Jesus warned us that persecution is to be expected. That's true globally for the church -- but what does it mean for us? Join our conversation about modern day persecution and how it affects us and our witness.

Suggested Resources:

Atlantic Article on Persecution

Jesus in Athens Movie 

Discussion Questions:

Have you experienced persecution or marginalization because of your faith? What happened and what did it feel like to go through that?

Do you know any stories of modern day persecution of other Christians? Why was this story memorable to you?

In this final episode of our series on the theology of creation, we discuss the debate between faith and science. Are science and faith opposed to each other? Listen in on a discussion about methodological naturalism and creationism, and a bit of apologetics too!

Suggested Resources for Further Study:

Who Needs God? Sermon series from Andy Stanley

The Moral Argument (video)

Fine Tuning of the Universe (video)

The Cosmological Argument (video)

Application Questions (to process this content with a friend, family member, or small group):

 - When it comes to debates about science vs. faith, do you feel you do a good job focusing on what is really most central (that there is a creator God)?

 - (After watching one or more of the linked videos) Which of the three apologetic arguments we discussed is most persuasive to you? Which one have you found to be most helpful to outsiders?

If Genesis 1 is not primarily trying to teach us science or the details about how God chose to create the world, what is it trying to teach us? In this episode we the survey context of the ancient world helping you understand what the original hearers of Genesis 1 would have taken away from this amazing passage of Scripture. Understood correctly, Genesis 1 has much to say about who the Creator God is, what He is like, and the  privileged role He has given to humanity.

Suggested Resources for Further Study:

Exploring My Strange Bible Podcast on Science and Faith

The Enuma Elish (Babylonian Creation Epic)

Article about the Enuma Elish

Application Questions (to process this content with a friend, family member, or small group):

- What is one of the most striking differences between what other creation accounts teach about God and humans and what Genesis 1 teaches?

- How would your attitude or actions towards other people change if you fully embraced the idea that every person is in God's image?

Application: Spend 5-10 minutes (or more!) reading Genesis 1 and worshipping the Creator God.

In last week's episode, we looked at the three main Christian views about how to interpret Genesis 1. Our take-away was that each of these views are valid approaches to understanding how God chose to create the world, and therefore, Christians should not break fellowship or leave a church because of disagreement on this subject. But that raises the question: When should you break fellowship, or leave a church because of theological disagreement? What topics are okay to disagree on, and which are not? How do we differentiate between the essentials and the non-essentials of our faith? Is there a basic standard or list of topics that we should all embrace? We believe that there is, and it is the basic confession of Christians for hundreds of years.

Suggested Resource:

The Apostle's Creed

Application Questions (to process this content with a friend, family member, or small group):

Young earth...or old earth? Did God create in six 24 hour periods of time...or over thousands of years? Is evolution compatible with Genesis 1, or are these in conflict with each other? Why do well-meaning Christians disagree on this topic, and how important is this subject really? Join us today as we give you a tour of the main three Christian views about how to interpret Genesis 1, and the strengths and weaknesses of each these views.

Suggested Resource:

Exploring My Strange Bible Podcast: Science & Faith

Application Questions (To process this content with a friend, family member, or small group):

In our next series on Practically Christian, we're going to jump into a series on theology, exploring topics such as how did God create the world? What are the essentials of the faith? And, how does science relate to Christianity? To lay the foundation for this series, we begin with the basic question: How can we--who are limited humans--ever come to understand and know the unlimited God? (which is the basic task of theology) To explore these questions, we'll listen to, and then discuss, a sermon that Luke recently preached for Creekside Community Church.

If you'd like to view this sermon, you can watch on youtube here: https://youtu.be/qRSXqyKcBPA

Application Questions (to process this content with a friend, family member, or small group):

If your body is not peripheral to your person, but an integral part of your created being, how does that affect practical things like beauty, exercise, and body image? Are you "allowed" to pursue external beauty as well as internal beauty? Join us as we explore these questions and more in this episode of Practically Christian.

Application Questions (To process this content with a friend, family member, or small group):

Are there any areas of your life related to your body (such as your beauty, strength, hygiene, or self-presentation) that are taking up too much of your time/attention/resources?

Are there any areas that are not receiving enough time/attention/resources?

What are some steps you will take to get these more in balance?

Are there any sources of images or information that are particularly unhelpful to you in cultivating a healthy body image? (example: magazines, social media accounts, television shows) How can you better regulate or eliminate your "intake" of these sources?

Join us on this, the first episode of two, about the theology of the Body. What does the Bible have to say about our bodies and what does it mean for how we treat our bodies, others bodies and how we look at ourselves as wholistic people?

Suggested Resources:

How Christianity Changed the World by Alvin Schmidt 

Surprised by Hope by NT Wright

Application Question:

Does your view of the Body that you have been raised with mesh with the biblical view that we talked about?

Do you tend toward the overindulgence or ascetic approach to your body?

How does the hope of the physical resurrection affect your view of heaven?

On this episode of Practically Christian I(Jake) get to interview Luke and Janelle about their marriage. We talk about how to have a healthy marriage, how to prepare well for a healthy marriage, and encourage you to study healthy marriages especially if you do not have parents who have a healthy relationship. 

Suggested Resources:

Mike Winger Podcast here and here

Andy Stanely Sermon Series "Love, Dates and Heartbreaks" 

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

Application Questions:

Consider your background. What is your parents marriage like? What are some marriages in your life that you admire and what is attractive to you about those marriages? What lessons, good and bad, can you take from those relationships and take into your relationship? Consider how you can become the kind of person that the person that you want to marry will want to marry. 

Have a state of the marriage time with your spouse? Address the things that are going really well and the things that need to go better. Talk about how you can be a better team to tackle difficult issues. 

Join us as we drill into the topic of dating on this episode of Practically Christian. Dating is something that the majority of Christians either have done or want to do at some point, so whether you want to be dating someone in the future, are currently dating someone, are already married, or have no interest in dating someone come and join our discussion so that you can learn about the process, be empowered to think deeply about dating and help others to think deeply about it as well. 

Suggested Resources:

The New Rules for Love, Sex and Dating by Andy Stanley 

Focus on the Family Dating

Application Question:

What kind of person do you want to date? 

What is one way you can make your dating relationship healthier and how make sure that you are vetting the person you are dating well?

What is one way you can help someone who is single or dating make good decisions while looking to date, or dating?