This is the next in our series of sessions inspired by Marty Sampson's excellent questions. You can find the series home page here. This session was led by Andrew, an elder at Cafechurch.
Hell.
It can have a devastating impact on how people think about the character of God. People rightfully walk away from Christianity because of it. Though they don't always have to—I hope Marty doesn't.
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This is the next in our series of sessions inspired by Marty Sampson's excellent questions. You can find the series home page here. This session was led by Matt, an who is a UCA Candidate for Minister of the Word and Sacrament.
For many people who have moved out of formative experiences in conservative Christian traditions a relationship with the bible can very quickly become … complicated. Many conservative Christian traditions hold very strong views on what the bible is, and how the bible should be interpreted.
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“Every human community will disappoint us, regardless of how well-intentioned or inclusive.” Nadia Bolz-Weber, Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint
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What is the Good News in our context? There's a theory, originating from Paul Tillich, that the basic problem for Christians of the Classical Age was the anxiety of death and fate, to which the answer was Christus Victor, leading captivity captive. For medieval and early modern people it was the anxiety of guilt and judgement, powerfully expressed by Luther in his quest for a gracious God. But what is the specific issue of our time and place? Is it meaninglessness? Or is it anxiety?
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What is the fundamental problem – the underlying anxiety – facing humanity in contemporary culture? That’s the question the church needs to ask, in order to see how the Resurrection of Jesus speaks deeply to us. Following J D Hall (especially in The Cross in Our Context), in this session argues that the fundamental problem confronting our culture is not the anxiety of guilt and shame so powerfully addressed by salvation theories that revolve around substitution. He argues that the real issue in our world is:
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Some nights, Cafechurch gets philosophical. Alister's first degree was in philosophy, and it's hard to break early formation! What follows is a pretty dry summary. the actual evening was much more interesting, and conversational, than you might think. For a slightly more narrative, less explicitly philosophical take on this, you might enjoy a sermon I preached at Easter - Practice Resurrection
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On Tuesday morning Australian Time we woke up to shocking news. Notre Dame Cathedral was on fire. For a while it looked as though the whole thing was about to collapse into complete ruins, or that the amazing medieval rose windows and great organ would be destroyed. Thousands watched, cried, and sang as the central spire came crashing down and red fire bloomed into the night sky. Heroism, and great organisation prevented the worst from happening, but the cold, blackened embers of the roof, and the huge amount of damage, serve as a reminder of how fragile things are.
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Is spiritual growth more like climbing a ladder or like being a plant? A lot of us have come from churches where a linear model of spiritual ascent was more or less explicitly at work. As well as being a human-centric ego project, it is a profoundly un-scriptural way of looking at spiritual growth. Rather than think of the spiritual life as a sort of ladder to heaven, Scripture is full of images of growth and fruitfulness. To grow spiritually, to bear fruit, is to be much more like a tree than a ladder.
Anne's session from 5/3/19 explores this idea more thoroughly
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Have you ever wondered why Jesus got baptised, given that he was without sin? In this presentation we explore three different levels of meaning in Baptism, which suggests an answer to that question.
The presentation draws on Rowan Williams' excellent little book Being Christian.
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The Ignatian tradition of Christian spirituality is a wonderful resource for making decisions when we want to collaborate with God's redemptive work in the world.
In this presentation from 13/11/2018, Anne talks us through it. It's easy to talk about "discernment", but what does it actually look like in practical terms?
There is also a document -"Prayer Exercises using Reason and Active Imagination" - which will give you some powerful tools to use for prayerful decision making.
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To contact us, email Alister: info [at] cafechurch.org or call 03 7019 3135. Cafechurch is part of the Chalice - Northcote Congregation of the Uniting Church in Australia
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