Teaching

Paul begins his letter to the Christians in Rome with some big words: apostle, gospel, grace and peace. But those words may have meant something different for his original audience than they mean for us today. Let’s spend some time recovering the unexpectedly radical energy of these ideas.

Ways to Get Connected

• RSVP to our New to SBCC Virtual Table on October 2 at 8:30p EST via Zoom
• Join us for our Open Table on September 24
• Check out all of our Tables
• Support the ongoing work of SBCC by giving to our general fund. South Bend City Church is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. All donations are tax-deductible.

One of the most talked about, preached about, regularly-studied texts in the New Testament is the book of Romans, a letter written by the Apostle Paul to a community of Jesus’ followers roughly three decades after Jesus. It’s been especially prominent in Protestant and Evangelical spaces. But what if the way it’s usually talked about misses the point?

The early church was an impossible community. People somehow found a radical capacity for belonging with one another across every imaginable line of difference. And the letter Paul wrote to this early church shows his own wrestling with how the experience of Christ makes this impossible community possible. What if this text that’s been centered in so many religious spaces is talking about not just our own personal reconciliation with God, but also the ways that we can belong to each other? Between now and next spring, we’ll take a path through Romans that might be unfamiliar for those who have walked the “Romans road”, but with a desire to recover the radical message of this powerful text.

This week, as we considered our approach to the letter, Jason also proposed a handful of principles for us to keep in mind as we proceed:

Paul isn’t a systematic theologian. He’s a practical theologian.
It’s hard to know what it means if you don’t know what it meant.
Knowing what it says doesn’t matter if you don’t what you don’t know what it did.
Just because an interpretation is the only one you’ve heard, that doesn’t mean it’s the most well-founded, historically corroborated, widely held Christian view.
We’re looking for God, love, belonging, community, and possibility.

Ways to Get Connected

• RSVP to our New to SBCC Virtual Table on October 2 at 8:30p EST via Zoom
• Join us for our Open Table on September 24
• Check out all of our Tables
• Support the ongoing work of SBCC by giving to our general fund. South Bend City Church is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. All donations are tax-deductible.

In John 21, we see Jesus trying to have a conversation with one of his followers about the calling on his life, but that disciple is distracted by the fate of someone else. As we expand our circles of concern with a faith that includes our neighbors, strangers, and enemies, how do we stay committed to the lives we’re called to?

Ways to Get Connected

• Check out all Tables opportunities or let us know if you’re a long-distance community member that wants to create community in the digital space.
• RSVP to our New to SBCC Table on September 10
• Register for Student Tables or let us know if you’re interested in being an adult mentor.
• Let us know that you’re interested in volunteering or, if you’re a long-distance community member, start a conversation with us about how to jump in from afar.
• Support the ongoing work of SBCC by giving to our general fund. South Bend City Church is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. All donations are tax-deductible.

In John 2 we are invited to a wedding, and watching Jesus’ actions there reveal something critical about the nature of the reign of God that Jesus is declaring has arrived. What’s more, it sheds light on a sometimes overlooked attribute of our God–as one who is joyful. Together, we’ll consider the roles of fun, celebration and joy in our lives with God.

Ways to Get Connected
Let us know that you’re interested in volunteering.
RSVP to our New to SBCC Table on September 10
Register for Student Tables or let us know if you’re interested in being an adult mentor.
Check out all Tables opportunities or let us know if you’re a long-distance community member that wants to create community in the digital space.
Support the ongoing work of SBCC by giving to our general fund. South Bend City Church is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. All donations are tax-deductible.

In Luke 13:10-17, we read a story about a synagogue leader’s criticism of a woman being healed on the Sabbath. As we imaginatively engage the text, we find ourselves in the story and sense an invitation to healing being extended to us—including our own critical parts—so that every system—internal and external—can be set free.

If you would like to join us in the Eucharist, make sure to have some form of bread or cracker and some form of juice or wine with you.

Ways to Get Connected
Register for the Parenting Workshop with Meredith Miller on August 27th from 12:30-3p.
Take a the morning to rest on August 20th as we observe our Sabbath break. No gatherings or podcast.
Read more about our Quarterly Financial Update.
Support the ongoing work of SBCC by giving to our general fund. South Bend City Church is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. All donations are tax-deductible.

In Matthew 26, when a woman performs an act of needless beauty on Jesus and the disciples react against it, wondering about the pragmatic good that could have been done instead, it forces us to enter into the tension of beauty and pragmatism. Could it be that in our particular context we need to create more space to pursue and allow for more beautiful ways of being in the world?

Ways to Get Connected
Register for the Parenting Workshop with Meredith Miller on August 27th from 12:30-3p.
Take a the morning to rest on August 20th as we observe our Sabbath break. No gatherings or podcast.
Support the ongoing work of SBCC by giving to our general fund. South Bend City Church is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. All donations are tax-deductible.