Matthew 13:31-33 - As the disciples would have likely begun to feel fear, insecurity, and doubt about Jesus's message and methods, Jesus told these two short, simple parables to help set their expectations. No, the kingdom of God would not advance according to the world's expectations and standards. But yes, the kingdom would advance--slowly, but surely--and become a place of belonging, safety, nourishment, and celebration to all who would receive the gospel. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 4 of our series "Imagining the Kingdom: Jesus's stories about the already and not yet reign of God"]

Questions for reflection: 1) Have you ever felt discouraged about the place of Jesus's kingdom or church in the world? What brought about that feeling? 2) How do you imagine the disciples would have felt in the midst of all the opposition Jesus received during his earthly ministry? 3) Compare and contrast the main points made by these two parables. 4) Discuss God's pattern of using humble things to bring about His purposes. 5) How have Jesus's promises in these parables been proven true over time and geography? 6) How does the cross of Christ embody the ideas of these two parables?

Luke 10:25-37 - Jesus's parable of the good Samaritan is one of his most iconic stories, but our overfamiliarity can make its shocking points harder to see. When asked by an expert in Israel's law, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus tells a story that turns the concept of neighbor from object to subject, challenging us all with what it truly looks like to love others as ourselves. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 3 of our series "Imagining the Kingdom: Jesus's stories about the already and not yet reign of God"]

Questions for reflection: 1) What is the lawyer's answer to his own question about how to inherit eternal law? How does Jesus respond to it? 2) What do you think motivated the lawyer's follow-up question, "And who is my neighbor?" 3) It is important to know something about the relationship between Israelites and Samaritans in their day. What was the source of their tension? 4) To understand the parable, we have to recognize Jews and Samaritans as enemies. How does imagining your own "enemies" in the Samaritan role change the force of what Jesus is saying? 5) How did Jesus embody this radical neighbor- and enemy-love ethic? How does He embody it toward us, specifically? 6) What might it look like for you to "go and do likewise?"

Matthew 13:44-46 - This week we consider two short related parables from Jesus: the parable of the hidden treasure and the parable of the pearl of great price. Both deal with questions around the cost and value of the kingdom. Just what is the Kingdom of God worth? A sermon by Tsion Reid. [Part 2 of our series "Imagining the Kingdom: Jesus's stories about the already and not yet reign of God"]

Questions for reflection: 1) Have you ever felt misunderstood by others about why you valued something? What was that experience like? How did you help them see? 2) In both parables, how does the man respond who finds the valuable object? 3) What is the does it look like for us to "sell all that we have" in order to become part of the Kingdom of God? 4) Tsion connected this parable to story of Jesus's encounter with the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-22). In what ways did the rich young ruler value the kingdom? In what ways did he not? 5) How does your own life reflect the degree to which you, personally, value the Kingdom of God?

Matthew 13:1-23 - Jesus was a deeply creative teacher and a cornerstone of his teaching ministry was imaginative stories called parables. His parables were both short and complex, invitational and alienating. In them, Jesus announced the Kingdom He was bringing and sought to paint a picture of and develop an appetite for His Kingdom. In this teaching, we consider His first parable and the one that helps us understand the others: the parable of the sower. May we heed Jesus’s call to be those with ears to hear. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 1 of our series “Imagining the Kingdom: Jesus’s stories of about the already and not yet reign of God”]

Questions for reflection: 1) How do you imagine Jesus would have struck you as a teacher of parables in the 1st century? How does he strike you today? 2) How do the parables both reveal and conceal the good news of the Kingdom? 3) What role does imagination play in the Christian life? How do the parables help us cultivate our imaginations? 4) What do we learn about the character of the sower in this parable? 5) How can we be sure we are really “hearing” the teachings of Jesus (and the word of God in general)?

Acts 17:22-31 - We conclude our series with an exploration of what it might look like to treat art appreciation as a spiritual discipline, or, to practice art appreciation in the name of the Lord. We look to Paul’s example at the Areopagus (or Mars Hill) and his engagement with Greek poetry for a few basic principles related to receiving art, wisely discerning art, and encountering God through art. May we recognize the unique power beauty has to help people see the goodness and truth of God. May we learn to look the world to His grace, both common and saving. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 6 of our series "Looking the World to Grace: Art, Makers and the Christian Life"]

Questions for reflection: 1) Have you ever considered art appreciation as a spiritual discipline? What might the potential value be? 2) Describe Paul’s missionary strategy in his speech in Acts 17:22-31. 3) How do we see Paul expressing receptivity, discernment, or God-encounter through the Greek poetry he quotes? 4) What experience do you have discerning which works of art you should or shouldn’t view through the lens of temptation and sin? 5) Have you ever encountered God through art in any of the ways Terry Glaspey described (or another)? 6) What connection is there between beauty where we encounter it and the grace of God in Christ?

Colossians 3:15-17 - Paul writes, "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus." The totality of Paul's statement tells us that there is a way to do art, making, and creativity in the character of and through the eyes of the Lord. In this sermon we consider 5 principles that help us apply all that we've been learning about art and faith as artists. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 5 of our series "Looking the World to Grace: Art, Makers and the Christian Life"]

Questions for reflection: 1) How is the short biblical phrase "Is this not the carpenter?" (Mark 6:3) full of wisdom for our theology of art and faith? 2) How does human art take on special significance in our age of generative AI? 3) What are valid subjects for Christians' art? How does the question "How much of life is Jesus Lord over?" help us answer? 4) How can artists balance a commitment to excellence with a commitment to play and exploration? 5) Have you ever struggled with making an idol out of your art? What was that experience like? 6) How is discipleship in general intimately connected to our ability to make art "in the name of the Lord?"

Matthew 6:24; Jeremiah 6:13-14; Matthew 5:27-30 - Money, sex, and power, while not inherently evil, have long been understood as uniquely destructive potential idols. It turns out that they not only pose great dangers to our discipleship in general, but also to the arts. Love of money can degrade art into commercialism. Distorted sexuality can degrade art into pornography. Mis-pursued power can degrade art into propaganda. The answer, in both art and life, is to reject these idols for Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who leads us into goodness, beauty, and truth in all things. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 4 of our series “Looking the World to Grace: Art, Makers and the Christian Life”]

Questions for reflection: 1) Money, sex, and power have often been identified as significant temptations for idolatry. What do you think sets these 3 apart from others? 2) What is so dangerous about the love of money for our spiritual lives? Why is it a threat to our art as well? 3) How do you identify propaganda when you see it? 4) Pornography is a killer of art, a cesspool of abuse and degradation among its performers, and a toxic source of addiction and distortion for its viewers. How can the church fight porn’s influence? How might Christians refuse to leave the realm of sexuality to the pornographers? 5) How is Jesus the answer to each of these idols? What does he uniquely have to say to each?

Various Scripture - According to Jesus, the Bible is the authoritative, inspired, unbreakable word of God that all leads to Him. The Bible is also a word of man with a very complicated and human history. At the same time, the Bible is a unified but incredibly diverse work of literary artistry spanning many authors, genres, and tones. To encounter the Bible is like stepping into a gallery containing the transcendently beautiful, the shockingly ugly, and the fascinatingly complex all at once. The Bible itself and as a whole is an irreplaceable guide for thinking Christianly about the arts. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 3 of our series "Looking the World to Grace: Art, Makers & the Christian Life"]

Questions for reflection: 1) What is your relationship to the Bible like right now? What aspects of it are life-giving? What aspects are challenging or discouraging? 2) How did Jesus himself view the Bible of HIs day (the Old Testament)? What role did it play in His life? 3) Talk about the significance of God using human partners to author His sacred Scripture with Him? 4) What does it mean to read the Bible "literarily"? How/when does this overlap with a "literal" reading? How does it distinguish itself? 5) What do you make of the especially bizarre, grotesque, or dark biblical passages? 6) How might some of these ideas help get us beyond boredom with the Bible? 7) How does the life, death, resurrection, and reign of Jesus anchor our relationship to the Bible?

Exodus 25-31 - Does God care about human artistic excellence? Does He have aesthetic preferences? In Exodus 25-31 we learn much about the answer to these questions through His commissioning of the building of the tabernacle and its associated designs. We learn that He commissions human art, inspires human art, and empowers human art. And while we live in a new era this side of the cross, in many ways God remains the divine patron of the arts. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 2 of our series "Looking the World to Grace: Art, Makers and the Christian Life]

Questions for reflection: 1) Have you ever been moved to humble reverence by a well-designed physical space? What was that like? 2) Cameron alluded to a tension for the church between financing God-glorifying art and financing gospel proclamation. How have you navigated this tension in your own view? 3) How did God operate as a commissioner, inspirer, and empowerer of human art in Exodus 25-31? Why do you think He did this? 4) Discuss the fact that God empowered a major work of human art to facilitate worship to Him. How many artistic mediums were involved? What was the purpose? 5) What is the connection between the tabernacle and the garden of Eden? 6) In what ways does the cross of Jesus change our view of sacred/religious spaces? In what ways does it not?

Genesis 1-2 - We begin a new series on the place of art and creativity in the Christian life with a consideration of the creativity of God. In Genesis 1-2, we learn that God is the metaphysical creator, the ordering craftsman, and the delight-giving artist. We also learn that He is the archetype, maker, and partner of human artists. We even get a glimpse of God's posture toward his creation after it has fallen into sinful rebellion. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 1 of our series "Looking the World to Grace: Art, Makers and the Christian Life]

Questions for reflection: 1) Share an experience you've had with a work of art that produced a significant response. What was that like? 2) What kinds of teachings (if any) have you heard in Christian churches about the role of art and artists in the Christian life? 3) How does Genesis 1-2 depict the creativity of God? 4) Cameron highlighted God as metaphysical creator, ordering craftsman, and delight-giving artist. In what ways can humans reflect these qualities? In what ways can only God have them? 5) What was God's response to humanity's "defacing" of His art/creation?