Upcoming Sermon Series: "They Like Jesus, But Not the Church"

It's good to be back after a week of vacation, and I wanted to begin by offering y'all a preview of what to expect here on the blog for the month of September.  I'm readying posts on the religiosity of the Republican and Democratic national conventions, the "church  year" as a mirror of the September-June school year, and the place of the church in education--not just in terms of public-versus-private, but also of supporting public schools with our ministries...something that I have since learned that FCC truly excels at.

I'm also going to be starting a new six-week sermon series this Sunday (September 9th), and below is what I shared about it in FCC's monthly newsletter, The View.  I hope to see you here for this series--I've been looking forward to it for a long time!  And if you're a friend far away, I hope you will enjoy following along here on the blog!

Yours in Christ,
Eric

September is traditionally the month to kick off not only the school year, but the “church year” as well (even though the liturgical year actually does not begin until late November with the season of Advent!). In that spirit, we will be kicking off not only many of our programs that were previously on summer break, but also a new sermon series on the Sunday after Labor Day. Unlike many of my recent sermon series, this one is structured on an outside book, “They Like Jesus, but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations” by Dan Kimball, a pastor in Santa Cruz, California. He puts to ink the testimonies of many people in my age bracket, including how they feel the church is perceived today…and he’s got news for us: it isn’t always good. Dan structures his book in part into six separate chapters, each tackling a particular perception, and so we will be taking the next six Sundays to do the same as we struggle and wrestle with what the church could be doing more of, or be doing better, in our world—but there will also be plenty of hope, though, for the church and our future, throughout the series! 

“They Like Jesus, But Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations” Sermon Series

September 9: They think the church has a political agenda 
“Vote 4 Jesus,” Matthew 10:1-4 

September 16: They think the church is judgmental and negative 
“In Persona Christi,” Luke 6:27-37 

September 23: They think the church arrogantly claims all other religions are wrong 
“Manifest Proofs,” John 12:44-50 

September 30: They think the church is dominated by males and oppresses females
“The Deaconess’s Portion,” Romans 16:1-2

October 7: They think the church is homophobic
"High Park's on Fire," Isaiah 1:9-17

October 14: They think the church is full of fundamentalists who take the whole Bible literally
"Human Traditions," Mark 7:1-9