Taste & See
For millions of Americans, God no longer feels real. Collectively, we seem to be losing the capacity to know & experience God in a way that was common in the Scriptures and in the Church down through the ages. In this series, we're going to explore what it might look like for us to "taste & see" God in a way that is deeply personal, strangely sensual, overwhelmingly Biblical, and beyond dispute. Following a major theme through Scripture, we're going to talk about how to experience God through... food. Through bread, water, salt, oil, and a perfectly cooked steak. Bon appetit!
Week 1: Taste & See. Psalm 34:8
For millions of Americans, God no longer feels real. Collectively, we seem to be losing the capacity to know & experience God in a way that was common in the Scriptures and in the Church down through the ages. In this series, we're going to explore what it might look like for us to "taste & see" God in a way that is deeply personal, strangely sensual, overwhelmingly Biblical, and beyond dispute. Following a major theme through Scripture, we're going to talk about how to experience God through... food. Through bread, water, salt, oil, and a perfectly cooked steak. Today, we’re going to lay some groundwork. Let's call this a theological history of food... or, better, a culinary history of the family of God. Bon appetit!
Week 2: Bread: Clinging to What Gives Us Life. Exodus 16
According to the Scriptures, you can’t just know about God. You have to experientially know God. You have to “taste & see” for yourself. In this series, we’re exploring what it might look like for us to taste & see God in the stuff of life. And this is bread week, the week in which we ask: How can we experientially know God through our daily bread?
Week 3: Water: Hearing the Invitation of Jesus. John 7
If we ever hope to experientially know God the way that the saints of old knew Him, then we are going to need some help. We need a guide. This week, we are going to look to the Apostle John to give us some advice on how to experience the life-giving invitation of Jesus... through water. If it sounds a bit crazy that's because this is a wholly (& holy) different way of viewing things. But maybe with John's help (and some practice), we might begin to taste and see what he's tasting and seeing.
Week 4: You Are the Salt of the Earth. Matthew 5:13
When we ask Jesus: "Who am I?" He says: “You’re salt.” That's who you are. It's not the answer that most of us would expect. Nor is likely to be the first way most of us would self-identify. But, if we were to take this seriously, what might it mean? What does "salt" say about how Jesus sees you? And how might “salt” help us experientially know who God is, who we are, & how to make sense of this thing we call life?
Week 5: Oil: The Scent of God's Presence
When God's People experience the Presence of God, they start pouring oil on things. From oil covered pillars to beards dripping with oil to a woman pouring precious oil over the feet of Jesus, oil is everywhere in the Scriptures. Why? What did oil mean to them? And how might oil help us experientially know - maybe even smell - the Presence of God? That's what we'll explore in this message.
Week 6: Steak: The Taste of God's Lavish Goodness. Leviticus 3
Consuming red meat is not just a dietary choice. It is (and has always been) fraught with moral, political, economic, social, environmental, religious, and health implications. It's almost like eating the flesh of another creature has some unseen, but significant, effect on our world. In this message, we'll explore the spiritual significance of eating meat. According to the Scriptures, how might a medium rare filet help us experientially know God?
