Carrying Peace: Luke 14:31-32

Five times, Jesus is quoted as telling his followers to take up their cross. But what exactly does that mean? Is cross carrying a metaphor for suffering? If so, how does one carry suffering? Is cross carrying a path that leads to crucifixion? If so, what does that look like today, when people aren’t being crucified? Throughout Lent we are encouraged to participate in Jesus’ passion, which includes suffering, cross carrying, and death on a cross, but what does it mean for us to carry a cross, today? What does it look like for us to be the kind of Jesus followers who do what Jesus exhorts, which is to pick up their cross and follow him? 

This sermon series seeks to explore the meaning of cross carrying. Then, in the midst of this exploration, it intends to offer practical ways of carrying crosses that align our lives with Jesus’ way of being in the world. Finally, this series hopes to cast a vision for cross carrying that extends beyond just suffering and death, to the glory and new life that Jesus says is the result of following him.

Carrying Cost: Luke 14:28-30

Five times, Jesus is quoted as telling his followers to take up their cross. But what exactly does that mean? Is cross carrying a metaphor for suffering? If so, how does one carry suffering? Is cross carrying a path that leads to crucifixion? If so, what does that look like today, when people aren’t being crucified? Throughout Lent we are encouraged to participate in Jesus’ passion, which includes suffering, cross carrying, and death on a cross, but what does it mean for us to carry a cross, today? What does it look like for us to be the kind of Jesus followers who do what Jesus exhorts, which is to pick up their cross and follow him? 

This sermon series seeks to explore the meaning of cross carrying. Then, in the midst of this exploration, it intends to offer practical ways of carrying crosses that align our lives with Jesus’ way of being in the world. Finally, this series hopes to cast a vision for cross carrying that extends beyond just suffering and death, to the glory and new life that Jesus says is the result of following him.

Carrying Differentiation: Luke 14:26

Five times, Jesus is quoted as telling his followers to take up their cross. But what exactly does that mean? Is cross carrying a metaphor for suffering? If so, how does one carry suffering? Is cross carrying a path that leads to crucifixion? If so, what does that look like today, when people aren’t being crucified? Throughout Lent we are encouraged to participate in Jesus’ passion, which includes suffering, cross carrying, and death on a cross, but what does it mean for us to carry a cross, today? What does it look like for us to be the kind of Jesus followers who do what Jesus exhorts, which is to pick up their cross and follow him? 

This sermon series seeks to explore the meaning of cross carrying. Then, in the midst of this exploration, it intends to offer practical ways of carrying crosses that align our lives with Jesus’ way of being in the world. Finally, this series hopes to cast a vision for cross carrying that extends beyond just suffering and death, to the glory and new life that Jesus says is the result of following him.

An Introduction to Crosses: Luke 14:25-35

Five times, Jesus is quoted as telling his followers to take up their cross. But what exactly does that mean? Is cross carrying a metaphor for suffering? If so, how does one carry suffering? Is cross carrying a path that leads to crucifixion? If so, what does that look like today, when people aren’t being crucified? Throughout Lent we are encouraged to participate in Jesus’ passion, which includes suffering, cross carrying, and death on a cross, but what does it mean for us to carry a cross, today? What does it look like for us to be the kind of Jesus followers who do what Jesus exhorts, which is to pick up their cross and follow him? 

This sermon series seeks to explore the meaning of cross carrying. Then, in the midst of this exploration, it intends to offer practical ways of carrying crosses that align our lives with Jesus’ way of being in the world. Finally, this series hopes to cast a vision for cross carrying that extends beyond just suffering and death, to the glory and new life that Jesus says is the result of following him.

Transfiguration: Pied Divinity

In Epiphany the church basks in the light of Christ revealed to us. Yet simultaneously we live in a world divided by difference, riven by power structures that alienate and marginalize. To our surprise, the light of God shines upon us from the other, as God listens attentively to the voice of cries from the wilderness. In showing his mercy to the oppressed, God is revealed to them in ways the powerful do not know, so that our salvation is wrapped up into listening to their voices.

This sermon series situates us as attentive listeners to theological voices that cry out from the wildernesses of oppression and injustice in our society. After laying a theological groundwork for attentive, non-reactive listening to marginal experiences of God, we will train our attention on three voices that are too often diminished at the table in American Christianity. Across the power-divide of race, we will hear the witness of black theology to the God who liberates. Across the power-divide of gender, we will hear from feminist and queer theologians who witness to the God who overcomes binaries. And across the power-divide of class, we will listen to Latin American theologians who discover the preference of God for the poor.