Guest speaker Dr. Diana Butler Bass, a brilliant theologian, scholar, and preacher, joins us for a powerful message on gratitude as a value to embody. To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe" to 77977 to become a sustaining supporter of the community.
Nov 23, 2020•34 min
For many of us, the concept of humility has been closely related to humiliation. How do we begin to reframe the value of humility in a Progressive Christian context? To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe" to 77977 to become a sustaining supporter of the community.
Nov 16, 2020•23 min
What does it mean to be authentic? Inherent to our journey and work as Progressive Christians is the belief that honesty and authenticity make each of us better. Community member Corey Dandridge (he/him) joins Pastor Josh Scott for week 5 of our Let Us Be Series. To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe"...
Nov 09, 2020•43 min
For many of us, curiosity was discouraged in our faith journeys. Being curious might have been considered a path to doubt or even disbelief. At GracePointe, we believe in being curious. How do we lean into and embody this value as a community? To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe" to 77977 to become ...
Nov 02, 2020•26 min
What does it mean to have courage? How can we be a courageous people in a world that rewards complacency and the status quo? To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe" to 77977 to become a sustaining supporter of the community.
Oct 26, 2020•32 min
For week 2 of our Let Us Be Series, we’re exploring the embodiment of a key value in our community: love. How can we be love? What does this mean for us, even in a pandemic? To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe" to 77977 to become a sustaining supporter of the community.
Oct 19, 2020•27 min
It’s worth asking: How do our values align with our actions? How do we be what we claim to believe? This week, we're so excited to start a brand new series: Let Us Be — Embodying Our Values! To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe" to 77977 to become a sustaining supporter of the community.
Oct 12, 2020•19 min
We’re so excited to welcome a special guest speaker today: Brian McLaren! @brian_mclaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity”—just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular upd...
Oct 05, 2020•39 min
This week, we’re wrapping up our Bible Stories for Grown-Ups series with the story of Daniel: Resisting Empire. Maybe you grew up with the flannel-graph or even the Veggietales version—what does this story mean in its ancient Hebrew context? To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe" to 77977 to become a ...
Sep 28, 2020•34 min
Though slightly more obscure than some of its textual counterparts, the Hebrew Bible story of Naaman the Syrian has an important contextual lesson both for the audience of the time and for us. What does a post-critical lens have to say? We're also grateful for a performance from GracePointe friend Ben Grace! Check out his art at https://www.bengracemusic.com/. To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every ...
Sep 21, 2020•41 min
The story of Jonah reads a bit like a tragedy mixed with a comedy. What does a post-critical, contextualized view of this ancient Jewish story have to say to the world today? To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe" to 77977 to become a sustaining supporter of the community.
Sep 14, 2020•28 min
Much of the messaging and nuance in the Hebrew Bible story of Ruth is lost in a pre-critical reading of Scripture. How can we see this powerful narrative in a new, post-critical light as Progressive Christians? To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe" to 77977 to become a sustaining supporter of the com...
Sep 07, 2020•28 min
The story of Samson and his context as one of many “judges” in the story of the Israelites holds a lot of meaning, much of which can be lost in the flattened, pre-critical view so many Christians hold. What might an integrated, post-critical lens reveal in this ancient Hebrew Bible story? To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian conte...
Aug 31, 2020•33 min
In the story of Jacob and Esau, we read of a conflict between brothers with profound implications for the future of Abraham's descendants. How do we make sense of this story in its context and in light of our experiences? To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe" to 77977 to become a sustaining supporter...
Aug 24, 2020•30 min
The Genesis story of the binding of Isaac can hard to comprehend. What does it mean, and how do we appreciate it in its context? To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe" to 77977 to become a sustaining supporter of the community.
Aug 17, 2020•25 min
We’re diving into the Hebrew Bible story of Noah and the flood. What do we do with it? How might Progressive Christians make sense of it? To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe" to 77977 to become a sustaining supporter of the community.
Aug 10, 2020•40 min
As children, so many of us were taught ways of understanding Bible stories that may have lacked context and substance. Let's dive into these narratives with a fresh Progressive Christian perspective in pursuit of a "grown-up" faith. To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe" to 77977 to become a sustainin...
Aug 03, 2020•25 min
We're wrapping up our RE: Series by discussing the meaning of "end times". What does Scripture actually say about it, and how might Progressive Christians reframe and reimagine this fraught concept? To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe" to 77977 to become a sustaining supporter of the community.
Jul 27, 2020•28 min
Last week, we talked about the difference between judgmental (control through fear and shame) and judgment, that judgment is a good thing, because it locates God in the place where our spiritual ancestors discovered her: with the poor, marginalized, and oppressed, willing their liberation. This week, we’ll be picking up that idea of judgment because it’s connected to the manner in which justice works. To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracep...
Jul 20, 2020•28 min
When you dig through the data, you discover that one of the major reasons people leave church is that “Christians are hypocritical and judgmental.” We can all probably relate to that feeling in one way or another. How might Progressive Christians reimagine and reframe the meaning of judgment? What even does it mean? Special thanks to poet and Vanderbilt librarian Kashif Andrew Graham, @kagwrites on Instagram, for his contribution to our gathering! Be sure to follow him and support his work. To p...
Jul 13, 2020•25 min
What are some things that come to mind when you hear the word humility? What does it mean to be humble? Humility is defined as “a modest or low view of one's own importance.” After all, the starting place that many, if not most, of us were given was that we, as human beings, are totally depraved. How might a Progressive Christian lens reimagine the meaning of humility? This week, you'll also hear from some of our long-distance members! Thank you to those who participated. To promote the safety o...
Jul 06, 2020•37 min
What comes to mind when you hear the phrase Word of God? For most people, first association that pops into mind is the Bible. Many of us were raised with the lens that taught us that the Bible was the inerrant, infallible Word of God, that contains no errors or issues (in the original autographs). That’s quite the expectation, which is one of the problems when it comes to the way we approach the Bible: We place expectations on the Bible that it isn’t equipped to bear. This week, we're excited to...
Jun 29, 2020•41 min
Miracles are very much a part of the scriptural narrative, and for many Christians, miracles are just as common and real now as they were believe to have been for the writers of the canon. Progressive Christians may have an altogether different perspective–how might we reframe and apply the meaning and history of miracles? To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular upda...
Jun 22, 2020•30 min
Much has been made of faith in the lives and experiences of Christians. Just have faith. Trust and believe. What did faith mean for Jesus and the Early Church, and how might Progressive Christians reframe and reimagine its application today? To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe" to 77977 to become a ...
Jun 15, 2020•31 min
Many of us associate this term with fraught altar calls and shame-filled church experiences–how might Progressive Christians find meaning and substance in it, instead? Particularly for this moment as a community and society, what does repentance have to say about the manner in which we live? We were grateful to be joined by community member Jasmin Bridgeforth for a spoken word in today's gathering! To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepoin...
Jun 08, 2020•30 min
We’re jumping back into our RE: Series with a look at the meaning of “Church”. We describe ourselves as a Progressive Christian church–what can that word mean for us, and how might a Progressive Christian lens inform our reframing of “church”? We were grateful to be joined by Ben Grace for a special performance in today's gathering! To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for re...
Jun 01, 2020•34 min
In these uncertain and challenging times, finding and sustaining community can be especially difficult. Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza and Pastor Josh Scott host a conversation about creating and participating in meaningful community during a pandemic. To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe" to 77977 to ...
May 28, 2020•1 hr 5 min
At some point, we’ll be given the green light to return to our lives and routines. However, that won’t immediately flip a switch; many of us will feel a real and valid anxiety around emerging from lockdown. How do we know it’s really safe? How do love others and ourselves in this transition? We were grateful to be joined by the band HuDost for a special performance in today's gathering! To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Foll...
May 25, 2020•24 min
Many people have experienced an identity loss during this period of lockdown and physical distancing: a job, or perhaps a role they play in the world. How do we find and embrace our identity when it feels like it’s been stolen from us? To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe" to 77977 to partner with us...
May 11, 2020•22 min
Prayer is one of the toughest concepts to reimagine through a progressive lens. When God ceases to be a being above the clouds, what happens to prayer? Does God intervene, or worse, choose not to intervene? How does prayer work in the context of a global pandemic? To promote the safety of our community and neighbors, GracePointe is gathering online at gracepointe.net. Follow @gracepointetn on every social media platform for regular updates and Progressive Christian content, and text "GracePointe...
May 04, 2020•26 min
