Scripture: 9 What then? Are we any better off?[a] No, not at all; for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, 10 as it is written:
“There is no one who is righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who has understanding,
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned aside, together they have become worthless;
there is no one who shows kindness,
there is not even one.”
13 “Their throats are opened graves;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of vipers is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery are in their paths,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For “no human being will be justified in his sight” by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
The word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.
Questions
What?
1) How’s everyone doing? Check in with the group.
2) What were your initial thoughts after hearing this scripture from Romans?
3) What is sin? Take a second to write down your definition of sin. Share with the group and discuss.
So What?
4) When have you felt “beaten by sin?
5) Can you think of a time when you experienced an “ending” that turned out to be incredibly finite in the grand scheme of things? I.e., Where have you experienced what you thought was a period, but was actually just a comma?
Now What?
6) Charles points out that there is something beautiful in that Paul writes “there is no one who is righteous” because it helps us avoid us fighting over who the one righteous person is. Have you ever found yourself feeling self righteous compared to someone else?
7) How does Charles’ argument of “wait, there is more” affect the way you view the worst, darkest, most sinful parts or experiences of your life? Where does Jesus fit into the timeline?
Prayer
God we are sinful. Yet you redeem us. No matter what we do, we know that there is always more grace, more love, and more forgiveness. Walk with us in our paths. Equip us to receive grace and pass it along. Amen.
B-sides
Scripture: Romans 14:7-13
7 We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.
8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.
9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
11 For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” 12 So then, each of us will be accountable to God.
13 Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another.
The word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.
Questions
What?
1) How’s everyone doing? Check in with the group.
2) What are some of the classic differences that we tend to focus on?
3) Look around your group. What differences exist between each other? Where similarities exist?
So What?
4) When are you able to be vulnerable with what sin you struggle with?
5) How do we balance a “drive to be different/unique” with a realization that “we really aren’t all that different.”
Now What?
6) Do you agree with C.S. Lewis’ statement “comparison is the thief of joy?” Where in your life has comparing your life to someone/something else stolen the joy of being in the present moment?
7) Where might it be helpful to talk about differences between people or groups of people? Are than any instances where it has been helpful?
I know we want to be different because we want to continually change reflecting the reality of our landscape, AND we acknowledge there are some deep similarities that bind us as people following Jesus to those at every other church. We have similarities with those who don’t go to church.
—Rev. Dawn Hyde
B-Sides
Scripture: Romans 7:15-25
I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Questions
What?
1) How’s everyone doing? Check in with the group.
2) What does sin mean to you?
So What?
3) When are you able to be vulnerable with what sin you struggle with?
4) Do we have a hierarchy of sins? If you think that we do, do you think it fits within the model given by Paul?
Now What?
5) Can you feel within yourself the paradox of being made for good, but infected with the capability for evil? How does that show up in your own life?
6) Have you ever felt defined for your sin? Have you ever defined someone else for their sin?
7) Dawn writes “we hurt those we love the most?” Do you agree/disagree? Why?
“ I may not have power over some of my sin, but leaning on the strength of Jesus, I can be better.”
—Rev. Dawn Hyde
B-Sides | Scripture: Romans 1:18-23
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.
Questions
What?
1) How’s everyone doing? Check in with the group.
2) What was your reaction to Lucas’ stories about Salmon, Orcas, and the Elwha dam?
So What?
3) Think about a mundane task you completed this week. Now see if you can write down two or three other people, creatures, entities that your action affected.
4) Do you think anything we do happens in a vacuum? i.e. It doesn’t affect someone else?
Now What?
5) Paul emphasizes the prevalence of God’s grace, and how forgiveness is always available. So why should we care about what we do? Should we at all?
6) What sort of responsibility do we have as humans? How does grace free us up to carry out our duty?
“God designed a world in which we are all downstream. A world where it matters what we do. It matters how we love, and it matters how we care for the least of these. .”
—Rev. Lucas Jones
B-Sides
Scripture: Romans 1:16-17
For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.
Questions
What?
1) How’s everyone doing? Check in with the group.
2) Depending on your background, “being saved” could look like a variety of things. What does this phrase of “being saved” mean to you?
So What?
3) Dawn talks about our innate desire to compare ourselves to others. C.S. Lewis once said that “comparison is the thief of joy.” Do you agree or disagree? Why?
4) What is your reaction to the story of Antionette and the active shooter?
Now What?
5) How can we “disarm one another with love?” Why is this difficult to do?
6) Why do you think Christians worry so much about who is saved or who is going to heaven? Is that helpful? Is that was Jesus called us to do?
“Ultimately when we make claims about who is worthy of God’s grace in the gospel, we are concerned with our own salvation.”
—Rev. Dawn Hyde
B-Sides
Questions
What?
1) How’s everyone doing? Check in with the group.
2) Charles talks about the significance of greetings. What is significant about the greeting between Mary and Elizabeth?
So What?
3) What do you think it was like for Mary to receive the blessing from Elizabeth?
4) When has someone seen you or some potential in you?
Now What?
5) Charles encourages us to intentionally greet those who come in our path. How might we greet someone in a way that matters?
6) Charles says we all hold something of God within us. What if instead of imagining what the future holds out there, we manifest what God is doing within us. What do you see is held inside you or inside someone else?
“They believed in what the future held because they held the future within them.”
—Rev. Charles Weathers
B-Sides
Scripture: Isaiah 52:7
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
Questions
What?
1) How’s everyone doing? Check in with the group.
2) Dawn opens her sermon saying “The Gospel moves through our feet.” What does “The Gospel” mean to you?
So What?
3) Dawn talks about the importance of distinguishing between the message and the messenger, the peace of God, and our bodies which are called to proclaim it. Why do you think that is? Have you ever been in a community where that line was blurred?
4) Reread Isaiah 52:7. What does “peace” mean? What does “peace” look like?
Now What?
5) The Hebrew word shalom, could mean “completeness, health, prosperity, soundness, welfare, peace.” How might the verse be changed if you substitute one of these other meanings besides “peace.”
6) Why do you think DOWNTOWN CHURCH values people? How can we value and empower our people even more?
“We are the ones carrying the gospel. We are the ones pointing each other beyond our brokenness, or perhaps, through it, to Jesus, who is the only one who knows our unique sufferings who is the only one who can proclaim peace in a way that all of us are desperate to receive.
—Rev. Dawn Hyde
Scripture: Mark 1:1-3
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”
Questions
What?
1) How’s everyone doing? Check in with the group.
2) How long have you been coming to DOWNTOWN CHURCH?
3) What led you here?
So What?
3) Amos talks about “the wilderness” as a place of God’s revelation. What does “the wilderness” look like to you?
4) “DOWNTOWN CHURCH is not the sum of all of the yeses, but it’s what happens when you never stop asking the questions.” What questions do you have about God that you still need/want to ask?
Now What?
5) “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ won't be coming through a delicately constructed sermon from a professionally trained preacher, it's going to be born in the people crying out from the dark.” Have you ever found yourself crying out from the dark? What was that like?
6) What do you hope for the future of DOWNTOWN CHURCH?
7) How can you be a part of it?
“Here on this second Sunday of advent, while we're giving thanks to God on the tenth anniversary of the church you've come to call home, the gospel writer of Mark has interrupted our hallelujahs to deliver hastily scribbled directions for where we should go to confirm that God didn't forget about us. Go to the wilderness and talk to the people with nothing to lose..”
—Rev. Amos Disasa
Scripture: Matthew 9:35-36
35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Questions
What?
1) How do you define “compassion?”
So What?
3) Has there been a time in your life where your initial judgment from a far was proven wrong by a close encounter?
4) Lucas talks about a few ways that downtown church tries to connect: over meals, asking questions, or going camping. In what ways or places do you most easily connect with someone who might be different from you?
Now What?
5) Lucas says “we cannot know someone fully from a far. We cannot know someone from Fox or CNN, from facebook or instagram. “you cannot understand the most important things from a distance. We have to get closer.” Do you find yourself using media to try to know everything you can about a person/group of people? Why might this not tell the full story?
6) Why is compassion so difficult? Why do you think Jesus calls us to have compassion for others?
Activity: Listen to this poem from Anis Mojgani entitled: “Come Closer.”
https://youtu.be/ATC5OGh3adg
What images stick out to you?
What do you think he means when he says “come closer?”
Prayer
Take a moment to pray for people, groups of people that you normally would not prioritize. How does this feel?
" Jesus’ compassion was not only a personal emotional reaction, but a public criticism in which he dares to act on his concern for others against the status quo of numbness.
—Dr. Walter Brueggemann
B-Sides
Scripture: Matthew 6:10
“Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Questions
What?
1) How do you take your coffee? And if you don't drink coffee, what is your beverage of choice?
2) Who do you want to have coffee with (dead or alive)? What questions might you ask them?
So What?
3) What is the longest time you have sat with someone over a cup of coffee? What kept the conversation going?
4) What does “God’s Kingdom” look like to you?
Now What?
5) Every time you take a sip of coffee, you are entering a long supply chain that begins in Ethiopia, Columbia, or elsewhere. Have you ever considered this? Does this change the way you live your life here?
6) Dawn talks about the slow process of making coffee, and the intentionality that echoes all throughout what DOWNTOWN CHURCH tries to do. Do you find yourself slowing down or speeding up? Are you leaving room for the Holy Spirit to meet you and others around cups of coffee?
Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily cups of hospitality. Help us to share our meals and beverages with others. Forgive us from our selfishness, and help us to forgive those who are hardest to love. Lead us not into isolated silos, but encourage us to sit down with strangers and friends, to listen more than we speak, and to passionately love more than we remain apathetically silent. For this is your kingdom, and your glory, forever and ever. Thank you for letting us be a part of it. Amen.
"Our church grows one cup of coffee at a time, one conversation at a time, one person at a time."
—Rev. Dawn Hyde
B-Sides
Scripture: Genesis 18:12-15
So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’
Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.”
Questions
What?
1) How’s everyone doing? Check in with the group.
2) Do you have a favorite comedian? Or what’s your favorite funny movie that you know will get you laughing no matter how many times you’ve watched it?
So What?
3) Dawn says that Sarah “laughs to conceal her real feelings.” Have you ever used humor to deflect from your real emotions?
Now What?
4) Dawn talks about how humor is in the “DNA of DOWNTOWN CHURCH.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
5) Dawn says “We value humor because it has a way of connecting to one another. It’s a way of exposing our vulnerabilities and asking God to be with us in our pain.” Have you ever connected with a stranger over humor? Tell us about it.
6) Has humor ever helped you heal?
Prayer
Loving God.
You laugh with us. You laugh at us. We laugh at ourselves. We laugh at your will. We laugh at what you call us to do; Because what you call us to do is hard. Love is hard, but we thank you for your love. Equip us to laugh with this world, to love this world as fiercely and unconditionally as you first loved us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
And God isn't just inviting Sarah into a new chapter of her life. God is asking her to be vulnerable with him.
God wants to meet Sarah in her fear, and her anger, and her sadness, and her disbelief. God welcomes all those symptoms of her humanity.
—Rev. Dawn Hyde
B-Sides | Scripture: Psalm 24.
The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it;
for God has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers.
Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?
Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully.
They will receive blessing from the LORD, and vindication from the God of their salvation.
Such is the company of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.
Who is the King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.
Questions
What?
1) How’s everyone doing? Check in with the group.
2) Take time to name any saints who have died. If you’d like, share what you imagine heaven to be like for that particular person.
So What?
3) What does it mean to you that “the earth is the Lord’s and all that’s in it”?
4) What gets you through times of sorrow? Has there been a time when someone carried you through the loss of a saint?
Now What?
5) Where do you find hope amidst death?
6) Are there ways you can embody hope for someone else?
“When that hole in your heart is too raw to be mended by a theological promise, look around and know that this community, this church, the Body of Christ is there to sit with you in your doubt.”
—Rev. Lucas Jones
Scripture: Matthew 8:23-27
And when Jesus got into the boat, his disciples followed him. A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but Jesus was asleep. And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”
Questions
What?
1) How’s everyone doing? Check in with the group.
2) What does the word “save” mean when you use it in a daily way? What does it mean to you when referring to Jesus? How are those different or similar?
So What?
3) Jesus and his disciples are caught in a pretty nasty storm. It is there where they realize their dependence on Jesus as their savior. Have you ever learned something in a metaphorical or literal storm that you couldn’t have realized on a calm day?
Now What?
4) The disciples probably tried for a while to keep the boat from being “swamped” by waves on their own to no avail. Where in your life are you trying but realizing that your control has run out? Where is it that you ask for God to walk beside you? To save you?
5) How does Dawn’s story of Sherryl resonate with you? Has there been a time where you were afraid and Jesus acted through a stranger or friend?
6) As most people know, there are times when we ask for God’s salvation and it does not come in the manner of how we ask it. The cancer isn’t healed, the child doesn’t live, the marriage doesn’t last…. What does this reveal about who God is and how God might view salvation?
Prayer
Lord, Save us. It is the simplest prayer we can utter. It is the most necessary prayer we ought to say. Save us in our weakness. Save us in our anger. Save us in our anxiety, our fear, our failure. Remind us that you are in our boat, feeling our feelings, knowing our thoughts, and calming the storms of our lives and this world before we are even aware. Thanks be to God. Amen.
“Faith is something we profess. It’s what we sing. It’s what we pray. It’s what we exhale in moments of crisis or in the moments of relief right afterwards..”
—Rev. Dawn Hyde
Scripture: Galatians 3:23-29
Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore, the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.
What?
1) How’s everyone doing? Check in with the group.
2) Share a bias or prejudice that you once held but no longer do. Be honest.
So What?
3) What interrupted your bias/prejudice and caused you to change your mind?
4) Paul’s letter to Galatia challenges the deep divisions that existed within the early Christian community of Galatia: specifically
Now What?
5) Charles talks about how God’s love exceeds our labels. How do you feel about God loving people who you have a hard time loving?
6) How can faith be an interruption in your own life? Can those interruptions be painful or humbling?
Prayer
God free us of our love of labels. Free us of our desire to call people “others.” Interrupt our lives with faith in a God who was ultimately an outsider. Interrupt our fear, interrupt our hatred, interrupt our ignorance and walk with us as we learn to be more like you. Amen
Luke 19:1-10
Jesus and Zacchaeus
19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” 8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” 9 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
What:
(1) Check in with yourself. How are you doing?
If you're up for it, ask someone how they're doing or share with your home group.
(2) What nicknames can you think of for Zacchaeus?
So What:
(3) Zacchaeus is seen for his role in the community and for his net worth. How do you think you are seen by others?
(4) What would Jesus comment on in your home if he came to eat dinner with you?
Now What:
(5) What potential do you think Jesus sees in you that no one else sees?
(6) Who in your life sees something in you that you don't quite see yet?
(7) What might you try in response to what Jesus sees in you?
Prayer
Jesus, you interrupt us. You interrupt our identity and the stories we tell to reveal who we can be through you. Help nudge us to live into the callings you have given each one of us. Help us support each other as we try new things. Amen.
"Jesus sees him for his potential. Not for what he has done, but for who he will become."