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Patterns and PurposesHaving spent the Advent season practicing prayers that can help us receive and experience the With-Us God, it's time to ask: What do we do then? The Apostle Paul begins Romans 12: "Therefore, in view of God's mercy..." and goes on to paint a picture of a life marked by the merciful presence of Christ. This series will dive into that picture as we seek to break free from the "patterns of this world" and get transformingly renewed into a new kind of life.
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"A Gospel Life: ethical from the book of Romans" -- February 23, 2025 (Romans 1-16)
"Christian ethics (how we live) is not a list of right and wrong, but a responsiveness to God as God dislodges us from the patterns of this world and transforms us by the renewing of our minds."
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"The Cost of Community" -- February 16, 2025 (Romans 14-15)
"The moment we want a whole community to adjust to us, then we must at least recognize that we are expressing our limits and the weaknesses of OUR faith. And that’s OK! But when communities make adjustments, it is to expressed spiritual needs, not the invocation of organizational privileges."
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"Put on Christ" -- February 9, 2025 (Romans 13:11-14)
"This text hits at a critical point in the life of Roman church: there is a strong temptation to insist on one's own way, play power games, leverage the injustices of the Empire or the privileges of religious ethnicity; it's a time of distraction and--according to Paul--a time for mending, and re-attending to one another, not only for the sake of church, but for the sake of their witness in the world. But the immediacy Paul draws on is not only from the historical context, but rooted in the nearness of salvation. And so this text speaks to us wherever we are in our lives."
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Audio from Pastor's Annual Report
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"Authorities and Neighbors" -- February 2, 2025 (Romans 13:1-10)
"As we get into this really difficult text, we start with two observations: 1) This text has been horribly susceptible to misuse--not least of which in Nazi Germany, but generally we are more likely to hear this text when OUR side has power--and if you're going to read this straightforwardly and literally, it has to be just as true no matter who is in power. 2) We are forced to re-examine a "straightforward" reading of this text not merely by our own discomfort, but by the greater context of the Bible itself."
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See also, "Cutting Room Floor: Reading from Below"
(These videos include ideas from Pastor Jon's research and preparation that don't make it into the sermon, but are still relevant to our walk of faith.) |
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"Genuine Love" -- January 26, 2025 (Romans 12:9-21)
"In this text, Paul takes this simple concept of “LOVE” and meditates on it. The essence of the world, the core of our human calling is simple: Love. But the concrete practice and dance of life is complicated. So in this text--and in the Bible as a whole, we are given a whole range of adjectives, metaphors, and stories."
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There are no audio-only files from this week's sermon. You may find the sermon in the video.
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"Renewed Minds; Repurposed Gifts" -- January 19, 2025 (Romans 12:3-8)
"The renewed mind sees that everyone has gifts, and that they find their greatest value when used for God’s Good News Purposes."
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"Patterns and Purposes" -- January 12, 2025 (Romans 12:1-2)
"People will break free from one unhealthy system only to be re-conditioned by another unhealthy way of living. God doesn’t just want us out, God is transforming our minds. We’re not a sacrifice that gets burned up and our job is done. We are sacrifices like Jesus—we forfeit the world’s game so that God can remake us for a new life and a new vocation in a new world."
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See also, "Cutting Room Floor: Bounded and Centered Sets"
(These videos include ideas from Pastor Jon's research and preparation that don't make it into the sermon, but are still relevant to our walk of faith.) |
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"Flexible Resolve" -- January 5, 2025 (Matthew 2:1-15)
"We often talk about faithfulness as a strict resolve, clinging to beliefs or practices, and getting indignant when the world isn’t conducive to those. The message is that faithfulness is about not changing. But here, faithfulness is about being attentive to God’s voice and knowing that even when I think I’m following God’s words, at least three things can happen: 1) I’m deluded and need to start over with God’s instruction (like Herod), 2) I need some course correction (like the Magi), or 3) God has something new to say to respond to what’s going on around me (like Joseph)."
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