Home(church) Coming
Dec. 19th, 2004 11:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ziasudraWoohoo, I went back to my home church today! It's been a while, I think not since something like 7 months ago :p I had a good time there. Saw some people I haven't seen in a while—including one of my former students who started jumping up and down upon seeing me. She's such a sweet girl ^_^
As usual, it was during the sermon when I realized how much I missed hearing Pastor Thomas' preaching. It's like his whole speech was a thesis paper, with angle, evidence, anecdotes, and even a compelling conclusion. If he ever publishes any books or academic papers, I think I'll jump in line first chance to buy them.
Just look at this -->
Date: December 19, 2004
Reading: Mark 5:1-20 ff.
Title: Can't Have One Without the Other
Thesis: His premise is based on the false dichotomy between the perception of Jesus as Savior and Jesus as Lord. He argues that such a dichotomy is impossible (hence the sermon title).
His Claim: "The fact that Jesus is Lord makes it possible for him to be Savior." Or, in plain language, Jesus is Savior only because he is Lord. (the concept of authority is the qualifier of lordship, and the concept of salvation is the qualifer of his role as savior.)
And how does he string the sermon together? By tying everything in with a pit-bull! What a way to capture people's attention! haha, he was definitely aware that there were ADHD and/or sleep-deprived high schoolers seated in the audience :D
First, the pit-bull story:
A father and son visits a car-parts junk yard. The purpose of the place is for people to grab usable car parts for low prices. Due to recent theft, the owner of the place bought a pit-bull to guard against thieves. The pit-bull is tied with a leash that only allows it to run around in a 5 ft circle. Despite its limited mobility, the plan to eradicate theft worked.
On this day, while the father is busily examining something, the pit-bull suddenly breaks free of its leash and, by instinct, rushes toward the little boy—snarling, baring its teeth, barking. The boy is terrified. He does the only thing he can: scream.
When the father hears the scream, he rushes between the boy and the pit-bull. Using the car part he has picked up, he attacks the dog and subdues it.
Application:
What are the "dogs" of real life?
He proposes four things --> 1. disaster, 2. violence, 3. sickness, 4. death.
Jesus can save (role: savior) people from "dogs" only if he can subdue (role: lord) them like the father does in the story. Otherwise, the boy would have been hurt. This is his central argument for why lordship and savior is not an either/or thing.
Text: Mark 5 ff.
OK, here's the cool thing. I read this chapter like 15934 times before but mostly in chopped up sections. Pastor Thomas managed to point out every one of the "four dogs" in the verses, something I've never realized before—disaster & violence (the demon possessed man), sickness (the woman w/blood issues), and death (Jairus' daughter). Somehow, all "dogs" are addressed within the passage, kind of cool, huh?
(However, the academic side of me *needs* to question whether he came up with the "four dogs" before locating them in Mark 5 or after. It makes a big difference, after all.)
Real Life Parallel(?):
This is the part of the sermon where he asks for decisions. So he elaborates on the townspeople's reaction in Mark 5:16-17. After seeing Jesus' demonstration of power (i.e., declaring his lordship), the townspeople ask him to leave. This is a rejection of Jesus as Lord, which by extension, is a rejection of Jesus as Savior.
The questions he left with the congregation are:
1. Based on the story, who are you? (those who say "Jesus, go away" like the townspeople, or those who say "Lord, I want to be with you" like the cured demon-possessed man)
2. What is your response to Jesus' lordship?
So, a non-Christmas-y sermon during the Advent season. Deep stuff, my half-rated summary doesn't do it justice.
It just really got me considering going back to my home church at least semi-consistently. I have my reservations—the commute (almost 2 hours!), my own rather poor church attendance record this entire fall semester, :p among other things. The plus though? I already know the place, so no need to reestablish community and relationships (introvert here...). And for the first time in who knows when, I, um, "felt" something God-related that's not really describable. That's important for church-stuff, right? So...I'm confused. What should I do?
As usual, it was during the sermon when I realized how much I missed hearing Pastor Thomas' preaching. It's like his whole speech was a thesis paper, with angle, evidence, anecdotes, and even a compelling conclusion. If he ever publishes any books or academic papers, I think I'll jump in line first chance to buy them.
Just look at this -->
Date: December 19, 2004
Reading: Mark 5:1-20 ff.
Title: Can't Have One Without the Other
Thesis: His premise is based on the false dichotomy between the perception of Jesus as Savior and Jesus as Lord. He argues that such a dichotomy is impossible (hence the sermon title).
His Claim: "The fact that Jesus is Lord makes it possible for him to be Savior." Or, in plain language, Jesus is Savior only because he is Lord. (the concept of authority is the qualifier of lordship, and the concept of salvation is the qualifer of his role as savior.)
And how does he string the sermon together? By tying everything in with a pit-bull! What a way to capture people's attention! haha, he was definitely aware that there were ADHD and/or sleep-deprived high schoolers seated in the audience :D
First, the pit-bull story:
A father and son visits a car-parts junk yard. The purpose of the place is for people to grab usable car parts for low prices. Due to recent theft, the owner of the place bought a pit-bull to guard against thieves. The pit-bull is tied with a leash that only allows it to run around in a 5 ft circle. Despite its limited mobility, the plan to eradicate theft worked.
On this day, while the father is busily examining something, the pit-bull suddenly breaks free of its leash and, by instinct, rushes toward the little boy—snarling, baring its teeth, barking. The boy is terrified. He does the only thing he can: scream.
When the father hears the scream, he rushes between the boy and the pit-bull. Using the car part he has picked up, he attacks the dog and subdues it.
Application:
What are the "dogs" of real life?
He proposes four things --> 1. disaster, 2. violence, 3. sickness, 4. death.
Jesus can save (role: savior) people from "dogs" only if he can subdue (role: lord) them like the father does in the story. Otherwise, the boy would have been hurt. This is his central argument for why lordship and savior is not an either/or thing.
Text: Mark 5 ff.
OK, here's the cool thing. I read this chapter like 15934 times before but mostly in chopped up sections. Pastor Thomas managed to point out every one of the "four dogs" in the verses, something I've never realized before—disaster & violence (the demon possessed man), sickness (the woman w/blood issues), and death (Jairus' daughter). Somehow, all "dogs" are addressed within the passage, kind of cool, huh?
(However, the academic side of me *needs* to question whether he came up with the "four dogs" before locating them in Mark 5 or after. It makes a big difference, after all.)
Real Life Parallel(?):
This is the part of the sermon where he asks for decisions. So he elaborates on the townspeople's reaction in Mark 5:16-17. After seeing Jesus' demonstration of power (i.e., declaring his lordship), the townspeople ask him to leave. This is a rejection of Jesus as Lord, which by extension, is a rejection of Jesus as Savior.
The questions he left with the congregation are:
1. Based on the story, who are you? (those who say "Jesus, go away" like the townspeople, or those who say "Lord, I want to be with you" like the cured demon-possessed man)
2. What is your response to Jesus' lordship?
So, a non-Christmas-y sermon during the Advent season. Deep stuff, my half-rated summary doesn't do it justice.
It just really got me considering going back to my home church at least semi-consistently. I have my reservations—the commute (almost 2 hours!), my own rather poor church attendance record this entire fall semester, :p among other things. The plus though? I already know the place, so no need to reestablish community and relationships (introvert here...). And for the first time in who knows when, I, um, "felt" something God-related that's not really describable. That's important for church-stuff, right? So...I'm confused. What should I do?
