The Table Community Church (Belgrade)

In this teaching we explore what the Scriptures have to say about hell and judgment, and what it has to say might surprise you. Often times we get more interested in the various details about the afterlife rather than making sense of what Jesus says in his own words. So, this is a brief teaching on the nature of hell and judgment according to Jesus.

One of the most neglected beliefs in the protestant and evangelical tradition is the ascension of Jesus. Yet, it is one of the most important because it marks beginning of the church's witness to the world about the story of Jesus. Further, if Jesus does not to send, the Spirit does not come. In exploring the ascension, we look at the priestly, royal, and prophetic work of Jesus and how those things continue in and through the life of the church.

Preface: The sounds is not of the best quality. 

Helpful Links: 

Matt Emerson - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/christs-descent-dead/ 

Charles Hill - https://journal.rts.edu/article/he-descended-into-hell/ 

We are talking about what it looks like to confess and experience the power of the Resurrection. 

Only the Suffering God can Help. - Bonhoeffer

As N.T. Wright says, “You don’t have to be able to answer the question “Why?” before the cross can have this effect. Think about it. You don’t have to understand music theory or acoustics to be moved by a wonderful violin solo. You don’t have to understand cooking before you can enjoy a good meal. In the same way, you don’t have to have a theory about why the cross is so powerful before you can be moved and changed, before you can know yourself loved and forgiven, because if Jesus’s death.”

How does the suffering Jesus impact our own suffering in real and tangible ways? 

What is the reigning and guiding authority in our lives? Here, we explore a life arranged under Jesus the Christ. 

We are in a series on the Apostles’ Creed in a Post-Everything World. Our heat and hope is that the series can serve as a starting point for belief and practice as a church family. The last few weeks are online if you have missed out, and I encourage you to catch up if you can. Today, we are looking at the last few words of the first article, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.” Our focus is on “Creator of Heaven and Earth.”

1.  Who is the Creator?

2. What is the Story about Heaven and Earth?

3. What does this have to do with you?

Last week, we looked at “I believe in God,” yet that statement alone tells us nothing about who this God is or what this God is like. We looked at Acts 17 as a starting point for making sense of the Creed within our own cultural climate: a very spiritual one. We clarified what we meant by “I believe in God.” The Creed’s first description of God is that he is the “Father Almighty.” The language describing God as Father is found throughout the Scripture and most emphatically in the ministry and words of Jesus himself. Yet, the word father evokes various sorts of emotions in our culture, from broken relationships to conversations on masculinity, fatherhood, and gender. The word power evokes emotion because of how often we abuse it in our world, how much we crave it, and how we have come to distrust those with power. In fact, one common belief in a post-everything world is a profound skepticism of power within institutions.

So, as we did last week, let’s explore the cultural tone and move into how believing in God the Father Almighty affects our perception of life with God. Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” (1 Cor. 8:5-6 NRSVue).

What is the Apostles Creed?

Why is the Apostles’ Creed important for us today?

Today, the goal is not to unpack the whole creed, but to focus on “I believe in God.” What I hope to do with you is provide a brief snapshot of the spiritual tone of our culture and press us towards the question, “What do you mean (and what does it mean) to say, “I believe in God.” We can no longer assume we all mean the same thing, and this is essential for faith and mission.

Our theme this year is "Come and see." We will filter our teachings and life together through this lens. 

In every Advent text, pay attention to the unexpectedness of God’s coming, it is unexpected in manner, in time, and in culture. Every Advent text includes people struggling with uncertainty and trying to piece it all together. What we have learned thus far is that there are often no easy answers and sometimes we are not given answers at all. We were told by Jesus that we will not know a lot of things. We were told by Jesus that although he is God who has come to overturn evil, injustice, sin, and death, that sometimes we will find ourselves in situations like John the Baptist, where we are called to endure without the answers we want. Today, we are asking, “How do I trust God while navigating uncertainty?” Our story and text today involve a collision between the Advent themes of unexpectedness, uncertainty, and responding to God with devotion when it makes no earthly sense.

As human beings, and especially Americans shaped by our societal values, we like certainty. We like our plans to be made and we have contingency plans in place if things do not go our way. We have our plans and we have plans for our plants should they not go through. Certainty and control are values by which we live and arrange our lives. We invest in retirement, we purchase health insurance for illness, and life insurance in case we die. These are not bad things, but they show the degree to which we will go to ensure stability. The Western european an dAmerican way of life is built upon being secure, significant, and satisfied.

Further, we have an aversion to commitment because we don't like to be bogged down or let down. You can make a purchase, wear or break the item, and get a full refund or exchange with no questions asked most times. We can drive a car for three days before buying, and we have commodified sex and relationships in teh same ways. We don’t want to be duped or let down or disrupted.

This is bad news for entering Advent because Advent is God’s way of being profoundly honest with us about how things work in the world, what he is up to, and what our role within it might look like if we join him. In this world, you will have trouble, according to Jesus. Even if you live your best life, you will face trouble. No matter what your social media shows, the life behind the screen isn't always what it seems. Walking with God requires trusting him and entrusting our lives into real ways from our relationships, resources, and way of living. The word trust sounds nice until we realize that the very word implies uncertainty and unexpectedness. So, what can we know that will help us entrust ourselves to God?

Advent is about looking forward, looking back, and looking now. During our first week, we looked forward to see that Jesus promises to return to evict evil, we looked back before the days of Jesus to see how God instructed his people to act while waiting for jesus, which was to be peacemakers; and we looked to what means now, which was to love God and our neighbors well. This week, we are given another angle for the past, present, and future.

Have you ever felt like you were doing everything right but for some reason felt invisible to God? You look at other people’s lives and it seems like God is mending, working, healing, and helping many others, but you feel overlooked or even deserted. You are out in the wilderness and feel a bit lost, which feels strange because you have been following Jesus or believing in God for some time.  If you resonate with this feeling, you’re in good company. John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus, faced such a moment.

John leaps for joy for Jesus, lives in the wilderness to draw people out of the normative daily routines to point them to Jesus, and he even found Jesus to be so important that he set aside his own ministry and sent his disciples to follow Jesus. A whole life and ministry devoted to Jesus. The texts are silent about his joy after the womb. In fact he goes from leaping for joy to landing in jail, awaiting his death sentence, wondering if Jesus is the One who will save and if Jesus is coming.

The book of Psalms is considered the songbook of the Scriptures. Like songs and poems, they are intended to connect to our emotions and experiences. Sometimes the Psalms are filled with joy and celebration, other times they are filled with anger and grief. Still, other times they are filled with doubts and fear. Psalms are invitations to deal honestly with ourselves, our situations, and our hopes and fears with God in total openness.

To close our series called Recovering the Church, we look at what it means to be a community where hope is found. Yet, this makes us ask, "What is hope?" Henri Nouwen once wrote, "Hope does not mean that we will avoid or be able to ignore suffering, of course. Instead, hope born of faith becomes matured and purified through difficulty. The surprise we experience in hope, then, is not that, unexpectedly, things turn out better than expected. For even when they do not, we can still live with a keen hope. The basis of our hope has to do with the One who is stronger than life and suffering. Faith opens us up to God's sustaining and healing presence." We will explore this concept of living hope. 

Forgiveness is one of the most controversial and difficult teachings of Jesus. Relational wounds run deep; forgiveness can be a slow an painful process, but it is a central practice for Jesus's followers. What if the church became known for its radical forgiving nature? 

What does it mean to Recover the Church in a time when the church is grappling for cultural influence?? 

Recovering the Church means not being unnecessarily offensive in a culture that loves offense. 

In this teaching, we explore the basic posture of the church: listening to Jesus. The big question we all ask, "Okay, how?" 

"Recovering the Church" is a series that looks at foundation and the essentials of what it means to be the church in our world today. There are many competing voices attempting to shape the church, whether the voices of politics or consumerism, and our aim to recover Jesus's words and the rest of the New Testament witness about the church's identity and mission.

"Recovering the Church" is a series that looks at foundation and the essentials of what it means to be the church in our world today. There are many competing voices attempting to shape the church, whether the voices of politics or consumerism, and our aim to recover Jesus's words and the rest of the New Testament witness about the church's identity and mission. 

Here, we explore the letters to Pergamum and Thyatira. 

Pastor Mark Archilla walks us through the context and relevance of the letter to the church in Smyrna. 

Last week we started a series through the book of Revelation. We explored how chapter 1 tells us that the primary aim of Revelation is to reveal Christ to us in dramatic ways that we might find encouragement, clarity, correction, and closeness with God and each other in the strange days in which we find ourselves. We dispelled some of the misuses and abuses of Revelation and tried to set a solid foundation on which we will build. Today we look at Revelation 2:1-7. Chapters 2-3 focus on seven churches throughout Asia Minor to which Jesus writes. They are real churches in a real time facing real situations that demand real answers. The image of seven in Revelation is symbolic of completion; thus, it is a letter to them and also for us today since we are a part of the complete and global church. Jesus addresses each church with his knowledge about their life together. He is telling the church what he sees, knows, and what they need to adjust. So, for six more weeks we will camp out with these churches.

The church in Ephesus was founded by Paul about twenty years after the Resurrection. The accounts are recorded in Acts 18-20. The church was founded by Paul, left in the hands of Priscilla and Aquila and Timothy, and later we believe that John (the author) took over after Timothy was murdered. Tradition tells us that this was Mary’s (the mother of Jesus) home church as she would have stayed with John. What a heritage and what a church. Yet no matter how solid the leaders or passionate the people, problems do and will occur.

John is on an island called Patmos, and while he is worshiping and praying, God shows up in a unique way, announcing himself, scaring John nearly to death, but then giving him a vision filled with symbols that teach us about who Jesus is and what he is up to and how we need to think about the book of Revelation. 

Today is Palm Sunday (2022). We contrast Jonah fleeing the city of Nineveh with Jesus entering Jerusalem. The question we have before us is this: Can we really stomach God’s grace? Being a person full of grace and mercy is one of the most scandalous and challenging dimensions of discipleship to Jesus.

In Jonah 3, we finally arrive in Nineveh with Jonah. Jonah physically obeys God, but there might be hints that his obedience is superficial or partial. God does in fact overthrow the city, but in the best way imaginable.

We are in a series on the book of Jonah called Into the Depths. In this series, we are hoping to better understand the Jonah that we might better understand ourselves. I have made it a point each week to remind us that Jonah is not about a guy getting swallowed by a fish and surviving. It is also not a book about disobedience and obedience. Both elements exist in the story and are important features, but they are not the centerpieces. Jonah is a story that reveals the depths of our heart and the worst of human tendencies. The goal, however, is not to simply tell us about the worst news about ourselves; rather, it is show us the depths of God’s compassion and mercy for all. So, in the depths we see both ourselves and God. We are warned to examine our lives and our highest loves. If my highest love is God, more and more my life will look like his compassion and mercy. We are warned to examine our lives and we are invited to turn around and experience God’s love and mission.

To provide a little summary of last week: Jonah is a unique prophetic book. Prophetic books always involve a word from God to a prophet, a prophet sharing that word as a warning, and then the prophet invites them into a new direction of seeing things as God does, which is a vision of goodness and restoration. What’s unique about Jonah is that the character of Jonah's character is the warning and invitation. The book is not merely about obeying or disobeying God, as important as that is to the story, but rather seeing the destructive tendencies of humanity and choosing to join God in what he is up to. Jonah receives a word from God, he  runs away from God’s plan, boards the ship to Tarshish –the land of self-fulfillment and prosperity. Tarshish won’t deliver. Keep in mind that Jonah’s name in the Hebrew means Dove son of Faithfulness. This frames the story with irony, that every time the dove who is to carry peace in faithfulness to God does the exact opposite. Today, we explore the depths of sin and the depths of grace as we dive in with Jonah. 

Today we are starting a new series on the Book of Jonah called “Into the Depths.” We are in a church season called Lent, and this is when we slow down to think through the themes of forgiveness, surrender, and lamenting the world’s  brokenness. It’s a season of repentance and refreshment. These are themes central to Jonah and relevant for us, as we will see.

Some introductory comments are necessary before we dive too deep with Jonah.  When opening up the book of Jonah, we face a couple of obstacles. First, familiarity with the story. Even the spiritually distant  person will know about Jonah, and often we become overly familiar and we become indifferent, as if we found all the treasure in this sea. Secondly, misreading the story. If I say Jonah, you think, “Whale” or  “guy swallowed by a fish.” This is true but that’s not the point. Or, we have heard the story of Jonah as a tale about obedience: “Obey God, or else!” Though obedience is important, Jonah is about more than morality. We know this because in Jonah 1, Jonah is disobedient and clearly in the wrong. In Jonah 3-4, he is obedient and still clearly in the wrong. It runs deeper than actions and goes straight for the heart.

When Jonah flees, he not only flees from God but to Tarshish. The promises of Tarshish, however, are lies. 

Christmas Devotional - Isaiah 9:2

Envy is an invitation to insecurity and instability. Psalm 73 helps us uproot envy before it uproots us. 

Why is it important? For all of differences and disagreements that have been highlighted during COVID-19 and the presidential election, we all stand in unity on one thing: Death and loss are realities and none of us like it. Years of research and tangible experience have shown us that for all of technological advances, wealth, and innovation, Americans do not handle death nearly as well as other underdeveloped areas of the world or places where conflict is unceasing. We hide from death and grief. We distract ourselves. When we do face it, research indicates that we dont posses the psychological, emotional, spiritual, or relational resources to process it well. So we bury death rather than dealing with it. The problem is that we all will face moments in life where grief is unavoidable. Suffering is an equal opportunity offender, yet what we learn from Jesus is that suffering is the chaotic and raw material from which even death and loss can be fashioned for goodness - death is not good, its tragic. Yet, Jesus says that it doesn't have the final word.

There are many voices competing for our attention and allegiance in this world. Jesus says that he is the Good Shepherd and that his sheep know his voice. The question we can ask is, "Do I recognize the voice of Jesus in my life?" 

Jesus as the Light of the World brings clarity and life. 

Today were looking at the first of seven “I Am” statements. If you are a part of a home church or online gathering, you should have already read the John 6:1-67. Because it is such a large passage, I will not be reading the text in its entire passage; rather I will be focusing on the crux of the entire story, which is Jesus’s words in John 6:32-41. so, if you have not done so already, go ahead and read the first 67 verses in John chapter 6 and then resume this teaching. If you have, keep your bibles open, and let's look back at John 6:32-41.

“I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again.

Looking back over 2020, it’s been a tough year. We have woken up every morning with COVID-19, racial tensions, and volatile election year. This is not to mention our own personal struggles. Some of has lost loved ones this year. Some of us have lost our jobs or taken a significant pay decrease. Some of us are struggling psychologically or emotionally in dealing with all of the challenges and changes we are going through in light of a lingering global pandemic. This year has exhausted our souls.  To kick off this series, we are looking at a song that speaks to the longing for God to intervene when the world around is falling apart: O Come O Come, Emmanuel. This song has been remade over and over by many artists over the years. It’s actually seven verses but people alter it or shorten for time’s sake. The song sings the names and titles of Christ by relating him primarily to prophecies in Isaiah, which was written about seven hundred years before Jesus arrived in Bethlehem. The form in which we have this song comes from the late nineteenth century Anglican scholar, missionary, and hymnist John Mason Neal. But the origins of this song go all the way back to eight century Benedictine monks. They would take the last week of December and sing a verse each day of the week. So this song has a great history in the church.

Here we look at Psalm 136, the Great Hallel, in order to recover a vision of thankfulness that leads us to a closer relationship with God and each other.

Some sociologists have defined our culture climate as "A Culture of Outrage." This means that the air in which we breath is filled with aggressiveness and anger - expressed through rhetoric and violence. How should the church respond? Here we look at two simple yet significant verses on what it means to become a redemptive listener in culture and in our own personal lives. (James 1:19-20)

It is no secret that patience in our culture is something rare to encounter, yet we all are aware of our need for it in life. Even in the small and insignificant things in life we struggle to exercise patience. One research firm collected data from about 2000 people from various demographics and found that across the board, patience is a lost ideal that is longed for in life. They found the people become frustrated after having to wait for a web-page to load after 16 seconds; verbally frustrated if they have to spend more than 22 seconds at a red light; they are visibly irritated if they have to wait in a grocery store line for more than 2 minutes; they get frustrated if, at a sit down restaurant, they have to wait more the 14 minutes for their food to arrive. About 50% of the people said that they lose their temper either privately or publicly regularly. Yet, 95% of people want more patience and see the value of patience in life. This means we crave it, yet don’t know how to aquire it.

As we approach the 2020 election, loving our neighbor on the other side of the political aisle will feel optional at best or impossible at worst. Yet, it has no bearing on who we are and who we are called to be in the world. Here we explore how we can become good neighbors to those around us. Luke 10:25-27.

A deep prayer life is one that endures.

We walk through Jesus's prayer in the Garden just before his arrest by using an acronym from Pete Greig:

P - Pause

R - Rejoice (and Be Real)

A - Ask

Y - Yield 

Last week to kick of our Life Around the Table series, we talked about the nature and essence of the church as people of the Spirit, the Story of Scripture, and people who share their lives with one-another around the good news of Jesus. Today, we will think through the necessity of humility in the body of Christ as we live in our culture today that breathes hostility and hatred, especially during an election season as tense as this one.

Life Around The Table is about reorienting our vision of what it means to be the church during uncertain days, such as the ones in which we live. 

To launch this series we are going back to the basics: Acts 2. Before listening, be sure to read the text in its entirety. We will discuss the foundations of the Spirit, Story & Scripture, and Shared-Life together around the good news of Jesus. 

Here we explore Psalm 1 and discuss the map to deep joy. 

To conclude the parables, we look at how we receive the teachings about the Kingdom. "Be like the children." This sounds simple, but there is much more to it. 

Bible scholar C.H Dodd said of parables, “At its simplest, the parable is a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt to its precise application to tease the mind into active thought.” Parables are meant to instill a healthy doubt about the direction we are naturally inclined to move in life and then reorient us towards life in the Kingdom. Parables frustrate our flesh, yet they free us to live as God intended, towards joy, wholeness, and vitality.

In Luke 18:1-8, we discuss what it looks like to have a deep commitment and persistence in our faithfulness to Jesus in the midst of difficulty and desperate moments.

Bible scholar C.H Dodd said of parables, “At its simplest, the parable is a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt to its precise application to tease the mind into active thought.” Parables are meant to instill a healthy doubt about the direction we are naturally inclined to move in life and then reorient us towards life in the Kingdom. Parables frustrate our flesh, yet they free us to live as God intended, towards joy, wholeness, and vitality.

In Luke 18:9-14, we discuss the way of self-righteousness and the way of surrender.

Bible scholar C.H Dodd said of parables, “At its simplest, the parable is a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt to its precise application to tease the mind into active thought.” Parables are meant to instill a healthy doubt about the direction we are naturally inclined to move in life and then reorient us towards life in the Kingdom. Parables frustrate our flesh, yet they free us to live as God intended, towards joy, wholeness, and vitality.

In Matthew 13:44-46, we discuss the importance of digging beyond the surface of parables to the treasure of the Kingdom. The Kingdom could be right underneath our feet, or right around the corner. 

Bible scholar C.H Dodd said of parables, “At its simplest, the parable is a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt to its precise application to tease the mind into active thought.” Parables are meant to instill a healthy doubt about the direction we are naturally inclined to move in life and then reorient us towards life in the Kingdom. Parables frustrate our flesh, yet they free us to live as God intended, towards joy, wholeness, and vitality. 

In Matthew 13:31-33, we find that the expansion of the Kingdom in our world and within ourselves is powerful, yet requires patience and a commitment to the process of transformation.