MBCC Blog

05/27 PODcast

Welcome to MBCC Podcasting of Sunday Sermons:

Download and Listen to the parts of the Community Sermon Series "Belonging: Answering the Call to Community" at MBCC. Listen to our thoughts on...

05/27 – PENTECOST - The Birth of the Church :: Bruce Reyes-Chow

Sermon Series // Conversations with God

Conversations with God
We will look at just a few ways that we interact with God. There three areas will give us a broad overview about how we engage in our relationship with God.

June 3 – The BIBLE
We will cover the role of Scripture in the journey of faith and our approaches to reading and interpreting Scripture.
SCRIPTURE: Luke 24:13-35 // On the Road to Emmaus

   

 

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We will look at just a few ways that we interact with God. There three areas will take a broad overview approach to engaging in our relationship with God.

    or     Cancel  

 

 

   

 

Title

Body

We will cover the role of Scripture in the journey of faith and our approaches to reading and interpreting Scripture. SCRIPTURE: Luke 24:13-35 On the Road to Emmaus

    or     Cancel  

 

 

June 10 – PRAYER
We will cover meanings and approaches to prayer: corporate, personal, intercessory, etc.
SCRIPTURE: Luke 18:1-8 // The Persistent Widow

June 17 – WORSHIP
We will cover worship as both specific corporate gathering as well as a way of life.
SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 6:1-8 // The Commission of Isaiah

American Fascists

      For those of you who are interested in the subject matter covered by Jesus Camp and Tempting Faith, American Fascists: the Christian Right and the War on America provides an interesting perspective.  Chris Hedges, a journalist with a degree in theology, provides a political and social history of the religious right.  He fills in the background of the emotional scenes shown in Jesus Camp, and gives a wider view of the personal story told by David Kuo.  Hedges’ thesis is that the far religious right is a fascist movement comparable to the totalitarian regimes of the 20^th century in Russia, Italy, and Germany.  He warns that the movement has been building its influence in politics, the media, and education and that it is waiting for another disaster like September 11^th to seize power.  Once the far religious right comes to power, they will to take away our civil rights.  Hedges criticizes liberal Christians for their tolerance of the movement’s ideas, cautioning that by failing to speak out about a worldview that promotes racism, sexism, homophobia and religious bigotry, they are allowing it to gain critical strength.

Hedges’ argument at first seemed overblown, but after reading his detailed accounts of the movement, I was chilled.  He describes evangelical training camps that teach Christians to create false conversion testimonials in order to frighten people into being “saved”.  He tours a “science museum” which purports to discredit evolution, including an exhibit about how dinosaurs fit into Noah’s ark.  He describes the corruption that lies behind the “magical” stories that are aired on Christian television.  Most sadly, he describes how unscrupulous churches use people’s pain and loneliness in order to manipulate compliance. 

As a liberal Christian who tries hard to practice tolerance, Hedges’ argument gave me pause.  I wonder where tolerance ends and blindness begins? I certainly hope that Hedges’ warning about American Fascists is wrong, but I am afraid that it will be proven right. 

5/13 PODcast

Welcome to MBCC Podcasting of Sunday Sermons:

Download and Listen to the parts of the Community Sermon Series "Belonging: Answering the Call to Community" at MBCC. Listen to our thoughts on...

05/06 – Every Part Matters :: Derrick Weston

**There will be no PODcast for 5/20 - We currently do not cast interview sermons**

05/06 PODcast

Welcome to MBCC Podcasting of Sunday Sermons:

Download and Listen to the parts of the Community Sermon Series "Belonging: Answering the Call to Community" at MBCC. Listen to our thoughts on...

05/06 – Leave Me the BLEEP Alone! :: Tiffany Flaming

spiritual leader...who me?

For the past couple of months, we have been having conversations in the church's steering committee meetings about leadership. Last Sunday we were wrestling with the question of what it means to be a spiritual leader. The reaction to this question was fairly enlightening for me. People seem to have a definite image in their minds of what a spiritual leader looks like. For one thing, he/she must be way older than the average person that comes to MBCC!

That leads to a pretty big dilemma for us. Do we import old people to provide spiritual guidance? Where would we import these old people from? Is there some Presbyterian church somewhere that is outsourcing their old people? That would be kinda cool! Weird, but cool.

Seriously though, I understand the concern. All of us, especially those of us who are in the constantly fluctuating phase of life, want to have models of more mature folks who have been down the road we have been on. Oftentimes, we ignore (or outright reject) that we have this need, but it is there. Zach Braff's character in Scrubs is emblematic of how many of us who are just getting started out in the adult world feel as we approach career, family, and life in general. We want mentors. A parental figure who will take us under their wing and school us in the ways of the world. Am I projecting here? Maybe I am. I have chosen a profession where I often feel like my age and inexperience work against me. I'm supposed to counsel people going through times of stress? I'm supposed to help people deal with their grief in times of loss? I'm supposed to responsibly interpret the Bible so that people see how it is meaningful to their lives?

Well, yeah, that's what I've been working on for the past three years. And as of May 19th, I'm supposed to be more qualified to do it than I was three years ago. To tell the truth, I feel like I am ready for that. It has begun to come into focus for me how the struggles and trials that I have faced in my short 27years have prepared me to accompany people who are going through similar times of struggle. I have learned that sometimes the best thing I can do is just be present and listen.

I have also learned a surprising thing about older people; they don't have it all together. The folks that we hold up as being "pillars" of the church often have the same feelings of anxiety and helplessness that we kids do. Don't get me wrong, there is much wisdom that is gained by age and experience, but the only way to get experience is to live life and see what works.

So, since I don't think I could get much support the old folk import, how do we go about doing spiritual leadership in a geriatricly -challenged environment like MBCC? Well, the obvious answer is that we lean on the pastor. Not a terrible idea, but he is just one guy and certainly there have to be other leaders in our midst. Besides, a big part of doing pastoral ministry, I am learning, is giving away ministry. Perhaps the time has arrived for others in the church to step and assume some of spiritual authority that we are all imbued with. There is a concept in Reformed theology called the priesthood of all believers. We pay it lip service, but I don't think we take it very seriously. The idea is that since we all have direct access to God through Christ, without the need for any additional mediation such as a Priest, then we are each capable of being spiritual leaders in our own contexts. How different would our lives be if we all lived in that reality? How different would our church be?

As I approach my graduation, realizing what I have accomplished and how I have matured, the reality has hit me that it is time to grow up. While I will always need people in my life to point me in the right direction, I also need to be the one who is doing the pointing for others. This is, to a large extent, about being willing to look out for those who are in my community and to trust that they will, with God's help, also look out for me. It's a tough thing to ask of ourselves, and a tougher thing to ask of others. It requires vulnerability and selflessness. Sounds kinda Christ-like though...

What do I know? I'm just a kid.

Summer Challenge // Read the Bible in 90 Days

Have you ever thought about reading the Bible cover to cover, but have never had the right reason, motivation or peer group that would allow you to succeed?  Well your search is over as MBCC challenges you to read the Bible in 90 days this Summer.  In about 12 pages and less and an hour a day, you will get through the whole thing and hopefully gain some new understandings of God's relationship with humanity. 

If you are game and/or have any questions, please feel free to contact Hilary or Bruce

Some things you will want to know:

• TIMELINE
  May // Get your Participant's Guide and Bible.
  June 3 // Kick-off Woohoo
  Each Week // eMail reminder of passages
  September 2 // "We Made It" Celebration

• WHAT I NEED 2 BEGIN
  90 Days Participant Book [Amazon] or $9 at MBCC
  Bible: NIV, TNIV or NRSV [Amazon] or $12 at MBCC
  Mark 30-60 Minutes Each Day

• WHAT I NEED 2 MAKE IT
  Join the mbcc90days Google Group
  June 3 // Kick-off Woohoo
  Each Monday // eMail reminder of weeks passages
  Each Sunday // DVD check-in after church
  September 2 // "We Made It" Celebration
  Face-2-Face Check-in // Hilary White will lead a periodic group

• SOME HELPFUL LINKS
  Official Bible in 90 Days Site
  mbcc90days Google Group

"Feeling" God

In the past 24 hours, I've thought a bit about the question of whether we're more likely to "feel connected to God" alone or in community. On Sunday, I was surprised - no, shocked - to hear that some people had experiences of God that were related to (gasp) other people.

After the service, I was chatting with a few people and someone brought up the Meyers-Briggs test. I started wondering if "feeling connected to God" (yes, I will be using quotation marks every single time I type that) is more of an "F" thing, and if "feeling connected" in a community is more of an "E" thing, which would be all well and good. Except ... where does that leave me? You know, me of the reclusive "I" and the soul-less human shell of a "T." (Kidding. I am not soul-less at all. Really.) But should I be trying to "feel" God, and should I be trying to do so with 80 or so of you every Sunday? As Tiffany pointed out, we live and experience community differently, and we want that to be okay. But when is it a "free to be you and me" situation, and when do we need to learn from the other side?

For me, this question is very connected to the individualistic and communal aspects of Christianity that I see in scripture. I believe I'm loved for myself, that God cares for me as an individual and that he cares for the minute and mundane concerns of my everyday life. But, I also believe that he's redeeming me within a community. So I feel I have to do my part to be in that community, to stick it out and see what happens. For me, maybe that means being open to "feeling" some connection or commitment to a community even if I can't determine a rational reason why I should. Maybe? Maybe not? Thoughts?

Community:: PODcast

Welcome to MBCC Podcasting of Sunday Sermons:

Download and Listen to the parts of the Community Sermon Series "Belonging: Answering the Call to Community" at MBCC. Listen to our thoughts on...

04/15 - You're going to church?!?!? - No PODcast. You have to actually come to hear our conversations.
04/22 -  The Trinity: Troubling Trifle or Terrific Truism? :: Leslie Veen
04/29 –  The Language of Belonging :: Nick Larson

To Come:
05/06 – Leave Me the BLEEP Alone! :: Tiffany Flaming
05/13 – Every Part Matters :: Derrick Weston
05/20 – Called to Serve :: Interview Week
05/27 – PENTECOST: The Birth of the Church :: Bruce Reyes-Chow

** we apologize for not posting these sooner. I've had trouble uploading them to the server. We are currently thinking about ways to change serving the PODcasting at MBCC...if you have suggestions email them to nick@missionbaycc.org

The Rock This Saturday

Hi All - I forgot to submit a note for the ezine this week, so I thought I'd put up a post and invite you all to the Rock this Saturday.

We'll gather from 6:30 - 7:30 this Saturday evening to spend some time focusing on the worldwide HIV/AIDS pandemic. Larissa Clark from Temple Baptist Church will be leading the music for us this go 'round; she's very gifted and has a passion for worship leadership and has put together a kickin' band.

It's early enough that you can go out after and it's family friendly, so you can bring the kids and get them home to bed at a decent hour. Also, bring some snacks to share and if you can, spend some time hanging out after ward. Hope to see you there.