Strange Blessings

Sunday Conversation 5-24-20

Scripture:

Matthew 5:3-12

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 7:28-29

“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

For Reflection:

• Which Beatitudes do you know off the top of your head? Which ones do you like most? Which do you find confusing?

• Who would you say is “well off” in our society? Who would be surprised to hear themselves called “well off”?

• Do you struggle to believe the Beatitudes? If so, why/how? Which one is hardest for you to believe?

• How would our reading of Scripture change if we read it through a lens shaped by the Beatitudes?
  
  

The New Elvis

Sunday Conversation 5-17-20

Scripture:

Matthew 5:1

“Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.”

Luke 4:18-19

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Small Group Questions:

• Has there ever been a time in your life that you appreciated a specific law? If so, why?

• What do you think is the purpose of laws? What would society look like without laws? When would we ever not need laws?

• Can you think of a portion of the Sermon on the Mount that most people know off the top of their head - even folks with little to no church background? Why do you think the Sermon on the Mount is so well known?

• Why is the Sermon on the Mount so widely known, yet so unpracticed?
  
  

Sunday Conversation 5-10-20

Join us for our new teaching series!

Scripture:

Matthew 7:24-27

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Small Group Questions:

• When are moments of your life when time feels “frozen”?

• What makes you stop and reflect on meaningful questions about your life? Do you like these moments or not? Why or why not?

• What kinds of words/wisdom would most people think are words/wisdom they can build a secure life upon?

• What would you like to hear from Jesus right now? What do you hope his wise words are?
  
  

Zoom Sunday Morning

Join us this Sunday morning at 10am…

Sunday Conversation 4/26/20

Join Jon and Pastor Rustin Smith for a final conversation around Jesus’ seven last words. Peace to You!!

Sunday Conversation

Join Jon and Pastor Rustin Smith for a conversation around Jesus 6th word, “It is Finished”. Peace to you!

Scripture:

John 19:30
John 17:4
John 13:1
Luke 3:21-22
Luke 4:1-13
Luke 4:18-19

Zoom Sunday Morning!

Password: seamless

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

Easter Sunday - Join Us!

Join us on Zoom for our Easter Sunday gathering at 10am April 12.
Let’s celebrate the risen Christ together!!

Password: seamless

Sunday Conversation 4/5/20

Scripture:

John 19:28-29
2 Corinthians 12:9

Prayer of Confession:

Dear Heavenly Father, we lower our heads before you and we confess that we have too often forgotten that we are yours. Sometimes we carry on our lives as if there was no God and we fall short of being a credible witness to You. For these things we ask your forgiveness and we also ask for your strength. Give us clear minds and open hearts so we may witness to You in our world. Remind us to be who You would have us to be regardless of what we are doing or who we are with. Hold us to You and build our relationship with You and with those You have given us on earth.

Words of Assurance:

Almighty God, who does freely pardon all who repent and turn to Him, now fulfill in every contrite heart the promise of redeeming grace; forgiving all our sins, and cleansing us from an evil conscience; through the perfect sacrifice of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Open Up

Sunday Prayer - Lent Week 5

Sunday Conversation 3/29/20

Scripture:

Matthew 27:45: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Psalm 22

Hebrews 13:5

This Is My Father's World

Children's Church 3/29/20

Sunday Conversation

Weekly Children's Church

Film Noir as Prophet

Film noir is an interesting Lent conversation, because it’s notable for exposing the darkness lurking in the human soul. In film noir, the “bad guy” isn’t some un-relatable outsider. In film noir, the “bad guy” is the person who lives next door. It’s the insurance salesman…the housewife…the English teacher. It’s you and me. That’s what film noir does - it brings evil home to rest. It’s not “out there”…it’s so much closer than you would ever imagine.

How interesting that film noir became an emerging box office sensation in America during the prosperous and lucrative postwar years? 1950’s America promised more than just economic stability after so many shaky years…it promised happiness. Isn’t this what every dominant culture tries to promise its people…happiness? Which begets the question, can a culture ever really deliver upon this lofty promise?

Double Indemnity

The number one box office film genre of the 50’s was the American Musical. Jovial stories which reinforce the promise of the dominant culture - happiness is within your grasp! Everything works out in the end! The American musical promoted the emerging “American Dream” - you can have it all! Good times are ahead.

Not far behind the musical at the box office is this strange new genre we call today, Film Noir. As noted above, evil is also within your grasp, whether you realize it or not. Noir were often extremely low budget affairs, produced on a shoestring. Typical of prophetic voices, Noir came from the margins…proclaiming with a subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) voice, “the human heart cannot be fixed so easily. All the picket fences in the world won’t fix the condition of the human soul”.

In some respects, the Noir film anticipates the 60’s - a time of turbulence and protest. Film Noir looks back to the 50’s from the turbulence of the 60’s saying, “we told you so! Economic prosperity can’t guarantee happiness. Your children weren’t nearly as happy as you thought - in spite of your two cars for every family.”

How ironic that Film Noir emerges in the one decade it “shouldn’t” have emerged? The 1950’s - when everything is (supposedly) bliss. Rationally, it would make much more sense for the Noir film to emerge in the 30’s, when America is reeling from the Great Depression. Why doesn’t it emerge then? Because the dominant culture isn’t able to fool people into thinking happiness is something that every house can obtain simply through living a good life. People in the 30’s know life is hard. Skrewball comedies dominate the box office - overt escapism.

Prophets tend to emerge when they’re needed. They’re mostly needed when we’re susceptible to deceit. When conditions are such that we can be fooled. When truth is a rare commodity. Film Noir as a prophetic voice.

Dark Lincoln

We spoke last Sunday of Abraham Lincoln - specifically why Lincoln was the ideal leader for the time and place in which he was president.  Parker Palmer says about Lincoln that, "only a man who has done hard soul work could have held the Union together."  This is more significant for you and I than it may, at first, appear...

When we are used to confronting the "stuff" in our own soul...when we quit spinning stories to ourselves that paint us as always winners, good guys, and/or victims.  When we build the habit and ability to be honest with ourselves, and wrestle with the darkness lurking inside us, then the darkness in other people doesn't surprise us or freak us out anymore (or at least, not as much).  

Because Lincoln wrestled with his inner demons and suffered from what today we would call Clinical Depression (then referred to as Melancholy), he was able to lead the country through the Civil War without ever demonizing the South.  When we are comfortable with our own pain and "lack", then we are able to hold other's "lack" and depravity with grace and patience.  Ultimately we want to be truth tellers, and it starts with us.  Learning to tell the truth about ourselves helps us tell the truth about others with grace and love instead of with spite and hostility.  

The Kind of God I Want to Pray To

So, I know it may sound funny, but sometimes on a Sunday morning, I'll be cruising along...all excited with the conversation we're having...and forget to drive home a point I meant to make.  Forgive me!  I promise it's not for lack of preparation.  It's more because I lose myself in the moment of our dialogue.  

All that to say, I spent an extensive amount of time last Sunday reading through the bizarre Old Testament story of Abraham bargaining with God over sparing people's lives in Sodom and Gomorrah.  I repeatedly pointed out that this didn't mesh with the image of God I tend to carry around in my head all the time.  My image of God is a God who does what he wants...what he wills. And then we get a picture of Abraham having a conversation with God and actually talking him into things.  

Which is all good...but the subject of our Sunday conversation was prayer and how prayer is hard for some of us to actually do.  What I forgot to mention after spending so much time on this OT story, is that even though this image of God seems foreign to me...I like it.  

I have difficulty imagining a God I can talk into things...and I'm not sure I would ever publicly declare  that's who God is (feels too uncomfortable to go there) - but when I read this account from Genesis, I'm drawn to it.  It entices me to pray.  When God is portrayed as someone we really converse with...and can influence...and dialogue with...it's compelling.  

And I actually get excited to pray.  

Take it for what you will.  I just wanted to mention this (seeing as how I didn't on Sunday...).