In this teaching we explore what the Scriptures have to say about hell and judgment, and what it has to say might surprise you. Often times we get more interested in the various details about the afterlife rather than making sense of what Jesus says in his own words. So, this is a brief teaching on the nature of hell and judgment according to Jesus.

One of the most neglected beliefs in the protestant and evangelical tradition is the ascension of Jesus. Yet, it is one of the most important because it marks beginning of the church's witness to the world about the story of Jesus. Further, if Jesus does not to send, the Spirit does not come. In exploring the ascension, we look at the priestly, royal, and prophetic work of Jesus and how those things continue in and through the life of the church.

Preface: The sounds is not of the best quality.  Helpful Links:  Matt Emerson - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/christs-descent-dead/  Charles Hill - https://journal.rts.edu/article/he-descended-into-hell/  We are talking about what it looks like to confess and experience the power of the Resurrection. 

Only the Suffering God can Help. - Bonhoeffer As N.T. Wright says, “You don’t have to be able to answer the question “Why?” before the cross can have this effect. Think about it. You don’t have to understand music theory or acoustics to be moved by a wonderful violin solo. You don’t have to understand cooking before you can enjoy a good meal. In the same way, you don’t have to have a theory about why the cross is so powerful before you can be moved and changed, before you can know yourself loved and forgiven, because if Jesus’s death.” How does the suffering Jesus impact our own suffering in real and tangible ways? 

What is the reigning and guiding authority in our lives? Here, we explore a life arranged under Jesus the Christ. 

We are in a series on the Apostles’ Creed in a Post-Everything World. Our heat and hope is that the series can serve as a starting point for belief and practice as a church family. The last few weeks are online if you have missed out, and I encourage you to catch up if you can. Today, we are looking at the last few words of the first article, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.” Our focus is on “Creator of Heaven and Earth.” 1.  Who is the Creator? 2. What is the Story about Heaven and Earth? 3. What does this have to do with you?

Last week, we looked at “I believe in God,” yet that statement alone tells us nothing about who this God is or what this God is like. We looked at Acts 17 as a starting point for making sense of the Creed within our own cultural climate: a very spiritual one. We clarified what we meant by “I believe in God.” The Creed’s first description of God is that he is the “Father Almighty.” The language describing God as Father is found throughout the Scripture and most emphatically in the ministry and words of Jesus himself. Yet, the word father evokes various sorts of emotions in our culture, from broken relationships to conversations on masculinity, fatherhood, and gender. The word power evokes emotion because of how often we abuse it in our world, how much we crave it, and how we have come to distrust those with power. In fact, one common belief in a post-everything world is a profound skepticism of power within institutions. So, as we did last week, let’s explore the cultural tone and move into how believing in God the Father Almighty affects our perception of life with God. Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” (1 Cor. 8:5-6 NRSVue).

What is the Apostles Creed? Historic summary of the Christian faith as preserved in the Scriptures. The Apostles’ Creed does not replace Scripture but points us back to them. An early resource for discipleship (used in catechism and confessed at baptism). An elevator speech of the story of God: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Total Renewal. Why is the Apostles’ Creed important for us today? The lack of theological and biblical literacy in our context, and the need to know how to articulate the Christian faith in a trinitarian way. The need to challenge fundamentalism and revisionism. The Apostles’ Creed gives more flexibility than fundamentalists care to admit, while also challenging the revisionists with important theological boundaries. The reality of deconstruction and the Apostles Creed provide some basic building blocks for those reconstructing a theologically healthy sense of faith in Christ. Many who come through deconstruction come out the otherside without having reconstructed a well formulated theology of discipleship to Jesus; oftentimes, cynicism, lingering doubt and a different form of fundamentalism emerges when we do not reconstruct. As we will find, doubt is neither an intellectual (i.e. Cartesian project)  virtue nor a villain (fundamentalism). It should be engaged, not ignored. Today, the goal is not to unpack the whole creed, but to focus on “I believe in God.” What I hope to do with you is provide a brief snapshot of the spiritual tone of our culture and press us towards the question, “What do you mean (and what does it mean) to say, “I believe in God.” We can no longer assume we all mean the same thing, and this is essential for faith and mission.

Our theme this year is "Come and see." We will filter our teachings and life together through this lens. 

In every Advent text, pay attention to the unexpectedness of God’s coming, it is unexpected in manner, in time, and in culture. Every Advent text includes people struggling with uncertainty and trying to piece it all together. What we have learned thus far is that there are often no easy answers and sometimes we are not given answers at all. We were told by Jesus that we will not know a lot of things. We were told by Jesus that although he is God who has come to overturn evil, injustice, sin, and death, that sometimes we will find ourselves in situations like John the Baptist, where we are called to endure without the answers we want. Today, we are asking, “How do I trust God while navigating uncertainty?” Our story and text today involve a collision between the Advent themes of unexpectedness, uncertainty, and responding to God with devotion when it makes no earthly sense. As human beings, and especially Americans shaped by our societal values, we like certainty. We like our plans to be made and we have contingency plans in place if things do not go our way. We have our plans and we have plans for our plants should they not go through. Certainty and control are values by which we live and arrange our lives. We invest in retirement, we purchase health insurance for illness, and life insurance in case we die. These are not bad things, but they show the degree to which we will go to ensure stability. The Western european an dAmerican way of life is built upon being secure, significant, and satisfied. Further, we have an aversion to commitment because we don't like to be bogged down or let down. You can make a purchase, wear or break the item, and get a full refund or exchange with no questions asked most times. We can drive a car for three days before buying, and we have commodified sex and relationships in teh same ways. We don’t want to be duped or let down or disrupted. This is bad news for entering Advent because Advent is God’s way of being profoundly honest with us about how things work in the world, what he is up to, and what our role within it might look like if we join him. In this world, you will have trouble, according to Jesus. Even if you live your best life, you will face trouble. No matter what your social media shows, the life behind the screen isn't always what it seems. Walking with God requires trusting him and entrusting our lives into real ways from our relationships, resources, and way of living. The word trust sounds nice until we realize that the very word implies uncertainty and unexpectedness. So, what can we know that will help us entrust ourselves to God?