Jesus proclaimed that his liberation was tied with the liberation of the least of these because he was the least of these. And if Jesus, God made flesh, was the least of these, then certainly we are too. And so when we feed the hungry, we are feeding Jesus and ourselves. When we set the prisoner free, we are setting Jesus free and setting ourselves free. Maybe that is what it means to be the Body of Christ.
Read MoreThe Gospel Of: Heaven in a time of Lament.
What if heaven isn't an escape chute? Heaven isn't a place we're whisked to after we die; it's God's order of justice and mercy coming towards us. In this, we know that God cares about community, God cares about suffering, and God is actively pursuing our good.
In this 5th sermon in our EasterTide series, Guest Speaker Shay O'Reilly discusses the coronavirus pandemic, its uneven impacts, and the pressure to move on.
Read MoreThe Gospel of Heaven: Is Jesus the only way?
At some point in your life you were told that Jesus was the only way to heaven or told someone else that Jesus was the only way to heaven. We justify this by using John:6. It says, "Jesus answered, I'm the way the truth, and the life. No one comes to God but through me." This is a terrible interpretation of scripture!
In this 3rd sermon in our EasterTide series, watch Jonathan Williams remind us how Jesus excluded no one from his promise of Heaven. As always, it’s critical that we understand the context of culture at the time these stories were written. When we believe that people who don't believe in Jesus are unworthy of eternal life, we'll treat them poorly in this life.
Read MoreWhy does the concept of heaven and hell play such a powerful role in Christianity?
The death of Christ on the cross does not change God's mind about us. Our beliefs about heaven and hell originate from our inability to make sense of suffering in our present lives. Heaven and hell used to be ways to help us cope with suffering today. But when Christianity became an empire, they morphed into tools to make people suffer today.
Do your beliefs about the afterlife help you or prevent you from living your life presently?
Sarah Ngu walks us through an enlightening perspective and an emotional story about the limiting effects of living out of fear of hell.
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