Whats Theology Got to Do with It

1
Whats Theology Got to Do with It?

• A vision for University Christian Church
• (Disciples of Christ)

2
Theology is

• Words about God
• Reflection on religious experience
• Grounded in scripture, tradition, reason,
  experience
• Faith seeking understanding
• Discerining what new thing God is doing

3
Isaiah 4318-19

• Do not remember the former things, or consider
  the things of old. I am about to do a new thing
  now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I
  will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in
  the desert.

4
Vision is

• A new way of seeing, which inspires new ways of
  being and doing

• Discerning what God is asking us to be and to do
• As followers and disciples of Jesus
• In the twenty-first century

5
Matthew 633

• But strive first for the kingdom of God and his
  righteousness, and all these things will be given
  to you as well.
• Seek ye first the kingdom of God/And Gods
  righteousness/And all these things shall be added
  unto you/Allelu, Alleluia.

6
University Christian Church is

• A congregation of those who confess that Jesus is
  the Christ, the Son of the living God
• A congregation of those who are seeking the
  kingdom and righteousness of God
• A congregation of disciples who are called,
  taught, empowered, and sent into the world--to
  do a new thing

7
University Christian Church offers

• A variety of worship styles and times
• Christian education and formation for all ages
• Compassionate care for one another
• Small group activities throughout the week
• Local, national, and international outreach,
  through charity and advocacy

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Welcome

• Whoever you are
• Whatever you believe
• You are welcome
• At our table

9
We understand ourselves to be

• Ecumenical
• Evangelical

• Incarnational
• Liberal

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We are ecumenical because

• We are connected to the global Christian
  community through our region, denomination, and
  our theology
• We remain in fellowship with those with whom we
  disagree
• We are accountable to the wider church
• We believe that Jesus calls us to unity in
  diversity (that they may all be one, John
  1721)

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We are evangelical because

• We believe that the long story of God and
  humankind is more good news than bad news
• We believe that the story of Jesus is good news
  for us, and for many
• We believe that we are called to proclaim, in
  word and deed, this good news to the wider world

12
We are incarnational because

• We strive to love our neighbor by reaching out
  in many ways to others in need
• We support and care for one another in the
  congregation
• We are multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-colored
  tow truck driver anecdote

13
We are liberal because

• We seek to be generous, toward one another and
  toward the least of these
• We believe in working for social justice
• We support human rights and civil liberties for
  all Gods children
• We are open-minded and respectful toward other
  religions
• We strive to speak the truth in love

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Three Frames for the Church
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Church as Open Set
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Church as Bounded Set
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Church as Centered Set
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Three Strands of Jesus Story
Incarnation
Atonement
Discipleship
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Our preaching and teaching are

• Pastoral
• Prophetic
• Vocational

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True to our name and our heritage

• We are a discipleship church
• Fulfilling Jesus great commission
• To make disciples of all nations
• Baptizing
• Teaching

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As a discipleship church, we are

• Relational
• Christ-centered
• Spirit-filled
• God-challenged

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Relational means

• We know and respect and care for each other
• We celebrate our unity in essentials
• We honor our diversity in non-essentials
• We practice charity toward one another in all
  things
• We engage in respectful conversation about our
  disagreements

23
Christ-centered means

• We believe that Jesus is the truth, the way, and
  the life
• We believe that Jesus teaches the truth
• Embodies the way
• Empowers the life

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Christ-centered means that Jesus

• Calls us to follow him
• Teaches us and empowers us
• Sends us to make disciples
• Promises to be with us forever

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Spirit-filled means

• We worship God with celebration and gratitude
• We worship God in different ways formal and
  informal, traditional and contemporary
• We lift up our hands in praise, and our hearts in
  joy and sorrow
• We love one another as Christ has loved us

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God-challenged means

• We try to balance spirituality and theology,
  worship and witness, journey inward and journey
  outward, charity and advocacy

• We are seekers and believers, sisters and
  brothers, sinners and saints, covenanting
  together to do what God expects of us doing
  justice, loving mercy, walking humbly with our
  God

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At the center of our common life

• We believe in God
• Who has created
• And is creating

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We believe in Jesus

• Fully human and fully divine
• Our crucified and risen Savior
• Who teaches the truth, embodies the way, empowers
  the life

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We believe in the Holy Spirit

• Who calls us into the church
• To accept the cost, and the joy, of discipleship
• To be Gods servants in the service of others

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For we have discerned

• That God is doing a new thing,
• in and through our church,
• in and through our individual lives,
• in and through our relationships with Jesus

• That in seeking first the kingdom and the
  righteousness of God
• We will receive everything we need
• for this pilgrimage to the promised land
• Of a new heaven and a new earth.