This blog post is adapted from Pastor Derik Heumann’s sermon on January 15th, 2023 at Evergreen’s January All Community Gathering.

This is the Second Sunday of Epiphany! Epiphany begins January 6th and goes until February 21st (Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras). This season of the Christian Year acknowledges and focuses our worship and formation around God’s salvation and life extending out to all the nations of the world. 

Please read our four Lectionary texts for this week before going on:

Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 40:1-11; John 1:29-42; and 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Some historical context is needed to help situate us in each of these four texts from across the canon of Scripture…

The Psalm is coming from the lips of King David who lived 70 years from 1041 BCE until 971 BCE, some 400 years before Exile and the peak of Israel’s power and reign in the ancient near east. David is praying a song of thanksgiving for God’s deliverance. 

Isaiah’s message is being proclaimed to God’s people when they are in exile in Babylon after 587/586 BCE. They are hopeless, dejected, and wrestling as if everything was a waste.

The Gospel text depicts a moment from around 30 CE at the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry as he begins to invite his disciples to follow him.

Lastly, the letter to the house church in Corinth is being written by the Apostle Paul in 53-54 CE. 

As you can see, our texts span roughly 1000 years of salvation history and yet, God is still present and active in each moment being depicted. 

With this in mind, we are now able to notice how there are three major themes in these passages: God’s faithfulness, co-laboring with God as servant-workers, and prayerful intimacy. Starting with the first theme of God’s faithfulness we read in each passage…

“Because the LORD who is faithful the holy one of Israel who has chosen you” Isaiah 49:7

“Do not, O LORD, withhold your mercy from mel let your steadfast love and faithfulness keep me forever” Psalm 40:11

“God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:9

And in the Gospel passage, though not an explicit use of the word faithfulness, there is an implicit fulfillment of God’s promises. Jesus, arriving on the scene and being revealed as the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Messiah, who takes away the sins of the world. The one who the whole creation is longing to arrive to usher in salvation and redemption. God is showing his faithfulness here.

The second theme in these passages refer to us as servant-workers and co-laborers with God joining in the mission of His unfolding plan of salvation reaching all nations and people…

The King in Israel, David, (the forefather to the Messiah) and chosen vassal of God giving thanks for God’s deliverance and rescue at the height of Israel’s influence and power in its history. 

In Exile, God is saying through Isaiah that the mission isn’t over for through you the light of salvation will reach the ends of the earth (he goes on to develop this theme with the “Suffering Servant” passage of 52:13-53:12)

Jesus comes as the true and promised servant, full of the Spirit bestowing his authority eventually upon his apostles and to the whole Church to continue in his ministry of teaching, preaching, and healing…bringing restoration and renewal to the world. Andrew and another disciple receive Jesus’ invitation to “follow him” and they do! They’re becoming students to the Rabbi. 

And now the Church in Corinth, though with many issues and troubles are still the sanctified people of God and are currently called to continue serving and blessing the world because of the grace, peace, life, and gifts the Lord has given them

Lastly, there’s the theme of prayer and intimacy with God. Before looking at the passages, let me briefly define prayer for us. Prayer most simply, is listening and speaking with our God. Prayer is like air, without it we suffocate and die. Prayer is also being in the presence of God and recognizing He is WITH US. Prayer is LIFE

In the Psalm, this is all a personal prayer in the first person from David to the LORD, giving thanks for his past deliverance and petitioning ongoing intervention and love from the upcoming trials and battles.

In Isaiah, God uses His personal name (YHWH) through Isaiah’s prophecies to comfort his people in exile. The people are speaking back with honesty and confusion. There’s distress being expressed and assurance being reciprocated.

In the Gospel, we see the Spirit of God revealing to John the Baptist through words of knowledge that Jesus is the Lamb of God, the promised Messiah, as well as the Spirit softening and encouraging the hearts of Andrew and the other disciple to say, “YES!” to follow Jesus.

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, we see Paul acknowledging how “he gives thanks to his God always for you because of the grace given to them in Christ Jesus.” Also, if prayer helps us notice and see God in our midst, then we know it is through prayer that they will be strengthened to the end as they live out their calling.

As we continue journeying through our 5th year as a Church and this new calendar year of 2023 bringing us to Year 6 this summer, I believe there is good news for us as Evergreen in these lectionary passages and these themes we’ve teased out. Our Mission and Vision hasn’t changed since we started in July 2018 - be disciplemakers and everyday missionaries where we live, work, and play and as we go about this work, we are being faithful to the being the sent people of God and joining in God’s mission of the renewal of the world.

We have all the tools necessary to join God as disciplemakers and everyday missionaries which have been sharpened and clarified over the last 4.5 years. He has been so faithful to us in this work of planting a new community which He’s multiplied now into 4 different Missional Communities. We must remember and give thanks! We stand in solidarity with the stories of Scripture we’ve read and heard around God’s faithfulness and participating in the Kingdom of God reigning in every heart and home in Ann Arbor, Ypsi, Brighton, and Milan.

What we’re lacking and need to grow in is the third theme. Prayer and communion with God both individually and as a collective body.

At our leadership retreat this past summer, God impressed upon us a focus on “prayer saturation.” Prayer is the air that multiplication and disciplemaking breathes. Without prayer we fall into doing things out of our own strength. Without prayer we are missing out on opportunities of conscious communion with the divine. Without prayer we’re suffocating. Without prayer, we’ll never receive the fullness of what God has for us because we’re not asking… “we have not because we ask not.” Yet, throughout church history every movement of disciplemaking and spiritual awakening happens when God’s people prioritize prayer. Prayer for personal renewal, church revitalization, and community awakening.

As a board and staff we’ve been praying and fasting together every Wednesday since August. It’s not been easy, but we’ve shown up together and God has met us. We’ve all experienced a closer intimacy and recognition of God with us. We’ve seen prayers answered, as well as struggled together in the discomfort.

Personally, this weekly fasting has kept me afloat through a rough fall semester, along with my weekly Saturday Sabbath. They have been my means of grace to truly “taste and see that the Lord is good.”

For some of you, prayer and fasting might be unfamiliar and foreign. But these two disciplines are often linked together throughout all of Scripture…David fasting for enemies, the prophet Anna waiting in the Temple for the Messiah, Jesus fasting in the wilderness, Paul and barnabas praying and fasting for guidance in appointing elders over the Church. These disciplines are VITAL to our thriving and flourishing as disciples and missionaries.

Pete Greig, founder of the 24/7 prayer movement writes, “The discipline of fasting can focus our prayers in the way that a magnifying glass can focus sunlight to start a fire.” Deliberately choosing to weaken ourselves by fasting from food can make us more open to receiving strength from God. it also helps us to place ourselves in a humble posture before the Lord, acknowledging with our minds and our bodies that, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt. 4:4)

God is inviting us on a journey, to lean into our discomfort and focus our praying with fasting. Beginning this Wednesday, we will be fasting and praying together with open hands to receive what God has for us. There will be different prayer intentions each week but also three things we are praying for every week:

1. For our Evergreen Community to reflect the Kingdom of God, growing in diversity in all ways.

2. For continual growth in intimacy and power of the Holy Spirit.

3. For the people of peace in our contexts to experience salvation and follow Jesus as LORD.

Will you join us? Lean into your discomfort, remember God’s faithfulness, join God in his mission of renewing all things, and pray!

This is adapted from Pastor Melanie Eccles’ sermon at the Evergreen All Community Gathering on Christ the King Sunday - November 20th, 2022

Sunday, November 27 marks the first Sunday in the church season of Advent. I want to invite you to join me in anchoring ourselves in the story of Jesus and the huge narrative arch of scripture by observing the Church Calendar and reading the weekly lectionary texts. If all of this talk about church calendars and the lectionary is a bit unfamiliar (or completely foreign!) read on! 

There are 6 seasons in the Church Calendar, a yearly progression through the life of Christ and His Church. At Evergreen Church we participate in these rhythms of the liturgical calendar as a way to enter into the story of God and God’s People. As we observe these 6 seasons (of Advent, Christmastide, Epiphany, Lent, Eastertide, and Ordinary Time), we bear witness to the ways in which God’s Kingdom has come and his will is being done now and throughout history. 

So for Evergreeners, here are a few things you’ll notice about each season (which vary in length from 2 weeks to like half the year.--I’m looking at you Ordinary Time.) Our All Community Gathering banner colors correspond to the church season. In this season of Advent we observe the color blue, a color that reminds us of blue skies and communicates the message of hope in this season of preparation and expectancy. The season of Epiphany and later of Ordinary Time use the color Green, emphasizing growth. These seasons are about the expansion of the Good news of the Gospel and joining the work of the Kingdom. Purple is a penitential color used during the season of Lent. Easter and Christmastide are White, the color of purity and completeness, a color inviting us to rejoice. And red is an intense color of strength, illustrating the power of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. 

Starting in this season of Advent, our Missional Communities will all be equipped with a Guidebook to this Church Year. We are aligning these 6 liturgical seasons with our church’s 6 core values of Rest, Love, Multiplication, Peace, Story, and Community in order to engage more fully in the life of God’s Church. In Advent we focus on our value of Rest. We see ourselves as human beings, not human doings, cultivating rhythms for contemplation and prayer. In Christmastide we lean on the value of Love, receiving God’s holy love and extending it to ourselves, others, and the world. In Epiphany we look to the Evergreen value of Multiplication, linking the missional work of the Wise Men with our call to be everyday missionaries of Jesus Christ where we live, work, and play. In the season of Lent, we will emphasize our value of Peace, seeking justice, reconciliation, and wholeness for ourselves, our neighbors, our city, and world. In Eastertide we live out the Evergreen value of Story, celebrating God’s story and activity through time and among us. And finally in the lengthy season of Ordinary Time we will root ourselves in the value of Community, make close spiritual friendships, confessing sin, praying for one another, gathering and scattering as an extended family.

In using this Guidebook, our scattered Missional Community/house churches will be gathered in spirit: observing the same seasons together, focusing on the same themes, and reading from the same lectionary passages. Within this communal framework there is lots of freedom. Each MC can choose their own adventure for teaching. Maybe you will focus on spiritual discipline practices that fit the theme for that season, or maybe you lead a discussion around the scripture passages or do some deeper exegetical type Bible study together. 

Ok, so before we get back to NOW and our movement into Advent, let me give you a quick overview of the Lectionary. What in the world is it? The root of the word is “lection” which simply means “reading.” The Lectionary, then, is a predetermined way of reading through the Scriptures. Back in the 60s, the Catholic Church made the groundbreaking decision to begin following an organized plan or reading the Bible. The Revised Common lectionary came about in the 80s and 90s when a long list of non-Catholic Christian Churches tweaked the original reading schedule. Each week we read a Psalm, an Old Testament passage, an Epistle (the biblical term for “letter”), and a Gospel (the biblical term for one of the four books teaching on the Good News, the life of Jesus.) Many Presbyterians, Lutherans, United Methodists, Mennonites, Anglican and Free Methodist churches follow the lectionary together. That’s one of my favorite parts about the lectionary – knowing that on this Sunday I’m reading the same passages that many other churches are across the country, and around the world. The reading unifies the Church across space and time.

The cycle of readings begins in “Year A” with Matthew and its correlating Old Testament, Psalm, and Epistle. Then, we start over again with a new set of passages for Year B (using Mark), then Year C (in Luke). Thus…we travel a three year journey through the whole story of the Bible. Though not every verse or chapter can be read during this time, we as a church are able to get a better taste for the beautiful story of God’s redeeming plan for creation, a story that spans Genesis to Revelation. 

In reading the Lectionary, we trust that the Holy Spirit works outside of time, believing that even (and perhaps especially) predetermined Scripture readings are exactly the message God has for us today. We choose to submit to the authority and study of the men and women who’ve gone before us, as opposed to sticking to our favorite books of the Bible or using the trusty “open your Bible and blindly point” method. It’s exciting to watch how God has used these pre-planned Scripture passages to weave together sermons at the proper time. He is so faithful.

The origin of the Christian season of Advent dates back to 480 AD and perhaps even further…to the times of Peter and the Disciples. The word “advent” simply means “to come” and so this season is an opportunity to prepare and to wait with bated breath for the arrival of the newborn King. We wait, as Mary did, for Jesus Christ to be born. We wait, as the prophets did, for their long-awaited Prince of Peace. But as followers of Jesus on the “other side” of his birth, we have a different invitation to wait. Knowing that the celebration of Jesus’ birth is imminent, we now wait for his second coming. We wait for the day when Christ will come to bring his perfect peace to earth as it is in heaven…for all eternity. We wait with hope and angst for the day when he will make all things right, restoring relationships, repairing sick bodies, aligning healthy governments, abolishing poverty. We wait with excitement and perhaps dread, for his day of judgment, knowing that our trust in him brings salvation but that a detailed account of our lives will acknowledge the moments when we failed to follow faithfully. But we wait.

Advent is such a beautiful, yet challenging time in the life of the Church. It is at this time of year that we are reminded of our need to wake up to the coming of Jesus in our lives. 

This Advent-waiting is so difficult because we are invited to sit in this in-between space: a space where we are no longer experiencing the comfortable, oh-so-familiar life, yet neither have we seen the resolution of the waiting…the answer, the direction, the “ahhhh-yes-everything-is-turning-out-just-fine” moment. We are in the time of holding our breath, left to wait. We can choose to gasp for air, fight for our lives, flee the fearful expectancy. Or we can seek the Lord Jesus Christ in this uncertainty, looking for his movement, listening to his voice. Because even in the waiting, especially in the waiting, there is Jesus.

When I first began observing Advent in 2013, I was in the middle of one of my darkest winters. It was our third year of infertility and that combined with other life circumstances made the dark winter nights a reality in my heart. But during that time, I prayed this prayer:

Lord Jesus, As hard as this is to admit, I thank you for this long time of advent in my life. This journey of infertility may continue for many more years, I don’t know, but the grace, the blessing has come and is coming in the ways I’m learning to seek you. I imagine where my focus would be right now if I had gotten “my way”…and it’s not likely to be totally on you. Teach me now how to keep company with Jesus, how to kindle communion with Him, that it may be an inextricable part of me in years to come.

Advent is so much more than a countdown to Christmas. It is an invitation to wait with God on God in our everyday lives. 

But “Does Advent even matter when the world is on fire?” One of my favorite Christian-deconstruction authors, Sarah Bessey, wrote these words back in 2016:

“In these days, celebration can seem callous and uncaring, if not outright impossible.

But here’s the thing: we enter into Advent precisely because we are paying attention.

It’s because everything hurts that we prepare for Advent. It’s because we have stood in hospital rooms and grave-sides, empty churches and quiet bedrooms that we resolutely lay out candles and matches.

We don’t get to have hope without having grief. Hope dares to admit that not everything is as it should be, and so if we want to be hopeful, first we have to grieve. First we have to see that something is broken and there is a reason for why we need hope to begin with.”

Can Advent matter when wars refuse to stop and chemo treatments and doctor’s appointments must go on? Where does Advent fit in the midst of our bad dreams and rocky relationships, our aches and pains, our grief and loss?

Advent is an invitation to stubbornly holding onto hope. Advent is our way of saying, “Oh yes, we know. We are absolutely awake to the brokenness in our lives and in our world, but we are also holding onto the hope of Jesus like it’s our job. We are shining a light on the ways Jesus is bringing healing and wholeness, building His Kingdom in our midst. We are paying homage to the Christ Child who was born to incarnate (to put flesh on) Love itself; to set us free from sin and death. We are committing to stay awake to the unexpected return of our Messiah who will one day establish the fullness and goodness and majesty of God’s Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.”

Would you join me, friends, on this upside-down journey through Advent and into the new liturgical calendar? 

May God give us ears to hear and eyes to watch, that we may know God’s presence in our midst during this holy season of joy as we anticipate the coming of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Additional Advent Resources:

Seedbed’s Seven Minute Seminary “The Meaning of Advent” by Dr. Michael Pasquarello

Seedbed’s Advent Resources

“What is an Advent Wreath?” by Joel Ryan

Christ the King, a detail from the Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck. St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent.

“1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ”

Romans 1:1-7

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“Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:7b).

This past week I was engaging Scripture with Katy in discipleship and we were both struck by this greeting. It’s so commonplace in Paul’s letters and when we hear it we hardly stop and reflect on the words, let alone how to receive such a greeting when it’s used in our gatherings. But this verse deserves pause before moving on to the rest of Paul’s letter.

Grace and Peace.

Grace/charis in Greek and Peace/eirene are powerful words to conclude this epistolary introduction. Charis can denote “unmerited favor” but it can also refer to the transformative power of God given in and through the Holy Spirit. To put it another way, grace can refer to God coming in mercy to help us.

Eirene is the Greek word sharing similar meanings to the Hebrew word shalom, “total well-being, completeness, wholeness.” Peace is what’s extended to us as Jesus is our Immanuel (God with us) who reveals God’s love, heals us of our sin, establishes the Kingdom, liberates us from broken systems, and shuts down religion so that we can share in God’s Life. His resurrected life brings grace and peace.

These 7 verses have so much packed in but one thing that stands out is the centrality of Jesus. The person and work of Jesus is explicitly named or described directly and indirectly 15 times in 7 verses. This is certainly a helpful reminder that the Gospel in 1 word truly is JESUS.

So when Paul says to the original audience and to us, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” he is proclaiming and offering a blessing of both the Father and the Son as equal members of the Godhead. He’s also offering us, the called/set apart, holy people of God literal grace and peace as reminders of the saving faith we’ve received from Jesus our King.

Grace and Peace.

This coming Sunday, November 20th is called Christ the King Sunday. It is the day in the Christian Calendar which concludes Ordinary Time and begins Advent. On Christ the King Sunday we celebrate the true kingship and lordship of Christ…his universal reign which leads us into Advent which focuses on His second coming, as well as invites us back into the story of his first coming.

As the Crucified and Resurrected King, I like to imagine grace and peace are what he dispenses and bestows on the world with his nail pierced hands. Our King sits on the throne victorious over death and evil, yet still bears the scars of his submission to death. It is by these wounds we are healed physically, relationally, emotionally, spiritually.

Grace and Peace.

These things bring all people together, Jew and Gentile, for reconciliation under Christ, enabling us to receive saving faith. This faith reveals the righteousness of God which begins and continue to work its way in and through us as we continue to submit and follow Jesus our King. We become more of what we already are as Paul says, “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:7).

So as we approach Christ the King Sunday this week and gather for All Community Gathering let us remember whose we are - servants and children of Christ the King. Let us receive these words with thankfulness and humility as ones who have been given grace upon grace, as well as true peace in our lives from our Creator and our Redeemer.

So I leave you with this…

To all in Evergreen who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: 

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pastor Derik

11/13/2022

Pastor Luke Heumann gave his very first sermon to our community this past weekend. He presented us with the passage of Amos 5:18-24 to help us to fully understand what justice means for us practically.

The Lord was despised by their meaningless worship. What made their worship less disgusting is shown in verse 24.

“But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

He isn’t pleased in these meaningless offerings. God desires so much more. God deserves so much more.

So, what does this mean for us today? What does this passage teach us as the modern-day church? The Church has become an industrial complex. The Church has found itself acting like businesses. It has become more about entertaining than about loving our neighbors as ourselves. What if the Church acted differently?

What if our worship was rooted in celebrating our risen Savior? What fruit would we see? What if Christ transformed culture? What if we were less like competitive businesses? Pastor Luke directed us to begin to think about these questions. Pastor Luke led us to think about the purpose of the Church. He led us to explore where justice needs to start. Real transformation needs to begin in our church. It needs to begin with Christ transforming our community and our culture.

God is lamenting over us today just like this passage. We also need to lament over ourselves. We need to lament over our Church as well. Let us be a church that follows Jesus into all the different trenches of our world today. Jesus went to Nazareth declaring the kind of Church He wants to see in us.

Luke 4:18-19| The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor; to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

This is our calling as the Church today. This is what justice means for us today. We have been anointed as His People.

We are called to preach good news to the poor.

We are called to proclaim release to the prisoners

We are called to proclaim recovery of sight to the blind

We are called to liberate the oppressed and to seek the disenfranchised

Proclaiming justice and freedom begins in us. Let us be the church known for praising and celebrating our Risen Savior.

I want to introduce to you Amos.

No, i’m not talking about the cooke, Famous Amos. I’m talking about the prophet, Amos.

Some of you may have heard of him. Some of you may have read a piece or two from the book of Amos. And some of you may not even know who I am talking about. Well, you are in luck.

For the next several weeks, our missional communities will be studying the Book of Amos together. We will be exploring the journey of Amos and the themes presented throughout the books. One of the most prominent themes that is emphasized is that of justice.

What is justice? And how has it informed your faith and your relationship with Christ? How does it inform your relationship with others?

Throughout this series, our aim is to understand Amos, the prophetic genre, and how it informs our lives as everyday missionaries. Our hope is that we can all individually discern how to practically apply justice within our own communities.

Justice originated in the heart and mind of God. Justice is one of God’s own attributes. Justice is a divine attribute alongside holiness, righteousness, steadfast love, and compassion. The things we’re afraid to discuss could very well be the very things God wants to discuss.

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

- Amos 5:24

God has loved justice and hated wrongdoing from the very beginning. Justice is all about restoring wholeness to community. It is punishment for wrongdoing. But it is also restoring the rights of the vulnerable and disadvantaged. God loves justice. If we truly entrust ourselves to God, shouldn’t we also love what He cares about?

We should deeply love justice ourselves.

How can we grow in love for justice? How can we be true advocates of justice?

Sometimes, when we think about advocating for social justice, we can get caught up in the “what.” But maybe it needs to be more about the “who.” Who are the marginalized, vulnerable, and disadvantaged in your community? Who might God be asking you to be concerned about? Justice can start small and it can be really small. Our intention with this series is to lead all of us to think about the areas in our world where God and His Kingdom needs to reign.

Reflection:

• How do you feel about justice?

• Where has social justice influenced your faith in Christ and life of discipleship?

• Who is God asking you to be concerned about?

Here at Evergreen we want to learn how to love our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters. We have been journeying through this for the past couple of months. Now we have come to a place of moving forward. What does it mean for us to move forward? What does a step forward look like?

At our most recent All Community Gathering, Derik and Elijah helped answer this question. We were pointed to think about how we are called to live. According to Galatians 5:13, we are called to be free and to serve one another humbly in love. Pastor Derik walked us through the passage of Gal. 5:13-6:10 to remind us what it means to live and walk by the spirit and not by the flesh.

Gal. 5:19-21 - The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

We are called to live differently. There are three behaviors that Pastor Derik called out in the church. He called out selfish ambition, hatred, and idolatry. Selfish ambition encompasses our own desires and apathy. We are summoned to get our head out of the sand. Cannot ignore people in the way that we have been doing it. We must acknowledge them and pay attention to them. There are real people with real lives, wrestling with God. How can we walk alongside our brothers and sisters in a gracious way?

Hatred is mainly defined as a strong dislike for something or someone. This has been our emotion and attitude toward so many people, including the LGBTQ+ community. it is time to reflect and speak out our conscious and unconscious biases. What are our hidden thoughts? How do we perceive people who are different than us? What does it look like to begin to see people and acknowledge them as persons?

Idolatry is when we elevate good things into gods. It is when we worship these more things than when we worship God. We have made idols of sex and marriage. We have let these completely take over in our lives. We do his in our secular spaces, and side A spaces. We have neglected to value the significance of both marriage and singleness. Their purposes may look differently, but it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be valued equally. How have we made sex and marriage idols in our own lives?

In regard to these three areas, Elijah encouraged us to think about our presence and how we act around other people. Sometimes we around other people who make rude, homophobic jokes and comments. But, what would it look like to stop that by choosing to not stay silent in those moments? How can we be a safe space to others? How can we bring people towards Christ by walking with them in their spiritual discovery? The one thing we must remember about all of this is this:

You are made in the Image of God and others are also made in His Image.

Reflection:

• What challenged you about this conversation?

• How do you see the need to grow in this conversation?

The first commandment is to love God and the second command is to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is a command given to us by God and reiterated to us by Jesus. it seems to be something we need to pay attention to. We are called, summoned to love God and the people around us.

We have been talking about this verse in the context of loving and listening to our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters. We started this with first examining ourselves and then we talked about what it means to process this culture through engaging our minds. This coming week, we are exploring how we can move on mission to tangibly love the LGBTQ+ community in our neighborhoods. What does loving tangibly look like for us?

It begins with bridge-building. What is a bridge builder? What does this look like in our contexts? Building bridges is simply the practice of empathy with people who are different than us. Bridge building is a sustainable friendship, a relationship, a bond, camaraderie, closeness and strong confidence. We are called to build bridges informed by the Scriptures and empowered by the Spirit. We’re called to let the Holy Spirit whisper truth into each person’s heart. And we’re called to show love unconditionally, tangibly, and measurably.

In her book, Rethinking Sexuality, Juli Stanley states: “We build bridges by communicating in a hundred different ways that ‘I want to know what it’s like to be you.” It is a simple act of understanding and walking in another person’s shoes. “By listening and caring, we become a safe place for people to talk honestly about their marriage, their loneliness, their disappointments in love, and their perspective on cultural issues. Instead of shutting down these discussions with awkwardness or brash opinions, we ask questions, lean in, and earn the right to share what God has taught us (Stanley, 158).”  

It is so important to listen and to lean in with people in this way. When talking about loving our neighbor, Jesus tells us what this needs to look like. Jesus explains to us how our neighbor can be anyone and everyone (Luke 10:25-37). We are called to a high standard. We are called to love one another as we love ourselves. Jesus commands: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:34)

As I have loved you.

We probably have not fully processed how difficult this might be. It’s not just about loving well or being nice. He calls us to love each other better than we love ourselves. It is honestly about out serving one another. He calls us to lay down our lives for each other. And that is a difficult command to follow. We will only stand out if we love as He loved.

When we think of our neighbors, how are we loving them? How much time are we giving to them? Are we paying attention to them? What are we sacrificing to build them up and consider them better than ourselves? In what ways are we prioritizing the “one another” commands God gave us? What are we doing to love one another (even those who are different than us) as Jesus loved us?

These last couple of weeks, we have been exploring the world and experiences of the LGBTQ+ community. We have been specifically trying to wrap our minds around the language of gender and sexuality, along with understanding the landscape of side A, B, and X. A posture of humility also includes a posture of listening and understanding.

This conversation affects the lives of real people. This is not just an issue. We are talking about real people with real experiences. The church has not responded to the LGBTQ+ community in the best way. We have honestly hurt real people by greatly ignoring the conversation altogether.

From 1960 to 2000, the Church has seen the LGBTQ+ community as perverts and criminals. In the 1990s, the LGBTQ+ community were seen as hapless victims who were in need of healing. This is the time where the Ex-Gay Movement started to take prominence. This shifted the church’s stance toward healing more than toward criminalizing.

In the 2000s, Gay people were seen as saints called to celibate life. Writings of Wesley Hill, and other “side B” voices rise and speak into the fragmentation of ex-gay elevating singleness, community, spiritual friendship, and holiness. This becomes an era where empathy increases.

Presently, there are three different sides with the Christian arena. Side B, Side A, and Side X. Side B is represents Celibate Gay Christians or Mixed Orientation Marriages. Side A represents same-sex monogamous partnerships that can be blessed by God. Side X represents those categorized as ex-gays or those whose orientation can be changed.

The word “reconcile” means to restore to friendship or harmony as in “reconciled the factions” or to settle or resolve something such as ‘to reconcile differences.’ This spectrum of beliefs in the Christian arena involves this reconciliation. The question here is how to reconcile one’s orientation and sexual practice with one’s faith. As you see, people come to different conclusions based on how they have wrestled with things theologically.

Side B believes in the traditional sexual ethic. Heterosexual marriage is seen as a creation ordinance and therefore not culturally relative. The Bible is a story about marriage between man and woman in the garden. In this view, marriage images God’s trinitarian nature. A man and woman in marriage image God’s Trinitarian nature in a way a man and a man cannot. Diversity and unity reflect the equal in essence yet different in person and function of the Godhead. Marriage is ordered toward procreation, but procreation is not required to validate a marriage. Marriage also pictures Christ’s relationship with the Church. The man represents Christ and the woman represents the church.

Side A attests to covenant fidelity, not sexual differentiation is the foundation for biblical marriage. In this way, marriage is founded on commonality not differentiation. This includes companionship, mutual support of a strong ally, commonality and similarity, human spouse, faithfulness, and a pair. One argument for this side is that procreation is minimized in the New Testament. Jesus ushers in eternal salvation and thus it minimizes physical procreation thus removing the need for anatomical complementarity.

Reflection:

• How do you feel about both sides?

• What’s your actual experience with both sides?

“We can’t heal the world today, but we can begin with a voice of compassion, a heart of love, an act of kindness.”

- Mary Davis

As a church, we are entering into a series about loving and listening to the LGBTQ+ community. The church in general has not done this well in the past.

It is officially June and this means it is also LGBTQ+ Pride month. This month brings pride parades, picnics, parties, and events that attract millions of participants around the world. June was chosen as LGBTQ+ Pride month because of the Stonewall Riots. The Stonewall Inn served as a safe haven for New York City’s gay, lesbian, and transgender community. Police raids on gay bars were common, but at this particular time, members of the city’s LGBT community decided to fight back. This event would spark the new era of revolution for the LGBTQ+ community.

The church has found its place on the wrong side of pride and the LGBTQ+ community. Where has the church been? We profess to be followers of Jesus and we act exactly the opposite. For a long time, the church has added to the violence and hate of such people. Instead of extending grace, we post up signs that declare the sins of the LGBTQ+ community. The church has a lot of work to do. The church has a lot of reconciliation to do in this area. Healing needs to occur, and it needs to start with us. Transformation is going to start from within the church.

Where do we start? We need to move in the way of mercy and love. One way we can practice this is by looking at Jesus. What does Jesus show us? He shows us the greatest commandment.

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31

We are called to love God first with our entire being and also love our neighbor. We need to know our own hearts in order to better love our neighbor. We also need to know God in order to better love those around us.

At Evergreen, our core values flow from our desire to worship Jesus Christ, follow Him as disciplemakers, and participate in His redemptive mission. These inform and shape our Evergreen Community as we gather and scatter, living out the hope of Jesus in the city. Our core values consist of love, rest, story, peace, multiplication, and community.

At Evergreen we are striving to do our best at receiving the unconditional love of God through Jesus Christ and then giving it away to everyone where we live, work, and play because the Church isn’t a place, it’s a people. So inviting people to Church looks like inviting people into our lives. We welcome you and invite you, no matter what you believe, into the life Jesus Christ through Evergreen Church because it’s where you belong.

• We receive God’s holy love and extend it to ourselves, others, and the world.

• We welcome and listen to all people’s stories.

• We make friends and open our hearts and homes with all people.

• We receive and extend the peace and wholeness of Christ to ourselves, neighbors, city, and world.

Here at Evergreen we value ALL people. If you are part of the LGBTQ+ community, you have a home at Evergreen Church.

Jesus loves you and so do we.

During this time at Evergreen, we are discussing the theology of the body. It is necessary for us to wrestle in this discussion of gender and sexuality.

What do we feel about our bodies?

What have we been taught about our bodies? From the church? From the world?

Unfortunately both places have taught us truths that are both positive and negative. We have lost God’s intentional purpose for our bodies and it is time to rediscover this.

In his book, For the Body, Dr. Timothy Tennent says that our bodies are good and trustworthy. They were never meant to be vessels of shame.

As true as this might be, we do not always perceive our bodies in this way. We treat our bodies with disrespect. We dishonor our bodies through our language of shame and judgment instead of kindness and thankfulness. In so doing, are we somehow dishonoring our Creator? Do we trust that everything He made is good? Including our very physical bodies and personality? Because God doesn’t make mistakes and He calls us good.

We are living sacrifices and we can do nothing apart from God.

Romans 12:1-2 - Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

John 15:5 - I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

We distort this image of God through the way we attempt to live apart from him instead of living in communion with HIm. He has created us to desire to live in communion with HIm. What does this look like for you?

Gen 2:7 says, “Neither God nor humanity have a denigrated or tainted view of the physical creation (15). In fact, the physical creation is given to us as a testimony of God’s presence and power. “

Ps. 24:1 says, “For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.” 

We were created in the image of God. We were created to be like Him. Gen. 5:1-2 - “When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them ‘Mankind’ when they were created.” 

Timothy Tennent says, “An image is a reflection or representation of something else. It is dependent on whatever it reflects. An image is a reflection or representation of something greater (Tennent, 8-9).” God created us to reflect something of his divine life. We are a representation of the one true God and intentionally created to be like him. How do we reflect God in the world?

We are called to reflect Him in three different ways:

(1) God commissioned us to extend His dominion over the created world. He called us to steward it

(2) We have the capacity to enter into a covenantal relationship with God in a way that is reflected in our own covenant relationships with one another.

(3) As bearers of God’s presence, we are given a moral capacity in the world. The Lord breathed into us His breath of life. His Spirit within us allows us to discern right from wrong and to embody moral capacities

We are image bearers of his divine life in care taking and in our relationships. Our bodies matter to God and they reflect God’s presence, love, and power in the world. How do we perceive our bodies? For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

Reflection

• What does it look like for you to image (represent) God in the world?