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 I’ve never been anything other than disappointed by the various churches I’ve been part of. Every one turns out to be biblical, through and through: murmurers, complainers, the faithless, the inconstant, those plagued with doubt and riddled with sin, boring moralizers, glamorous secularizers. Every once in a while a shaft of blazing beauty seems to break out of nowhere and illuminate these companies, and then I see what my sin-dulled eyes had missed: word of God-shaped, Holy Spirit-created lives of sacrificial humility, incredible courage, heroic virtue, holy praise, joyful suffering, constant prayer, persevering obedience.    Eugene Peterson, Leap Over a Wall, 1998.

Dear Friends,

Recently I laughed and joked with a group of good men – brothers, fathers, and uncles in Christ. The conversation turned to our various childhoods. A few of us grew up with brothers. We reminisced about the physical nature of brothers and boyhood. I have some “brother-gifted” scars. When you grow up with brothers, you learn to wrestle. If you grow up with an older brother, you learn how to take a hit, how to put your whole body into a hit, and when to run for cover.

This week, with Psalm 133, God turns our attention to the family of God as worship. Not the family of God in worship, but the family of God as worship.

Whether your own immediate family has cohesion or is fragmented, whether thinking of them makes you smile, wince, or worse, our families are an integral part of who we are. Families form us and our longing for them is unshakeable: you can’t get rid of it.Read More

Dear Friends,

There is much in our lives, our country, and our world to be anxious about. As we consider where we are in life now and where we want to be, or will be, in 10 years from now, there’s a lot of things to be concerned over.

But what about rest? What about biblical rest, calm, and peace?

• What do you need to accomplish before you can feel fulfilled?
• What do you need to hear before your soul can be quieted?
• What needs to be resolved before you can be calm?

Trust me; I have a list of things just like you do.

But, is resting, having a quieted soul, being calm in your heart, is this even a good thing? Aren’t we meant to be stretching, achieving, battling, and climbing?

The topic of peace and calm is an interesting and challenging one for our time. Our national history, culture, and ethos are all about achievement, progress, and accumulation. The newer version of the American Dream, where arriving isn’t necessarily measured by the accumulation of things, but rather by authenticity and coolness (according to various definitions), is ironically, still about self-sufficiency, self-promotion, and pride.Read More

“Show me what you celebrate, and I will tell you who you are.”
Alexander Schmemann, 1973. For the Life of the World

“If they want me to believe in their god, they’ll have to sing me better songs. . .
I could only believe in a god who dances.”
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900).

 

Dear Friends,

I hope you have blocked off Friday evening, October 14, for our All-Church Party! If you haven’t yet, would you be willing to take a step of faith and pencil it in today?

If you are new to Church of the Redeemer (or “COVID-new”), any lack of excitement, skepticism, or hesitation you might have about committing to attend “a Church Party” is understandable! I mean honestly, considering what Christians and church can be like, if you had to choose between going to the dentist or attending a “church party,” it would be fair for you to ask, “Is there a third option?”

This Sunday, we will be turning to Leviticus 23:33-44 to consider what God’s Word has to say in response to an appropriate question: “Why Should a Church Spend Money and Time to Celebrate BIG Regularly?”

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