impulses drive us to unite, to restore somehow the union that has been severed. Freud diagnosed the deep pain within as a longing for union with a parent; Jung diagnosed a longing for union with the opposite sex. The Christian sees a deeper longing, for union with the God who created us.” – Philip Yancey

Our Sexual desire is not simply hormones and social conditioning; is a compass that continues to lead us back to God.

Among the myriad pictures of God’s love for us, the most common (and it's not even close) is the union of a husband and wife.

The biblical story begins with the marriage of two people and ends with the marriage of Christ and his church.

“If we want to understand God’s love for us, we are invited to look into the most intimate and private corners of our felt sexuality and cross-reference...In fact, the biblical picture of marital sexual union is nothing less than an anticipation of an even deeper union with the Divine. And whether we are married or single in this life, sexual desire is our inbuilt homing instinct for the Divine, a kind of navigation aid showing us the way home. You could think of it as a form of body language: our bodies talk to us about a greater reality of fulfilment and eternal blessing, and urge us to go there.” – Glynn Harrison

Our bodies matter, and each ache, each desire, is a homing beacon pointing us back to the only One who can satisfy our restless hearts.

A Witness to the World.

“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.” –1 Corinthians 6:18–20.

Paul insists that the Gospel is an invitation to sexual integrity for the sake of the world.

“For Christians, human identity and vocation are rooted in the call to love God and our neighbors as we love ourselves. Our sexuality flows from the same invitation. In this way, its meaning is best understood ecologically. Sex is about cultivating relationships and communities that create and sustain life, and defining it as such can just as quickly lead us to refrain from coupling.” – Hannah Anderson

The call of Christian Sexuality is to develop communities, relationships, and families.

Used rightly, sex expresses lifelong fidelity and mutual commitment, forging a self-giving relationship.

Used wrongly, sex divides, violates, harms, damages, and demeans.

The Church has failed many times when it comes to sex, but it is the Christian vision of sex and the faithfulness of believers that continue to lay a foundation for sexual justice.

Paul is writing to a Christian community steeped in Sexual debauchery, excess, and exploitation, yet the Church insisted on sexual justice.

• Faithful monogamy

• The fair and honoring treatment of enslaved people.

• The mutual submission in the marriage union.

• Male and female chastity

• The end of abortion and infanticide

• For honor and appreciation given to the abstinent and single individuals.

• The insistence on human dignity over sexual objectification..

Kyle Harper calls Christianity the first sexual revolution.

“...[Christianity] upended an ethical system in which male access to the female body was unquestioned and unquestionable.Whereas the Romans regarded male chastity as profoundly unhealthy, Christians prized it and insisted on it. Early converts were disproportionately female because the Christian valorization of weakness offered obvious benefits to the weaker sex, who could—for the first time—demand sexual continence of men. Feminism is not opposed to Christianity: It is its descendant. – Louise Perry

“Most of this formative process occurs at the subconscious level, beneath our cognitive and rational thinking. Our social and cultural context is not something we look at objectively, like a painting, but is more like an atmosphere that we exist within and cannot exist without. To paraphrase C. S. Lewis, a fish does not “feel” wet; likewise, we swim in the world rather than stand outside it as detached observers. We are involved in our surroundings in a complex and holistic way, and our context shapes every aspect of our lives, including how we see our sexuality, our relationships, and ourselves.” -Jonathan Grant, Divine Sex

First Series Objective: Let’s have conversations that matter.

Second Series Objective: We must recognize that we are ALL sexually broken.

Third Series Objective: We need to pursue a better story.

Main Idea: We are all sexually broken and Jesus calls us to hold both compassion and challenge.

53 They went each to his own house, 1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” John 7:53–8:11

“It may well be that the Greek word for without sin (ana-mar-tē(a)-tos) means not only without sin, but even without a sinful desire. Jesus was saying: ‘Yes, you may stone her—but only if you never wanted to do the same thing yourselves.’” - William Barclay

“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” - John 8:10

“When [Jesus] was confronted with someone who had gone wrong, he did not say: ‘You are a wretched and a hopeless creature.’ He said: ‘Go, and sin no more.’ He believed that with his help, sinners have it in them to become saints.” - William Barclay

A Rival Religion.

“For many people, including those who consider themselves moderate, political beliefs have replaced religion. Controversialists and culture warriors use television and radio to preach the corruption of society… Certain topics can induce evangelical fervour in the wrong sort of dinner party guest. In America the decline of religion over the past 20 years neatly tracks the rise of religious partisanship.” – James Marriott, We may be godless but religion has its guises

Robert Pape released a report on American attitudes toward political violence.

10% of respondents believed the “use of force is justified to prevent Donald Trump from becoming president.”

7% of respondents said they “support force to restore Trump to the presidency.”

American politics have transitioned from mundane policy debates to rival religions.

A Question for Jesus.

Jesus is speaking into a moment as polarized and contentious as our own.

At this time, Israel, Jesus’ homeland, was occupied by the Roman Empire, who enforced its occupation through military might and taxation.

First-century Romans worshiped their political leaders as gods.

Jesus’s answer says to submit to the laws of the land, in this case, the Roman Empire. But it is his follow-up line that subverts all expectations.

The Jewish listeners would not have missed the scandalous implications and illusion to Genesis 1:26. Allegiance, loyalty, and faithfulness first belong to God above any state, leader, or party.

Against the political religions, Jesus charts a path forward for his followers in the tension between submission and subversion.

1. Remember, God is the redeemer of the World.

“The faith of the Christian is the last great hope of earth.” –Lee Camp, Scandelous Witness

God is the redeemer of the world, and America is not.

“[when] we pray the Lord’s Prayer asking for God’s kingdom to come, we’re praying for the end of the United States of America. We look forward to the day when all people will be united in the one nation, under God, in God, by God, and with God.”– Joseph Lear

We long for and hope for a day in which God’s government will be established– a new heaven and earth.

“It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it… For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” – Isaiah 2:2–4.

2. Practice God’s future in the Present.

Our role as the people of God, as the Church, is to represent God’s future now.

"The church exists to set up in the world a new sign which is radically dissimilar to the world's own manner and which contradicts it in a way that is full of promise." – Karl Barth.

3. Let Jesus set your political agenda.

Politics is the art and science of organizing for the common good of a community.

“The primary task of the church is to be an alternative politic. Jesus was clearly a political figure, calling his followers to a particular politic. His politic was a public claim and a public matter.” –Lee C. Camp, Scandalous Witness.

To be a follower of Jesus means to take his instructions seriously and let him inform your political agenda, not the other way around.

As believers, we should agree on values, but we may not agree on how to express those values.

4. We should feel Politically homeless.

Faithfulness to Jesus and his teaching will put us out of step with the right and the left.

Larry Horatio has a book called Destroyer of the gods; Early Christian Distinctives in the Roman World.

1. Multi-racial and Multi-ethnic community

2. Spread across socioeconomic lines

3. Advocacy against infanticide and abortion

4. A chaste and disciplined sexual ethic

5. A Non-violent ethic, refusing military service.

“How Do Christians Fit Into the Two-Party System? They Don’t.” – Tim Keller,

“The church is not to be found in the center of a left/right political world. The church is to be a species of its own kind, confounding the left, right, and middle, and finding its identity from the “center” of God’s life.” – Rich Villodas.

5. Let Jesus’ example guide your political engagement.

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. –Philippians 2:5–11.

For followers of Jesus, the means do not justify the ends– how we accomplish something is as important as what is achieved.

6. Contribute to the Public Good.

Here are a few contributions we can make to our city–

1. A vision of human dignity.

2. A commitment to Personal Integrity..

3. A concern for the poor and vulnerable.

4. A responsibility to “the other.”

5. A suspicion of human nature.

6. A love of neighbors that keeps us local.

7. A willingness to work with all kinds of people.

8. The power and favor of God.

7. Confess that Jesus is Lord.

“Christianity shall be an even better citizen: because it does not worship the flag or pledge its allegiance, and because it instead pledges in its baptism to a transnational community of reconciliation, forgiveness, and hospitality, which shall not be founded by sectarian oaths or accidental geographical boundaries…the vocation and mission of the church is to embody suffering love and the peace of God’s kingdom, and call all to participate in this reign.” – Lee Camp, Scandalous Witness

When our allegiance is rightfully given to Jesus, we can resist the temptation to worship a candidate or bow to one of the partisan religions.

“These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” 8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things.” –Act 17:6–8.

First Mark: Genuine & Affectionate Love

Romans 12:9-10a: “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 & 13: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It doesn’t insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing; but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things…. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Second Mark: Fervent Honor & Service

Romans 12:10b-11: “Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.”

Hebrews 3:3-6: “For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses - as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.). Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boating in our hope.

Third Mark: Generous & Hospitable

Romans 12:13: “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”

Galatians 5:5 & 13-15: “For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness… For you were called to freedom brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.”

Fourth Mark: Harmonious & Peaceful

Romans 12:14-21: “Bless those who persecute you; Bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink: for by so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Romans 15:1-7 & 13: “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

At the beginning of this, I challenged us to take an honest, inward look at what really marks us… what our real actions are…

These marks, and these actions, are what Jesus did AND what God expects of us, in our humanity.

So, in order to live these marks out… at our voting sites, in our offices, our medical clinics, our car washes, at the gas pumps, at our dinners, in our microchurches, and in our homes… I want us to look to the Father…

Romans 12:12: “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

One: Rejoice in Hope

1 Peter 1:3-5: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Two: Be Patient in Hard Times

2 Corinthians 1:9-10: “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.”

Three: Pray Constantly

Hebrews 6:16-20: “For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desires to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Two common problems with prayer in the church:

A sense of guilt from not praying enough

There is a performative aspect to it. We may be afraid to perform prayer or we may be eager to be seen.

Christ gives two warnings before the Lord’s prayer

1. Don’t pray to be seen by others, if you do then you have already received your reward

2. Don’t pray long drawn out prayers just to be heard. God already knows what you need before you ask.

It is okay to process our prayers with God, this takes time. There is a difference between trying to convince God and trying to process with God.

The Lord’s Prayer

Has 6 themes. The first three themes address the Lord. The Last three themes address us.

The first theme is addressing the Lord’s name as being above all. Being hallowed.

Leviticus 22:32 - “You shall not profane my holy name, but I will be hallowed among the people of Israel.”

The prayer begins with saying your name is holy and sacred. In a sense this prayer starts with worship.

The second theme is “Your kingdom come

In order for the Lord’s kingdom to come, those who are part of the kingdom must behave a certain way.

If the Lord rules over us, then our actions would speak to that.

The third theme is “Your will be done.”

A better word for the word will is desire.

“Jesus’s resurrection is the beginning of God’s new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven. That, after all, is what the Lord’s prayer is about.”

The Lord’s prayer acts as a catalyst of which the Kingdom of God and the earth become one.

The story of Legion from Mark 5 speaks to this. The townspeople’s will was for the man to be bound and hidden. But Jesus’ will was for the man to be free. Due to this, this man was used as an instrument to usher in the Kingdom of God.

The last three themes of the Lord’s prayer address us. They never say the words my, me or I. This is a communal prayer that uses us and our.

The first theme regarding our needs is giving us our daily bread.

Christ makes it clear that we ought to focus on our daily provisions.

This prayer references Exodus 16 when the jews were led out of slavery but were starving in the wilderness. The Lord gave instructions to gather enough for each day, not any extra for the future.

Jesus says “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” A few verses down from the Lord’s prayer.

The second theme of our needs is forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

This prayer is reinforced by Christ right after the Lord’s prayer when he says “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

The Greek word for forgive is the word Aphiemi which means to release someone from a financial obligation.

Through Christ’s dying on the cross for our sins, we have the opportunity to be released from our debts to God.

The third and final request in the Lord’s prayer is to not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil.

A better translation for the word temptation is test. This prayer is really saying to lead us not into the test.

A few stories of individuals being tested include:

Adam and Eve not eating of the tree of knowledge. Their test became a temptation from the snake.

Christ being tested the wilderness while also being tempted by the devil.

Being tested is inevitable, thus why Jesus follows it up with deliver us from evil.

May this be our prayer for Kansas City

1. The Lord’s name would be above all in Kansas City

2. His kingdom would come and will or desire would be done in Kansas City.

3. That we would look for the daily needs of each other and our community

4. That we would live as a forgiven community offering that same forgiveness that the Lord has shown us.

5. That even when we go through tests, we can be confident in knowing our savior was also tested and was successful. That through him we too can overcome.

“We, Christians, believe the Bible to be the unique, trustworthy, written Word of God and the authority for our lives. But before anything was written, it was embodied. Before the writer of John’s Gospel penned, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” he first had to actually encounter the Word dwelling with him in the flesh… Thinking and writing about the Word followed an embodied encounter with the word… The beauty of the Word is what first captivated the author, long before he “understood” who he was dealing with or what he was getting himself into…” –Curt Thompson

“Over the last four to five hundred years, [Christians] have so pushed beauty in its proper form to the margin that goodness is no longer attractive, at which point truth no longer matters.” – Curt Thompson

“Nobody knows what’s good. Nobody agrees on what is true, but beauty has the capacity to sneak past people’s senses. So I think we have a responsibility to show the beauty of the person of Jesus and the beauty of the gospel.” – Pastor Jon Tyson

“It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.” While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly. “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over. - Mark 14:1-11

“Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.” - Mark 14:6

Balthasar’s 3 Fundamental Concepts:

1. Beauty

2. Goodness

3. Truth

“It always happens, when people decide to worship Jesus without inhibition—to pour out their valuables, their stories, their dancing, their music, before him just the way they feel like doing—that others, looking on, find the spectacle embarrassing and distasteful…The grumbles of the bystanders… sound a lot like the embarrassed rationalizations of people who have their own emotions well covered up and don’t like seeing other people’s on display.” – N.T. Wright

Spiritual Practice:

• Draw close to the True Artist

• Creatively Act

“For us to become complete to complete God’s work of our being made in his image- we must enter into this most grounded facet of who God is: an artist who makes because he first loves what he is about to create.” -Curt Thompson

“True painting (or art) is only an image of the perfection of God.” - Michelangelo

“To make sense of and celebrate a beautiful world through the production of artifacts which are themselves beautiful is part of the call to be stewards of creation, as was Adam’s naming of the animals.” - N.T. Wright

“Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” - Mark 14:9

Leviticus 19, “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

Deuteronomy 10, “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. Fear the LORD your God and serve him.”

Matthew 25, “Blessed with eternal life are those who gave the hungry something to eat, a drink to the thirsty, invited the stranger in, clothed the naked, cared for the sick, and visited those in prison.”

Matthew 25, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Romans 12 “always be eager to practice hospitality.”

1 Peter 4 “to offer hospitality to one another without grumbling…”

Hebrews 13 “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, or by so doing some of you have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

“Hospitality should not be limited to its literal sense of receiving a stranger in our house-although its important never to forget or neglect that! But as a fundamental attitude toward our fellow human being, which can be expressed in a great variety of ways” - Henri Nouwen

“Hospitality is not entertainment, it is not meant to show off what you know how to do well, it’s living your transparent Christian life before a watching world that despises you.”
- Rosaria Butterfield

“[Many] Historians argue that [hospitality] is the primary way that the gospel spread at such a rapid pace, from a few hundred people eating together in an upper room in Jerusalem to over half the population of the Roman Empire, just three centuries toppling paganism itself… And they did this with no political power no legal protection, under waves of persecution and millions eaten alive in the arenas, with no internet, no printing press, no sound systems, no church buildings, no stages, no celebrity pastors, the gospel just spread from one home to the next, one table to the next.” - John Mark Comer

It can be difficult to do justice if we are unclear of how God defines it. We will find that the Bible gives us everything we need, motivation, joy, and mercy to participate in a Just life for Kansas City.

So, with our time, I want to get into that invitation to justice through the writings of Jeremiah. We'll reflect on 1) our barriers to justice, 2) God's definition of Justice, and 3) how we might practice justice.

“Like a cage full of birds,
their houses are full of deceit;
therefore they have become great and rich;
28 they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no bounds in deeds of evil;
they judge not with justice
the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,
and they do not defend the rights of the needy.”
–Jeremiah 5:27-28

Jeremiah’s message was certainly unpopular but it was also God’s message. And in it we learn quite a bit about justice. Jeremiah writes:

“Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” –Jeremiah 9:23-24

Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom.
It's easy to fall into the trap of believing we always know what brings happiness and fulfillment for our lives.

Let not the mighty man boast in his might.
Jeremiah cautions against centering our lives on transient aspects like physical beauty, strength, or social media popularity, as they will ultimately let us down

Let not the rich man boast in riches .
We don’t want to spend our money on others. It is easier to view our money as a source to build our own pleasure and comfort.

The challenge here is for us to consider how much we prioritize ourselves and our lifestyles. God does not rebuke this instinct to find happiness in these things, but He will direct them.

“But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice (mishpat), and righteousness (tazadequah) in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” –Jeremiah 9:24

He understand and know me that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love:

“The term “steadfast love” is translated in Hebrew as “hesed.” Hesed is wrapping up in itself all the attributes of God: love, covenant faithfulness, mercy, grace, kindness, loyalty, acts of devotions and loving kindness that go beyond the requirements of duty." – Darrel Bock

Hesed isn’t only a feeling or an emotion but it is an action on behalf of someone else in need.

“Only love gets close enough to know.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The word for “justice” is the Hebrew term mishpat. It means the fair or equitable treatment of people. It also conveys an active implication. It is defending a cause and taking up someone’s case regardless of race or socioeconomic background. God’s justice is restorative.

And often in scripture, justice and righteousness are linked together. The biblical term for personal righteousness is (Tsedqah). And this word refers to a life of right relationships or how you treat others in a relationship.

“right with God and therefore committed to putting right all other relationships in life.” – Alec Motyer

Our personal righteousness (Tsedqah) forms us for outward acts of justice (misphat). And how we serve the most vulnerable says a significant amount about how we love God.

When we show mercy to the least of these it is the same as caring about Jesus himself.

Who are we making room for in Midtown church, in our communities, at our dining room tables? This place should be a bit messier than it was before.

How can we live this out in our day-to-day lives?

• Take time to help an elderly neighbor with an errand or mow their lawn.

• Get involved with a nonprofit mentoring youth

• Help a single parent with school supplies for the next school year and stay in touch with the family

• Call your state legislators and be active in policies

• Ask how your workplace could serve immigrants in the KC area

• When you’re at the grocery store buy extra food items for someone in need when you're driving home.

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

John 15:12-17

“Just ponder that for a moment. The Son of God, the one through whom all things were created, the one who for all eternity past has existed in relationship with the Father and the Spirit, takes on flesh, comes to earth and on the night before he’ll be brutally executed on a Roman cross for them, looks at his closest followers and says, ‘You are my friends’. It’s astounding. And what’s even more astounding is that we can trust that by extension Jesus says those words to us too. Jesus says to all of his followers: ‘You are my friends’.”

- Andrew Bunt, Jesus on Friendship

“If Jesus said nothing else, this alone would challenge our view of friendship. Think of the dignity and importance Jesus gives to friendship when he says that we are his friends. But this is not all he says. In fact, Jesus’s declaration that we are his friends is sandwiched within teaching about our friendships with one another. ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you’ (John 15:12). ‘These things I command you, so that you will love one another’ (John 15:17).”

- Andrew Bunt, Jesus on Friendship

“Christian friendships are call-and-response friendships. We tell each other over and over, back and forth, the truth of who we are and who God is. Over dinner and on walks, dropping off soup when someone is sick, and in prayer over the phone, we speak the good news to each other. And we become good news to every other.”

- Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life

Within minutes they were bickering over who of them would end up the greatest. But Jesus intervened: “Kings like to throw their weight around and people in authority like to give themselves fancy titles. It’s not going to be that way with you. Let the senior among you become like the junior; let the leader act the part of the servant. 27-30“Who would you rather be: the one who eats the dinner or the one who serves the dinner? You’d rather eat and be served, right? But I’ve taken my place among you as the one who serves. And you’ve stuck with me through thick and thin. Now I confer on you the royal authority my Father conferred on me so you can eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and be strengthened as you take up responsibilities among the congregations of God’s people. - Luke 22:24-30 MSG

“My best friendships are with people who are willing to get in the muck with me, who see me as I am, and who speak to me of our hope in Christ in the midst of it. These friends’ lives become a sermon to me. I don’t mean that we give each other pat answers or cheap pep talks - few things are worse than receiving a neat little packaged sermon after we’ve poured out our fears or embarrassments to someone. Instead, we hold up the experiences of our lives to the Word of truth.”

Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life

Spiritual Practice:

• Do a friendship inventory and reflect on these three things this week:

• Do I have deep friendships?

• What area do I need to grow in?

• Intentionally do something to improve in that area.

"The aim of God in history is the creation of an all-inclusive community of loving persons with God Himself at the center of this community as its prime sustainer and most glorious inhabitant." - Dallas Willard

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.23 Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called Woman,

because she was taken out of Man.

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Genesis 2:19-25

How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

Ephesians 1:3-5

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42-47

"What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family." Mother Teresa

“Every human idealized image that is brought into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be broken up so that genuine community can survive. Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community even though their personal intentions may be ever so honest, earnest, and sacrificial.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

“The idea of church is amazing; Christians are challenging. The idea of love stirs you, the action of love costs you.” - Jon Tyson, Church of the City New York

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. -Philippians 2:1-11 NIV

Three Questions:

1. What are the characteristics of Christ-like relationships?

2. How do we have these relationships?

3. What do these relationships mean for us today?

“We can become one only through Christ- only through him are we bound together.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

“Those who want more than what Christ has established between us do not want Christian community. They are looking for some extraordinary experiences of community that were denied them elsewhere. Such people are bringing confused and tainted desires into the Christian community. Precisely at this point Christian community is most often threatened from the very outset by the greatest danger, the danger of internal poisoning, the danger of confusing Christian community with some wishful image of pious community, the danger of blending the devout heart’s natural desire for community with the spiritual reality of Christian community. It is essential for Christian community that two things become clear right from the beginning. First, Christian community is not an ideal, but a divine reality; second, Christian community is a spiritual and not an emotional reality.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

“Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you.” - John 15:4, MSG

“The first and most basic thing we can and must do is to keep God before our minds…This is the fundamental secret of caring for our souls. Our part in thus practicing the presence of God is to direct and redirect our minds constantly to Him. In the early time of our practicing, we may well be challenged by our burdensome habits of dwelling on things less than God. But these are habits - not the law of gravity - and can be broken. A new, grace-filled habit will replace the former ones as we take intentional steps toward keeping God before us. Soon our minds will return to God as the needle of a compass constantly returns to the north, no matter how the compass is moved. If God is the great longings of our souls, He will become the polestar of our inward beings.” - Dallas Willard

Spiritual Practice:

1. Start with one person who is hard to love.

2. Abide in Christ and intercede for that person.

3. Serve them; do one sacrificial thing for them this week

Joel 2:28-30, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
30 I will show wonders in the heavens
and on the earth,

UNITY: False Unity VS True Unity

Brian Zahnd, A Farewell to Mars, “God Bless the USA” consisted entirely of images of American military might-tanks, fighter jets, aircraft carriers, missiles being fired, soldiers with their weapons, and the like… the congregation began to sing along, most lifting their hands in a posture of worship.”

True unity comes from shared love.

PRESENCE: The Church is Jesus Still in the Neighborhood

John 1:14, "The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory.”

• God longs to make His home with humanity

• God continues to work with the Church despite all our failures

• Presence matters. Nearness matters. Showing up matters

So how do we do this?

• Be present when you can

• Find a new family chore to help with

• Remember to take moments to pray for some other churches

A Pattern in the Gospel of Matthew.

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” – Matthew 4:17–22.

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” – Matthew 16:24–25.

“go and make disciples…” –Matthew 28:18

Christian, but not Disciple?

Christian(s) is used just three times in the entire New Testament.
Disciple(s)is used 297 times in the New Testament.

Nowhere in the New Testament is discipleship differentiated from Christianity because they are supposed to be the same thing.

68% of tthe U.S. population identify as Christians.
25% are considered practicing Christians.

The idea that one can be a Christian without following Jesus is a Western idea incompatible with the New Testament.

A Community called by Jesus.

“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.” – Matthew 28:16-17

Jesus graciously invites us to come in reverence and worship even as we have questions and even as we doubt.

All Authority.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” – Matthew 28:18

Jesus says everything in Heaven and on Earth is now under his control– that God’s Kingdom is breaking in.

The Kingdom of Heaven is mentioned 52 times in Matthew’s twenty-eight chapters.

The Kingdom of God is the reign of God.

Inaugurated eschatology, or the already, not yet. is the claim that Jesus is slowly working to undo the damage done, end the rule of death, and bring it under the rule of his life-giving love?

The Great Commission

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”– Matthew 28:19-20a

Instruction 1: Make Disciples.

“[Discipleship is] a process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others.” – Robert Mulholland

Jesus is releasing his disciples to go into the world to declare the news of God’s Kingdom.

We’re called to both be disciples and to make disciples– to help others follow Jesus.

Instruction 2 – Baptize.

“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” –Romans 6:4.

At baptism, one is born with a new identity as a child of God and a disciple of Jesus, and this identity becomes the basis for everything else.

“The new life into which we are baptized is lived out in days, hours, and minutes. God is forming us into a new people. And the place of that formation is in the small moments of today.”― Tish Harrison Warren

Instruction 3 –Teach.

In following Jesus, we aim to share in his character and do what He did.

“...whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:19.

“[becoming like Christ] is training, not trying.” – Richard Foster

Spiritual Practices

1. Prayer

2. Scripture

3. Fasting

4. Solitude

5. Sabbath

6. Generosity

7. Service

8. Witness

9. Community

“Long Obedience in the Same Direction”.– Eugene Peterson

With us.

“I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:20b

The invitation to be his Disciple is incredible not because of what you do but because of who you get to do it with.

For the City.

“The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who, by profession or culture, are identified as ‘Christians’ will become disciples – students, apprentices, practitioners – of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence.”― Dallas Willard

It seems borderline absurd to say the greatest issue is whether you and I will follow Jesus; that is, until we recognize what Jesus’ Kingdom is all about.

Practice.

if you haven’t been baptized– Get baptized. Baptism form.

Our plan for being disciples is microchurch.

Microchurch is a small community of disciples practicing prayer, scripture, and mission.

First, if you’re not in a microchurch, let us pastor you into one.

If you are in a microchurch, and you’ve let your commitment slide, re-engage.

Maybe the time is coming for you to lead a microchurch.

To heed Jesus’ “go and make disciples.

Humanities Problem:

“I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” - 1 Corinthians 15:50

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 6:23

“The basic message of the Eden story is this: Humans die because we have from the beginning rejected God’s offer of ultimate life. God’s offer requires a surrender of what we might think is life so that we can receive true life… Tragically, we often decide to choose life as defined by our own wisdom, embracing our own self ruin. Often these choices seem as innocent as eating tasty, good looking fruit, but when those choices oppose God’s wise instruction, they corrupt life and bring death.” - Tim Mackey

Sin is the unwillingness to trust that what God wants is our deepest happiness. - St. Ignatius of Loyola

“Fear of death is yet another snakey lie that tricks us into hoarding resources instead of living generously. Fear of death deceives us into fighting with our neighbors and making swords for killing enemies. We’re all living outside the garden, and the fear-filled instinct to protect ourselves at any cost is woven into our DNA. It’s inescapable. Unless a true human could show us that death is temporary and not ultimate.” - Tim Mackey

God’s Solution:

“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:51-58

V. 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. V. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. - John 1:1; 14a

“Jesus dies [to show us that death is temporary]. And if we’re paying attention to him, his way of love will slowly but surely drive out all fear of death. We can start forgiving and loving instead of hating and judging. We start to bless and not curse—to hammer our violent swords into fruitful garden tools (see Isaiah 2:1-4I). Jesus shows us that death is brutally tragic, but it’s not the end. Our lives strengthen and illuminate when we spend them freely learning his ongoing, loving, garden-style ways of living together with others.” - Tim Mackey

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart; and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:29-30

Spiritual Practice:

Evaluate: Determine one area of life for which you are motivated by fear of death. This could be the way in which you spend your money, work, or the way in which you relationally connect with others.

Ask: Then ask yourself “if I was not afraid of dying, how would I do this differently?”

Invite: Invite God to do the transforming work.

“And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.“ - 1 Thessalonians‬ ‭2‬:‭13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The Bible… declared by Paul
The Bible… heard by the Thessalonians
The Bible… accepted by the Thessalonians
The Bible… working in the Thessalonians

Christ has died
Christ has risen
Christ will come again

ONE: THE ORDER OF THE RESURRECTION

”But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.“ – 1 Corinthians 15:23

TWO: THE RESOLUTION OF THE RESURRECTION

”Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.“ – 1 Corinthians 15:24-28:

“[God wil] unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth”.– Ephesians 1:10

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

1. HEAR

2. RECEIVE

3. WALK

Gnosticism.

“Gnosticism” is a philosophy that claims the material world is evil and only the “spiritual” is good.

Gnosticism says – You are a soul; you have a body.

For the Gnostics, “salvation” consists of escaping the material world.

Many mistakenly assume that the purpose of being Christian is to go to heaven when they die.

And there is some kernel of the truth to that, but maybe the way in which we have conceptualized that is skewed.

The Corinthian Church.

Paul is the author of this letter. He helped found the Corinthian Church, a story you can read of in Acts 18.

Paul will say that –

1. Jesus died for our sins,

2. He was buried.

3. He was raised on the third day

4. And He appeared to many witnesses.

A Roadmap to Today’s Teaching.

1. Our faith is built on the resurrection of the body

2. That Jesus is the first of a new type of human

3. And that we will experience the resurrection of the body.

Faith Built on Resurrection of the Body.

The bodily resurrection of Jesus defied the Corinthian’s experiences and so it's likely that they began to reinterpret it as something else.

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. –1 Corinthians 15:14

Paul argues that if one says resurrection from the dead is impossible– that disqualifies Jesus' Resurrection.

If Christ did not return from the Dead, then we are the most pitiful people he can imagine.

“[R]eality is what we run into when we are wrong, a collision in which we always lose.” – Dallas Willard

Jesus the New Human.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. – 1 Cor. 15:20-22

“First fruits” Paul connects Jesus’ resurrection to a future resurrection.

First Adam: An Inheritance of Death

At some point the first humans join a cosmic rebellion against God choosing for themselves what is good and what is evil.

Thetemptation for humans to choose what is good and evil apart from God is what the Bible calls sin.

“you will die..” –Genesis 2:17

“the wages of sin is death..” –Romans 6:23

Sin as it turns out is a terminal diagnosis.

Second Adam: An Inheritance of life

In moments and with individuals Jesus slowly began to push back the darkness; reversing the corruption that had taken hold of our world.

This is what God has done for us in Christ.

Jesus drew our sin into himself and put it to death; and now, offers a new life called resurrection.

…in Adam, all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. – 1 Corinthians 15:20-22

As with Christ, so with us.

Our Resurrection.

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

“What may seem impossible today is merely an unsolved equation in the grand scheme of the universe.” – Michio Kaku

Difficult translation

Verse 44 is often translated – “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.”

Paul is arguing that the two bodies will be animated or energized or fueled differently, not that they will be different in substance.

Our future is embodied to never again no the sting of death.

The Resurrection Story.

The Christian story is that tombs, cemeteries, morgues, and funeral homes will be emptied out.

Paul’s emphasis on the body should remind us that we are embodied creatures.

‘Resurrection’ itself then appears as what the word always meant, whether people disbelieved it, or whether they affirmed it. It wasn’t a way of talking about ‘life after death’. It was a way of talking about a new bodily life after whatever state of existence one might enter immediately upon death. It was, in other words, life after ‘life after death’. – NT Wright

Embodied Spirituality

My suggestion this week would be to consider the role of your body in your faith.

1. How do I take care of my body?

2. How do I practice my faith with my body?

3. How do I give my body away?

Resurrection! A time for feasting, rejoicing, and also reflecting on the unhealthy skepticism of our culture. A skepticism that finds it easier to simply question rather than wrestle.

That’s our invitation this morning. We are here to come together and explore our own unhealthy skepticism and see where our faith can help us do more wrestling.

Our Faith Is Reasonable

When we look at both the context of Jesus’s resurrection and the lives of his followers, we can see that the disciples were willing to not only live their faith, but also die for it. That as well as the evidence presented points to a bodily resurrection of Jesus being a reasonable reality of the Christian story.

NT Wright, Surprised By Hope, “Whether we like it or not, women were not regarded as credible witnesses within the ancient world. When the tradition had time to sort itself out, and acquire the fixed form we already find in Paul’s quotation of it in 1 Corinthians 15, the women have been quietly dropped; they are apologetically embarrassing. But there they are in all four gospel stories, front and centre, the first witnesses, the first apostles. Nobody would have made them up. Had the tradition started in the male-only form we find in 1 Corinthians 15, it would never have developed, in such different ways as well, into the female-first stories we find in the gospels.”

NT Wright, Surprised By Hope, “In any case—a point people often ignore or conveniently forget—Jesus was buried according to a particular Jewish tradition, which was designed to occur in two stages. First, you carefully wrapped up the body with spices and linen and placed it on a shelf in a cave. Then, when the flesh had decomposed—hence the spices, because of the smell, since the cave would be used for more than one corpse—you would collect the bones… If Jesus had not been raised, then sooner or later someone would have had to go and collect his bones, fold them up and store them. Even if anyone had been suggesting that he had been raised from the dead, that would be enough to disprove the suggestion.”

Tim Keller, The Reason for God, “If there had been only an empty tomb and no sightings, no one would have concluded it was a resurrection. They would have assumed the body had been stolen. Yet if there were only eyewitness sightings of Jesus and no empty tomb, no one would have concluded it to be a resurrection, because people’s accounts of seeing departed loved ones happen all the time. Only if the two factors were both true together would anyone have concluded that Jesus was raised from the dead.”

Church tradition speaks of 11 of the 12 disciples being killed for their witness of the Resurrected Jesus. These included stabbings, executions, and even Peter was crucified for his witness, yet Peter famously declared that he was not worthy to die in the same way as his Lord, so his executioners turned the cross upside down and martyred him that way.

The church also wrote down other stories of martyrdom like St Polycarp who was a bishop and died in 155 AD. Polycarp was a church leader, and refused to worship Caesar, the leader of Rome, and for that he was burned to death. The testimonies of the witnesses said that Polycarp was not burned as the fire grew around him, and that he had to be stabbed in order for him to die.

“The Blood of the Martyrs is the seed of the Church.”

We Are the Best Example

The witness of the Body is something that can sustain us through the hardest of times. It is in watching the Body that we find that we as the Body are the Best Examples of Resurrection Life and can give witness of it to others who do not know.

Being a Resurrection Witness:

Back to the Short Ending of Mark asks this: Will you go to spread the word of the resurrection of the Son of God? Will YOU be a living witness?

When the world comes before us with unhealthy skepticism, will we be an example of how we can stand on not only a historic faith, but a reasonable one?

When people come with good questions, we will be willing to enter into these questions, explore them with those created in God’s image, and see where we can find God?

Will we seek to show Christ not only in the ways we live and serve, but eventually in the ways that we die? In the ways that we pass on from this world and the legacy that we leave behind? We seek to proclaim a Risen Lord, so that others may believe.

So let us now declare that witness through the singing of our praise, through the prayers of the community, and through the declaration at the table: Christ has died, Christ has Risen, and Christ will come again.

Explaining The Gospel Badly

Too often we’ve settled for formulas of salvation over the beautiful story of the Gospel.

The Gospel:

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared…–1 Corinthians 15:3–5.

1. Christ Died

2. Christ Buried

3. Christ Raised

4. Christ Appeared

“The gospel” is the story of Jesus of Nazareth’s death, burial, resurrection, and appearance, told as the climax of the long story of Israel, which in turn is the story of how the one true God is rescuing the world.” - N.T. Wright

According to the Scriptures
Paul sees the events of Jesus’ life, specifically around his death and resurrection, as the culmination of the long story of Israel.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets [this is Jewish speak for Old Testament]; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”–Matthew 5:17.

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” – John 5:39-40

“Our trust in the Bible stems from our trust in Jesus Christ… I don’t trust in Jesus because I trust the Bible; I trust the Bible because I trust in Jesus. I love him, and I’ve decided to follow him, so if he talks and acts as if the Bible is trustworthy, authoritative, good, helpful, and powerful, I will too… Even if some of my questions remain unanswered, or my answers remain unpopular.” – Andrew Wilson

The Bible

The Bible is a library of ancient writings, that is both divine and human, that tell a unified story that leads to Jesus.

This library contains stories, poetry, government census data, family genealogies, songs, and prophesy.

The Plot of Scripture in four Parts

1. Creation

2. Fall

3. Redemption

4. New Creation

   “the point Paul has in mind within that longer scriptural narrative is the point at which [God] forgives Israel’s sins, ushering in the new age, renewing the covenant, restoring creation—and raising his people from the dead.” –N.T. Wright

Reading the Scripture

1. Read the scripture as a story leading to Jesus

2. Wrestle with the Scriptures with Jesus.

3. Work to love the scriptures, like Jesus.

“In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.

And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship — be it J.C., or Allah, be it Yahweh, or the Wican mother-goddess or the Four Noble Truths or some infrangible set of ethical principles — is that pretty much anything else you will worship will eat you alive.

If you worship money and things — if they are where you tap real meaning in life — then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million different deaths before they finally plant you…

Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out.

But the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they’re evil or sinful, it’s that they’re unconscious. They are default settings.

They’re the kind of worship you just gradually slip into, day after day, getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that’s what you’re doing.

And the so-called real world will not discourage you from operating on your default settings, because the so-called real world of men and money and power hums merrily along in a pool of fear and anger and frustration and craving and worship of self. Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom. The freedom all to be lords of our tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the center of all creation.” -Dallas Foster Wallace

“1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”– 1 Corinthians 15:1–4

“The gospel” is the story of Jesus of Nazareth’s death, burial, resurrection, and appearance, told as the climax of the long story of Israel, which in turn is the story of how the one true God is rescuing the world.” - N.T. Wright

The Gospel:

1. Christ Died

2. Christ Buried

3. Christ Raised

4. Christ Appeared

“We know that the person we used to be was crucified with him to put an end to sin in our bodies. Because of this we are no longer slaves to sin. 7 The person who has died has been freed from sin.” -Romans 6:6-7,

“For Paul, the Christian hope is not life eternal in heaven but rather the resurrection. The resurrection of Christ is the core of the gospel. If Christ has not been raised, our faith is in vain and we have no salvation (1 Cor 15:14-19). Christianity is not simply a moral code to follow but the promise of immortality and the triumph over death and hell (1 Cor 15:54-57).” -Gene L. Green

Spiritual Practice: Repent and Believe the Gospel.

“Christianity, you see, isn’t a set of ideas. It isn’t a path of spirituality. It isn’t a rule of life. It isn’t a political agenda. It includes, and indeed gives energy to, all those things; but at its very heart, it is something different. It is good news [or gospel] about an event which has happened in the world, an event because of which the world can never be the same again. And those who believe it, and live by it, will (thank God!) never be the same again either.” -N.T. Wright