Knox Presbyterian Church Podcast

Stumbling Blocks: The Scandal of the Church

The church can be a very frustrating institution of which to be a part. Sometimes it proclaims the kingdom and sometimes it holds it back! Nevertheless, Scripture teaches that God is irrevocably committed to the church, which is the body of Christ, his presence in the world. Church is a place where sinners learn to forgive one another, and work together for the sake of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:12-31
Matthew 18:15-22

Stumbling Blocks: The Scandal of Grace

Grace is about God accepting us for the sake of Christ, not about us cleaning up our act to be good enough for him. ‘Grace means there’s nothing you can do to make God love you more, and nothing you can do to make God love you less.’ This can be difficult for our pride to accept, but it's close to the heart of the gospel.
Romans 5:1-10
John 3:14-17

Stumbling Blocks: The Scandal or Particularity

Throughout his ministry Jesus claimed to be the messiah of Israel. These claims frequently made people angry, scandalized them, and played a role in his crucifixion. His claims are still scandalous today. The church proclaims a unique and particular message: one man, Jesus, was God in the flesh. We must all come to terms with the ‘scandal of particularity,’ for in and through Jesus, God is at work to bless the whole world.
Genesis 12.1-5
John 10.22-31

Stumbling Blocks: Resistance to Science

National polls reveal the perception that Christians reject modern science, a stumbling block to advancing the gospel message and building healthy communities of faith. Three relevant areas of concern involve evolution vs. creation, global climate change skepticism, and vaccine hesitancy. However, there are many historical examples of faith and science in partnership and contemporary models of constructive faith-science dialog. There need not be a wall or a war between science and faith.
Guest Speaker: Dr. Stephen Moshier, Wheaton College
Matthew 16:1-4
Job 38:1-7
Psalm 111:1-5

Stumbling Blocks: Recap & Reflect

Pastors Becca and David reflect on the inspirations behind the fall sermon series Stumbling Blocks, recap their experiences with and congregational reactions from the sermons so far, and peek a little bit into the future on what the last half of the series holds.

Stumbling Blocks: Racism

The Church’s call to address racism is not a liberal or conservative issue, not a left-right issue, but a biblical issue, one central to our faith. It’s about (1) our hospitality to those unlike us, here in western suburbs that are increasingly nonwhite; (2) our own discipleship, and ability to recognize Christ at work in other cultures, ethnicities, languages, and socio-economic strata; and (3) our ability to model for the world the reconciled community Christ calls us to.
Ephesians 4:11-22
Galatians 3:28-29

Stumbling Blocks: Sexism

The majority of world’s Christians still live in systems where decisions are made by men--in the US, Roman Catholics on one hand and Southern Baptists on the other. Our challenge: to live into a biblical vision of equality between men and women.
Genesis 1-3, Luke 24:1-11, Romans 16:1-7, Ephesians 5:21-33

Stumbling Blocks: LGBTQ+ Exclusion

In many quarters of the church there is still animus toward LGBTQ+ Christians and ignorance about their experience. This leads in turn to an unnecessary rejection of Jesus and the church. Affirming marriage between people of the same gender expands the discipline and gift of marriage without destroying it, and represents an opportunity to proclaim the gospel to gay and straight alike.
 
Acts 10 & 11
 
1 Chu, Jeff. Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian's Pilgrimage in Search of God in America. HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
2 Johnson, William Stacy. A Time to Embrace: Same-Sex Relationships in Religion, Law, and Politics. 2012. W.B Eerdmans Publishing Co

Stumbling Blocks: Christian Nationalism

Christian nationalism idealizes and advocates for a fusion between faith and politics—between belief in Jesus and particular candidates, parties, and platforms. It’s a theological error, and stumbling block to others, who assume that if they’re Christian, they must be a Christian nationalist. The good news is that God cares about our political order, but is never identified with it. God works through persuasion and sacrifice, not power and domination.
Mark 12.13-17
Philippians 2.1-11

On Stumbling Blocks

Right now in our society there are a number of cultural factors that people experience in the church that turn people off—that push them away from church and so from Jesus. In what follows we’re going to talk about some of them and explain how and why they hinder people from knowing Jesus. The goal is to clear away the false stumbling blocks that obscure the gospel, so people can perceive the true stumbling blocks that clarify the gospel (particularity, grace, the church).
1 Corinthians 1.18-25