This Sunday we were ready to follow Jesus as he met his first disciples. Unfortunately, the cold weather kept our kids at home. When I went to church at 9:00 to make coffee, I realized that wind was really cold and couldn’t get in the church fast enough. That is when I knew our lesson would continue to take place next week.
I hope we see you in church this Sunday! We will travel with Jesus on the shores of the Galilean Sea.
Watch the full service on our YouTube channel by clicking here.
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
10,000 words wasn’t enough folks. I still have 2 questions to answer and submit. I am grateful for this opportunity and painfully aware of the “this is a test” purpose of the exercise. I will share some of my writing with you after this is over and I can look at it again.
I will be out of town the next two Sundays. Until I see you again, be safe and careful. Wash you hands, avoid large crowds and stay home if you are ill. My love to all, Mary
Is theology more like philosophy or math?
There are many different philosophical positions.
But two times two is always four.
So, theology must be like philosophy. Look at the 20,000 denominations of Christianity.
There seems to be no stable truth. No clear single picture of what God is like.
I beg to differ.
God is knowable through experience.
Every experience of God gives us information about God. And that information is always consistent from one experience to another.
Talk to 100 people who have encountered God in an NDE or other form of religious experience.
The God they meet will always be the same:
Entirely loving.
Endlessly forgiving.
Every experience of God gives us information about God.
And that information is consistent and reliable.
Like two plus two.
Theology is a study of available information.
It is not guesswork.
It can be accurate.
And here’s the big news:
Experience gives us the same information about God that we get from Jesus.
Jesus got God right!
Plato didn’t.
Aristotle didn’t.
Not one of the great thinkers of antiquity got God right. But Jesus did. This is the most powerful argument for the claim we make that Jesus is Lord.
Luke 6:27-36 is the best description ever written of the God we know exists.
And how do we know this God exists? We meet God through experience.
Two plus two is always four. And God is always and at all times—love.