We begin our Lenten preaching series that is tied to our Lenten small groups. Each week, you can listen to the sermon and then participate in a variety of small groups that will focus on the same topic.
We are using the "Engage" material from the Presbyterian Church (USA), which is designed to help us better engage God's story with our story and then the stories of others we meet in the world.
The first week points out that the world has changed, and in fact, is continually changing. The way. of being church and talking about God that worked in the past may need to be adjusted for the world in our current time. Of course, we can too easily dismiss the changes as "those people's changes," and ignore them. Or, we can accept them as making it impossible to hear what the church has to say about God. Or, we can work on understanding how God is speaking to us today.
One of the images that is offered in this week's information is of a bridge in Honduras that spans the ground next to the river, but does not cross the river. The river's course had changed, but the rigid bridge could not change its location, so there it sits, useless. As the church tries to bridge God's word to the world, how do we make sure that we are not becoming obsolete on the sidelines of the world?
I think it's a serious mistake to interpret lack of church attendance or commitment to church programs as people no longer caring about what God is doing. In my work as pastor I encounter people at various times in their lives -- weddings, births, hospital stays, deaths -- when they are desperately searching for God in an attempt to make sense of their lives. How do we engage those people?
The passage in Acts is one of my favorite Paul stories. I have always given Paul's lots of credit in this story for making a persuasive argument based on the opponents own information. This week, I've been thinking less about this story being an example of Paul's debating skills and more an example of how Paul instinctively understands the needs of the people and works to find a way to share with them the Gospel.
how do you see the church's role in our changing world? Where do you see yourself making the most impact as a disciple of Christ in people's lives?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment