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Engaging Science in the Life of Your Congregation

Engaging Science in the Life of Your Congregation

With so many issues to discuss, Christians can easily get the feeling that science is always attacking the faith. It is essential to balance such conversations with positive responses to God’s creation. After all, the primary response to the natural world in the Bible is to praise the God who made it.
May 14, 2013 
Deborah Haarsma 
Education, Worship & Arts
9
A Scientific Commentary on Genesis 7:11

A Scientific Commentary on Genesis 7:11

Although committed to the principle of sola Scriptura, Calvin recognized that the Bible would have been written in terms its original recipients would have understood. Calvin inherited the medieval cosmology of his time, a way of viewing the world heavily influenced by Greek thought and one which was about to receive shocks from astronomers such as Copernicus and Galileo. But not just yet.
Feb 05, 2013 
Rolf Bouma 
Christianity & Science - Then and Now, Biblical Authority, Adam, the Fall, and Sin, Age of the Earth, The Flood, Genesis
41
Psalm for the January Thaw

Psalm for the January Thaw

God shows himself not just in the orderliness of nature, but powerfully, joyously and always surprisingly in its beautiful "non-order" as well.
Jan 18, 2013 
Luci Shaw 
Worship & Arts
9
Frenetic Sequence

Frenetic Sequence

We tend to think of creativity in terms of flashes of insight and brilliance, of novelty, and especially of unexpected things bursting upon the scene. But creativity is no less creative and no less remarkable when it proceeds step by step, according to discipline, according to rule.
Oct 27, 2012 
Mark Sprinkle 
Worship & Arts
0
<strong>Series:</strong> Biblical and Scientific Shortcomings of Flood Geology

Series: Biblical and Scientific Shortcomings of Flood Geology

Gregg Davidson and Ken Wolgemuth seek to remove the stumbling block of the Genesis flood in this four part series. Though many believe in an ancient world-wide flood, the evidence given does not hold up to geological scrutiny, but points rather to something regional instead. It is their hope that Christians will not walk away from faith in Christ simply because a global flood is not supported by science. Looking at natural phenomena like the Grand Canyon, salt beds, and fossil deposits, they reveal reasons for these deposits and structures while showing that their origin did not stem from a violent flood that covered the planet.
Sep 17, 2012 
Gregg Davidson, Wolgemuth, Ken 
Earth, Universe & Time, Young Earth Creationism, The Flood, Fossils
Stumble On

Stumble On

The song is built around the image of a river flowing through a canyon it has sculpted—an image that can easily be played out as a picture of the way that the Lord has been at work preparing a path for us in the material world, complete with signposts to his former and present activity.
Sep 16, 2012 
Mark Sprinkle 
Worship & Arts
4
<strong>Series:</strong> Beauty, Science and Theology

Series: Beauty, Science and Theology

It doesn't take a scientist to appreciate the beauty with which God has arrayed his creation. But scientists do have the opportunity (and training) to appreciate different kinds of beauty than do most non-scientists, whether they are ordinarily "hidden" in the extremes of scale, the elegant processes of an experiment, or in the abstraction of mathematics. Indeed the appreciation of various kinds of beauty has always played a critical role in motivating scientists to investigate the world, and in helping them decipher its workings. In the three-part essay, Ruth Bancewicz explores some of the ways beauty, science and theology intertwine.
Jul 25, 2012 
Ruth Bancewicz 
Worship & Arts
The Heavenly Declaration

The Heavenly Declaration

The universe that inspired the psalmist three thousand years ago grows grander as each new generation of astronomers adds yet another layer of understanding.
May 04, 2012 
Karl Giberson 
Worship & Arts, Astronomy & Physics
0
Wheat that Springeth Green

Wheat that Springeth Green

As we remember the narrative that takes us from Good Friday through Easter morning, the image of a buried grain of wheat invites us into the story rather than just describing what happens in it.
Apr 06, 2012 
Mark Sprinkle 
Worship & Arts
5
Jefferson’s Bible and the Tears of Christ

Jefferson’s Bible and the Tears of Christ

Predictably, "Jesus Wept" did not make into the Jefferson Bible. John 11 was cut out entirely, falling onto the floor of his Monticello home and discarded, along with Martha's confession.
Mar 31, 2012 
Makoto Fujimura 
Science & Worldviews, Worship & Arts
8
<strong>Series:</strong> Science as an Instrument of Worship

Series: Science as an Instrument of Worship

In this brief series (taken from a 2009 paper), Jennifer Wiseman uses an excerpt from the famous hymn “How Great Thou Art,” to explain why the study of God’s creation can lead Christ’s followers into meaningful worship and overcome the obstacles which impede true praise. Creation as encountered through our senses is pondered by our minds, which flows into wonder-filled songs from the soul. She further explains how knowledge of creation will help Christians to address the moral dilemmas of science, and she encourages all to see the process of scientific inquiry as a means to discover God’s truth.
Mar 19, 2012 
Jennifer Wiseman 
Worship & Arts, Science as Christian Calling, Astronomy & Physics, Creation Care
Knowing Your Context

Knowing Your Context

The Psalmist affirms that the created world speaks of its creator, and that everywhere we look or listen there are words, speech pouring forth in abundance. But are we prepared to hear that speech?
Mar 17, 2012 
Mark Sprinkle 
Worship & Arts
4
Vox Balaenae

Vox Balaenae

In 1967, biologists Roger Payne and Scott McVay discovered that humpback whales “sing” and published recordings of the whales’ complex vocalizations, after which “whale song” quickly entered the popular consciousness and helped propel the “save the whales” environmental movement forward.
Mar 04, 2012 
Mark Sprinkle 
Worship & Arts, Creation Care
1
Making the Whale

Making the Whale

This week’s artistic treatment of the great whales takes as its subject a more-storied and decidedly less-gentle member of the family, but returns to our fascination with and desire to know about whatever is dramatically not us.
Feb 26, 2012 
Mark Sprinkle 
Worship & Arts
1
Humpback Whales

Humpback Whales

Of all the earth’s creatures, few deserve the description of “awesome” as do whales. Counting among their kin the largest creatures that have ever lived, whales exist in a world that remains mysterious and remote.
Feb 18, 2012 
Mark Sprinkle 
Worship & Arts
40
Oscillators for Singers

Oscillators for Singers

Dr. Heather Whitney’s double major in physics and performing and visual arts suggests that she lives—as well as understands—the connections between subjective and objective ways of engaging the creation. She is committed to communicating that experience with her students, too.
Feb 12, 2012 
Heather Whitney 
Worship & Arts
0
<strong>Series:</strong> He Who Has Ears

Series: He Who Has Ears

Scholar and musician Jeff Warren addresses the questions of how music is meaningful, and where that meaning resides, by looking at the popular ideas that musical meaning is entirely subjective to the listener and that the meaning of music can be universal. He also explores the recent trend of attempting to explain music via neuroscience. Finally, he looks into the reasons why music continues to play such a critical role in the worshiping life of the Church.
Jan 22, 2012 
Jeff R. Warren 
Brain, Mind & Soul, Neuroscience & Psychology
Gratitude

Gratitude

Of all the blessings to be thankful for on Thanksgiving Day, none of them surpasses the riches of the eternal blessings which the Lord has bestowed on his sons and daughters in Christ Jesus.
Nov 24, 2011 
Mark Swarner 
Worship & Arts, Sermons
1
Orb Weaver

Orb Weaver

Clearly, the orb weaver is a powerful symbol of both spiritual and creative truth for Suzanne Rhodes—something wonderful and beautiful. But my own experience with orb weavers was somewhat less poetic...
Nov 12, 2011 
Mark Sprinkle 
Worship & Arts
0
Seeing the Flood Story Through an Ancient Israelite Lens

Seeing the Flood Story Through an Ancient Israelite Lens

Pete Shaw highlights the story of Noah to explore how the story would have been understood in ancient times and from there he goes on to explore how we might consider it today.
Nov 12, 2011 
Pete Shaw 
Biblical Interpretation, Sermons, The Flood, Ancient Cultures
2
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