Sermons on Culture (Page 4)
Swimming Lessons, Week 5: “Culture and Identity in Christ”
God’s redemptive mission began in earnest through the covenant cut with Abraham and his family who will become Israel. God was restoring the blessing and calling given to humanity in the beginning. God was restoring the shalom, the right-relatedness between God and humanity and between peoples. Right-relatedness was restored between Abraham and God through Abraham’s faith, trust, and allegiance. All this preceded the giving of Torah. By the time Jesus enters the story of God’s redemptive mission, Torah-observance marks off…
Swimming Lessons, Week 4: “The Rise of Babylon”
The fourth sermon in the “Swimming Lessons” teaching series entitled “The Rise of Babylon,” this message presents an interpretation of the “Tower of Babel” story in Genesis chapter 11 as the genesis of empire and cultural captivity. This message challenges viewers to examine the ways we capitulate or participate in cultural captivity. How many times have you heard that Pentecost “reversed the curse” of Babel? Did you know that the word “curse” never appears in the story? What if diversity…
Swimming Lessons, Week 3: “City of Cain”
The third message in the “Swimming Lessons” series builds upon the previous two, by continuing to chart the descent of human culture into greater and greater brokenness. In this message, Pastor T. C. shows how human culture disintegrated from the original “Garden Culture” to Cain killing his brother Abel. But, the shattering of shalom isn’t confined to individuals. After God marks Cain for his own protection, the story says Cain built a city. Our judgment of and violence toward one…
Swimming Lessons, Week 2: “Judgment Culture”
“Swimming Lessons: A Deep Dive into Culture” is a teaching series exploring the ways we are influenced and formed by the many different cultures we inhabit. Like water to a fish, we can easily be oblivious to the ways the cultures to which we are accustomed. This series is an exploration of the waters we swim in, and instruction from the Scriptures and teachings of Jesus on how to navigate them. In this message, Pastor T. C. picks up the…
Swimming Lessons, Week 1: “Garden Culture”
This message kicks off a new teaching series exploring the ways we are formed and malformed by culture. In this first message, Pastor T. C. lays a foundation for the series by starting where the biblical story starts: in Genesis chapter 1. In the story of Genesis 1 and 2, God creates humanity in God’s “image.” This “image of God” (Latin: imago Dei) is less about attributes humanity possesses and more about a calling with which humanity is blessed. God…