Re-Dedication: Our Message Matters (September 4, 2022)
Dennis R Wiles
FBC Arlington
September 4, 2022
2022 Re- . . .
FALL 2022 Re-Dedicate
September 4 – November 5, 2022
Re-Dedicate: Our Message Matters!
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
FBC Arlington 2022: Re- . . .
Winter: Re-Flect
Easter: Re-Deem
Spring: Re-Concile
Summer: Re-Create
August: Re-Joice
Fall: Re-Dedicate
Missions: Re-Claim
Advent: Re-Member
From a seasonal perspective, Fall is an opportune time to encourage people to re-engage, re-establish rhythms, re-connect, and RE-Dedicate. From a theological perspective, 1 Corinthians offers an opportunity to frame some important conversations in the context of a 1st-century church facing the challenges imposed by its setting in the pluralistic reality of Corinth.
-Dennis R. Wiles
Our society is riddled with many messages that claim to be the truth.
Our temptation as contemporary, western Christians is to succumb to a message of reductionism or accommodation.
Why does it matter?
The message of Christianity embodies a theology of creation, sin, and redemption.
The gospel transforms the cross as a symbol of Roman terror and political domination into a symbol of God’s love and power. It shows that the power of God’s love is greater than human love of power.
-David E. Garland, 1 Corinthians
Cheap grace means the justification of the sin without the justification of the sinner, forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline . . . the world goes on in the same old way . . . grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
