The most distinctive act of early Christian worship was participation in sacrament of Communion. Sermons, scripture readings, the singing of hymns and psalms were indeed a part of the church’s worship, but much of this was done – originally – in the synagogues on the Sabbath. Christians would gather again on Sunday – in celebration of...
Category: Sermons
Understanding the Bible 29: The Crucifixion – God Loves His Enemies
Why was Jesus crucified? Was the cross an act of God (to satisfy the divine wrath)? Was it simply the inevitable result of Jesus’s challenge to the Sadducees and Pharisees? Was he betrayed by followers who felt he had failed his promises to deliver a political kingdom? Or was this an act of sin itself...
Understanding the Bible 27: Who Truly Belongs to the Community of Salvation?
One of the most troubling images in Jesus’s teaching is the sorting of the sheep and the goats (the “sheep” being the “righteous” who are rewarded with eternal life, the goats the “unrighteous” condemned to punishment). At first glance the stakes appear to be “heaven” and “hell,” with our human actions the determining factor in...