best podcasts on the bible – Page 30 – Jesus @ 2 am blogs and podcast

Churches obsess about a lot of things. Some things important (e.g., budgets and buildings and staff). Most…not so much (from the minutiae of worship to revamping the website one more time). And none of these the stuff that stands at the center of the biblical story.

So what should a church obsess about??? What should keep leaders up nights and drive key decisions. In this episode we explore critical, often ignored dimension of church: HEALTH – of both the individuals and the larger community.

If we take Paul’s language of the church as the body of Christ seriously, it reveals the need for a well-functioning immune system in which every part of the body plays a role.

If you are asking the questions: How do I find a good church? Or “How do I know a good church when I see one”? I think a key answer is: health! And here is a conversation about why and what health looks like in practice.

This is a sermon that was originally presented at Canvas (a Presbyterian church in Irvine, CA), October 26, 2014. To learn more about Canvas, click here!

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The true test of a theology is not questions is answers but the community it creates.

Having just spent more than a year developing an understanding of the biblical narrative – centered on the conviction that God is love – we now turn our attention to “us,” to the conscious shaping of our life together as the family of God. If we believe this story we have just told, if we interpret it as we claim to, what will be our defining characteristics? What ethos must we seek to cultivate together? What behaviors and attitudes must prevail amongst us?

In this first installment (of six), our pal Ian Farrell focuses on the easy-to-say, so-hard-to-do call to a truly communal life. To be a member of the family of faith means we must re-define our very sense of self, to see our identity, our individuality, as derived from our community (and not the other way around). The church is not just another voluntary association – one we “join” when we feel ready and depart when it no longer suits us. Quite the opposite! The church is nothing less than the full compliment of the children of the Father, brothers and sisters adopted as heirs, not by our choosing, but by God’s election.

Whatever else defines us as the people of faith, the body of Christ…it is that we are a people and not a mere gathering of persons.

This is a sermon that was originally presented at Canvas (a Presbyterian church in Irvine, CA), October 19, 2014. To learn more about Canvas, click here!

To receive future episodes automatically, simply subscribe by clicking below:

Tag: best podcasts on the bible

Turning Theology into Church 02: Obsessed with Health

Turning Theology into Church 01: Committing to Community