A Beautiful Mess
Week 1: A Beautiful Mess - An Introduction to the Church at Corinth
The church at Corinth was full of people who don't know how to act in church. People who are suing each other, sleeping around, and even getting drunk at communion. It was a mess, AND it was beautiful. It was a a beautiful mess. Through this church God was making these messy people into His holy saints. In this message, we look at the history, geography, & spirituality in order to better understand the the work of God among the Corinthians. (Act 18; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3)
Week 2: The Entertainment-Driven, Personality-Obsessed, Consumeristic Church
When we bring our entertainment-driven, personality-obsessed, consumeristic culture into the church, it will tear us apart. In 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, the Apostle Paul pleads with the ancient Corinthians (& us) to stop fighting with on another and start fighting for unity. This ancient message is eerily contemporary.
Week 3: Hand Motions, Morons, & the Logic of the Cross
In 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, the Apostle Paul describe the Cross as the logic underneath every decision you make as a Christian, under life itself. The Cross gives shape to our lives. It is the answer to our greatest questions. It is the way to wholeness, happiness, justice, a flourishing human life.
Week 4: Get Over Yourself
How can we find what we truly long for in life? In 1 Corinthians 1:17-2:5, the Apostle Paul shows us that we can only find what we are really looking for when give up earning or achieving and look to the Cross.
Week 5: The Neuroscience of (Un)Belief
How do we bridge the gap from faith to doubt? How do I reconcile what I know about God with what I know about the world?
Week 6: How Did We Get Here? A Brief History of Moral Authority in the West
Is it right or is it wrong? Today, the Western world has almost no way to answer this question. (And the answer people give today might change tomorrow.) This message looks at how Christians in the West have attempted to answer these types of questions in the past... and how we might approach the pressing moral questions of our day.
Week 7: When You Stop Growing In Your Faith
How do we navigate the tension between how far we have come and where we should be in our faith development? How do we continue to grow to maturity in Christlikeness?
Week 8: Farm Hands, Construction Workers, and the Temple
How do we as the Body of Christ unify and come together to become change agents in the world? How do we take seriously our common sharing in the Spirit and the role we have in transforming all of creation?
Week 9: Stewards, Processions, & Motives of the Heart
How do Christians properly live as stewards of the gospel? How do we avoid a spirit of entitlement by humbling ourselves before others and God to serve His mission?
Week 10: This Is Not A Sermon On Sexual Immorality
This text isn’t about sex. It’s worse. It’s about how our lives - even our "private lives," even what we do in our homes, even the things that "don't hurt anyone" – affect & infect the whole church family. It's about how my sins affect you and your sins affect me. This text will force us to ask: Why should you care about my sins (even the so-called private ones, even the ones in which “nobody gets hurt”)? And why should I care about your sins?
