By the Book

We are starting a new sermon series called “Courageous Conversations.” We will be looking at some current event topics and issues. This will be a recurring theme from time to time. Courageous for this sermon series means the following: We need courage -to create safe spaces to be honest with one another, – to be quiet to truly hear another perspective, -to say “I don’t know” and hold the uncomfortable tensions of unanswered questions with humility in prayer, – to look at God’s Word with fresh eyes and listen for God’s voice, because even though we sincerely think we are right, we are human and may sincerely have it wrong, so we need humility. We need courage to have conversations that may result in agreeing to disagree, while committing to still love one another with grace, empathy, and compassion. It takes courage to have honest conversations where we may have opposite viewpoints. It can be very hard to still love without judgement or criticism and buck against all we may be feeling and judging. We need the courage to remember that we are all human and deeply loved by a gracious and compassionate God who loves us all just the same. This Courageous Conversations series is not about the opinions of talk show hosts or sharing our own opinions. As followers of Jesus, we must all begin from the same starting place and foundation. We start with THE BOOK we believe; we start with the Bible. As we begin this series looking at some hot topics from the foundation of God’s Word, our first courageous conversation is about God’s Word itself.