The series we just finished examined John’s ethic of love as a guide for how our church might understand itself. John’s ethic of love is aimed largely in toward the community from which the Gospel arose. Although John’s scope is the world (“so that the world may believe,” John 17:21), it intends to draw the world in (“come and see,” …
John’s Church, Our Church: Oneness (Program and Sermon)
Program Sermon At the beginning of this series, I made an apology. Normally, we use the inclusive text for our Scripture readings, but I chose to use the NRSV for this series. The reasoning was that John is very careful about language and the inclusive text sometimes obscures it. The downside is that we hear God constantly referred to in …
John’s Church, Our Church: Oneness
I have to admit, I’ve been nervous about this week ever since we decided to do this series. Talking about oneness is hard. John is very clear that being one with God and one with each other is the task of being a Christian. Much of Paul’s writings show a similar concern. And so it should not be surprising that …
John’s Church, Our Church: Friends (Program and Sermon)
Program Sermon Opening This week, Lisa and I celebrated our 19th anniversary. Over the years, people have occasionally asked me how a marriage lasts, why ours works. Sometimes people assume that there is some trick, like never going to bed angry or saying “I love you” at least once a day. That may be good advice that we follow more …
John’s Church, Our Church: Friends
In a world of social networks, the word “friend” gets thrown around a little too easily. With a simple mouse-click, we can become “friends.” We’ve even made it into a verb, an action that only exists in virtual space. But we weren’t the first to do this. Many languages, including Greek, have strong semantic relationships between verbs and nouns. Jesus …
What I Meant to Say Was…
On Sunday, I was highly critical of Robert Jeffress, the pastor of First Baptist Dallas, as well as others of his ilk that are famous for their criticism of homosexuality. You can read my comments here, but the main point was that any ethical stance must risk something. This follows from Jesus’ claim in John 15:13: “No one has greater …
John’s Church, Our Church: Love (Program and Sermon)
Program Sermon Opening In Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe, John Boswell explains the problem with translation: “Only a naïve and ill-informed optimism assumes that any word or expression in one language can be accurately rendered in another.” This is the prelude to Boswell’s discussion of love. He makes the profound point that it’s not just the language that is confusing. …
John’s Church, Our Church: Love
We began this series by looking at John’s overall purpose of revelation. By reading the Gospel of John, and considering the character of Jesus within, we can know God. Over the next three weeks, we will look at the Farewell Discourse in chapters 14-17 to see what John’s Jesus has to say about what it means to be church. Specifically, …
John’s Church, Our Church (Program and Sermon)
Program When I initially planned this series, I did not realize it would start on Trinity Sunday. Probably no one else did, either. I’m sure many don’t know there is a Trinity Sunday. I’m certain that many don’t understand the doctrine of the Trinity. I certainly don’t and I’ve taken half a dozen classes on it. It’s all tied up …
John’s Church, Our Church
When we read the four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – it is clear that one of these is not like the others; one of these does not belong. And, hopefully, if you went to four churches, including Church in the Cliff, you would think the same thing. I don’t think this is a coincidence. Maybe it is …