Denver Community Church

December 24, 2019: Christmas Eve Gathering – Wonder

December 22, 2019: Mothers & Dragons - Michael Hidalgo

If there was ever a central metaphor for the presence of God it is light. Light, shines in the darkness, said John. This is a part of all three birth stories of Jesus. Three, did you say? Yep. And the third one involves a dragon! And as bizarre as that story sounds, it gets weirder. It is not the first time a story was told of a god being born involving a dragon.

But the way that John tells it in Revelation light gives birth to light, and the dragon in the story is in fact Rome. Jesus, is the son born of light, exposing the deeds of darkness. And it is this same Jesus that calls his people the light of the world. If this is the case, then we are his presence right here, right now.

December 15, 2019: I've Heard This Before – Amanda Lum

Matthew spends the first part of his gospel pointing out the many ways Jesus’ birth was the fulfillment of prophecies contained in the Hebrew Scriptures. But were these predictions of the person of Jesus? Were the prophets correct down the detail in writing about Jesus, who was to come? Possibly.

However, Matthew was writing to his own people, and it is likely this is his testimony his community’s way of seeing Jesus in relationship to the ancient scriptures of their Jewish tradition. It expresses their conviction that he not only stood in continuity with them, but was the culmination of them. For Matthew, Jesus is Emmanuel, both as a figure of history and as the risen Christ. This is New Testament testimony, not Old Testament prediction. In this sense, Jesus fulfills God’s promise and Israel’s yearning for Emmanuel, for the abiding presence of God with us.

December 8, 2019: How Did This Happen? - Kent Dobson

The announcement to Mary and Joseph was something that had been talked about before. What was shocking was not the announcement itself, or even Mary being pregnant as a virgin. What was most shocking was the fact that they went along with it. Joseph was to be a good son and do what his father and father’s father did before him. Carry on the family trade, and more importantly, the family line. He risked all of this by taking Mary as his wife. 

How is it that the risk of Mary and Joseph, their going against the established norms and expectations and both of them defying the set boundaries of morality that religion held in place – how is it that we have missed this scandal when celebrating Christmas? If we give ourselves over to this story and immerse ourselves fully in the craziness of it all, we just may have a keener understanding of Jesus and why he pushed boundaries himself.

December 1, 2019: A Tale of Two Kingdoms – Michael Hidalgo

A Jewish person could not have heard the story of the first Christmas without hearing echoes of Egypt. Egypt was not only a memory of slavery for the Jewish people. Egypt represented empire, all that was antithetical to the Kingdom of God. Except this time, it was the Roman Empire. An Empire that promised peace – as all Empires do – believing they are right and good.

However, we are introduced through the birth of this King to another kingdom. One that also claims to bring peace, but not by might, but by justice. And making things right, making them as they should be, does not come without cost.

November 24, 2019: Loved & Capable of Loving - Amanda Lum

“Keep yourself from idols.” What a curious way to end a letter like this. Unless we recognize the idea of what idols represented. Idols and idolatry was about more than bowing down before statues of a the gods. It was about the human propensity to place anything in the created order above the one who created it. When we do this, we give away our power to the created order.

 

This, according to NT Wright, was what the idea of “sin” meant. It was humanity’s missing the mark by handing over to lifeless things the power and authority that was ours in the first place. This is what has led to slavery for us and for all of the created order. In this, we fail in our most basic calling – the invitation to co-create with God and be his presence in this word. To keep away from idols then, is negative way of stating the invitation that has been ours from the beginning: to accept and live out our deepest calling.

November 17, 2019: Breath, Water and Blood – Michael Hidalgo

It wasn’t just water and it wasn’t just blood. It was both. And the Spirit. It was actually all three. What in the world does all of this mean? Well, that’s the thing. No one is 100% sure (though no one is that honest). The best we can do is examine how John speaks about water and blood and the Spirit in his Gospel and his letters. And it is there we find some connections.

Most specifically – the moment that Jesus died. He was pierced and blood and water flowed. This speaks of his real, authentic humanity, and the life that came (and still comes) through that death. A life given by the Spirit. This is what we know to be true – is that life does in fact come from death – and we are invited to trust that.

November 10, 2019: The Burden of Being Fully Human – Scott Oppliger

John tells the hearers of his letter that the commands of God (which are loving God and loving others) are “not burdensome.” There is an echo in these words of the invitation Jesus offered to any who would come found in Matthew 11, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

 

What John is getting at, and what Jesus was talking about, was learning the way to become fully human. To live lives of love, lives marked by the grace, essence and presence of God. This is what it means to be human. What if we understood these commands not as another rule to follow, but a path on which to walk so we can discover what full life actually looks like?

November 3, 2019: Love > Fear – Michael Hidalgo & Maggie Knight

Few are well acquainted with love, because many are consumed with fear. Fear resides deep within us, and it’s unbelievably subtle. It carries immense influence in how we think, live and function - it is a deep and abiding fear (or terror) of God. This is because many have been introduced to a god who is ready to ensure we experience eternal conscious torment forever. The good news? We can avoid this horrendous punishment if we repent. Talk about a relationship that is little more than a cautious standoff with an angry deity!

 

But God is love, and love drives out fear. What does this look like? It looks like Jesus. Through him we learn of a God who took our suffering, pain, fear, pain, sin and brokenness. A God who allowed our suffering to be his. When Jesus was crucified he not only suffered with us, but exposed the shame, fear and guilt we carry deeply within us. In the moment of his greatest agony, our fear was brought to light. This is how fear was destroyed. In Jesus, the God who is love destroyed fear once and for all. 

October 27, 2019: I Am God – Bekah Stewart

Christian Mystic Marguerite Porete wrote, “’I am God,’ says Love, for Love is God and God is Love, and this Soul is God by the condition of Love.” What a densely packed statement. It’s possible she points toward the suggestion that is here in these verses. That is that God’s love is in us. If that’s the case, then we are love too.

Which means we can actually be for our world a sign, a symbol and the actually presence of God. How? By loving each other. Jesus said the same, “By this all people will know you’re my disciples … love one another.” What if this is the greatest thing we can do? What if this is all we gave ourselves toward, remembering loving God and others are the most important commands? Is it possible our world might experience God’s presence, and know God more.