CONTACT Blog

Upcoming Series: Be Strong

Jan. 6, 2008 Dave Barnhart

Lots of people resolve to exercise and eat right in the new year. So, we’re launching the New Year in Contact with a new sermon series: Be Strong. The series will focus on key men and women from the Old and New Testament who demonstrated strength: Samson, Ruth, Deborah, David, and Jesus.

But “strength” often takes surprising forms. Water is not as hard as rock, but it can wear a mountain down to rubble. Come and learn how God’s strength flows through these human lives to reshape history.

January 6: Strong Women
January 13: Srong Men
January 20: Strong God

I look forward to seeing you there!

-Dave

God at Work Wrap-Up

Oct. 1, 2007 Dave Barnhart

I hope you’ve enjoyed the series God at Work. It has been a great experience to spend a month talking about grace and how grace works in our lives. I did not find an appropriate place to share these lyrics in a sermon, so I thought I’d share them here:

Grace
She takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name

Grace
It’s a name for a girl
It’s also a thought that changed the world
And when she walks on the street
You can hear the strings
Grace finds goodness in everything

Grace, she’s got the walk
Not on a ramp or on chalk
She’s got the time to talk
She travels outside of karma
She travels outside of karma
When she goes to work
You can hear her strings
Grace finds beauty in everything

Grace, she carries a world on her hips
No champagne flute for her lips
No twirls or skips between her fingertips
She carries a pearl in perfect condition

What once was hurt
What once was friction
What left a mark
No longer stings
Because grace makes beauty
Out of ugly things

Grace makes beauty out of ugly things

-Grace, by U2 from their album All That You Can’t Leave Behind

God At Work: Extraordinary Grace in Ordinary Lives

Sep. 9, 2007 Dave Barnhart


I slammed on the brakes as I went by the church building this past Thursday. I saw orange construction fence around the front of Wesley Hall. I thought, “what on earth is going on?” The next moment I slapped my forehead. After all, I had been at the Worship Team meeting, and the sermon series was my idea. The orange warning signs said, “God At Work: Next 3 Weeks.”

Duh.

Grace can be like that, though. Sometimes it sneaks up on you. Even though you may know with your head that God is at work in your life, you don’t always know with your heart - and you certainly don’t always get bright orange signs announcing the fact.

I had lots of fun with our first Sunday, What is Grace? The next three Sundays will be:

  • Sept. 16: Grace that Comes Before
  • Sept. 23: Grace that Justifies
  • Sept. 30: Grace that Grows

    • If you are the kind of person who likes to dig deeper, you might like to read this brief description of John Wesley’s theology of grace, or read some of his sermons which are linked to from this page. 

    Other Ways to Connect Online at Trinity

    Sep. 4, 2007 Dave Barnhart

    Members of Trinity can also connect through our MyChurch profile. MyChurch is similar to Facebook and other social networking sites, but centered on church networks rather than work or school. It can also be linked to a Facebook profile with the MyChurch application. 

    If you would like to keep up with happenings at Trinity, you can also subscribe to one of our RSS feeds. If you have a modern browser, like Firefox 2, Safari 2, or Internet Explorer 7, look for an icon like this anywhere on Trinity’s site: Clicking an orange icon like this will allow you to subscribe to this news feed. You don’t even have to visit the site to get the latest updated news from Trinity!

    You can also drag the icon to your bookmarks bar, and the bookmark will turn bold when there is news from Trinity. How cool is that?

    If you don’t have a compatible browser, you can still subscribe through services like Bloglines, iGoogle, and Yahoo. You’ll have to sign up for a free account to use them. 

    Conclusion of Hogwarts Series

    Aug. 26, 2007 Dave Barnhart

    This upcoming Sunday will conclude our series, All I Really Need to Know I Learned at Hogwarts. I’ve had great fun preparing and preaching the series, but, just like the Harry Potter books themselves, it’s time for the finale. This Sunday’s message, Magic, Muggles, and God, will focus on how stories about magic teach us about the real world.

    I do want to point you to an article that Tim Bailey sent me called Harry Potter Books are “Gateway Drug” to the “Good Stuff,” by Jerry Bowyer. It’s a great read. It contrasts starkly with this article by Lev Grossman. How can two people read the same story and come up with such different interpretations?

    Perhaps the same way people read and interpret the Bible?

    The Secrets of Harry Potter

    Aug. 14, 2007 Dave Barnhart

    I almost forgot: a wonderful source for Christian insight on Harry Potter is Fr. Roderick’s podcast, The Secrets of Harry Potter. I’ll be using some of Fr. Roderick’s ideas in my next sermon, Who’s Afraid of You-Know-Who? in the series All I Really Need to Know I Learned at Hogwarts.

    Several people have emailed and talked to me about the first sermon, Defense Against the Dark Arts. Thanks for the feedback and the questions!

    The passage I quoted is from Romans 14, and the translation I used is The Message, which uses very contemporary language. If you click the link above, you will be taken to Biblegateway.com, and you can use a pull-down menu to see how it’s worded in other translations. 

    All I Really Need to Know I Learned at Hogwarts

    Aug. 12, 2007 Dave Barnhart

    Having just read the last book of the Harry Potter series, I’m excited to announce that our next sermon series will be All I Really Needed to Know I Learned at Hogwarts. You don’t need to have read the books or seen the movies to understand the message, and I’ll do my best not to provide too many spoilers for those who have not read or seen.

    There are many Christians who feel that the Harry Potter series isn’t “safe” for children to read. I’ll be addressing these kinds of concerns in the first sermon, Defense Against the Dark Arts. The second sermon, Who’s Afraid of You-Know-Who, will be about how the main characters deal with evil. The last sermon, Magic, Muggles, and God, will be about the idea of salvation and the very clear references to Christian scripture in the series.

    As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions as we worship and study together!

    [update on 8-6-07]:
    If you’d like to read some interesting perspectives on the relationships between Harry Potter and Christian faith, I recommend:

  • Thunderstruck, which has a snippet of dialogue from an interview with J.K. Rowling, as well as links to other articles.
  • Al Hsu wonders at Christianity Today what it would be like if we told the Gospel story the way we tell the story of Harry Potter.
  • And an author at GetReligion suggests that ant-Potter Christians might change their tune after they read the last book of the series.

    • Memory Snapshot

    Aug. 7, 2007 Dave Barnhart

    This past Sunday’s sermon was on Memory.

    I talked about how the Lord’s Supper and Jesus’ command to “do this in remembrance of me” is a bit like a snapshot. Just as we compose snapshots to remember essential things about the people we love, by performing the ritual of Holy Communion we re-member Jesus. And as we re-member him, we become his members - re-membered into the Body of Christ.

    I also took a Polaroid snapshot of worship. Here is that picture.

























    Conclusion of Just Jesus Series

    Jul. 1, 2007 Dave Barnhart

    I hope you have enjoyed the Just Jesus sermon series. I think it’s useful to explore our images and preconceptions of Jesus, and to be driven back, again and again, to his words and actions in the gospels. People often ask “what would Jesus do,” assuming that they already know the answer. But Jesus showed the disciples and his opponents time and time again that he was unpredictable!

    There’s a great blog post here about acting when you are playing the character of Jesus. I think Richard makes some excellent points.

    Peace,
    Dave

    Exciting times in Contact

    Jun. 28, 2007 Contact Worship

    Hey everyone! We hope that you have enjoyed Dave’s sermon series “Just Jesus” thus far. He is doing a fantastic job in Contact. We are very excited about the future and all the wonderful blessings God has in store for Contact.  Don’t forget that this Sunday, July 1, will be the final Sunday of Dave’s series. We are also looking forward to having Tim Tatum, Trinity’s new associate, join us for 2 Sundays in July to preach. On July 15 and 22, Tim will be preaching while Dave is on mission in Bolivia. Let’s continue to pray for Contact, for Dave, and specifically for the team that will be Bolivia.  Reminder: don’t forget that the Contact podcast can be found on iTunes, or you may listen to the sermon audio directly from this website. Just click on sermon audio, or head over to iTunes and subscribe.

    Upcoming Series: Just Jesus

    Jun. 17, 2007 Dave Barnhart

    Hi, everyone! I’m looking forward to our first Sunday together with me as your regular preaching guy. I’m excited about the upcoming sermon series called Just Jesus, and I wanted to give you some links that might help stimulate some discussion. The first sermon will be on Sunday, June 17 (which is also Father’s Day), and it is called A Picture of Jesus.

    This link is to a whole gallery of images of Jesus at Rejesus. Which one looks like the Jesus you imagine?

    This link is to lyrics to a song by Ben Harper, called “Picture of Jesus.” Read the lyrics and see if they speak to you.

    Peace.

    Jesus Movies

    Jun. 15, 2007 Dave Barnhart

    There have been a slew of Jesus movies, ever since people first began making films. There have been many different interpretations of the Gospel stories. I’ve set up a poll to see which movies have had the biggest impact on you.

    If you want to learn more about Bible films, there is a great blog called The Bible Films Blog.






    Are You Contagious?

    Apr. 20, 2007 Haley Smith

    BECOMING A CONTAGIOUS CHRISTIAN • Join us for a 4-week CONTACT Sermon Series, beginning April 29.
    Rev. Wade Griffith will lead this powerful series that will teach you to share your faith in a way that is comfortable to you!  Don’t miss it...bring a friend.
    Check Wade’s CONTACT blog for weekly updates on the series!

    What does God know about suffering?

    Mar. 1, 2007 Wade Griffith

    Last Sunday, we explored the ways God has experienced (and experiences) suffering.  Is that a source of hope for you?  Be honest--Is that something that makes a difference in your daily spiritual walk?  What other responses or questions do you have from Sunday’s message?

    Contact Podcast

    Feb. 28, 2007 Bradley Hodges

    Hey everyone, the audio from Wade’s sermons are now available here on the site under Sermon Audio, but don’t forget that you can also subscribe to it in iTunes.  By doing this you can listen to it on your iPod or other MP3 player. Simply download iTunes free from http://www.itunes.com and click on the Podcast button.  Type in “Making Contact” and it will be listed under the Podcast section.  Click subscribe and you will be ready to go. From then on, no need to search for it, it will automaticlly download for you whenever you start iTunes. Enjoy listening to Wade throughout the week, especially if you miss one Sunday. Let us know what you think! 

    Bradley Hodges
    Worship Leader, Contact Worship

    Full listing »