Coming March 14th: A Longing & Loving to Know Experience with Esther L. Meek, PhD.

You’d think that, as someone who stands in front of a big group of people to describe the unfathomable love of God on an almost-weekly basis, writing a short blog post to preview an event all about “knowing God” would be a walk in the park. It’s not. Explaining why it’s so hard for me to put into words is also a real challenge (and thick with irony, as you’ll soon understand)! But here it is (bear with me)…

Whether we know it or not, we (21st century Westerners) have been shaped by a period you learned about in high school but likely haven’t even thought about since then: the Enlightenment. In short, it was an intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries where ideas about God, reason, nature, and humanity were all synthesized into a worldview that sparked revolutionary developments in art, philosophy, and politics. As a result, the centrality of reason, logic, and especially information as the exclusive means of knowing (a.k.a. “epistemology”) isn’t just part of how we see the world, it is the foundational assumption.

There’s a lot of good that came with all this (see aforementioned “revolutionary developments”), but it also severely complicates and interferes with how we relate to God. And I’m not just talking about those of us who experience perennial doubt or skepticism, it’s a far more subtle and pernicious influence on our faith than we are even aware of. For example…

Have you ever read the Bible and felt like you “didn’t get anything out of it”?

Does “knowing” God ever feel more like an academic exercise than a relationship?

Is your faith characterized by a nagging doubt that you aren’t a Christian because you have doubts?

Do your prayers feel like you’re just going through the motions?

Do you long to not just know about God, but to actually experience Him?

And of course, we have all asked in different ways and with different degrees of urgency - “How do I know that God exists?”

We desperately need what Esther Meek (Professor of Philosophy at Geneva College) calls “epistemological therapy” - an experience that exposes where (and how deeply) our attempts to know God are compromised by this incomplete way of knowing, helps us to deconstruct them, and then rebuilds in their place a way of both seeing and knowing God in our ordinary, everyday lives. And that’s exactly what she will be doing with us on Saturday March 14th, from 8:30am to 4pm (lunch included)!

At this point, you may be thinking “gee, this sounds a lot like a church conference.” It’s not. There may not be any more pure expression of knowing-by-acquiring-information than an event where “participants” (an oxymoron) sit passively to absorb raw concepts without an experience or practice thereof (aka a “conference”). And if one could learn how to ride a bike merely by reading an instruction manual, then that’d be fine. But reality is such that “Knowing God” is a lot more like learning to ride a bike (called “tacit knowing”) than going to a class or conference. Thus, this very not-conference epistemological therapy we are dubbing an “experience” will involve a lot of active participation, interaction, and discussion.

I’m having trouble describing this because it is so utterly different this is from anything you or I have done before - it is revolutionary and new for me too!

If you’d like to learn a little more about Esther Meek and wrap your head around what I’m talking about, I highly recommend this short video interview from her publisher (don’t be intimidated by some of her more academic language!) and/or ordering her incredibly accessible book, “Longing to Know.” While this iteration will be limited to Cohort Leaders, Table Kids Teachers, and a few other volunteer leaders, we hope to expand this and bring it more fully into the life and lens of The Table in both the short and long-term!

When: Saturday, March 14th from 8:30am-4pm
Where: Rocky Mountain Presbyterian Church (4097 Main St, Westminster, CO 80031)
Lunch: Provided (RSVP for details)

What's in a Name?

(Justin Chappell)

A name tells a story. 

Consider the street names near your home. Someone came up with those names, and there was almost certainly a degree of intentionally and purpose embedded in the chosen name — even the not-so-original suburban street names! The same degree of intentionality and purpose is embedded in the name of a church. For that reason, a couple of convictions have shaped the naming process for the “Longmont church plant.” First, a name must be vision-formed. It needs to tell you why we exist. Second, it must be uniquely and specifically focused on place. It should reflect the realities of Longmont. So, in order to understand our name, you need to know a little about Longmont…

I’ve learned that people in Longmont really want their story to matter. There’s a shared longing to write a better story for yourself and share in the stories of others. I believe this is why more and more people are calling Longmont home each year (and very few leave). It’s a place of beauty and unexplored opportunity — especially the opportunity to craft a more meaningful story. And if you had to choose somewhere to do that, wouldn’t you choose a place like Longmont?* But what if we can’t write a better story? What if the frustration and brokenness of our stories can’t be crafted away? This is where the Gospel offers unprecedented hope — the hope that Jesus can redeem our stories and rescue us into his more true and satisfying Story. 

In many ways, Longmont is just like any other city in the Front Range of Colorado. It’s filled with stories of joy and sadness; delight and sorrow; satisfaction and longing; connection and loneliness; adventure and boredom. There’s beauty and brokenness all around us; but we have our own take on these realities. While sharing in the unique stories of my city I’ve become more and more burdened to see them found whole and given new life in the Redeemer’s Story. This particular burden has given birth to a particular vision, for a particular place, and it’s uniquely reflected in the name we’ve chosen...Redeemer Longmont. 

And with that, we can now officially retire the placeholder of “to-be-named Longmont church plant.” A praise worthy retirement, indeed.

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A name absolutely matters; but eventually the name becomes the vehicle for describing an experience. What does Apple or Twitter mean apart from your experience of their products and services? The same is true for the local church. The name Redeemer Longmont wasn’t pulled out of a hat, but what does it actually mean apart from your experience of it? The vision for Redeemer Longmont is to embody the redeeming story of Jesus in all of life for all of Longmont. This is a vision anchored by invitation and experience; the invitation to be found whole and flourish in the Redeemer’s Story, and the experience of a community loving fully with the Redeemer’s courage. With this vision before us, wouldn’t it be wonderful if our name was simply the vehicle for describing a greater and more satisfying experience of Jesus in, and through, our community? 

This is the hope behind our name. Join us in praying this vision for Redeemer Longmont to life!

*https://smartasset.com/mortgage/top-boomtowns-in-america-2019

Advent: Upside-Christmas

Did you know that upside down Christmas trees are a thing? Seriously. You can either buy a fake one that is designed specifically to sit in the stand that way or hang them from the ceiling like a chandelier. They’re apparently “all the rage” for several reasons:

1. In-store displays keep far more of the ornaments at eye level and, at home, far more ornaments are out of the easy reach of both toddlers and pets.

2. In smaller homes and apartments where square footage is at a premium, it’s far easier to squeeze an end table or couch next to (or maybe under?) the inverted branches.

3. It affords some more creative means of decoration (I gotta admit, this one with tinsel is pretty dang cool).

4. After the Tate Museum in London featured one as a work of art (complete with roots wrapped in gold leaf!), where artist Shirazeh Houshiary quoted a Buddhist monk for inspiration, some now consider it a non-conformist statement piece contra more traditional Christmas celebrations.

5. But the most popular reason (by far) is this: you can fit more presents underneath an upside down Christmas tree.

Besides the fact that we need more reasons to indulge our consumeristic tendencies like we need a hole in the head (we don’t), it’s remarkably stunning how far we have gotten from the original meaning of the upside-down Christmas tree.

That’s right. This is NOT a new fad.

This tradition is rooted (hah!) in the European middle ages where, the legend goes, a Benedictine monk named Saint Boniface noticed the triangular shape of the pine tree could serve as a visual symbol of the Trinity. He turned it upside-down so that the tip pointed from Heaven down to Earth, symbolizing the movement of God the Son (Jesus) leaving Heaven to be born as human baby. This is what Christians call the “incarnation” (from Latin meaning, “in the flesh”), and the entire reason why we celebrate Christmas every year!

So yes, it is a non-conformist statement, but one that is more explicitly connected to its traditional roots (I can’t help myself!) and against contemporary efforts to repurpose it for whatever we want!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a depth of cosmic irony more thick than a slice of year-old Christmas fruitcake!

At this point, you’re probably wondering how in the world this is relevant or helpful outside of an obscure question at an upcoming Trivia Night (if you’re lucky). Don’t worry, I actually have a point with all this: If we can so easily forget and hijack the deeply significant spiritual meaning of an upside-down Christmas tree and twist it for our own (thoroughly American) purposes, what other aspects of Christmas have we unknowingly distorted? Where else do we think we are rightly appreciating Christmas but are, in reality, operating off of a paradigm that has more to do with 21st century consumerism than the birth of the world’s Savior? Our guide to answering that question, the means by which we recover the original beauty, and the way we fully take hold of it is, of course, by exploring Jesus’ incarnation and it’s multi-faceted implications on our lives.

Thus, this Advent’s sermon series (starting December 1st) will explore how the birth of Jesus radically turns upside-down what we think we know about Christmas in four significant areas of life: Power, Peace, Generosity, and Family.

My hope for this Christmas season is that, as the Gospel seems to be turning us upside-down, we’ll realize that we’ve actually been upside down the whole time, and that the birth of Jesus would do a work in our hearts that results with us more truly and more beautifully… well… right-side-up.

To the Ends of the Earth (Part 2): Lafayette + Longmont

For the last 2 years, we’ve been mentioning off and on about “sending a church plant to Longmont,” and you’ve of course met our Church Planting Resident and his wife, Justin and Caitlyn Chappell. Well, that is finally becoming a reality! In September, 2020, we will be (tearfully + joyfully) praying over them and any Longmont families who commit themselves to the mission of starting another church from scratch, and sending them out to give the “Gift” of the Gospel away in Longmont!

Wait… I thought you said that’s ‘finally’ happening…? That’s still a whole year away!

Correct! But we have a lot of work to do over the course of that year… Sending a church plant is a monumental task for any church, that is exponentially more true when the sending church is still a church plant themselves. We are, as they say, “building the plane while we fly it,” and actively trusting the empowering promise of Acts 1:8 to be true for The Table in Lafayette, as well as those we send to plant (To-Be-Named-Church) in Longmont. We will talk about the practical details of all that as we work through Acts, but here are a few important dates you can put on your calendar now… (Note: If you live in Longmont, Justin has already given you a timeline specific to your Neighborhood!)

• Move to Centaurus High School (October 6th) :: In the last year, the number of people in a Cohort has doubled (!!!), Sunday morning attendance has increased by about 25-30% (summer to summer so far), and Table Kids is veritably bursting at the seams. In short, we need to make a lot more room for our neighbors!

• Vision Sunday (October 20th) :: A blend of a typical Sunday morning and a Congregational Meeting, that week’s liturgy will be streamlined and shortened so we can discuss where we’re going and how we’re getting there, while also affording lots of extra time for Q&A with the Pastoral Team. We also hope to publish our first-ever “Annual Report” that Sunday to more comprehensively tell the story of what God is doing in/through our church family.

• Membership Class (November 9th) :: Having a robust and healthy membership is a vital pre-requisite for “particularization” (the process for a church plant to elect and ordain elders, reach financial self-sustainability, and officially become an established church). All are invited, whether you intend to commit to membership or not (we hope you do!), and it’s an excellent way to “pop the hood” or “kick the tires” of the theological vision that… well… drives The Table’s approach to ministry (pun-intended).

• End of Year Giving Campaign (Advent: December 1st-24th) :: As of the end of August, over $62k (18% of our annual budget) in support from outside organizations will expire, and monthly internal giving is currently 72% of what we need to be self-sustaining. Our goal is to close some of that gap with one-time, above-and-beyond giving to cover all of our “Missions” budget (support for the Chappells, church planting networks that have supported us, plus a few Table-specific initiatives we’re developing), totaling $40k. More specifics on Vision Sunday!

• Volunteer Transitioning (January 19th-Easter, April 12th ) :: Over the course of 3 months, we will be gradually (very gradually) phasing out those on the Longmont launch team from their Sunday morning volunteer roles. If you get tired of us calling for volunteers this Fall, it’s because we will need to replace 20+ volunteers going to Longmont even as we add more to keep up with growth! Thus, if you consider The Table to be your “home,” we’d humbly encourage you to commit to serving on a Sunday morning just once per month.

A Final (Encouraging) Thought…

To say this is ambitious would be an understatement, and we confidently believe that this is what it means to be faithful stewards of the Gift(s) God has given The Table. Without a doubt, it is a God-sized vision that will take a comparable reliance on God to accomplish. If I’m really honest, writing all this feels simultaneously exciting and exhausting, both naturally inevitable and potentially presumptuous of God.

But do you want to hear the really crazy thing about all this?

The breadth and depth of growth needed over the next year for us to sustainably send a church plant to Longmont is still less than the fruit we’ve seen at The Table over the last year! I promise, I am not exaggerating (this time). It’s most easily felt in the longer lines to check in for Table Kids, the cramped foyer right after worship ends, or seen it in the thousand-yard-stares of our Staff or Pastoral Team who are faithfully working to ensure everyone is cared for and no one falls through the cracks (please thank them profusely and pray for them often!), but there are so many more stories of God’s grace that we look forward to sharing with you over the next year (and especially on Vision Sunday)!

Till then, take a deeeep breath, and pray for the power and presence of God to guide us as we seek to be the flourishing presence of Jesus in Lafayette, Longmont, and yes… to the ends of the earth.

To the Ends of the Earth (Part 1): The Book of Acts

In September, we’ll be starting a new sermon series in one of the most dramatic narratives in all of scripture: the Book of Acts. The author, Luke, picks up right where his Gospel left off and gives us a historical picture of both the explosive outward growth and extraordinary inward transformation of the early church.

Right before leaving the disciples, Jesus tells them that they “… will be (His) witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” You could call that a mission statement (it is), but it’s a lot more than that: It’s a gift to give away and a promise to empower.

A Gift to Give Away

If the guy living next door in my college dorm had not invited me to a Bible study, or if a guy I’d never met named “Max” had not anonymously paid for me to go on his campus ministry’s spring break service trip, I wouldn’t be a Christian today - never mind a pastor! If the disciples had not relied upon that empowering promise and been faithful “witnesses to the end of the earth,” The Table would not exist today. The upstart, carpenter-worshipping minority sect of Judaism that came to be called “Christianity” would have flamed out within weeks of Jesus’ death and resurrection. In every time, place, and culture across human history, the transformative experience of the Gospel has so profoundly impacted people that they’ve felt compelled to tell others about their experience (i.e. “witness”). That compulsion comes not from a sense of stoic duty, but surprised delight in a gift we didn’t know we’ve always longed for. The degree to which we experience the Gospel as a “gift” is the degree to which we will be itching to offer that gift to our neighbors.

A Promise to Empower

But this “witnessing” is not on our own power… or on our own at all. The phrase, “you will be” is a promise to the disciples that the success or failure of that endeavor is dependent on Jesus, not their effort or effectiveness (Matthew 16:18). Time and again, the disciples face impossible circumstances, and the Holy Spirit shows up in both extraordinary and ordinary ways. That doesn’t mean the disciples are spared from pain or difficulty, not by a long shot! But Acts paints a picture of God’s unstoppable, transformative grace as it ripples throughout all of the Roman Empire, and beyond. This was not just for the disciples “way back then,” this promise is the inherited reality of the modern church as we continue to be Jesus’s witnesses “to the end of the earth” on our block, in our jobs, and every other sphere of life.

To Be Continued…

It was Luke’s explicit intent in writing Acts in the first place: the “Acts of the Apostles” are “to be continued” in and through the church, by and for every ensuing generation. This blog post is also “to be continued” (see what I did there?), and Part 2 will explore a lot more of the “how” behind all this, including a timeline and some very specific implications for The Table over the next year… like sending people to plant a new church in Longmont, but you already knew about that.

… to be continued!

Church Planting Resident Update (Justin Chappell)

Can you believe it? I’m already past the halfway mark in my church planting residency at The Table! But what does that mean? And what’s ahead? Here’s a peek into where we’ve been and where we’re going...

As a refresher, why a church planting residency (see also the FAQ we put out at the start of this journey)? The three-year residency was designed to give me the space and support to plant a church in Longmont. We knew it was essential to “try on” specific aspects of leadership unique to church planting, to listen and learn from the community where we’re planting, and to have financial and relational support from a local church. In many ways, our residency has “hit” most of these marks.

But more than simply checking important boxes along the way, this has been a beautifully formative time. I’m not just a church planter at The Table, I’m one of your pastors - and The Table is our church family. That means our stories are beautifully and inextricably tied together! Yes, The Table is sending us to plant; but, really, you are helping us plant. And we couldn’t imagine doing this any other way...

The early, and ongoing, focus

When we first moved to Longmont we were immediately struck by how great we fit in the community. But an enjoyment of something doesn’t equate to an understanding of it. Sure, we enjoyed Longmont and everything we were experiencing, but in order to love this place well we knew we needed to understand it. We needed to become ‘one of’ the community – and that takes time. So, from the moment we first arrived, we’ve been taking the time to listen, learn, and invest in this beautiful little city. And the residency has given us the space to do this in an unhurried and intentional way.

Why is this important? Because we’re not trying to plant a church that’s simply founded on our good and well-meaning ideas; we’re trying to plant a church with a vision specific to Longmont, unique to the people and stories of this place. In this way, we’re trying to plant with awareness, on a foundation of trust.

Where we’ve been...

While this focus has been running in the background, I’ve also been quite active at The Table. I spent the first 12 months of the residency “trying on leadership unique to planting.” In leading the Neighborhood transition and cohorts relaunch, I had the space to learn how to navigate change - both with vision and through a team. And you’ve probably heard me preach at least a time or two. It’s been a gift to establish good preaching habits and have the space to grow as a preacher before we launch (when I’m doing it every week!). The best part: I’ve been able to do all of this with a community of people that I love deeply. Leading in a vacuum is one thing; leading a community you’re invested in is another. I’m grateful for the ways you’ve not just allowed me to lead, but for your investment in us.

The past 8 months have been much more Longmont-centric. Our first year in Longmont was filled with many new connections, tremendous new friendships, and an abundance of new opportunities to serve the city. Surveying the breadth of this landscape, depth became the necessary next focus. In this way, I’ve mostly become full-time missionary to Longmont over the past 8 months. As such, I’ve been intentional about building trust, learning the stories of this place, and inviting people to taste and see a more true and satisfying story.

Where we’re going...

As you’re aware, church planting demands a level of strategic thinking and planning. As my qualitative (personal/specific) experiences pile up, I’ve begun marrying them with quantitative (objective/big picture) data. This is enabling me to tell a clear and compelling story for why we’re planting a church in Longmont. This also plants the early vision seeds that will eventually grow into more structured vision and values – the unique and specific ways a new church in Longmont will function. I’ll continue to work on these elements through the spring and into the early summer. Then the real fun/crazy begins!

We’re aiming to launch public worship in Longmont in September 2020. Yes, that’s slightly less than 18 months away (!!!), but here’s just a few things that need to happen between now and then: preparing the community for planting; multiple vision meals/parties; gathering and equipping a launch team and staff; and multiple preview services! All that to say: there will be significantly more information to share as we go along!

In more ways than you can imagine, your presence, support, and encouragement have given us a profound amount of confidence and hope. We couldn’t imagine doing any of this without the support and love from The Table - from you. Thank you.

We’re excited about what’s ahead, and we’re eager to share in the joy of it all with you! As always, don’t hesitate with questions!

Much love,

Justin Chappell

P.S. If you’d like to follow along a bit more closely, you can subscribe to my church planting newsletter here, and my prayer newsletter here.

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Advent: The Mothers of Jesus

In Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus (Mt. 1:1-17), he does something absolutely revolutionary, he includes four women: Bathsheba, Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth (plus Mary, of course). A King’s genealogy isn’t just a record of who He happens to be related to (a la today’s explosion of interest in exploring family genealogies), it is the royal lineage from which his authority and legitimacy is derived. For Matthew to include women in time and culture that doesn’t allow women to have any authority was not only unheard of, it would have unsettled, disturbed, and potentially alienated his original audience.

So… why did he do it then?

Besides dramatically grabbing the reader’s attention, Matthew was, at the very beginning of his Gospel, subverting our expectations of what kind of King this Jesus is going to be: His throne is a cradle, His heralds are shepherds, His palace is a manger, His parents are homeless and poor, His court is a menagerie of livestock… and His royal lineage includes a rape victim (Bathsheba), an abandoned widow (Tamar), a prostitute (Rahab), a widowed immigrant (Ruth), and a virgin (Mary). Each of these women have a powerful story that represents our longings for this very different kind of King and shapes our anticipation of how His Kingship will satisfy those longings.

In other words, Advent is anticipation of the Gospel…

… and the Gospel isn’t for those who’ve got their crap together this holiday season. It is for the frantic, the lonely, the discouraged and depressed. It is for those who can’t have children, and for those whose children still don’t fill the void in their hearts. It is for those who are longing, waiting, and anticipating the fulfillment we are all made for in Jesus.

Join us, Sundays at 10:00 AM, and on Christmas Eve at 4:00 PM for our Lessons & Carols service!

Click here for further Advent-related reading.

WWJV: What Would Jesus Vote? (Guest: Jeff Motter, PhD)

One of The Table’s own, Jeff Motter (PhD), teaches Political Rhetoric at the University of Colorado Boulder, is the Curator for TEDxCU, and has worked for both Democrat and Republican political campaigns. He has also written for numerous academic journals on the topics of democracy, politics, and culture, and is anxiously awaiting the publication of his first book, Rooted Resistance: Agrarian Myth in Modern American Culture. You might say he knows a thing or two about politics, so we are especially excited to have him offer some perspective ahead of this year’s midterm elections…

Just after my parents were engaged in 1968, they visited their families in Colorado and South Dakota. It was the summer of a presidential election year between Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey. My mom’s family are almost all Democrats and my dad’s family all Republicans. Visiting my mom’s family, the subject of politics came up and someone said, ‘Well, if the Republicans would just become Christians, they would see that they can’t vote for Nixon.” When visiting my dad’s family a relative said, “If the Democrats would just come to Jesus, they would understand that they can never vote for Democrats.” That happened fifty years ago. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

I’ve had hundreds, if not thousands, of conversations with Christians who assume I’ll confirm what they already think. But I can’t do that. Most often, I run into three kinds of Christian voters: the Warrior, the Self-Righteous, and the Conflicted. The Warrior is in a perpetual state of war. The Warrior is always on the lookout for the wolves trying to deceive and destroy, vigilant to the evils in this world. They are fighting for America’s Christian soul, and politics is their battlefield. The Self-righteous voter is woke. They wear their political label with pride and believe anyone who disagrees just doesn’t understand and needs to be educated. They speak more than they listen, invoking their vast knowledge of history and current events to show how history and reality are on their side. They are disgusted by people who don’t agree with them and are constantly shaking their head at the idiots who vote differently. The Conflicted person sees that there are issues with both parties. They constantly feel like choices in political candidates are only between bad and worse. There are no good options but they believe it’s their civic duty to vote. They aren’t single-issue voters but, most often, they cast their vote based on one or two issues. 

“Reconciliation is not passive, but actively pursues the physical and spiritual flourishing of all human society.”

There is no easy way out of this dilemma. All three types of voters have their virtues and limitations, and we’ll likely find ourselves in each of these categories at different points in our lives. Yet, so many Christians believe they have the obvious, clear answer to the question we all seek: WWJV? (“What Would Jesus Vote?”) I can’t tell you that and won’t try. What I can do is offer a framework that might be helpful. This framework doesn’t lead us to vote for a particular party or set of candidates. It’s much deeper than that: it’s a deeper way to think about how our beliefs and values might inform the choices in front of us. 

Do we seek a Reckoning or Reconciliation? Do we want a Reckoning where American culture and politics are forcibly brought into compliance with the “laws” of God? This framework sees society as moving away from God more each day, and it’s the Christian’s job to fight against the forces accelerating that shift. This is the posture of both the Warrior and the Self-Righteous, doing God’s work as we (conservatively or progressively) define it. More often than not, this work is interested only in forcing society into compliance. A reckoning is coming and we want to make sure we are on the correct side of history.

A framework of Reconciliation is quite different. This framework sees society as fundamentally broken, and Christians as God’s instruments in reconciling a broken world to Christ. The biblical concept of shalom is deeply embedded in the DNA of this perspective, and calls Christians to a vocation of creating wholeness and harmony in a world characterized by brokenness and division. It is not about any single issue, but all issues because every one of them are part of the complex ecosystem of God’s Creation. Reconciliation is not passive, but actively pursues the physical and spiritual flourishing of all human society. It prioritizes the comprehensive well-being of others, and rejects the radical individualism that places our interests and needs above our Neighbors’. To pursue Reconciliation requires us to leverage our vote to the policies, positions, and persons we think will most holistically flourish human society. 

In Jeremiah 29, God called His people, while exiled and enslaved by a hostile nation, to “seek the shalom (wholeness and harmony) of the city where I have placed you.” We are far from being an enslaved people, we live in a democracy where we get a voice and a vote, and yet our calling is certainly not less than this. Let us use both our voice and our vote for the shalom of whatever place (local, national, and global) that God has put us.

See also, Faith and Politics: The Case for Civility

Sermon Series: God's Story

The Table’s Church Planting Resident, Justin Chappell, will be leading us in our next sermon series, starting November 4th: “God’s Story.” The graphic above (courtesy of Danny Rankin) is an abstract depiction of the 4 “acts” or “chapters” of that historical narrative. Here Justin describes how a deeper understanding of God’s grand, true, and redemptive drama gives life, hope, and meaning to our own stories…

While writing this blog post in a public space, I overheard a nearby conversation. It was two women that seemed like they just met. And as you’d normally do when you first meet someone, you share your story. You give context to who you are today, give examples of your favorite things, share the motivation behind your work, build bridges over shared experiences, and dream about future endeavors. That’s what was happening. And then I heard, “I want this to make a difference – to help make things better!” At the risk of moving from “guy that overheard small conversation bits” to “weird eavesdropping guy that was documenting a stranger’s conversation” I wasn’t able to make out what it was that motivated that comment. But the comment could have easily been inserted into any of the other conversations going on around me. In this comment was both an experience and a belief. An experience that says something isn’t right, that something is not the way it should be; and a belief that it can be different, even better. If we listen closely enough to the stories we often tell, we’d likely recognize this same theme: things aren’t the way they seem they should be, and we’re hopeful there’s a way to improve the broken realities of life.

Fundamental to our stories is pain, deferred hope, disappointment, and countless other examples of things that just seem broken. And many of these stories are rooted in a fundamental belief that this is not the way it’s supposed to be – that we can do something about it. We look at political corruption and decry its effects, becoming ambassadors for candidates with greater promise. We experience racial and social injustice and become advocates for greater human dignity. We look back at our imperfect childhoods and promise to not make the same mistakes our parents made. In each of these, the resolve is rooted in the hope for something better. This is good. But how do we make sense of why things are the way they are? And how do we have any confidence in our version of a solution?

Interestingly, the Bible is telling a very similar story to the stories we tell. It’s filled with countless examples of brokenness; narcissism, racism, adultery, murder, just to name a few. But beyond simply highlighting things that aren’t the way they seem they should be, it gives context for why things are this way. And then it gives us hope for something better. This hope is not rooted in a future, self-authored solution - it’s embedded into our original design. It’s a hope that tells the truth about why things aren’t the way they’re supposed to be; it’s a hope authored by God himself. In this way, the Bible doesn’t just tell a similar story to our own, it’s the Story that gives meaning and purpose (and hope!) to all of our stories.

For most of us, we find it hard to make sense of the Bible. The stories seem disconnected, and the ones that aren’t disconnected seem contradictory. We need context. We need perspective. We need to explore the larger narrative (drama!) of the Bible. Join us for the month of November to explore this larger Story that God is telling through all the Bible. And bring your questions!

A Neighborhoods Story

When we launched Neighborhoods on Sunday morning (9/9), we showed this incredible video put together by one of our own - Documentary Filmmaker, Director, and Animator Chad Clendinen. His considerable gifts in storytelling powerfully illustrate how our definitions for “community” and “neighborhood” are inherently flawed and insufficient, as well as unavoidably influenced by our (very suburban) environment…