Vinings Lake Church

Our experience of LOVE, as amazing as it is, is incomplete. But soon, we will experience perfect love fully. Eugene Peterson writes it this way, “We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines brightly.” Until that day, Paul implores this collective to pursue love.

Love is eternal. It was the energy present at the Big bang, it is the source and sustainer of all that is, and it will be present when everything else fades. This is why, in the end, what matters most will be love. We will never regret choosing the path of love. So the question is, what are we giving our energies to? In the end, love will be all that remains.   

Paul comes to his crescendo in 1 Corinthians 13 by using a rhythm, flow, and words with punch and power. Paul wants to set the house on fire with a closing description about love. What does he say? Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things! Paul wants this collective to know, the love he is writing about is tenacious. This love is strong.   

In 1943, an American psychologist named Abraham Maslow published a paper in an academic journal that attempted to describe the universal pattern of human motivations. He essentially ranked the most fundamental human needs and ordered them into a pyramid that has become famously known as “Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.” Maslow observed that the human need for belonging ranked third, just under survival and safety. What does it mean to belong? And  what does it look like for spiritual collectives to become a place of belonging?   

Ever heard this phrase? “I’m just speaking the truth in love.” How about this one? “Love without truth affirms us but denies our flaws. Truth without love has no compassion for the person's flaws.” Today, we talk about the relationship between truth + love. Is there a difference? Is love opposed to truth? Is love an enemy to truth? What if there is no tension between truth and love? What if love is the highest form of truth?   

Do you know someone who every time a name is mentioned it is followed by what wrongs that person did? Imagine being reminded of your worst moment again and again and again. Why do we do this? Many reasons, but one reason might be because we are operating in a wounded framework. Paul reminds us, love doesn’t keep score. Love is not playing that game. You don’t have to either. Liberation awaits.  

Love does not insist on its own way. These words are what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13 about his experience with love. In context, this “insisting on its own way” has to do with a specific issue in the Corinth collective. While some insisted their way was the only way, Paul reminds them, love is not selfish, but is concerned about the wellbeing and flourishing of others. Perhaps the question for us is, how much of our lives do we spend working for the flourishing and wellbeing of others?

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul uses fifteen verbs to describe LOVE. Of those fifteen, seven are used to describe what love is not. Today, we explore how love is not envious, arrogant, boastful, or rude. These behaviors are the opposite of what love is. They also happen to be the characteristics of this Corinthian community. What do we do when our actions are not displaying love? Perhaps the answer is in fact, LOVE.   

In an age when vitriol, slander, and meanness are the standard for what it means to be human, we must ask, where is the kindness? And why does it seem those who profess to be the most spiritual, are often the most unkind? Today, we look at another profound descriptor Paul gives to love; love is kind. This kindness is present even in our unkindness. This kindness embraces us exactly as we are. This kindness slowly transforms our unkindness and shows us a new path forward that can lead to universal human flourishing.

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul describes LOVE with 15 verbs. Some are positive and others are negative. Today we will look at his first descriptor; Love is patient. In a culture where we are conditioned to be hurried, frantic, and anxious about life, love beckons us to a new dimension that is outside of the space time continuum. A place of peace and presence. Love is never rushed. Love is never late. Love is present with us always.   

How do you define love? Most people define love in the traditional ways they have experienced love. Love is understood to be an emotion, infatuation, or an intense feeling of deep affection. These understandings are all transformative in and of themselves. But what if there was a LOVE behind these experiences of love? What if these experiences of love emanate from a deep source of LOVE. Today, we will take a step closer to the Love behind the Love.   

What does spiritual health and maturity look like? How can you measure your own spiritual depth? Is it by how often we attend a spiritual collective? How often do we read the Bible, pray, or discuss our beliefs? Today, we began our walk through 1 Corinthians 13. Paul opens this profound chapter by giving us a new metric. The essence of a healthy and mature spirituality is how well we love.  

John 14:6 has become a prooftext for many to exclude any religion that isn't Christianity. Is Jesus the only way to God? What does that mean? Can other religions lead to the Divine? What did Jesus mean when he said, I am the way? Last week we set the context. This week we get into the words.   

Can one know the way, the truth, and the life apart from Jesus? Are there many ways to God? Can other religions lead to the Divine? Is Jesus the only way? And the way to what? John 14:6 is the answer to all these questions for many. Today, we will get into this infamous verse. Could this prooftext for exclusivity, actually be about inclusivity?   

Matthew 28 has become known as the impetus for the expansion of Christianity. But what did Matthew have in mind when he was writing this? This week, we will walk through these final words of Jesus and explore what they could mean for us. What if the Great Commission is not about expanding Christianity? What if power, domination, and proselytizing is not what Jesus had in mind? What if we have been reading this commission through the lens of the empire? What if the Great commission is about resistance to the Empire?  

In 2018, American evangelical Christian missionary, John Allen Chau was killed by the Sentinelese after illegally traveling to their isolated island to convert this indigenous group to Christianity. Chau, like many evangelicals, received his missionary calling from what has been called, the Great Commission, in Matthew 28. But is this what Jesus had in mind? Is this what Matthew had in mind? Is the Great Commission a call to colonization? What is the difference? Let’s talk about it.

Bar Mitzvahs, graduations, weddings, and funerals all mark a significant stage in someone’s life. But what about Baptism? This ancient rite of passage has been given many meanings over the years. This week, we will look at some of those meanings. Can baptism still be a meaningful ritual for us today? What might it mean for us today?

If you grew up evangelical, you know about, “The Sinner's Prayer.” Romans 9:10-11 is usually the prooftext for this prayer. Today, we are exploring this passage in its larger context of Paul's extended riff (9-11). It turns out, the very thing Paul is arguing for, salvation by faith not works, is the very thing the sinners prayer has become, a work. The good news is that there are no requirements to be a child of God. To emphasize this full inclusion, Paul closes his argument with a hymn of euphoric praise, “For from him and through him and to him are ALL things.”

Today we take a deep dive into one of the prooftext for original sin, Genesis 3. This story is typically described as a falling down but perhaps it can be better understood as a waking up. Just as the eyes of Adam and Eve are opened, so our eyes will be opened to the good news that lies at the heart of this story.

Central to the evangelical notion of salvation is original sin. The belief that humans are born broken, flawed, and separated from God. One prooftext is Genesis 3. Turns out, just as Adam and Eve were lied to in the story, we were lied to about the story. Original sin is nowhere to be found. What can be found? The fundamental truth that the core of our being is not opposed to God but made in the image of God.