Re-Dedication: Our Message Matters (September 4, 2022)

Dennis R Wiles

FBC Arlington

September 4, 2022

2022 Re- . . .

FALL 2022 Re-Dedicate

September 4 – November 5, 2022

Re-Dedicate: Our Message Matters!

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

1 Corinthians 1:18–25

FBC Arlington 2022: Re- . . .

Winter: Re-Flect

Easter: Re-Deem

Spring: Re-Concile

Summer: Re-Create

August: Re-Joice

Fall: Re-Dedicate

Missions: Re-Claim

Advent: Re-Member

From a seasonal perspective, Fall is an opportune time to encourage people to re-engage, re-establish rhythms, re-connect, and RE-Dedicate. From a theological perspective, 1 Corinthians offers an opportunity to frame some important conversations in the context of a 1st-century church facing the challenges imposed by its setting in the pluralistic reality of Corinth.

-Dennis R. Wiles

Our society is riddled with many messages that claim to be the truth.

Our temptation as contemporary, western Christians is to succumb to a message of reductionism or accommodation.

Why does it matter?

The message of Christianity embodies a theology of creation, sin, and redemption.

The gospel transforms the cross as a symbol of Roman terror and political domination into a symbol of God’s love and power. It shows that the power of God’s love is greater than human love of power.

-David E. Garland, 1 Corinthians

Cheap grace means the justification of the sin without the justification of the sinner, forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline . . . the world goes on in the same old way . . . grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship