Women of the Bible
Summer 2017
We know (most of) their names, but we don't spend enough time with their stories, and we don't give enough attention to the remarkable witnesses they are to the work of God in and through God's people. We will explore the stories of some of the notable women of the Bible and allow God to use their experience and faithfulness to make an impact on our lives today.
The Abundance of God
April 30 - May 28, 2017
The idea of abundance is radical in a culture that constantly asks if there is enough: enough time, enough opportunity, enough money, enough food, and so on. We tend to live our lives with the assumption of scarcity—there is not enough—rather than living out of the abundance of God. In the midst of our worries about whether there is enough, celebrating the abundance of God takes the focus off ourselves and our needs and places it back where it belongs: on God's provision for creation.
My Heart Cries Out
March 5 - April 16, 2017 (Lent)
The book of Psalms is one of the most familiar books of the Bible, even for those who do not call themselves Jews or Christians. It is a collection of 150 songs by a variety of authors in a wide range of circumstances. They give voice to every human emotion, all expressed in the context of covenant relationship to the God of Israel. During the season of Lent, we explore the many ways the psalmists cry out to God—in joy, pain, and everything in between—and in so doing, we delve more deeply into our own hearts and discover the prayers waiting to find a voice.
Gospel and Empire
January 22 - February 26, 2017
The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Christians at Colossae—known to us as the book of Colossians—which seeks to address some of the challenges of being a follower of Jesus and a proclaimer of his good news in the context of first-century Rome. The ancient nature of this text and its prescriptions for the Colossian church belies the ways that Paul was seeking to subvert the ethos of the empire. Paul's willingness to undermine the Roman way of life for the sake of the gospel serves as a powerful challenge to twenty-first century subjects of global corporate imperialism.
Names for the Messiah
November 27 - December 24, 2016 (Advent & Christmas)
The prophet Isaiah anticipates a coming king with four distinct and important titles: "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). These words came very quickly to be applied to Israel's long-awaited Messiah, the one who would come finally to shake off the yoke of Roman oppression and establish the reign of God once and for all. During the season of Advent, as we await God's long-expected savior, we examine the names—and the roles—of the one who has come, and who will come again.
The Old Testament's Greatest Hits
September 11 - November 20, 2016
The Old Testament is a daunting collection of ancient texts, comprised of numerous different genres and a wide range of historical settings and circumstances. But there is no doubt that some stories from the Hebrew Bible rise above the others. They’re the stories we learned in Sunday school. They make biblical characters memorable. They make God dynamic and personal. And, when we look at them closely, they make us aware of the exciting ways God is still at work. In this series, we look at the “Top Ten” of the Old Testament. We will find that there’s much more to these stories than our childhood Sunday school lessons led us to believe.
Chosen: The Story of Abraham
July 17 - September 4, 2016
Abraham remains a central figure for the world's three largest religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—and his story is filled with heartbreak, intrigue, faithfulness, and promise. As we explore this hero of the faith, we will gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be faithful followers of Christ amid life's changing circumstances.
Amos: Judgment & Justice
May 22 - June 12, 2016
Through the prophet Amos, God has little kind to say to Israel, the so-called "chosen people." They have failed in their calling, neglected justice, fumbled worship, and lost trust in their God. Can't the same be said of each and every one of us...and of the church? The words of the prophet—words of judgment and justice—can help straighten out our skewed understandings of what it means to be God's people.
Risen: The Resurrection Appearances
April 3 - May 15, 2016
Three out of four gospels relate stories of encounters between Jesus and his followers after the resurrection. These encounters are quite different in tone and content from most of the interactions that take place before Jesus' death. They are especially instructive for us today because we, like those first disciples, encounter the risen Christ in a variety of ways.
The Exodus from Egypt
February 14 - March 27, 2016
The exodus from Egypt is the foundational story of God's people—not only in the literal sense that they became a nation after their release from captivity, but also in a deeper figurative sense in which the exodus story shapes the very core of their identity and their understanding of God. The exodus is a foundational story for Christians, too, standing as the most profound example of God's concern for the oppressed, a concern which is embodied in the life and death of Jesus. This Lenten season, we will trace the story of Israel's exodus from Egypt and at the same time reflect on the many ways in which the world is still held in bondage, always with an eye toward the redemption that has come in Jesus.
Losing My Religion
Losing My Religion
January 10 - February 7, 2016
Paul's letter to the Galatian churches stands out in the New Testament as one of the most stark re-imaginings of what it means to be a part of God's family, calling into question many of the most foundational religious assumptions of the first century. Perhaps this letter can help us today, as many of our own foundational religious assumptions are in need of some re-imagining of their own.
The Miracle of Christmas
The Miracle of Christmas
November 29 - December 27, 2015 | Advent & Christmas
The event that we anticipate during Advent and celebrate during Christmas—God dwelling among us in Christ—is the single greatest miracle in the entire Christian story. During the weeks of Advent, we will explore this miracle from several angles, preparing ourselves to celebrate with joy God's coming to us on Christmas.
Fall 2015
Fall 2015
October 25 - November 22, 2015
In between sermon series, we spend some time on lectionary texts, ending with Christ the King Sunday on November 22.
Songs of the Faith
Songs of the Faith
September 13 - October 18, 2015
The songs that we sing in worship do more than almost anything else to shape how we think about, speak of, and act on our faith. This series will take a close look at six of the hymns that are sung most frequently in worship at the church on the corner. We will dive into the rich poetry, uncover resonances of the biblical story, and enrich our understanding of the songs of our faith.
Jonah
Jonah
July 19 - August 2, 2015
Jonah is famous for his three-night stay in the belly of a giant fish, but his time in the heart of the sea is not the heart of this story. The story is about God's relentless pursuit of the faithless (us), and it's also about God's ever-expansive love for the world and all who call it home.
The Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount
May 17 - July 5, 2015
The Sermon on the Mount, an extended discourse by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, is Jesus' most iconic collection of teachings and it is the portion of scripture most often turned to in order to find the essence of Jesus' message. In these familiar words, Jesus conveys a worldview which threatens to disrupt everything we think we know about the world, leaving us in a place that is anything but familiar.
The Healer
The Healer
April 12 - May 10, 2015
Jesus did many things during his short life, but one of his more remarkable roles was that of healer. The gospels are rife with stories of Jesus healing the sick, the lame, the blind—even raising the dead. Not only does this tell us something very significant about the person of Jesus, but it also gives us a clue as to the nature of the kingdom that he preached, and about the God who is working to bring about that kingdom.
Holy Week 2015
Holy Week 2015
Maundy Thursday & Easter Sunday
Sabbath
Sabbath
February 22 - March 29, 2015 | Lent
The sabbath is at the same time familiar and foreign to us. The rhythm of a seven-day week with Sunday as a day "off" is integral to how we (and most people around the world) function, to the point that we mostly take it for granted. But the biblical idea of sabbath is so much more than a day of rest after six days of work. During the season of Lent—the six weeks leading up to Easter—we will explore the significance that sabbath still holds for us today in a society where our work and our leisure together devour our time. In a world sick with hurry, anxiety, and impatience, sabbath could be just the medicine we need.
The Great Ends of the Church
The Great Ends of the Church
January 11 - February 15, 2015
More than one hundred years ago, our denomination adopted a set of statements collectively referred to as The Great Ends of the Church. Even now, in the twenty-first century, these statements capture so well the purpose and function of the church in the world. It is an extraordinary challenge to keep these "great ends" in focus as we go about our life and work as a local expression of the body of Christ, but each of them represents an essential task, and to the extent that any one of them is neglected, we fail to be who God has called us to be.
A Light Is Dawning
A Light Is Dawning
December 1 - 24, 2014 | Advent
The prophet Isaiah speaks a great deal about the promise of God's light coming to the people of Israel. Looking back now more than 2,000 years later, Christians see the fulfillment of that promise in the birth of Jesus, the one Isaiah called "Immanuel," meaning "God-with-us." God's light is still dawning in this world, and one day we will all see the full glory of its brightness.
The World of the End
Revelation: The World of the End
October 12 - November 23, 2014
Revelation is one of the most widely known and least understood books of the Bible. It is often thought to be about the end of the world, but this is not at all what its author intended—at least not the way we talk about "the end of the world" today. Instead, Revelation is a letter to the churches living in the context of the Roman Empire, a political power like none that the world had ever seen. Revelation gives the church not a vision of the end of the world, but of the world of the end, the world as God has always intended it to be.
Thus Says the Lord
Thus Says the Lord
September 7 - October 5, 2014
They're called "the minor prophets" because they didn't write lengthy tomes like the likes of Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, but that does not make them insignificant. The so-called minor prophets were called by God to deliver critical messages to God's people at important times in their collective life, and their words resonate even today for the church in the twenty-first century.