In this team-taught sermon with Greg Boyd and Bill Doherty, we learn about the importance of being a peacemaker, and discover some basic skills about how we can actually promote peace when polarized perspectives are part of our conversations.

Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. Therefore, we must be wise to temptations that seek to entrap us in patterns that lead to our destruction. In this sermon Greg Boyd and Bill Doherty identify common ways that we are tempted in the current culture of political polarization. Greg and Bill then provide practical guidance for navigating these temptations so that we can avoid their entrapment. 

Greg Boyd and Cedrick Baker highlight the difference that the kingdom of God makes and how it contrasts with the kingdoms of this world. They help us understand how the two kingdoms often are combined, which means that the kingdom of God becomes something other than what it should be. Greg and Cedrick also provide some insight into ways that we can practice kingdom distinctives in our everyday lives.

In this introductory sermon to the new series, Political Distortions, Greg Boyd and Bill Doherty provide a framework for why God’s kingdom people are challenged to provide an alternative to the political polarizations that pervade our current reality. They also offer some initial guidance in how we can practice this alternative.

In Revelation 5, John’s vision includes the 24 elders holding up bowls of incense, which are our prayers. Greg explores four aspects of prayer, specifically intercessory or petitionary prayer. He addresses how prayer can be natural, its purpose, why it is urgent and the mystery of prayer’s outcomes. 

The 24 elders in the throne room who sing praises to God show us that corporate worship is a distinctive feature of God’s people. Why is this important? What does this mean when corporate singing is uncommon outside of the church? Greg addresses these questions and provides practical guidance for ways that praising God can become a central part of our relationship with God. 

When John enters the throne room in Revelation 4 and 5, the Father and Son are evident, but the Spirit is depicted as the seven eyes of the slain lamb. What does this imagery tell us about God’s triune nature and what can we learn about the role of the Holy Spirit? These are the questions addressed by Greg in this sermon, and the answers guide us into a deeper union with God. 

The heavenly vision of John in Revelation 5 reveals that God redeems persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation. Shawna Boren highlights the radical contrast of this truth against our common experience of division and “othering” that occurs in small and grand ways in our lives. God calls us to love the other rather than excluding those who are different. We make this a reality as we embrace the practice of hospitality.

The people of God are a kingdom and priests who will reign on earth. This is our identity. What does this mean and what are the implications for us? Cedrick Baker explores how we are being formed to be people of character who are trained to reign on earth, reflecting the character of God. 

In this sermon, Greg Boyd focused on the part of John’s vision that no one is worthy to open the scroll. The reason is due to the fact that humanity has been deceived and therefore does not align with the character of God. Greg ties this passage to the deception of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 and then he provides spiritual practices that can break this pattern of deception.