Jesus once said, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” Is Jesus talking about eternal conscious torment? Did He talk more about hell than any other subject? And what do we do about the part of tearing are eye out? Is this hyperbole? Is this literal? Let's get into it.
The English word “hell” is used roughly twelve times in the New Testament. Almost all those occasions are exclusively by Jesus himself. In one place Jesus says, “If you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire” (Mark 9:47). What does Jesus mean by this? To get at it, we must know something about the valley of Hinnom. Never heard of it? Come find out all about it. Today, we talk about Hell + New Testament.
Is Hell in the Old Testament? Why do some translations have hell in the O.T. but others do not? What did the ancient Israelites believe about the afterlife? Were they concerned about life after death? Is there any evidence they believe in life after death? How did their Egyptians neighbors influence their understanding? This week we talk about Sheol, ancient Egyptian texts, King James, Jerome, and what ancient Israel believed about the afterlife.
Can a loving God send some to eternal torment? One response I’ve heard, “God doesn’t send anyone to hell, we send ourselves there.” Can you feel the strain in this response to absolve God of all responsibility. Why? Perhaps, it's because deep down in all of us, we intuitively know someone burning forever and ever in conscious torment is immoral no matter how evil they might be. Today we talk about the morality and ethics of everlasting torment. What does Hell say about character of God?
In Acts 21, Paul is asked, "Aren't you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorist out into the wilderness some time ago?”
Paul’s response… um no, where did you hear that? How great is that story? Paul then goes on an extended riff about who he is. In today’s sermon, we cut through all the ambiguity and give you as much church clarity as we know. This is the final installment of question one- Who is VL?
In 1955, New Hope Baptist Church began on the outskirts of Atlanta.
In 2006, New Hope Baptist Church became Vinings Lake Baptist Church.
In 2008, Vinings Lake Baptist Church became Vinings Lake Church.
We were a traditional Baptist church
We were a contemporary Baptist church
We were a non-denominational church
We were a progressive christian church.
We are not who we were.
We are an ever-evolving spiritual collective.
Whether this is your first time, you've been around VL since its origins, or you have a curious skepticism about organized religion, you are welcome to join us as we hit the reset button yet again. Welcome to VL 17.0
Fear is the epicenter of the religious industrial complex. Remove fear and you bankrupt the business. Demolish many churches and you will discover it's built on the foundation of fear. Fear as a motivator is in more than just the religious realm. We see it in politics, click-bate tweets (now threads), and finance. Everyone knows the power of fear. But what does using fear as a weapon say about the message, person, or institution peddling the fear? It tells us how uninteresting the actual product, message, or person is. Is the reason we rely on fear is because we have forgotten about the intoxicating transforming power of love? Today we talk about a perfect love that cast out fear.
Fear is the epicenter of the religious industrial complex. Remove fear and you bankrupt the business. Demolish many churches and you will discover it's built on the foundation of fear. Fear as a motivator is in more than just the religious realm. We see it in politics, click-bate tweets (now threads), and finance. Everyone knows the power of fear. But what does using fear as a weapon say about the message, person, or institution peddling the fear? It tells us how uninteresting the actual product, message, or person is. Is the reason we rely on fear is because we have forgotten about the intoxicating transforming power of love? Today we talk about a perfect love that cast out fear.
Fear is the epicenter of the religious industrial complex. Remove fear and you bankrupt the business. Demolish many churches and you will discover it's built on the foundation of fear. Fear as a motivator is in more than just the religious realm. We see it in politics, click-bate tweets (now threads), and finance. Everyone knows the power of fear. But what does using fear as a weapon say about the message, person, or institution peddling the fear? It tells us how uninteresting the actual product, message, or person is. What is the reason we rely on fear is because we have forgotten about the intoxicating transforming power of love? Today we talk about a perfect love that cast out fear.
Our own Katie Mair shares her thoughts with the VL tribe.
Our good friend, pastor, and author Josh Scott joins us at VL.
What is faith? Is it something we think? Feel? Intuit? Apprehend? Is it a verb or a noun? Is it something that takes place in my heart? Mind? Soul? Can faith be strong? Weak? Can we have little faith? Big faith? Medium faith? No faith? Are there different kinds of faith? Is faith the same as belief? Is faith the same as certainty? What does it mean to KNOW? Is faith necessary? What is doubt? Is doubt weakness? Bad? Necessary? In this series we will discuss faith, doubt, and everything in between.
What is faith? Is it something we think? Feel? Intuit? Apprehend? Is it a verb or a noun? Is it something that takes place in my heart? Mind? Soul? Can faith be strong? Weak? Can we have little faith? Big faith? Medium faith? No faith? Are there different kinds of faith? Is faith the same as belief? Is faith the same as certainty? What does it mean to KNOW? Is faith necessary? What is doubt? Is doubt weakness? Bad? Necessary? In this series we will discuss faith, doubt, and everything in between.
What is faith? Is it something we think? Feel? Intuit? Apprehend? Is it a verb or a noun? Is it something that takes place in my heart? Mind? Soul? Can faith be strong? Weak? Can we have little faith? Big faith? Medium faith? No faith? Are there different kinds of faith? Is faith the same as belief? Is faith the same as certainty? What does it mean to KNOW? Is faith necessary? What is doubt? Is doubt weakness? Bad? Necessary? In this series we will discuss faith, doubt, and everything in between.
What is faith? Is it something we think? Feel? Intuit? Apprehend? Is it a verb or a noun? Is it something that takes place in my heart? Mind? Soul? Can faith be strong? Weak? Can we have little faith? Big faith? Medium faith? No faith? Are there different kinds of faith? Is faith the same as belief? Is faith the same as certainty? What does it mean to KNOW? Is faith necessary? What is doubt? Is doubt weakness? Bad? Necessary? In this series we will discuss faith, doubt, and everything in between.
What is faith? Is it something we think? Feel? Intuit? Apprehend? Is it a verb or a noun? Is it something that takes place in my heart? Mind? Soul? Can faith be strong? Weak? Can we have little faith? Big faith? Medium faith? No faith? Are there different kinds of faith? Is faith the same as belief? Is faith the same as certainty? What does it mean to KNOW? Is faith necessary? What is doubt? Is doubt weakness? Bad? Necessary? In this series we will discuss faith, doubt, and everything in between.
What is faith? Is it something we think? Feel? Intuit? Apprehend? Is it a verb or a noun? Is it something that takes place in my heart? Mind? Soul? Can faith be strong? Weak? Can we have little faith? Big faith? Medium faith? No faith? Are there different kinds of faith? Is faith the same as belief? Is faith the same as certainty? What does it mean to KNOW? Is faith necessary? What is doubt? Is doubt weakness? Bad? Necessary? In this series we will discuss faith, doubt, and everything in between.
The first century writers use sacrificial language to give theological meaning to the death of Jesus. This week we are asking one question that requires contemplation: Outside of temple language like debt, atonement, sin, blood sacrifice, and forgiveness, what does Jesus’ death mean for us?
After Jesus was killed, his followers struggled to make sense of what just happened. Many in the first century began to make theological claims about the significance of Jesus’ death. One of those claims comes from a sermon found in Hebrews. The author writes, “Jesus was the once and for all sacrifice.” This week I want us to see how this revolutionary idea was a giant leap in human consciousness during this time.