Listen Online

Big Idea: The creation that is still going on in you is what you and God are doing together in creating the purpose of your life. The most persistent feature of creation is it's continual evolution toward a future of a lovely and beautiful purpose. The universe is becoming aware of itself and of its purpose alongside its creator.

Big Idea: How does creation continue by means of the diversity of languages and peoples and cultures? Does diversity only drive us into tribes, or does it contribute to healthy human thriving? What is God up to in a world of immense cultural diversity?

Big Idea: The consequences of falling out of step with creation blessings can be catastrophic. But God's care for God's creation doesn't stop with expelling the earth creatures from the garden. God is still taking care of them by making them clothing, to protect their vulnerability.

Big Idea: The culmination of blessedness is the unlikely and unintuitive state of being blessed under persecution. Evil does not give up quietly, Jesus says. However, the economy of grace does not depend on the capitulation of evil. It depends on God, the only true source of blessedness.

Big Idea: The promotion of peace in an economy of grace will generate pushback, from the people and communities who are threatened by the peacemakers. Persecution for the sake of righteousness is not just a tragedy, but is, in some sense inevitable, as long as the Kingdom of God is not yet fully established. And still, the persecuted are blessed, because they know who is their savior.

Big Idea: After seeking God, the 'pure in heart' get a new understanding of their calling--to be peacemakers. Their understanding of peace is enlarged to a God-sized view, that of making the economy of grace available to all human beings. That's shalom!

Big Idea: The list of beatitudes shows movement in the growth of a Christian community. "Heart purity" is the the next step. In the recognition of what our eventual state will be in the blessed economy, we will have motives that are free from selfish ambition, and recognize (see!) God as the proper goal of our desires. The person who longs to serve God and others for the sheer unselfish joy of honoring the Creator, and thus free of base motives, is blessed indeed!

Big Idea: In an economy of grace, the medium of exchange is not obligation or debt, but mercy and compassion. This is the way people relate to each other in the Kingdom of Heaven. "Being merciful" is the center of the list of the nine beatitudes. It marks a turning point in the list, the point at which a community realizes its turn toward God.