Psalm 98 - The third traditional Advent theme is "joy." Joy can be a vulnerable feeling to share with others as it is often associated with naivety or guilt. But joy is a major theme across both the Psalms and the whole Bible itself as well as the appropriate response to the character and salvation of God. In Portland earnest, expressive, vulnerable joy in Jesus might be one of the most counter-cultural postures we can take. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 3 of our 2024 Advent series "Poems of Longing, Songs of Joy"]

Questions for reflection: 1) How are "joy" and "happiness" similar? How are they different? 2) In the Bible, joy can be held alongside and underneath negative emotions. What does it look like to have joy alongside grief, for example? 3) The psalmist looks to the past (to the mighty saving acts of God) and to the future (to the coming judgment of God) to find motivation to joy and praise. How is Christian joy experienced "in the painful middle?" 4) How does the structure of Psalm 98 point us to the increase of joy to come? 5) Why does the psalmist rejoice at the judgment of God? How can we rejoice at this judgment especially on this side of the cross of Jesus?

Psalm 85 - This psalm, a psalm of lament, invites us to consider our need for peace, what peace is, and when peace will come. But the Hebrew word for peace, "shalom," speaks of something far deeper than we typically think: a kind of universal wholeness and flourishing that only God can provide. Ultimately, God has delivered and will deliver this deeper peace through His Son, Jesus, who promised, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you." A sermon by Michelle Jones. [Part 2 of our 2024 Advent series "Poems of Longing, Songs of Joy"]

Questions for reflection: 1) What are some differences between our common conception of "peace" and biblical "shalom?" 2) The psalmist declares, "Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other." How do these qualities meet in God? In the cross? 3) How will the second coming of Christ bring about the peace we long for? 4) Michelle asked us, "What would it look like for us to live into and out of God's peace?" What do you think?

Psalm 132 - We'll be spending Advent 2024 considering the traditional themes of hope, peace, joy, and love through the Psalms. In this sermon, Cameron introduced the Psalms as a book of poems, songs, and prayers that have led the people of God in how to bring their whole selves to God in worship and prayer. Psalm 132, specifically, is one of the "songs of ascents," sung by pilgrims on their way to the temple mount for key festivals. The psalm expresses a hopeful longing to encounter the presence of God based on His promises to King David--promises that were ultimately fulfilled in the advent of Jesus Christ. It is a refreshing picture in a world often embarrassed by earnest hope. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 1 of our 2024 Advent series "Poems of Longing, Songs of Joy"]

Questions for reflection: 1) How do you perceive our culture's relationship to "hope?" 2) Psalm 132 emphasizes a longing for communion with God. Why is God's presence a consistent source of hope in the Bible? 3) Discuss the relationship between David's promises and God's promises in this psalm? 4) What promises in this Psalm found their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus? 5) Why does biblical hope contain both a backward-looking element and a forward-looking element? Why are things so difficult in the in-between? 6) In what sense can we say "In Jesus, everything is going to be ok"?

Galatians 4:4-7 - After establishing the genuine divinity of Jesus the creed turns to establish the genuine, full humanity of Jesus. In order to seek and save a people for Himself, God the Son entered the sin-stained world in actual flesh. He fully identified with us—even in our weakness—without ever giving in to sin. All of this that we might become the righteousness of God in Him through faith. A sermon by Josh White. [Part 8 of our series "The Nicene Creed: The Ancient Theology of the Triune God"]

Questions for reflection: 1) Discuss the reality that God the Son knew both eternity as God and then finitude as man when He incarnated. 2) How is the incarnation (i.e. the “enfleshing” of the Son of God) an act of love? 3) Josh urged us to consider the extent to which Jesus identified with and experienced our fallen/sin-stained flesh without succumbing to sin. How does this make him a “sympathetic high priest” in the words of Hebrews 4:15? 4) How is the incarnation of Jesus our greatest and clearest revelation of/from God? 5) Describe the “salvation” that Jesus secures for us? What does he save us from? What does he save us for?

Colossians 1:15-17 - There are at least two ways to argue for the divinity of Jesus: First, from biblical statements about His identity as the Son of God and second, from biblical statements about what He did and does. This section of the creed reminds us that Jesus did something that only God can do: He created all things. It also reminds us of the other amazing things that Jesus did that led so many who knew him to utter "Truly this man was the Son of God." A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 7 of our series "The Nicene Creed: The Ancient Theology of the Triune God"]

Questions for reflection: 1) Why do you think it was important for the creed to mention the divine act of the Son of God in creation? 2) How does the language of Colossians 1:15-17 help us understand Jesus as both "God" and "with God" in the act of creation? 3) Reflect on the claim that Jesus is both the agent of creation and the goal of creation. 4) How did we get an image of Jesus as creator God in his earthly miracles? 5) How do we (as Spirit-empowered witnesses to Jesus) play a role in imaging His creative and re-creative power?

John 1:1-18 - One of the primary aims of the Nicene Creed was to clarify what the Bible says about the divinity of Jesus. He was neither a lesser, "created" god nor a god with the (false) appearance of humanity. He was, as the creed declares, "the only-begotten Son of God, who was begotten of the Father before all ages, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten, not made, having the same being as the Father." A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 6 of our series "The Nicene Creed: The Ancient Theology of the Triune God"]

Questions for reflection: 1) Cameron mentioned three false beliefs about Jesus from church history: that Jesus was God in human disguise, that Jesus was created by God to be a lesser god, and that Jesus was merely an amazing human. Which of these do you hear argued for most often? 2) Why is the biblical claim that Jesus is both fully, genuinely God and fully, genuinely human important? 3) How is Jesus as the "only Son of God" different from us as adopted children of God? 4) Discuss the idea that God has eternally existed as both a Father and a Son (and Spirit)? 5) In Mark 2:5-7 Jesus claims to be able to forgive sins. What significance does this have for our understanding of Jesus's divinity?

1 Corinthians 8:5-6 - The second article of the creed focuses on the second person of the trinity--God the Son. This opening declaration that we believe in "One Lord, Jesus Christ" tells us about Jesus the human, Jesus the Messiah, and Jesus the divine Son of God. Each of these will be explored further in the creed, but for now we let them shape our answer to Jesus's greatest question: "Who do you say that I am?" A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 5 of our series "The Nicene Creed: The Ancient Theology of the Triune God"]

Questions for reflection: 1) At a key turning point in his ministry, Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" What answers do you see given by non-Christians that you rub shoulders with? 2) Why do you think our Christology (our doctrines/beliefs about Jesus Christ) especially distinguishes Christianity from all other religions? 3) What does "Christ" mean as a title for Jesus? Why is it important? 4) This phrase in the creed highlights Jesus as human, messiah, and God. How do these three identities relate to one another? 5) What was so radical about Paul's phrasing in 1 Corinthians 8:5-6? How can he both say there are not many Gods, and that there is one God (the Father) and one Lord (Jesus)? What is Paul getting at?

Genesis 1:1-2:3 - The creed declares God to be "maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible," and thus declares the natural outflow of who God is as life-giving Father almighty. In considering God as creator, we are pushed to consider Him as loving provider of free gifts of grace. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 4 of our series "The Nicene Creed: The Ancient Theology of the Triune God"]

Questions for reflection: 1) Cameron mentioned that God has always been trinity, Father (and Son and Spirit), and almighty, but that He was not always "creator." What does this tell us about Him? 2) Theologian T.F. Torrance once wrote, “Far from grudging the creation’s existence and reality beyond himself, God freely brought it into being out of his sheer liberality, in order to lavish his love upon it.” Is this how you think of God as creator? Why or why not? 3) How does Genesis 1 speak of the overflowing love of God in its depiction of creation? 4) How does this creator God relate to His now fallen, sin-stained creation? 5) How does the Christian doctrine of creation help us avoid worshipping creation OR abusing/denigrating creation?

John 17:1-3 - The Nicene Creed rightly emphasizes the identity of God as "the Father, the Almighty." These two qualities together--the loving, compassionate, self-giving, life-generating fatherliness of God AND the endlessly powerful, capable might of God--distinguish this God from all others and are a powerful cornerstone of the Christian gospel. May we cherish the privilege of being made His sons and daughters through Jesus! A sermon by Josh Wilder. [Part 3 of our series "The Nicene Creed: The Ancient Theology of the Triune God"]

Questions for reflection: 1) What comes to mind when you think of the word "father," "mother," or "parent?" 2) In what ways does human fatherhood illuminate the fatherhood of God? In what ways does it obscure the fatherhood of God? 3) What qualities of God are emphasized when the Bible talks about God as Father? 4) How does Jesus invite us into aspects of His Father-Son relationship to God the Father? 5) Why is it important for God to be both "the Father" and "the Almighty?" What would He be like if He were only one or the other?

Exodus 3:13-15; John 14:8-11; Acts 2:1-4 - The Nicene Creed begins with an affirmation that there is "one God," though it makes clear as it goes on that it is not only the Father, but also the Son and the Spirit who are also to be worshipped as God. With this statement, we are plunged into the heart of the mysterious, beautiful doctrine of who the Christian God is: the doctrine of the Trinity and the love of God. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 2 of our series "The Nicene Creed: The Ancient Theology of the Triune God"]

Questions for reflection: 1) Why is it important that we spend the effort necessary to think rightly about God? Do you find it naturally exciting or difficult? 2) How is the Trinity different from polytheism (multiple gods), modalism (God shows up in different modes), and subordinationism (Jesus is a lesser god/entity)? 3) Why do you think the Trinity became such an important concept for Christians despite the word not appearing in the Bible? 4) Cameron (following Fred Sanders) argued that we might get our best glimpse at the Trinity in the major moments of salvation history--through the missions of the Father (at the Exodus), the Son (at the incarnation/crucifixion), and the Spirit (at Pentecost). As God acted to save His people, we learned more about who He is. What do you think of this? 5) In John 17:24, Jesus shared about the love He experienced from the Father before creation. What light does this shed on the idea that "God is love"?