Immanuel Downtown: Recent Episodes
Immanuel Church
Jesus, before doing anything else, gathered people. Without people, there is not kingdom. If we are to follow the way of Jesus, we must also gather people.
Today we read and talk through the long list of names that Matthew places at the beginning of his Gospel. What does it all mean? Is it just a boring list, or is there more to it? There's always more to it. References/Sources France, Richard T. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2010. Keener, Craig S. The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub., 2009. Nolland, John. The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text. Eerdmans, 2008. NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible
Before we can start reading and attempting to understand what Matthew is saying in his gospel, we need to know what the context into which he wrote was and why he wrote it. Today, we spend some time laying the groundwork for an intense study of the Gospel According to Matthew. References/Source France, Richard T. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2010. Keener, Craig S. The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub., 2009. Nolland, John. The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text. Eerdmans, 2008. NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible
This week, as we gathered for the 3rd week of Advent, Mike shared with us some thought on Joy.
Today we talk about what is sometimes called the Faith Candle or the Prophets Candle, but historically is known as the Repentance Candle. As we prepare ourselves for the coming of the Messiah, we MUST take time to reflect and rethink.
This week, Mike discusses Christian Hope and we try to re-orient our perspectives around a proper understanding thereof.
There are many benefits of finding time to disconnect from all the chaos that surrounds us. Today, we talk about some of them, including the reality that for many, it is in the quiet moments that we find the voice of God.
We've come to our discussion of prayer. As a discipline, this is arguably the most fundamental of them, but I hear all too often people who say they don't know how or what to pray. Today we tackle these issues. Nex week, we'll be discussing the listening side of prayer.
Largely a lost and forgotten discipline, fasting is in fact an crucial and expected part of the Christian life. Today we talk about what it is and it is to be used.
Worship is more than just singing on Sunday. It's a way of life into which we must learn to step.
At the root of becoming a follower of Jesus (a disciple) is the need to learn the stories of our faith. Today, we take time to look at the variety of ways we can do that.
How do you actually go about sharing the story of God and how he has impacted your life? For many of us, this is a major obstacle in fulfilling the Great Commission. Today, we talk about one way to do exactly that.
If Evangelization is the process of initiating people into the discipleship process (it is), what does that process look like?
Over the last 2,000 years the Great Commission has been understood and followed in a variety of ways. Today, we're talking about how we ought to think about it and follow the instruction.
We take a look at all of the major theories and ideas about what Jesus accomplished on the cross and make the argument that we need them all in order to have a full picture of what happened. Research sources: Bird, Michael F. , What Christians ought to Believe Bird, Michael F. , Evangelical Theology Gonzalez, Justo L., Concise History of Christian Doctrine Myers, Ben, The Apostle's Creed: A Guide to the Ancient Catechism Wright, N.T.; The Day the Revolution Began
In this discussion, we talk about Jesus's life of suffering and how it ought to inform every aspect of our lives.
Today we deal with the doctrine of creation and how it stood (and stands) in opposition to the many competing religions and narratives of the world. We delve into the problem of evil that we see around us, which was the problem many of these other ideas sought to explain, and how the early Christians dealt with it. Research sources: Bird, Michael F. , What Christians ought to Believe Gonzalez, Justo L., Concise History of Christian Doctrine Myers, Ben, The Apostle's Creed: A Guide to the Ancient Catechism
This week, we look at the reasons for and implications of calling God "Father" and describing him as "Almighty." Too often, both are abstracted from their biblical contexts and the revelation that God gives us through Jesus. If we are going to be true to the original message, we must come to an understanding of God that is rooted in the Biblical text and the witness of the earliest Christians. Research sources: Michael F. Bird, "What Christians ought to Believe" Myers, Ben, "The Apostle's Creed: A Guide to the Ancient Catechism"
We begin a look at the core, ancient, and orthodox beliefs of the Church - those things that define Christianity. We're using the Apostle's Creed as the basis of our discussion and today we talk about the implications of declaring that "We believe" Research sources: Michael F. Bird, "What Christians ought to Believe" Myers, Ben, "The Apostle's Creed: A Guide to the Ancient Catechism"
For most Protestants, we have inherited a view of Romans from Luther and the Reformation that focuses on justification. But justification is not the point of Romans. It is the premise on which Paul builds his larger, more important point - The Unity of the Church.
Today we discuss The Pastoral Epistles and the thrust of their message, which is to ensure that the truth of the Gospel remains pure.
There is much misunderstanding, and misinformation about what happened on Pentecost. Today, we look at how Luke employs the term "filled with the Holy Spirit" and what the experience is that he describes.
A discussion of Paul's first letter to the Corinthian Church and its implications for us today.
We take this week to review the texts we have been looking at and how they work together to give us not only the message of the cross, but also the purpose God has been working in the world since the beginning.
This week, we dive deep into the Biblical understanding and usage of "righteousness." This is one that you might have to listen to more than once, but once you understand will change the way you see God, His purpose in the world, and what we as His people are called to be and do. Listen and Share!
Understanding the context of James' instructions is critical to knowing what he was saying. In the end, we must realize WE are the ones who are called to make things right.
A discussion of our loving action towards those around us as the evidence that we are heirs to the kingdom - or not.
A discussion of the Letter to the Hebrews and the primacy of Jesus as THE hermeneutical key.
We pull together the themes we have been studying during the Advent season as we prepare to celebrate the birth of The Christ.
We discuss the Biblical concept of Joy using Ecclesiastes - the most "unhappy" book in the Bible.
A traditional theme of Advent, like many other concepts, Faith is more than what we might think.
Daniel and Sam talk about the need for the church to become a safe place where we can be honest in bringing our doubt, concerns, sins, and messes expecting that God will meet us and provide remedies.
John tells us that he has written his story so that we might come to a full, true faith in Jesus as the Messiah and God Himself. But for many of us, we have doubts. This is not lost on John, and he presents a story precisely to help understand that moving through our doubt is the path of discipleship.
Daniel and Sam discuss the vision for the future of Immanuel and how the many different facets of the church fit together
We often breeze right through the moment the Spirit comes, noting the remarkable and almost unbelievable nature of the "tongues of fire." But, as always, there's more here than appears upon a first read. There's a profound reason that THIS is what happens when God decides to join His people.
This week we look at Paul's discussion of the Pagans' history of turning away from truth and the havoc that is brought upon them as a result. It is a stark reminder that we, as people of the Truth, cannot sit idly in the midst of chaos. To do so would be to suppress an even greater truth and bring about even more unrest. We are the children of the living God. We are called to stand in the midst of the chaos and proclaim truth.
For most of us, the story of Zacchaeus is little more than a Sunday school tale or a children's song. But, for Luke's telling of the Gospel, it is a foundational story that serves a crucial role.
The church all too often enters into strife, argument, and ultimately violence when it attempts to engage the world around it. Today we talk about Peter's instruction to think and act differently - to engage with love and respect.
The theological task is the work of the church that seeks to stand "between text and context." It asks how to we make the universal and timeless truth we find in the Biblical texts a reality in the midst of the particularities of our situation. It is a task that never ends, because the circumstances are always changing. Today, we look at the parable of the Mustard Seed and ask how we understand it, and then make it a reality for us.
The Bible poses all sorts of conundrums for the post-enlightenment mind. Often it makes little, if any, sense. In this discussion we look at the first of two creation narratives in an attempt to make sense of them in light of the world they in which they were created. Oh, and we talk quantum mechanics in order to do so. Enjoy!
1 Timothy 2:8-15 is one of the most controversial passages in the NT for our modern context. For years, people - mostly men - have looked to it to silence women and keep them from positions of authority within the church. Today, we're looking at the historical context of Ephesus where Timothy was working as well as a number of artifacts from the early periods of the church. Together, they paint a clear picture that tells us our "traditional" view of this passage is neither traditional, nor correct.
Too often, we read the words of Jesus saying that healing, sight, and freedom are being brought with the kingdom and take those to be metaphorical. While they most certainly have a spiritual element, they are also very much a literal and tangible reality. As followers of the Jesus who brought restoration, we must find how we, too, must bring restoration and healing to our world.
Only in rare cases does a church embody the entirety of the 5-fold ministry. As Paul went to great lengths to explain, this must change if we are to be the full, unified expression of church that we are called to be.
God, since the very beginning, has called and sent men and women. If we are to become a vibrant, meaningful church, we must recapture this purpose and understand we, too, are sent to the world. Source: Alan Hirsch
To be a Christian is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Too often, we make being a Christian easy; we tell one another that showing up to a Sunday service, singing some songs, and, perhaps dropping a few dollars in a plate is what it's about. It's not. Sources: Alan Hirsch, Rob Bell
Often, we make matters of faith more complex than they need be. The great movements of the church have been spurred on, in part, by a simple message: Jesus Is Lord. Recapturing this simple message and allowing it to transform us from the inside out is fundamental to our efforts to participate in God's work to bring about the Kingdom here and now.
Many of us has inherited a version of the Gospel that is incomplete. The 4 Spiritual Laws have been effective for conversion, but impotent when it come to making disciples. This is because the 4 Spiritual Laws are not The Gospel.
This morning, we talked about how to approach the many decisions that need to be made within the life of the Church from a position of love and respect.
"The Church is not a building, it's the people" is a phrase we hear over and over. But, it doesn't begin to go far enough. When we consider what the writer of 1 Peter and the other NT writers are saying, the implications are much more profound.