Weekly teaching ministry of Epiclesis, an Ancient-Future Faith Community.
We often speak at Epiclesis about our being "Ancient-Future." And being Ancient-Future brings along with it a collection of things that we think are important when it comes to recovering an historic, orthodox faith. Crucial to that recovery is worship, and central to God's big, colorful story in worship is the person and work of Jesus Christ. So, what are some features of “Ancient-Future” worship? Join Pastor Chris as he shares three. Along the way, we looked at two passages of Scripture that show the breathtaking, Ancient-Future sweep of salvation history.
These days, it seems like everything is political. So, what's a Christian to do in such contentious and divisive times? Join Pastor Chris as he looks at Psalm 80 for some direction. Some of the observations may seem obvious. But as God's people— People who belong to God and His kingdom— we need to hear them again.
This particular Sunday's reading from Hebrews presented us with the classic definition of faith. Can you call it to mind? Faith is far more than a feeling. Scripture labels as faith a thing or ability that “sees” a long, long way beyond what human senses can confirm in the moment. In other words, it's Holy Spirit-inspired perceiving/believing. Language fails, but somehow faith is a thing you can stand on and trust that you won't fall, but at the same time it's a super sense can gaze far into the unknown. That's what the ancients were commended for. They never received the promised made to them while living, but they still saw them way off in the distance and waved at them. Waiving at the future. What faith! Do you have the faith to wave at the future God has prepared for you? Join us!
"Jesus surely has a sense of humor," Pastor Chris says, "and proof positive is that He called me to be a pastor." But does Jesus really have a sense of humor, and is there any evidence in the Scripture of it? Join us for a look at a fascinating snapshot of Jesus' teaching in Luke 12 where we ponder both a question posed to him and a parable that followed. Some delightfully funny moments (at least according to Pastor Chris) show us some wonderful insights into the mind and character of Christ. The painting associated with this podcast/sermon (visible on the Epiclesis website but not on the iTunes Podcast thumbnail) is titled "Jesus the Light of Love" by Ivan Guaderrama.
“Lord of the Rings, Politics, and What's a Christian to Do?” That's the theme for our annual Fall Retreat (October 17-18) with special guest teacher Rev. Steve Pearson. Back for a third conversation in the series, Steve joined Pastor Chris to talk about the second movie in the trilogy, “The Two Towers.” Steve summarized the plot and characters, then he talked about themes in the movie through the lenses we've been using: power (the nature of); fellowship; and sovereignty and freedom. Food for thought: The second movie's title is "The Two Towers," both of which are evil: The tower of Saruman, the wizard, and the tower of Sauron, the main antagonist. But in some ways, Tolkien could have used "The Two Fellowships" as the title instead. There surely is a good fellowship, but to what extent are the evil characters also in a kind of fellowship? For more information about the retreat and Steve, please go here.
The Lord's Prayer is very ancient-future. Why? It's time-bending. It's Body-uniting. It gathers up what has come before us, it focuses our minds on the current state of our situation in Christ, and it casts our thoughts into the future that someday we, the Body of Christ, will sit down at the ultimate eschatological banquet that will never end. Are there some parts of the prayer, though, that confuse or trouble you? Say, the part about God not "leading us into temptation"? Join Pastor Chris for a close look at Luke's account of the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples. The artwork associated with this pocast/sermon (viewable on the Epiclesis website but not in Apple Podcasts) is titled "The Lord's Prayer" and is by Darren Gygi (detail).
Luke tells this seemingly simple story of Jesus' interaction with his dear friends Martha and Mary. Martha welcomes Jesus and sets about rushing around with meal preparations— a breathless hospitality with no time for anything, except building frustration, anger, jealousy, and self-martyrdom. All the while, Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus— a “right-hearted” disciple, soaking in the teaching of Jesus. Martha comes to Jesus, seeking his aid to get Mary to help her in the kitchen. Many have taken Jesus' words to Martha as critical of her loving service and hospitality. One wonders whether Martha— and her fellow servants in the Church— have been overlooked in their concerns. Were Jesus' words a critique of serving per se or were they words of healing for a harried, distracted server? The “answer” is “the one thing needful.” Note: The painting associated with this podcast (visible on the Epiclesis website podcast page) is "Christ in the House of Martha and Mary" (detail) by Vermeer.
The Parable of the “Good” Samaritan is a very familiar text. But it is often forgotten that the parable itself is Jesus' response to a Jewish Scripture scholar's question: “Who is my neighbor?” The scholar is not asking the question sincerely, seeking clarity with an eye to obedience, but to “justify himself”— to create the widest possible space between the Bible's demands and the responsibility to obey. Jesus' parable portrays the hated and heretical Samaritan as the hero. He's the one who demonstrates the lavish grace, compassion, and love of God and neighbor; the orthodox Scripture scholar seeks a comfortable, “correct answer” that can help him exclude people from his sphere of concern. But Jesus gets to the heart of the matter asking, “Who acted as neighbor?” To that, the scholar can only reluctantly reply, “The one who showed mercy.” “Go, and do likewise, Jesus says.” Apparently, with Jesus, orthodoxy without orthopraxy is simply hypocrisy. Note: The painting associated with this podcast (visible on the church website podcast page) is "The Good Samaritan" (detail) by Ferdinand Hodler.
Join Dr. Jay Dudley for an exploration of one of Paul's many metaphors for the relational reality of one's walk with God. A look at Galatians gives us, Jay says, a letter full of emotion, logic, scripturally-based reasoning, pointed questions, and personal appeals-- a case study in communication and a deep insight into our relationship with God. Here's a teaser: Listen for Jay's advice about how aggravation can become connection and intercession.
"Lord of the Rings, Politics, and What's a Christian to Do?" That's the theme for our annual Fall Retreat (October 17-18) with special guest teacher Rev. Steve Pearson. Back for a second conversation in the series, Steve joined Pastor Chris to talk about the first movie in the trilogy, "The Fellowship of the Ring." Steve summarized the characters and plot, then talked about themes in the movie through the lenses we named in the first of our conversations: power (the nature of); fellowship; and sovereignty and freedom. Food for thought: In his movies, Alfred Hitchcock used to talk about what he called a "MacGuffin," a thing that everyone was after that helped drive the story. He famously said that it didn't matter what the MacGuffin was-- that the thing itself was irrelevant to the plot. In Lord of the Rings, there is an object at the center of the story, but it's no empty, irrevelant object. Can you think of some reasons why? For more information about the retreat and Steve, please go here.
Fire and altars. Feeding pigs. Growing decent vegetables: Just what might those things have in common? Pastor Chris made some connections to the fiery story of Elijah and Elisha that included an intriguing passage from C.S. Lewis' That Hideous Strength. Along the way we talked about what it means to build an altar and, also, the sometimes hard truth that the building of altars we do for God may not result in anything obvious to us. The image associated with this sermon/podcast is titled "Fire from Heaven" and is anonymous.
The biblical story of Ruth is a multi-faceted one, filled with deep meaning at every turn. We may know her best as being in the lineage of Jesus. But at the heart of her story are revelations of God's covenant faithfulness, both to and through Ruth and the characters who surround her. Join Pastor Ellen as she reflects on the challenges and opportunities for Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz as they chose to say “Yes” to God. What lessons and encouragement do they offer us as we seek to live out our lives, “on display” of God's love and manifold wisdom? And what might all this have to do with God's Big Story? The painting associated with this sermon is "Ruth Gleaning" by James Tissot, c. 1896.
What does the Bible have to say about life and death for God's saints? Pastor Chris took a couple of Sundays leading up to an All Saints emphasis at the end of October to talk about what Christians can expect.
How are we supposed to count something that's uncountable? Normally, we can't “know” our end, and normally we can't actually "number" our days, as the psalm say. Just what does it mean to number our days? One fascinating truth about Scripture is that very often, God calls us to count things that are NOT countable, and then He forbids us from counting things that ARE countable. What does that mean for Epiclesis church, and for you, as we go forward from here? Join Pastor Chris for a wonderful and timely teaching on numbering our days.
Does it really matter how we worship? Does it make any difference what happens in our chapel each Sunday? The early church believed it made a tremendous difference. Join guest speaker Dr. Carl Peters as he gives a delightful teaching on why the way we worship is critical to our faith.
The biblical kind of remembering is not like our usual idea of remembering where we recall an event or reflect on happier times. Biblical remembering involves bringing something from the past into the present in such a way that it does not lose any of its original meaning or power or import. It's an almost tangible way to connect past and present. So much about worship—so much about living a life of worship—is about remembering rightly. How do we remember rightly and biblically?
If you knew a storm was coming, what kind of a house would you build? Join us as we learn how to “un-frenemy” our relationship with God, and explore the radical way James views troubles and testing that are guaranteed to happen to us all. Find notes for this sermon here.
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