We are, at every moment, forming a body that will then form us. Toxic churches make people toxic. Judgemental churches make people judgemental. But good churches contribute to the formation of good people. Generous churches make people generous, and loving churches make people more loving.

“Sin is the culpable disturbance of shalom.” ~ Alvin Plantinga Jr.

Is the church really commanded to support Israel? Is killing our enemies compatible with loving them? What does the cross have to say about our modern conflicts, and what can Christians do to push back against Babylon while announcing the new way, the way of the Kingdom of God?

God is not holding you responsible for the sins of others, not even Adam. In fact, the text says the exact opposite. It says that you are responsible for your own sin. Paul, in Romans 5, takes the position that all people die because all people sin. You might put it like this: “Adam was from the dust; he was human, so he sinned. Are you human; from the dust? Then you have sinned as well!”.  

Christian theology teaches that we are image bearers. We are temples. We house the image of God. This means that when people are in our presence, they are also in the presence of the divine image, and it should be easy to see.

“There are social implications for the theological reality that we claim. How many times do the people who follow the Prince of Peace have to be encouraged to live in peace among themselves?”

Salvation, in the Bible, is never just one thing. It addresses the wide range of human need, from the physical to the emotional, and even the spiritual.

Yesterday, I offered four simple reasons that Watermark Church still gathers every Sunday, despite emphasizing the table fellowship of the home as the center of the early church. Here they are, as well as some discussion questions for Watermark House churches.

If you want to be Godly, if you want to love people how God loves them, then you need to pay attention to HOW God loves them...

The real message of Romans 3:23 is captured by backing out a little bit and looking at the sentences both before and after it…

This resource page will be a living document, meaning that the pastoral staff will update it as we come across invaluable resources that help us think through the issues of our time and place.

It is a line of questions that reveals a faith that has been malformed, crooked, off-balance. A faith that has turned inwards on the self, making the SELF the beneficiary of all that God has done in the world.

Things often start off as religious convictions and make their way toward spiritual abuses.

“They do not sin like the Gentiles, or if they do, their sin is not so serious.” This week, we had a short teaching about the absurdity of favoritism in the church in Rome.

How did the early church handle the Bible? Which texts did they read? If they didn’t have Pauls writings, what were they reading and why?

What is Jesus trying to accomplish by asking us to love our enemies?

Is this just busy work for the Christian?

Is it just a nice sentiment?

It is not the toil of bible study, it is not the ruthless shame-filled purging of sin, it is not emotional experience or reading a thousands books. It is abiding with Jesus.

When it comes to the Ascension of Christ and how it has been taught in modern evangelicalism, there are things we often miss and things we often get wrong.

Jesus stands at the center of the history of the people of God; he becomes the entire point of Israel. He stands as the fulfillment of all that God was doing both through the people of Israel and the Torah. Their story passes through Christ, becoming Christoform, shaped by Christ, into the shape of Christ.