Great Sermons

I've learned a lot more about a local Church downtown called Vintage 21. I talked with one of the Elders for a while yesterday and really liked what I heard. They are definitely in the "convergent" camp, which I have definitely come to appreciate. They have theological depth and great scripture-rich teaching, but also focus their ministry on reaching out to doubters and seekers. They preach against both legalism and moralism and seek to live gospel-saturated lives. They also have a "Christ transforming culture" message as they participate in local art shows and reach out to the artistic community. They also strongly believe in participating in social outreach projects that they call "Holistic Justice." I thought this was a great term not only implying relieving a temporary need (which is important) but viewing the physical and the spiritual holistically. It raises the question, can true justice come in a non-holistic way? After thinking about it, I don't believe it can and I think Vintage 21 has a great perspectice on this issue.

They have sermon series online that I have been listening to. Here is the link:
http://vintage21.com/study.rss

I have also been reading a couple books by Tim Keller, who is involved in this same type of Church movement. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a podcast so you have to buy his sermons (from what I can find...anyone know if that is true?) However, the next book I want to tackle is The Prodigal God. One of my ethics professors gave an overview of Keller's exposition of the story of the Prodigal Son and I watched students all across the room (myself included) put their heads on their desks and weep in repentence.