What we're teaching this Summer

In the next few weeks we'll wrap up 1 John. As always, we like to give you a heads up on what's coming next. Before I do that let me remind you of the two primary reasons I tell you what our future teaching plans are. First, we want you (as an individual) studying what we (as a church) will study before we get there. We want you reading, praying, and thinking through books of the Bible before we teach them. I believe that our study of God's word will be richer and have far greater impact if we will do this. Second, we want to give you the opportunity to ask questions before we get to those verses that make you scratch your head. If you've got a question about a passage of Scripture chances are you're not alone. If you ask your questions beforehand it will help your pastors think through the text and work through application, and we can answer those questions in our sermons. So, with that said, here's our next two sermon series.Habakkuk, at 3 chapters long, is one of the shorter minor prophets. Habakkuk is not as well know as other prophets, like Isaiah or Jonah, but his sort message packs a powerful punch. Habakkuk asks God some of the most difficult questions any Christian will ever ask. The book of Habakkuk is comprised of Habakkuk's two complaints, God's two answers, and Habakkuk's final prayer of trust and worship. As you're reading, look for faith, God's sovereignty over history, and righteous judgement.After Habakkuk we're doing a 4 week study we're calling Human. There's a lot we could cover, but we're going to focus in on how the redemption of Christ includes the whole human. Too often Christian thinking succumbs to something called platonic dualism (the idea that the physical and non-physical are entirely separate things, and often the thought that the 'spiritual' is better). Biblical redemption, however, includes the whole human--physical and spiritual. We'll focus in on what the work of Christ means for our mind, body, and soul. Some good questions to think through before we start would be: how does redemption change my thinking?, what does the work of Christ mean for my physical body?, how does the cross change my 'inner man' or soul?I'm looking forward to seeing what Scripture has to teach us in the next few months. And remember, if you have any questions make sure you don't keep them to yourself! Post them on this blog, send me and email, or tell one of your pastors Sunday.