Browns Bridge Church

The Bible did not create Christianity. Christianity is the result of an event (the resurrection) that created a movement (the church) that produced sacred and reliable texts that were collected and bound into a book (the Bible). But how do we approach not being at peace with everything we read in the Bible? Paul—the apostle, Pharisee, author, preacher, and church planter—offers us clarity and confidence to move forward.

The Old Testament chronicles God’s redemptive, sequential activity in history. It’s a fabulous, gritty, epic history of the Hebrew people in which, over and over, Israel is reminded that they are a divine means to an end. So, maybe instead of seeing the Old Testament as a spiritual guidebook or a storyline that needs to be tidied up, we should see it as something even better: the history of God preparing the world for a Savior.

“In the beginning. . . .” can be a loaded phrase—one that forces us into debate and doubt. But maybe we’re missing the point of Genesis 1:1—a point Moses made to a world where the violence and injustice of the gods justified and legitimized the violence and injustice of human rulers. Moses introduced a radically different, unparalleled, and untested worldview.

Most of us know some Bible stories, but very few of us know the story of the Bible. And you may be surprised to discover that it’s a story that doesn’t actually begin in the beginning. It begins with the accounts of a few men who sat down to record the death and resurrection of Jesus. It begins with the words of his followers who were compelled to document the events that had changed everything for them. Because they knew it could change everything for us.

Long before there were Christian Scriptures, there were Christians—men and women whose faith began with an empty tomb. These eyewitnesses to the resurrection experienced an event so extraordinary that it changed their lives and what they gave their lives to, forever. But now a generation is walking away from their faith as their confidence in the Bible is dismantled. They assume that as the Bible goes, so goes Christianity. Maybe it’s time we learned from the faith of those early eyewitnesses—faith that’s undeniable and, ultimately, irresistible.

In a performance culture, you get what you deserve. The message is created that success comes to those who work hard and perform well. But what happens when we apply a performance filter to our faith?

We all see the world through filters. Culture, politics, religion, economy, education are frameworks that help us make sense of the world around us. But no filter is perfect. What do we do when others see things differently than us?

We have all experienced being wronged or having someone hurt us—sometimes deeply. In those moments we want punishment for them and justice for us. But does justice right the wrong? Does seeing them get what they deserve make everything better? Is that how God thinks about our “bad behavior”, or does he see us through a different lens than the lens of justice?

We have all experienced being wronged or having someone hurt us—sometimes deeply. In those moments we want punishment for them and justice for us. But does justice right the wrong? Does seeing them get what they deserve make everything better? Is that how God thinks about our “bad behavior”, or does he see us through a different lens than the lens of justice?

We have all done or said the wrong thing at some point in our lives. Saying sorry for the hurt or pain we’ve caused is never easy. But what if there was a new way to think about owning our mistakes? How do we change our minds when it comes to saying “I’m sorry”?