John 6:66-69

In this message, Pastor Matt concludes our Constructing Beautiful Faith seres by narrowing the focus to a singular question, “What will you do with Jesus?"

After Hours creates a space outside of the Sunday sermon for a more raw and interactive dialogue related to our Constructing Beautiful Faith series. This After Hours explores how to share the Christian message in our post-Christian culture.

Like good missionaries we will seek to understand our context insightfully + how to evangelize effectively towards the unbelieving, deconstructing, and dechurched.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Culture and its influences in life are inescapable. Like water in a fishbowl, or the air we breathe, culture infuses and surrounds us. While cultural nuances are for the most part amoral, often, more often than we recognize, cultural norms, traits, traditions, and practices become entrenched and sacred. This is especially true in Church, to the point where we inadvertently distort the Gospel, hinder people from encountering Jesus, and miss accomplishing our mission.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

The beauty of the Gospel is that it is a message for all people, everywhere. While the Gospel is not defined by any culture, it must be communicated within every culture in culturally appropriate ways. Unfortunately, if we’re not careful, our culture can color, alter or even cancel the Gospel message. If we are going to be effective evangelists within any culture, it’s important to be able to separate the beautiful, simple message of the Gospel from its cultural add-ons.

Acts 15:1 - 35

Watch Out for the "Add-Ons"!

1 Corinthians 9:20-23

Jesus calls his disciples to share the good news to every nation on earth. So how do we take the message of the gospel into different cultures? Disenculturation is recognizing the difference between the message of the gospel and our cultural practices. Our goal is to uniquely display the gospel of Jesus in this culture and in every culture for the glory of God. 

Mark 12:28-34

One of the reasons people deconstruct their faith is because they have been given the impression that to follow Jesus and be a Christian you need to turn off your brain, ignore “the science,” and follow blindly with an unquestioning, emotional acceptance. But God, who created mankind with a body, soul, and spirit, calls Christians to love and follow Him with their whole being. Intellectual rigor and robust theological training with discernment are a necessary part of what it means to follow Christ.

Mark 12:28-31

One of the reasons people deconstruct their faith is because they have been given the impression that to follow Jesus and be a Christian you need to turn off your brain, ignore “the science,” and follow blindly with an unquestioning, emotional acceptance. But God, who created mankind with a body, soul, and spirit, calls Christians to love and follow Him with their whole being. Intellectual rigor and robust theological training with discernment are a necessary part of what it means to follow Christ.

Mark 12:28-31

For many people the idea of accepting Christianity means you must reject rational thought and turn off your brain.  Unfortunately, some in the church have perpetuated this idea by leaning on emotionalism.  Yet the Bible calls us to think carefully, to understand God’s world around us, and to love the Lord our God with all our minds. 

Mark 12:30-31

Christianity is not an abstract faith but belief in objective truth claims about God, the world, and humanity. To neglect engaging our minds is to propagate the lie that Christianity is anti-intellectual, fail at disciple-making by making shallow disciples, fail at evangelism by not thoughtfully engaging competing truth claims, and sin against the God who commands us to love Him with all of our minds.