New Life Downtown Sunday School: Recent Episodes
New Life Church
As an extension of New Life Church, new life DOWNTOWN seeks to be the light in the heart of the city. Sunday School is designed to engage our minds and theology in thoughtful study and discussion so that we no longer conform to the patters of the world, but can be transformed by the renewing of our minds in the truths of God.
Why is suffering, loss, and grieving so difficult to experience? Lori Duncan walks us through the cultural influences that impact how much pain we feel through loss.
What do you do when you experience loss? Bemni Mekonnen uses the Psalms as template for dealing with loss of life and dreams.
Sarah Jackson, Lori Duncan, and Jen continue a 3-week discussion about women in ministry.
What role do women have in ministry? Pastor Jason Jackson starts a 3-week discussion by looking at what the New Testament has to say about women in ministry.
A panel summing up the last few weeks of Faith and the Single Life with Karen, Amber & Matthew Ayers, and Jason Jackson.
What is the status of the relationship between singles and the Church today?
Lisa Anderson continues a conversation on faithfulness through dating and singleness. She is the Director of Young Adults and the host of The Boundless Show for Focus on the Family.
A conversation on faithfulness through dating and singleness with Lisa Anderson, the Director of Young Adults and the host of The Boundless Show for Focus on the Family.
A conversation on faithfulness through dating and singleness with Lisa Anderson, the Director of Young Adults and the host of The Boundless Show for Focus on the Family.
A conversation on faithfulness through dating and singleness with Lisa Anderson, the Director of Young Adults and the host of The Boundless Show for Focus on the Family.
A conversation on faithfulness through dating and singleness with Lisa Anderson, the Director of Young Adults and the host of The Boundless Show for Focus on the Family.
A conversation on faithfulness through dating and singleness with Lisa Anderson, the Director of Young Adults and the host of The Boundless Show for Focus on the Family.
A conversation on faithfulness through dating and singleness with Lisa Anderson, the Director of Young Adults and the host of The Boundless Show for Focus on the Family.
Great, so we've re-defined what homelessness can look like, and re-imagined what scripture says about loving our homeless neighbor. What can we actually do in Colorado Springs? What is actually going on in our city to respond to the Lord's call? Stu Davis joins us this week to help us re-engage loving our homeless neighbors in our city through partnerships like the Springs Rescue Mission.
We know that scripture instructs us to love our neighbor, to feed the hungry, and to serve the poor. But where does scriptural instruction meet current culture? Joey Jimenez leads us through scripture to help us re-imagine God's call for us to love our homeless neighbors.
Is there only one way that homelessness looks like? Or, is a homeless situation as unique as the people who are in them? Matt Ayers from the Dream Centers of Colorado Springs helps us Re-Define what homeless is and looks like, so that we can better respond to the needs of our homeless neighbors.
The stories Jesus told in the Bible and great children's books can be instrumental in shaping a child to love what is beautiful, pursue what is good, and grasp what is true.
We will start with a framework for understanding a child's heart and his need for both love and strength. We will also discuss how the gospel message impacts our parenting.
The heart of the Gospel is not primarily behavior modification. The Gospel reminds us that we are all in need of God's grace. We'll discuss what a gospel-shaped home looks like and how to connect with our childrens' hearts.
Instead of 'voter guides' telling us who we, as Christians, should support, this two-week New Life Downtown Sunday School class will look at a bigger question. What does the Scripture tell us about our involvement in the political system? How do we engage in disagreement, debate, and discord without harming our relationships with other believers or damaging our witness to a watching world?
In this second week of our series, we reviewed the nature of self-control as a spiritual strength for overcoming temptation and we discussed Robert Roberts's definition of patience as "the ability to dwell gladly in the present moment." By helping us to overcome the tempting impulses that cause us to be impatient with our current stage of life, keep us from attending to the needs of our neighbors, and distract us from prayer, practicing patience can teach us to dwell gladly in the presence of our present selves, our present neighbors, and our ever-present God.
In this first class of the series, we examine biblical and psychological perspectives on temptation, which reveal that temptation distorts our spiritual vision, encouraging us to see opportunities to sin as good or attractive. We consider how self-control functions like a muscle and how various spiritual practices, including Lenten fasts, might help us overcome temptation by strengthening our self-control and sharpening our spiritual vision.
To bring us to the heart of God, we hear from Egyptian immigrant and New Lifer Emil Ibrahim. We'll look at further Biblical Foundations, Perspective from an Immigrant/Refugee, Experiences with ME Friends group, and do Question & Response.
In this first week of class, Pastor Evan helps us think through the need for learning 'how' to read the Bible. For once we know how to read, and what we should be looking for, we can learn to see what the authors were trying to tell us in the first place. Ezra/Nehemiah are a great place to start, as they are either great leaders who build-or horrible leaders who cause divorce and beat the people of Israel. Hermeneutics help us figure out what to look for in their story.
This is the final week of a 5-week Sunday School series on "Philosophy and Christian Thought." We began this session by reviewing the nature of philosophy and its relationship to Christian thought, including the ways that philosophy can be dangerous for the Christian and how it can be beneficial. We then examined the account of the Apostle Paul's interaction with the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers at Mars Hill, recorded in Acts 17. After considering the historical and philosophical background of this passage, we derived some general principles about how Christians should engage with the philosophies and philosophers of our own day based on the example set by Paul in this "case study." We concluded by briefly discussing some resources for further study on the themes of this series.
This is week 4 in a 5-week Sunday School series on "Philosophy and Christian Thought." This week, we discuss competing views of happiness including the subjective view, the eudaimonistic view, and the biblical view. We then consider the currently popular view that people have a right to be happy and surveyed some philosophical and theological reasons to reject it.
This is week 3 in a 5-week Sunday School series on "Philosophy and Christian Thought." This week, we discussed the popular views of moral and religious skepticism, which hold that knowledge of moral and religious truths is not possible. We considered some of the philosophical roots of current moral and religious skepticism, as well as some objections to the views. We concluded by discussing the philosophical and Scriptural support for the view that knowledge of morality and God is possible and, in conversation with C.S. Lewis, we considered the role that emotions might play in helping us to gain such knowledge.
This is week 2 in a 5-week Sunday School series on "Philosophy And Christian Thought."
In our first week, we introduced philosophy as a discipline. We pointed out ways philosophy can be dangerous and beneficial for the Christian. *Week 1 podcast is unavailable due to technical difficulties.
In week 2, we discussed the nature of knowledge and truth and several popular views of moral and spiritual knowledge. Then, we considered objections to one popular view - moral relativism. Next week, we will continue our discussion on this theme and on the question of happiness.
Bobby Mikulas wraps up this semester of Sunday school with Part 2 of an engaging discussion of how we are to evangelize.
This 1st of 2 weeks of Evangelism Sunday School find us wrestling through the notion of "What is Evangelism-and how am I supposed to go about it?". Bobby Mikulas presents us with the question "If God's love casts out fear, then why would we ever think of evangelizing through fear and shame?". The truth is: We are all invited guests to the table through God's love and grace, and our brokenness is what we all share in common. Let's start on common ground, and evangelize from there.
Glenn Paauw joins us to conclude his month on The Bible: Game Change. We're invited to see the Bible not as a 'Bible Verse-McNuggets', but a banquet feast from God. And on this final week we not only see the story, but as a drama! A drama that we are called to be characters in. A drama that comes alive when we learn to improvise with God and continue the next chapter!
Dr. Todd wraps up his module on coaching us how to minister in a naturally supernatural way. Steven notes that prayer, including prayer for healing, needs to be done in a non-manipulative way that relies on the Father. We also are called to understand our prayers in the context that the gifts are given for the common good.
Dr. Steven Todd carries us further into the discussion and engaging response regarding the ways of the Holy Spirit here on earth, today - as in Heaven. How are we to pray, then, when healing, possession, and other personal infirmities strike? We apologize for the low quality recording
Is it possible to pray for healing and miracles without causing emotional damage or manipulation? These questions need to be wrestled with, and Dr. Steven Todd's decades of study and experience lend us strong biblical insight into the matter.
If the Bible is a library (a collection of whole books), what kinds of writings are these books? Do we read them this way?
A brief history of the Bible: the journey from living words to the modern reference Bible and back again.
Liturgy in church is ok, but how does liturgy affect my whole life? This 2nd week of teaching by Father Marty Pearsall delves into the ways we can set personal liturgies to strengthen our faith and practices. He also takes a look at the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and how it was created to be a tool to teach us a divine language as we learn to commune with God.
What is the point of liturgy anyway? Isn't it just crusty ritual at this point? In this 1st week of teaching, Father Marty Pearsall expounds upon the order and role of liturgy in the church service & calendar and church service, and how liturgy helps rhythm and order our lives around the full person of Christ.
What is the significance of us eating together in our homes? Rachel Hehr brings us a riveting word about the power and purpose of communion at our common tables. Don't miss this 4th week of teaching to see the meal as eternally more than just food.
What is the significance of the Table on a Sunday morning? Are we even 'partaking in communion' like we're supposed to? What's the point of communion in church anyway? This 3rd week of theology teaching, Bryan Hehr brings his Fuller Seminary training into play as we discuss the significance, reflection, and formational aspects of the Table.
What is the Table's place in our faith historically, and how has it been expressed over time? Andrew Stoddard, who received his two Master's degrees from Wheaton in history and theological-studies, takes us into the understanding of the history of the Table. We go in-depth to see the thread of the Table as the center point of faith for the Israelites, early Christians, and throughout the Catholic & Protestant denominations through the centuries. Understand where the Table has come from helps us understand where we're at when we meet around it.
What is the significance and purpose of the meal, the Lord's Table? How are we to engage with it, and how are we to reflect it in our homes? This month of Sunday School is focused on the Theology of the Table: The Lord's Table, Our Tables, and Preparing a Table. Teachers Bryan & Rachel Hehr, and Andrew Stoddard, masterfully lead us into understanding and discussion of the meaning and message of The Table.
This is the week it all comes together. As we've been looking at understanding the narrative of Jonah, as well as it's Biblical genre (Prophetic), we draw conclusions about Jonah's grander purposes and message. For instance, what is the author of Jonah really trying to warn the Israelites about? Through mapping the plot and character development of Jonah, we see what Jesus is fully referring to when he references the Sign of Jonah. Don't miss this engaging lesson that proves the importance of how to read the Bible.
This 3rd week of hermeneutical teaching, pastor Evan takes us through the ways of seeing and understanding narrative. Looking at character, setting, plot, and theme, we can get an idea of what message the author was originally trying to tell us through the story.
This 2nd week of hermeneutical teaching, pastor Evan takes us through the 1st steps to take when studying a book of the Bible. The first questions to ask are about the author, audience, and text. The next thing we need to look at is the type of literature (narrative, poetry, discourse), as well as the genre (in Jonah, it's prophetic). These give us a base context for what to expect when reading.
This 1st week of hermeneutical teaching, pastor Evan wrestles with some of the questions concerning how we know. Through asking questions like "where is meaning found?", Evan sets us up to look at who and how the writers of scriptures put meaning into language. That language presents us with the message we are seeking to see and understand.
Master mentor Wes Roberts completes his teaching on Mentoring. We as God's people are called to be initiators who mentor and are mentored. Wes presents this as mentoring of the "Whole Person & Whole Life"
Master mentor Wes Roberts continues his teaching on Mentoring. Building on the notion that God is the center and source from which our lives flow, Wes teaches on the 8 arenas that make up our lives. With God as the center, and these 8 areas constituting the makeup of our lives, we can effectively take a 'whole life' look at mentoring and being mentored.
Master mentor Wes Roberts shares with us the notion that God is not to be 1st in our lives...He is to be the center and source of our lives. From Him we can define our core system of believe (values) which defines how we life. When God is center, then He is the source of all arenas of our lives. When we understand this is we can learn to mentor, and be mentored, well.