Peace | The Podcast

Idols and Partisanship | Retrace | Pt 4

Retrace | There are six passages in the Bible that are often used to harm and exclude people in the LGBTQIA+ community. This fall we will retrace these passages, diving into the context and cultures in which they are found. Through this process we may find that these passages aren't condemning or shaming, but they illuminate our understanding of how we are to love one another and become a grace-infused people.___
Idols and Partisanship | Romans 1.26-27 | The church in Rome is fractured between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. Paul is trying to help them unify. His tactic? Help them recognize that BOTH groups are in need of Christ. To do that, he deploys a crafty rhetorical tactic that sets-up the Jewish Christians. But that tactic hinges on utilizing some cultural customs prevalent at that time and using their own biases against them. 
This passage is probably the toughest to retrace. It comes across as the most straight forward. But maybe there's more to it than what we read on the surface. Maybe this passage is an effort to bring people together.
And we could use some of that in our world, in our politics, in our families right now.
 

Law, Rules, Codes, and Community | Retrace | Pt 3

Retrace | There are six passages in the Bible that are often used to harm and exclude people in the LGBTQIA+ community. This fall we will retrace these passages, diving into the context and cultures in which they are found. Through this process we may find that these passages aren't condemning or shaming, but they illuminate our understanding of how we are to love one another and become a grace-infused people.___
Laws, Rules, Codes, and Community | Leviticus 18.22 and 20.13 | Israel had laws, codes, and rules for how they were to live. And some of those expectations seem to exclude people. Do those apply to us today? How should we understand these expectations? What can they teach us about how we are called to live today?ALSO...This was John Kerns' last Sunday leading worship! We have been so grateful to have John with us for the past year. He has been energetic, thoughtful, and creative. John has truly helped bridge the space between the retirement of Dave Tidball and the next season of worship at Peace. THANK YOU JOHN!!
 

Hospitality and Harm | Retrace | Pt 2

Retrace | There are six passages in the Bible that are often used to harm and exclude people in the LGBTQIA+ community. This fall we will retrace these passages, diving into the context and cultures in which they are found. Through this process we may find that these passages aren't condemning or shaming, but they illuminate our understanding of how we are to love one another and become a grace-infused people.___
Hospitality and Harm | Genesis 19 | The story of Sodom being destroyed is one of the most common passages used to exclude and shame the LGBTQ+ community. Though this interpretation is largely critiqued, even by conservative scholars, there is still a stigma attached to this story. It's violence and total disregard for human decency leaves us asking many questions. 
But contrasted in the larger context of the story of Abraham, there's possibly a different message for us. It's more than a story of harm, warning us not to be power-hungry, violent people. But there's a posture of hospitality we can learn from this story. 

God-Breathed and Useful | Retrace | Pt 1

Retrace | There are six passages in the Bible that are often used to harm and exclude people in the LGBTQIA+ community. This fall we will retrace these passages, diving into the context and cultures in which they are found. Through this process we may find that these passages aren't condemning or shaming, but they illuminate our understanding of how we are to love one another and become a grace-infused people.___
God-Breathed and Useful | 2 Timothy 3.16-17 | This passage will likely be familiar to many, as it often is used to give legitimacy for our use of the Bible as a way to correct and teach about what is true. But is that how this passage (and more importantly the Bible) is meant to be used? Diving into this passage may unlock how we can see the Bible differently.
 

The Road to Kingdom Come | The Music That Made Us

What songs have resonated with you? What lyrics have put words to your longings and your struggles? How has music touched your soul and impacted your faith? This summer we will highlight the music that has made us.
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In this final part of our Summer Series called The Music That Made Us, Dave Tidball leads us on a musical journey. Through song and scripture reflection, we are able to reflect on the journey towards the coming Kingdom of God. 
 

An Interview with John Kerns | The Music That Made Us

As we near the conclusion of our series on The Music That Made Us, we sat down with John Kerns to discuss how he got his start in music, why music and faith are so powerfully linked, and what the future of music in the church might look like. 
Enjoy this expansive and thoughtful interview!

Think On These Things | The Music That Made Us

What songs have resonated with you? What lyrics have put words to your longings and your struggles? How has music touched your soul and impacted your faith? This summer we will highlight the music that has made us.
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Thankful by Joe Cocker is a simple song about gratitude for the simple things in life like taking a breath in the morning, and the larger things in life like a relationship that lasts. 
Gratitude is such a needed spiritual discipline. So often the negative and troubling things in life stick in our brain - they shape how we see the world. Gratitude and being thankful is a way to rewire our brain towards the good and meaningful. 
Paul encourages the church in Philippi to do this when he concludes his letter to the Philippians by writing to 'think on these things' (4.8). 
 

Like A Mustard Seed | The Music That Made Us

What songs have resonated with you? What lyrics have put words to your longings and your struggles? How has music touched your soul and impacted your faith? This summer we will highlight the music that has made us.
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Fields of Gold by Sting is a beautiful song about a couple that grows old together; and as their time is coming to a close, they hope to remember one another when they look out over the barley field just beyond their window. It's a song about belonging, feeling grounded and connected, feeling known. 
In many respects, that's the journey that God has us on, to make home and belonging for people. We are invited to bring God's kingdom (kin-dom) on earth as it is in heaven. But what does that look like and how do we walk this road?
In Matthew 13, Jesus tells us that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that is planted In a field. Maybe this imagery will give us insight?
 

Where You Invest Your Love, You Invest Your Life | The Music That Made Us

What songs have resonated with you? What lyrics have put words to your longings and your struggles? How has music touched your soul and impacted your faith? This summer we will highlight the music that has made us.
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Awake My Soul by the band Mumford and Sons begs the question, how can we keep our faith when all the rules of our religion have seemingly failed us? (At least that's how I'm interpreting this piece of art.) 
In a similar way, David is confronted with a strange moment in a cave. He's followed all the rules, done everything his king and country have asked of him and rose to prominence, but now he's being stalked by Saul the king, who wants to kill him. And in this cave, David has Saul within his sights - he could kill Saul. 
But love compels him to chart a different course. In Psalm 57, we read David's anguish and hope while hiding out in the cave. 
We will all have times in life when the path we thought doesn't work anymore, when following the rules has failed us. What then? What will be our next step? Will we keep our soul or lose it down a path of vengeance and despair? Or like David, will we choose for this to be the moment that our soul is awoken to love?!
 
 

Is It I Lord? | The Music That Made Us

What songs have resonated with you? What lyrics have put words to your longings and your struggles? How has music touched your soul and impacted your faith? This summer we will highlight the music that has made us.
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Here Am I Lord is a well-known hymn based on Isaiah 6.8. It's about calling, hearing God's invitation for good work. But in order to answer that call we need the autonomy to answer, the creativity to know if the call is ours to do, and to see the purpose of that call.