Spark Cast

Palm Sunday is also Lamb Selection Day. Matthew 21 is full of symbolism and the crowds are missing it and we are missing it too. Jesus is the Lamb, the once and for all lamb, the rejected and lovesick lamb who comes to wash away, not just some people's sin, not just some people's wrongdoing, but is here for all of us.

Romans 8 brings the stakes of Jewish and Gentile harmony to a head. Paul reveals that the destiny of humanity and its habitat have always been intertwined. God has made a covenant with us that includes promises to the earth, and God’s Spirit has enlisted us as one united humanity to fulfill those promises. God will be faithful to the covenant. Will we?

Our annual "State of Spark" update for our congregation including program, vision, and financial updates.

Twice in chapter six Paul exhorts the Romans to no longer continue sinning. He even uses an exasperated expression, "Heaven Forbid!" In addition to the spiritual teaching that we should do the right thing, there appears to be another layer, a deeper undercurrent in the teaching. Some appear to be arguing for a kind of "theological calculus." If sinning increases grace, then sinning must therefore be good. That kind of thinking—"spiritual algorithm"—is what Paul says leads to death. But we have been raised with Christ and are very much alive. As we explore this ancient teaching in light of our modern world of AI (artificial intelligence) we are exhorted to hold desperately on to our humanity, forsaking the "spiritual algorithm," because we don't do math. We do Jesus.

Paul paints a sharp contrast between two paradigmatic humans: Adam - with whom the story of humanity begins, and Jesus - with whom it ends. To be human, whether Jew or Gentile, is to share in Adam’s fate, consequences, and actions. And now, to be in Jesus is to share in his.

Religious identity markers (a.k.a. "tribal" identifiers) are not what is credited as righteousness. What matters is faithfulness to core behavioral values. Abraham is the primal example of this principle, why he is the father of our faith.

In Romans 1 and 2, Paul illustrates in great detail that the entire world is woefully short of God's design. All of us are in desperate need of rescue. So, Paul launches into the Good News. God has a covenantal answer to this problem. Jesus.

Paul exhorts the Gentile and Jewish believers in Rome as to how they should live, arguing that even the Gentiles who lack the Torah, have God's law written on their hearts. What does it mean to follow God and does it matter how we live?

In this second and "final" teaching of the Letter to the Romans we explore what Paul was arguing throughout the beginning and middle by understanding the end game. As we progress through the series we hope that some of the key verses, themes, and even "hard" passages become better understood in light of the "end," the grand vision of "peace."