Shifting Gears: W.E.L.D. Series

Ok, we all know the Way, Truth, and Life series was basically going to be three of the same messages (i.e. rather than relating to God as an idea or a means to an end, we should relate to God as a person b/c He is one!).  While that’s a message that needs to be pounded again and again (and in this culture it definitely should!), those ideas are big enough to permeate any message.

So what I’m going to talk about next in W.E.L.D. is the W.E.L.D. series, itself.  Taught as a 4-week Bible-study series in the past, I’m going to revise and expand two of the lessons (Worship and Engage) into full-blown messages and leave Love and Declare for two of my C+C colleagues to do the same.  In all seriousness, while I was excited for the Way and the Life messages, the transitions taking place in Hessel College+Career and the fact that many in the group have never been explicitly taught on these defining, imperative values made this an obvious choice.

W: Worship. Many of you probably (hopefully!) are already familiar with my emphases in Worship, but I ask you to set that aside for the sake of discussion.  What defines meaningful worship for you?  Is it a powerful experience of God?  Do you tend to focus on external helps or hindrances?  Is it singing?  Is it more?

So This Is How Its Gonna Be…

Ok, so I lay in bed the last couple nights tossing and turning in anguish over what I’ve done.  And I’ve come to the conclusion that Everything’s Hebel needs to have a really clear purpose for it to be worth your visit on anything approaching a regular basis.  As a pastor I’m constantly faced with emerging needs, problems, and issues – many of which end up in a message or lesson.  The thing that helps me think through these issues is to talk, write, and interact with people.  I’m going to try to be as relevant as possible, as thoughtful and thought provoking as possible, as regular and faithful as possible.  I’m going to talk about my messages and my lessons before they happen.

As far as being relevant, right now I’m in the middle of a series based on the book unChristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons that analyzes the negative public image Christians have among young people.  I’ve given 5 of the 7 messages in that series and over the next few weeks I’m going to post them and invite your feedback.

As far as being thoughtful and thought provoking, I’m going to write in extreme terms at times.  I may offend, I may make you uncomfortable with me.  I don’t do it because I get some low-level thrill out of it – like smashing mailboxes or stealing pears – but because we live in a complex world with complex issues that our Sunday-School answers don’t help.

As far as being faithful, I’m planning on posting every Tuesday and Friday morning.

See you Tuesday,

bern

Everything’s Hebel – esp. this blog!

Hello readers (if you exist),

I’m not really sure how I’m gonna use this thing or why I finally signed up, but if I had $5 and felt a little lucky, I’d call up Casino Del Sol outside Tucson, AZ and put it all on Christian spirituality and links to my messages (i.e.  sermons).

So anyway, my absolute favorite book is Ecclesiastes and the most important word in that oft-neglected masterpiece is hebel.  Quite literally it means vapor or breath.  The weather was beautiful today in Santa Rosa, but if you cast your memory back to this past winter you might remember a morning where you walked out to your car, exhausted your lungs with a sigh and wondered what you were doing up so early.  Chances are you saw your breath, though only for a moment.  As soon as you stop to inhale it vanishes.  Hebel.  Life is passing, it’s fleeting.  How do we live in the face of death, a death that will void our lives and everything we built in it?  Ecclesiastes, I thank you.