Morgantown Community Church

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Is it possible that we get so caught up in being right, or in the minutia of discussions about doctrine and dogma, that we are actually missing the point? In our summer 2013 series we will explore several areas where this might just be the case. In this first week we explore the eucharist, a central ritual that Christians have celebrated since day one. Why do we still practice the eucharist after two thousand years? Where did the idea even originate? That’s what’s on tap in this first week of Adventures in Missing the Point.

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This week we celebrate our 17th anniversary by hearing from three MCC-ers about their journey’s, and the role MCC has played in empowering them for the next step.

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In this final installment of our ‘Girl Power’ series we examine two ‘problem passages’. These two passages, 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2, are often cited as being against the idea of women serving in leadership within the church. However, as Josh explains, these passages are written to particular churches, in particular contexts, to speak to particular issues; making universal declarations for all people, for all time based on these passages alone misses the point. The normative view in the Bible–Galatians 3v28, and the sweep of Scripture from Genesis 1 to Pentecost and beyond–affirms the ability and calling of women to serve and lead in the church.

As a bonus, listen in at the beginning of the teaching as Josh interviews Rachel Jennings about her story.

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This week Josh invites us to consider, not just a couple of passages, but the entire sweep of Scripture in regards to the issue of women in leadership. What we discover is that the movement of the Bible is toward more equality among the sexes. Beginning in Genesis we discover God’s original intent [equality], the way sin distorts it, and how the first Christians understood the redemptive work of Jesus.

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In a special Mother’s Day installment of our “Girl Power” series, Josh is joined by his wife, Carla, for a discussion about marriage. Using the text about husbands and wives in Ephesians 5, Josh and Carla challenge us to view marriage as a partnership of equals who love and serve one another. Last week we learned that ‘words matter’, and this week we explore the meaning behind three specific Greek words: submission  headship, and love.

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This week we kick off a new series called “Girl Power,” which focuses on the leadership role that women play  in our church. In the New Testament women are spoken of and affirmed as leaders in the church. Yet, for a while now, women have been silenced in the life of many church communities. In this initial teaching Josh talks about how we are always making decisions about the Bible, and he shares some of the ways in which he is learning to read and interpret the text.

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We live in a world where events like the Boston Marathon Bombing happen far too often, don’t we? Have you ever wondered how followers of Jesus can respond to such tragedies in a way that brings hope and peace? In this teaching Josh invites us to explore this question: How can we really be the light in a dark world?

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This week guest teacher George Stull [www.hopepark.com] spoke to us about listening to/for the Voice of Love.

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In this final installment of our Seven Deadly Sins series we look at Gluttony, the sin of excess. During this teaching Josh invites us to think about the ways we live in excess, because Gluttony isn’t just about food. In reality, Gluttony is the other six sins on steroids. The path toward freedom, from all the Deadly Sins, is the path of Jesus, the path of the cross, which is the same path he calls us all to walk.

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As we jump back into our series through the Seven Deadly Sins, Josh invites us to reimagine sloth. Sloth isn’t just laziness. One could be very busy, and still struggle with sloth. Sloth is apathy, indifference, failing to be passionate about the things God is passionate about. Sloth causes us to listen to the voice of fear, and ultimately, to miss out on joy. Sloth isn’t to be underestimated.

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He is risen! This news changes everything, and for Christians, is a celebration of God’s New Creation that is already bursting forth here and now. In this Resurrection Sunday teaching Josh and special guest Randal Collins invite us to see the Resurrection at work in us now, giving us life before death. The tomb is empty and this is definitely good news, right here and right now!

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As we continue our Lent series on the Seven Deadly Sins we explore Wrath, also known as Anger. In this teaching, Josh discusses two different kinds of anger. First, there is a healthy anger at the injustices that happen all around us–and even to us. However, this anger can fester and dig deeper and deeper into our hearts until it becomes deadly. The only option-day after day, moment by moment–is to entrust our anger to God and his justice.

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Cravings. We all have them. Cravings for success, power, possessions, chocolate, and, yes, even sex. In this teaching we learn that lust begins in the mind, in the heart, but that eventually, when left unchecked, it will make its way into our actions. That’s why Jesus calls us to deal with lust in our thoughts, before it takes control of our lives. True freedom is freedom from having to give in to every craving that strikes us, choosing life and fidelity instead.

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As we continue our journey through the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ we come to the sin of Greed. This sin has too often, in our culture, been recast as a virtue instead of a vice. However, as Josh invites us to see, Greed is deadly and we must embrace new and generous practices to combat the damaging effects of Greed in our lives.

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For our next installment in our ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ series Josh talks about the green-eyed-monster, better known as ‘Envy’. While envy may seem, on the surface, to be undeserving of the term ‘deadly’, a deeper look reveals the danger that envy poses. Envy is a bitter poison that wrecks relationships and, ultimately, kills its host.

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This week Josh begins our journey through each of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ by taking a look at pride. Using Jesus’ parable about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus, Josh invites us to see pride differently, not just as a minor nuisance, but as a deadly force that isolates us from others–including God. According to the parable, pride is hell; and not just in the next life, but in this one.

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Josh begins our Lent 2013 series on the Seven Deadly Sins by asking the question, “What is sin?” Beyond basic definitions [like 'missing the mark'], Josh invites us to see sin as something even more destructive–a disruption of the peace and harmony God desires for the world. “Sin,” according to Cornelius Plantinga “is blamable human vandalism” of the peace, the shalom, that God desires for his world.

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Each year at Morgantown Community Church we begin our observance of Lent with an Ash Wednesday service. During this gathering, we sing, read scripture and corporate prayers, take communion, and receive the ‘imposition of ashes’. As part of our preparation for communion and the imposition of ashes, Josh offers a few brief words on why Ash Wednesday is important. This culminates with the ‘Litany of Penitence’, which Josh and Jennifer Davis lead us through.

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Each year Josh takes a Sunday to respond to the questions we have about theology and how we can practically live out our faith. These questions come from our congregation, and readers of Josh’s blog [www.joshuaadamscott.com]. Doing this allows us to understand what is on the minds of our community, and [as an added bonus] it’s never dull!

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Each year Josh takes a Sunday to respond to the questions we have about theology and how we can practically live out our faith. These questions come from our congregation, and readers of Josh’s blog [www.joshuaadamscott.com]. Doing this allows us to understand what is on the minds of our community, and [as an added bonus] it’s never dull!

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In this final installment of our ‘Press On’ series, which has focused on MCC’s mission, Josh reminds us that it’s not only what we believe that matters–it’s also how we believe it. There is a tension that we all must learn to live with: we are recipients of God’s grace, a free gift, yet we are also called to do something in response. In Ephesians 2, we are told that ‘It is by grace we have been saved” and that we are “created in Christ Jesus to do good works.”  We are called to go beyond mere belief; we must act as well!

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In the third week of our ‘Press On’ series,  Josh reminds us that the church is called to engage with the surrounding world and culture in a specific, Christ-patterned way. Using Jesus’ response to a question about the ‘greatest commandment,’ Josh reminds us that we are called to love God with the totality of our beings, and similarly, to love our neighbor as ourselves. When the church does this we embody the Eucharist–the body broken and blood poured–to the world.

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In week two of “Press On” Josh focuses on another key aspect of our mission. If we are all on a journey, then we must be empowered to take the next step. But how? What does that look like? Join us as we explore the ‘Art of Intention.’

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Each January we take some time to refocus on our mission and vision as a church. This mission, to empower people to take the next step on their journey with Christ, is central to who we are and how we live as a community. In this first installment of our “Press On” series Josh reminds us why journey is the best way of understanding the life of faith, and that we are all unfinished. We aren’t who we will be, and our best days are still ahead.

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After the Christmas season, we move into a season known as Epiphany [a word that means 'manifestation'].  During Epiphany we remember that, in Jesus, God has revealed his character, nature, and love to the world. Traditionally, Epiphany is a time to reflect on the story of the Magi, who visited the infant Jesus and brought him gifts.