Sunday Morning Affinity Groups at MHC

The Reason for God   “A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic. A person’s faith can collapse almost overnight if she has failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection…  Skeptics must learn to look for a type of faith hidden within their reasoning. All doubts, however skeptical and cynical they may seem, are really a set of alternate beliefs.”    (From the Introduction)

 

Every Good Endeavor   “One of the hopes for our unraveling society is the recovery of the idea that all human work is not merely a job but a calling. The Latin word vocare – to call – is at the root of our common word “vocation.” Today the word often means simply a job, but that was not the original sense. A job is a vocation only if someone else calls you to do it and you do it for them rather than for yourself. And so our work can be a calling only if it is reimagined as a mission of service to something beyond merely our own interests. As we shall see, thinking of work mainly as a means of self-fulfillment and self-realization slowly crushes a person and undermines society itself…  Everyone wants to be successful rather than forgotten, and everyone wants to make a difference in life. But that is beyond the control of any of us. If this life is all there is, then everything will eventually burn up in the death of the sun and no one will even be around to remember anything that has ever happened. Everyone will be forgotten, nothing we do will make any difference, and all good endeavors, even the best, will come to naught. Unless there is a God. If the God of the Bible exists, and there is a True Reality beneath and behind this one, and this life is not the only life, then every good endeavor, even the simplest ones, pursued in response to God’s calling, can matter forever. That is what the Christian faith promises.”      (From the Introduction) 

 

Lost in the Middle    “It is hard to make sense out of your own story while you’re living in the middle of it. But God hasn’t left us to wander through the hallways of our own dramas. He has given us a bigger story, the story of redemption that fills Scripture’s pages…  The Bible never discusses midlife, just like it never discusses teenagers. Yet the Bible is able to unpack any of life’s experiences because it was written by the One who made them all. You do not have to be lost in the middle of your own story. You do not have to be paralyzed with regret, defeated by aging, and discouraged by the passing of your dreams. You do not have to make greater trouble of the trouble you are already experiencing. This time of life, which can seem like the end of many things, can actually welcome you to a brand new way of living. As is so often the case in your walk with the Lord, this moment of pain is also a moment of grace.”   (From the Preface)

 

All the Way Home   Romans 8 is the mountain peak of what Scripture tells us about grace and the gospel. To approach this packed summary of Christianity as “last lappers” (on the last lap of a four lap mile), or as seasoned saints on the home stretch, only intensifies the good news of this rich chapter of the Bible. There is no special gospel for older people, but there are unique needs and questions that seasoned saints bring to “the riches of his grace.” What does it mean to “finish well?” What does it not mean? How do struggles with identity change as we age? How can we maintain our zeal for Jesus as we physically slow down? How do we invest in the younger generations, rather than cynically giving up on them? How do temptations change as we age? What temptations are older saints especially assaulted with? How do we navigate difficult relationships with grown children and grandchildren? How do we know if we have made them into idols? What should be in a believer’s “bucket list?” When Paul says elsewhere that our inner person is daily renewed as the outer person wastes away (age!), what does he mean? How does that actually happen? What does it mean to die well, and why does nobody want to talk about this?   All these questions and more will be addressed as we use Romans 8 to see how the gospel takes us all the way home.