If you are a follower of Jesus you are not what you do. You aren't what people say about you or what you say about you. You are not what your haunted past says about you. These all belong to your old self, your false self. If you are a follower of Jesus, you find your true self in Jesus. Through baptism we have died to our old self and now our life, our new self, is hidden away with Christ in God. Who am I? I am Christian. I am a fellow follower of Jesus. I am a full-functioning member of God’s family. This identity supersedes all other identities. Before race, nationality, and gender, I am Christian. Before family identities, I am Christian. Before political affiliation and ideology, I am Christian. Fight the temptation to trade away your Christian identity for anything else, because your life, your true self, is hidden with Jesus.
Who Are You?
October 22, 2017 • Derek Vreeland
Anniversary Sunday: A Long Obedience In the Same Direction
November 3, 2019 • Brian Zahnd
“The essential thing in heaven and in earth is that there should be a long OBEDIENCE in the same direction that thereby results, in the long run, in something which makes life worth living—virtue, art, music, dancing, reason, spirituality—anything whatsoever that is transfiguring, refined, foolish, or divine.” –Friedrich Nietzsche
Let Justice Roll Down
July 21, 2019 • Derek Vreeland
Justice is the presence of God’s healing presence in the world. It's God’s ongoing work of setting right a world gone wrong. When people are suffering, where the strong oppress the weak, when people are suffering lack, the justice of God comes. When the brokenness of our world keeps people pushed aside and robbed of dignity and value, the justice of God comes to heal and restore. When we do justice and love kindness we are joining God in God's mission on the earth.
Is Christianity A Religion?
June 16, 2019 • Brian Zahnd
On Trinity Sunday the church emphasizes that the living God is a Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Trinity is not a word found in Scripture, rather it is a formulation within the Christian religion drawn by the church from Scripture in concert with the Holy Spirit. It took the church three centuries to arrive at the creedal statement about the Trinity set forth in the year 325. In the Council of Nicaea we see how the Holy Spirit works with the church in the development of the Christian religion. But I also know that some modern protestants balk at Christianity being referred to as a religion. So today I want to address the question: Is Christianity a Religion?