the words and The Word
Sunday, Sep 10, 2023
Series: At Commons - Part 1 Scripture: Acts 6:7, 8:14, 11:1, John 1:1-5 (NIV11)
Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.
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Message Summary: We want to begin this year by setting the framework for how we believe together (and how we continue to become together), and that can be found on the very first page on our journal. In this sermon series we will work through those six affirmations that open our journal year year. In this first message, Jeremy addressed the first affirmation: “We are completely fascinated with this complex and beautiful collection of texts we call the Bible - but we worship Jesus.”
• All the words - What do we mean when we talk about the Word of God? The word of God is a very common idea within the word of God (the bible). The idea of the word of God keeps evolving in Scripture. The entire Bible is the story about the word of god, as opposed to being just some specific book on the shelf. The Bible does not point it itself, it points to Jesus, in whom God has said everything God wanted to say to us,.
• God-breathed - This word (theopnustos) does not refer to God dictating the words of Scripture, it refers to God speaking life to us through Scripture. “God-breathed” is an image, a word picture that shows up throughout the scripture that’s because theopnustos is an image of a life-giving, divine breath that animates and sustains, Paul says that the story of God is like the breath in your chest right now. All of Scripture is about the word of God but Jesus is that Word.
• Logos and Wisdom In the prologue to his gospel, John masterfully brings together two ways of looking at Jesus (inspired by Greek philosophy - logos, and an older Hebrew philosophical tradition of wisdom). Logos is the essence of something, wisdom is creativity, ability to make the situation what you need it to be.
• The Capital W For John those two traditions are two sides of the same coin. “The Wisdom of creativity from the Hebrew tradition and the Logos as the expression of an idea from the greek tradition.” So he names Jesus right of the bat the capital W word of God, to say that all of the philosophy and history and tradition and creativity point to the moment in history when God comes to live in the human story.
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Connect: Commons is going into its tenth year this fall, and it is fun to celebrate those markers. Is there anything you’re celebrating this season, any milestones, big or small events and happenings, anything that you are looking back at and celebrating how far you’ve come?
Share: Jeremy asked, “What do we mean when we talk about the word of God?” How has your response to this question changed over the years, how would you have answered this question 5-10-15 years ago and how would you answer it today? And what still attracts you to this collection of ancient texts?
Reflect: What does the idea of the word of God being godbreathed mean to you? What is the connection between all of scripture being god-breathed word and Jesus being the actual Word of God?
Engage: Read the quote from the sermon below. How does this thought resonate with you? Maybe it releases something in you, may be it challenges you, or even raises more questions for you? “And so in naming Jesus, right off the bat, at the start of his gospel as the capital W word of God, a phrase that is used all throughout the Scriptures but is always pointing somewhere else, John is saying actually, all of it, points here. And yes, that’s all of scripture and all its wisdom and creativity, all philosophy and history, all theology and prophecy and hope and tradition, all love, all points to this moment in history. When God occupies the human story to demonstrate what a human life can be at its essence, and its logos and its most creative wisdom. John is saying that all scripture is God-breathed. It’s life giving. It’s packed full of wisdom and creativity, but ultimately only because it leads us to Jesus. No longer our words about God, written down and bound together, but God’s Word alive and breathing and showing us the essence of life and the heart of love. Jesus is everything God needed to say to us.”
Take away: What would you like to take away from today’s conversation?
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Bless: As we enter into this new season as summer gives way to fall as students head back to classrooms as work places swing into renewed rhythms as we prepare as a community to be led by your spirit in this new adventures together, we pray that you would remind us of the delicate beauty of self giving that we might fill our neighbourhoods, and schools, and our workplaces — indeed —this space that we gather in today with lives that reflect the love of your son. Forgive us when we fall short Strengthen us when we are fearful remind us of our essential beloved identity in you, in the strong name of the risen Christ we pray, Amen.
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CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 138
MUSIC Curated by Kevin Borst
Brooke Ligertwood - Ancient Gates
Chris Tomlin - Holy Forever
Phil Wickham - Psalm 23
Phil Wickham - Creator
Mavrick City Music - Jireh
Joy Oladokun - SundayEUCHARIST INVITATION Written by Bobbi Salkeld
At the start of a new season together, we gather around the Eucharist – the ritual of the Lord’s Supper. Here at Commons we share an open table, and all are welcome to participate.
The Eucharist meal is one of gratitude, where the risen Christ is at the centre of community, and where we are invited to live Eucharist lessons in our everyday lives.
We celebrate that Jesus always invites us to the feast of belonging.
We celebrate that Jesus always sits beside us, never scared of what’s in our hearts.
We celebrate that Jesus always sends us out from the meal to share peace, work for justice, and grow in love.
And so God gathers us in.
Those full of faith and those doubting.
Those whose hearts know love and those who feel alone.
Those full of strength and those tired and aching.
Listen to the story of Jesus’ meal with friends.
On the night he was betrayed,
Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and said,
This is my body – a body given for your salvation.
Eat to remember.
In the same way,
Jesus took the cup, blessed it, poured it out, and said,
This cup is filled with my life – poured out for many.
Drink to reconcile.
Prayer
As Jesus said a prayer before sharing, let us do that too.
Creator God, present at this meal,
the bread that we break and the cup that we share
are places where our Saviour meets us.
Broken, we are being made whole.
Poured out, we are filled with joy once again.
Holy Spirit, bless these elements of community.
Amen.
