Olive Branch
A New Message Series For A New Year! |
Most of us are familiar with the atheists of the world. There is a whole new breed of them out there- Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens - aggressively recruiting people to their view that only stupid, uninformed people believe in God. They are confidently clear on precisely what they believe - or, actually, what they don’t believe. But there’s another group who could be described, ironically, as Christian Atheists - people who definitely believe that God exists - but live as if He doesn’t. They attend, at least irregularly, all kinds of churches ranging from more formal traditions - Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran - to ultra-conservative, Bible thumping churches where preachers yell and sweat. Here’s the deal. They believe all the right things, claim to have had some kind of a personal experience with Jesus, used all the right words - and even quote the Bible. But the lifestyle says something quite different. The Good News of Jesus, in some respects, stays stuck in their minds and has perhaps infiltrated parts of their hearts - but has never made it to the rest of their bodies. There’s probably a little bit of Christian Atheist in all of us! |
Sunday January 8, 2012 2 Services @ 9:30 & 11:15 AM The Christian Atheist There seem to be parts of all of us where our faith, what be believe God wants, what we believe is ultimately true, real and worth pursuing - and how love makes it to God and to others - has somehow been hijacked. Rationalized. Compromised. Defeated. |
| Sunday January 15, 2012 2 Services @ 9:30 & 11:15 AM ...But I Can't Believe Everything In The Bible! The Bible is THE core source of truth in the life of someone who puts their faith in Jesus. Sometimes people say they struggle to believe the Bible, but they’ve never actually read it or struggled with it. Truth is, sometimes we get quite selective in what we believe about the truth the Bible contains - especially in the realms where it contradicts our lifestyle. |
| Sunday January 22, 2012 2 Services @ 9:30 & 11:15 AM ...But You'd Better Not Cross Me! When God walked our roads and ate our food - and lived out truth through Jesus, the Son, there was a consistent track He took in how He treated enemies. You know - people who crossed Him. That track was love, grace, and forgiveness. Forgiveness is the single biggest relational quality Jesus spoke of - and it’s the single biggest relational struggle we have. To believe in God - is to believe in…and actually practice - forgiveness! |
Sunday January 29, 2012 |
| Sunday February 5, 2012 2 Services @ 9:30 & 11:15 AM ...But God Better Stay Away From My Money! Money, success and prosperity has always been the god our world falls back on. This stuff is truly sneaky. Protecting it and creating it and loving it regularly causes people to change their political views, their honesty quotient - and their beliefs about God. There's no question about what the Bible teaches on the place money should have and what generosity looks like. What changes is the place we allow God to have when it comes to our money - Lord over... or servant of... |
| Sunday February 12, 2012 2 Services @ 9:30 & 11:15 AM ...But I'm Still In Charge Of My Sex Life! Our sex drive, our drive for intimacy, our longing to be connected, loved, to belong - is one of the most powerful forces in our lives and in our culture. When our world system threw out God’s intent for, and guidelines for how we conduct our relationships - it was like opening Pandora’s box. Somehow believers in Jesus consistently find ways to rationalize how they want to handle this area of life and why God makes an exception for them. At the core, the problem is that when it comes to this arena ...we’re atheists! |
| Sunday February 19, 2012 2 Services @ 9:30 & 11:15 AM ...But Don't Ask Me To Talk About Him! Communication of the Good News is something that the Early Church was passionate about. It’s this amazing message - that God has made it possible for everyone to be forgiven and to belong to God as His child and to enter every person’s heart and help them to live as they’ve always wanted to live. It’s the Good News that God has a plan to make this world right - and He’s done it through astronomical cost to Himself. He calls His followers to live the Good News; that is, to be Good News wherever they find themselves. But that’s not enough. There is a critical message that goes with that. It’s not a message of judgment, guilt and condemnation - but a message of life. Salt silently infiltrates, flavours, purifies and create thirst. That’s living the Good News. But we are also called to be light! Light clarifies, brings colour, shows obstacles - reveals danger. We are called to move beyond our fear - and be salt and light! |
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