faith (cont'd)

Here's my blog post covering the first two parts of the Southeast sermon series on faith-- and its applications to a particular path we're walking right now.

I loved a line in the third sermon, distinguishing between the faith we have in our faith vs. the faith we should have in God's faithfulness.

In the fourth sermon, there was a lot of good stuff:

Kyle notes that faith "always has a story"-- as opposed to being merely a feeling (in fact, it often contradicts feeling) or merely a cerebral understanding. And if you don't have a story, then you don't have "faith" or an exercised/strong faith. How do you get there? You (and one's church) should be willing to take (God-appointed) risks.

Two other highlights:

-40% through the sermon: on the "empty chairs" at Thanksgiving and in church.

-75% through the sermon: on Christian Smith's "moral therapeutic deism" and its appeal to this generation. In fact, it has appeal to every generation-- and greatly influences preaching in many churches and the avid focus on small groups that are low-commitment while being sold as high-commitment.