Friday, April 11, 2008
Here’s a sermon series that I’m playing with right now…
Key Idea:
For a while now I’ve wanted to do a 3 part series that challenges the sacrosanct world-view of 21st century people.
All things being equal, the average person in 2008 believes…
-Everyone’s belief and lifestyle is equally valid (tolerance)
-Nobody has access to absolute truth (relativism)
-I’m still trying to narrow down a third one (any ideas?)
The Germans have a word for the current religious, political and cultural climate of the day. They call it “zeitgeist.” In short, it’s the spirit of the times or age.
Pop-Cultural Packaging:
I’m intrigued by the concept of somehow tying this series to the old TV show Leave it to Beaver. For some good ideas starters on the Beave and Wally check out this LINK.
Biblical Passages:
None yet. Sometimes the passage comes first. Sometimes the topic comes first.
As promised, this is a work in progress. Any ideas?
Click HERE for more background on the “sermon series pipeline.”
“Gee Wally, Why Does Mrs. Henderson Date Other Women And Attend A Buddhist Temple? (sermon series pipeline)
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10 comments:
The scripture that comes to my mind is Col 2: 8, "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."
And the 3rd point that rolls around in my head is "Someone is getting what should be mine." It seems to me like so many people feel short changed by life. As though they deserve something that they are not getting. It also makes for a nice trilogy package of "Everyone/No one/Someone."
Just my thoughts and I'm not a "morning man." I might write you later and ask you to delete this comment ...
Brian,
I love this idea. It really speak to my area right now as well. I will start spinning this around in my head and hopefully post some suggestions.
3. There is a sense of entitlement.
or "If you don't believe the first two then you must be some kind of religious bigot." Yeah, tackle that one.
For the verse you could go through the gospel of John for example and emphasise the number of time Jesus says "I tell you the truth . . ."
Boredom comes to mind as a possible third point . . . It seems we all believe we have the right to be entertained constantly. Just look at all the kids walking around with their eyes glued to handheld video games. Reflection & solitude are to be avoided at all costs. I'm almost 50, yet many people, even my age, are addicted to computer games, not to mention porn. Maybe a connection to the ancient Roman circus?
the third one should be, anyone is correct in their own beliefs except people who actually practice christianity. Its alright to be a "so called" christian, but if you really believe that stuff you're crazy....
this drives our world view, your first two are not complete without this one in my opinion...
my 2 cents ...
In BC we had a class in Ethics and the professor used a book called "Beyond Bumper Sticker Ethics". For the life of me I cannot locate the book but it gives different systems.
The one I can remember is the Divine Command School of thought "God said it, I beleive it, that settles it."
Other "stickers" were: "All you need is love" etc.
Sorry, I just a wrote a bit and realy told you nothing.
This is all good stuff everyone.
I'm wondering if the third point should be "It's all about me (Narcissism)."
Narcissus was the handsome Greek guy who rejected the advances of the nymph Echo. As punishment, he was cursed to fall in love with his own reflection in a pool of water.
Years ago Christopher lasch wrote a book called, "The Culture of Narcissism" where he argued that that issue wa the chief cause of dysfunction in the typical American life.
Anyway, I'm thinking that I've narrowed down the three chief aspects of the protypial American worldview: relativism, tolerance, and narcissism.
Now it's all about nailing the biblical passages, creating a series title and sermon titles, etc.
Brian, just tonight was the "compassion debates" that were held at Messiah College. It was the presidential candidates getting asked all questions centered around faith, theology and injustice. You may be able to pull a 3rd idea from there. A lot of the questions asked were all about overall religion today, and were of high relevancy to most Americans today. It looked at Christianity from a not distinctly Christian world view also. It should be on youtube by now. Good Luck!
Adam,
I'm going to try to locate those lectures. Thanks.
Brian
I think this is a great idea for a sermon series. I think an interesting angle would be how do we as a church approach this phenomenon. I also think it would be good to integrate an idea from your post on Christians swinging to far to the side of taking care of Aids in Africa and homelessness, and not enough emphasis on sharing the Gospel.
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