God of the Sun and the Son of God – 04.It’s All Greek

Posted by Chris on April 8, 2012 under Front Page Posts, Sermons, Uncategorized

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Children’s Ministry Mission

Posted by dena.jenkins on April 4, 2012 under Uncategorized

MISSION
To create and maintain a safe, loving environment in which children and their families can grow and mature in their relationships with God and each other while learning to live out our faith daily in very real ways.

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The Barnabas Challenge

Posted by Chris on April 2, 2012 under Front Page Posts, Lions for Christ, Sermons, Uncategorized

Sermon by Travis Campbell

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Lions for Christ, Campus Minister

Don’t Open That Box – 01.It’s All Greek

Posted by Chris on March 18, 2012 under Front Page Posts, Sermons, Uncategorized

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Must we really discuss mythology in church? I don’t know if we must, but we probably should. You see, the ancient myths of the Greeks never went away. They took root in our western culture and have become the stories that we tell with gusto.

For example . . .

Percy Jackson – Based squarely on Greek myth, this book rivaled Harry Potter in popularity and a movie was soon to follow
Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins says that she was inspired by the Greek myth of Theseus and reality television.
Wrath of the Titans – If you don’t have a book, just dust off the old tales and add in some great CGI!

"I Bring You Fire!"

Even the names of the old myths still evoke meaning. Consider “Prometheus.” His image was huge in the age of electricity and his statue was placed in Rockefeller Center in 1934. Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo were our help in the space age. These old stories haven’t gone away at all.

My goal in pointing this out is not for us to become a Christian Taliban and destroy anything that smacks of idolatry. No, we need to understand the power of myth and when we are aware of it we might be able to discern when a myth points us to commonly accepted “truths” (which may be no truth at all) or when it points to the absolute truth.

Myth functions similarly to philosophy and faith. It is a structure through which we explain ourselves and the world. We can explain truth through story. In actually, ancient myths may help us understand how we typically view the world and ourselves (for better or for worse). Christian faith and the stories of the Bible give us the most truthful way to see ourselves and our world. Ironically, it is because we do not understand this, that some are rejecting the Christian worldview as just another fairy tale or ancient myth. Read more of this article »

It’s All Greek!

Posted by Chris on March 8, 2012 under Bulletin Articles, Front Page Announcements, Uncategorized

The myths of the ancient Greeks remain a vital part of our culture. Recent films such as Wrath of the Titans, Percy Jackson, and books such as The Hunger Games are inspired by these legends of old.

No one can say that the Greek myths are gone and forgotten. The names of mythological figures are widely used in our technology and entertainment. Apollo took us to the moon and Pandora gives us radio over the Internet. (But if one knows the story of Pandora, why would you ever open it on your PC?)

The gospel of Christ includes themes that are sometimes present in Greek Myth. So much so that critics dismiss Christian faith as “just another religious myth.” Yet, the on-going story of Christ is quite different in important respects.

In the four weeks of this series we will consider what elements from the myths old and new might be redeemed for Christian faith. We will also pay attention to the unique, life-changing, universe-altering implications of the message about Christ.

The four parts of this series are:

March 18 – Don’t Open That Box (The Myth of Pandora and The Reality of Sin)

March 25 – Into the Labyrinth (Theseus and the Minotaur, The Hunger Games, and Heroic Sacrifice)

April 1 – Forget The Titans (Wrath, Rebellion, and Redemption)

April 8 – The God of the Sun and the Son of God (The Dying God Myth and Christ’s Resurrection)