This is the second sermon in the series called “Revelation: Worship God – A Call to Endurance and Faithfulness.”
Tags: Sermon
This is the first sermon in the series called “Revelation: Worship God – A Call to Endurance and Faithfulness”
Tags: Sermon
The book of Revelation has long been ignored by many in the Christian tradition. In fact several follow a few in the early church who argued that it not be included in the Christian canon. However, it was included and it sits as a hermeneutical enigma in the body of Christian literature. Some contemporary interpreters twist the intended meaning while others don’t treat it as a living word for the community of Christ followers today. With such a diverse set of opinions regarding the contents of the work from within the Christian fold, it has become a source of both laughter and fear for those outside the fold.
My friend and pastor started a sermon series at the beginning of August on the book of Revelation. His name is Eric Forgrave and we serve the community of Grandview through our faith community. As a lead into the series, he developed a great introduction that was written for our faith community but I felt needed to be shared with others.
Here is a taste of this easy to read, concise, insightful, and generous introduction to the book of Revelation.
Here is an example of how the different interpretative approaches interpret Revelation.
The “four horsemen” of chapter 6
Preterist- This view sees them as related to people who lived and events that occurred in Palestine and Asia during the first century.
Futurist- This view sees them representing specific future calamities which will take place before the second coming of Christ.
Historist- This view has no consensus on who or what the four horsemen represent mainly due to the fact that those who hold this view see everything relating to their current world, which is constantly changing.
Idealist- This view sees them as common places in history which are the results of a fallen society permeated with evil and injustice
Download the introduction and begin exploring the book of Revelation.
Tags: Discipleship, Scripture, Sermon
An interesting question came up at Slant33: “What are the necessary aspects of creating environments where God can be experienced?”
As I was reading the responses I thought the question was confusing. I thought all of the bloggers where going to depict elements of a formational and transformational environment in youth ministry. What I found was some incredulity to the idea that youth workers could create environments that promote a God-human encounter. All of the answers pointed in slightly different directions which seemed to indicate to me that they had as much trouble with the question as I did.
As I reflected on their answers, a haunting question crept into my head. “Do youth workers even think about God when planning youth ministry?” I mean there is a lot of stuff to think about when planning youth ministry.
- The needs of students.
- The needs of the church
- The needs of the community
- The needs of parents.
- The particulars of programs.
- The curriculum.
- The volunteers that need to be brought up to speed.
- The budget items.
- The relationships with youth.
- The transportation of students to and from the program.
- And I could keep going with the list.
So I wonder, youth worker, “Do you think about God when planning youth ministry?” If so then when and how? Is it a passing thought at the end? Do you have a continual conversation as you plan? When do you reflect on what God wants, where God is at, and what God is doing?
Tags: Random
Barefoot Ministry
