Word of Life Church Podcast

To follow Jesus and the way he taught, especially when living in a military-economic superpower, is to be radically counter-cultural. The ways and values of superpowers are the very opposite of the ways and values commanded by Jesus. To live out the Sermon on the Mount in the context of empire will cause you to be viewed as a freak -- a Jesus freak. The Jesus way, when truly lived, has always been viewed with suspicion by people in power. As the Apostle Paul said to the Roman governor, "I admit that I follow the Way which they call a cult."

Whatever it means for the world to be saved, God does not do it through the conventional means of power (politics, weapons, wars), but though the unconventional means of utter powerlessness—through the crucifixion of a Galilean Jew. Thus the kind of power Christians are to aspire to is cruciform in nature

On the 35th Anniversary of Word of Life Church, Pastor Brian tells the story walking the Camino de Santiago during his Sabbatical.

We have told ourselves that some scars last a lifetime and some wounds may never heal, but the story of scripture tells an entirely other truth. God is working throughout history, the present, and the future to make all things new and set all things right. How might this bring hope, healing, and redemption to our own lives? And as we experience this new creation work, what are we called to do with it?

If you've ever struggled to trust God, you are not alone. The story of the people of God has been a long story of learning to trust that God cares. In a world where we feel bombarded with anxiety, uncertainty, and injustice, we often ask "Who cares?" Jesus reminds us that God is more just than we could have ever imagined. He is a God who cares and will act to set all things right.

For generations, even before humans were literate, father and mothers have sat fireside with sons and daughters, night after night, telling stories. These Stories, both new and old, are the stories that have become our scriptures. Storytelling is the way we pass on our history and our own experience, inviting others into our story. When our story intersects with the Jesus story, our response should be to go and tell this story. Telling our story may be the very way that someone else is able to find hope and healing in their own story.

The death of Jesus on the cross is central to the gospel story and it is central to our faith. The cross was scandalous for first-century Jews and silly for first-century Romans. It is ignored by modern people, but for those of us who believe, the cross changes everything. It is the day a revolution began. The cross is only revolutionary if we get the end game right. If the end is disembodied Christians living in heaven for all eternity then the cross becomes the central figure of a new religion, nothing more. But if the end of our story is new creation, the restoration of all things, the salvation of the world, then we see again the revolutionary nature of the cross.