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Brewing Theology With Teer Hardy

Brewing Theology With Teer Hardy

304 episodes — Page 5 of 7

Speaking Truth | God is Like Jesus?, July 26, 2020

July 26, 2020Romans 8:26-39“Who will condemn us?Who is against us?Who can separate us from the love of Christ?”Paul continues, “If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?” Jesus told his followers that the extravagance of God’s love, manifested in the Kingdom of God, is like that of a tiny mustard seed. It can appear small or insignificant, but when the mustard seed grows, the seed becomes a tree. “It is the greatest of shrubs” with room for the birds of the air to come and nest.The truth is, it is cheap theology to look a the happenings of the world and to assume that God is in some way asleep at the wheel or worse punishing creation. To do so ignores not only what Saint Paul wrote to the church in Rome but also the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul’s rhetorical questions leave the gate open and open the possibility for us to grossly misinterpret, running amuck with the Amazing Grace, the Amazing love of God in Christ that has and continues to be freely given to all people, all of creation.Pastor Brian Zahnd continued, “God has a disposition towards sinners and it’s the spirit of Jesus. This is the beautiful gospel… God is like Jesus. God has always been like Jesus. There has never been a time when God was not like Jesus; we haven’t always known this, but now we do. God is like Jesus! God is not a sadistic monster who abhors sinners and dangles them over a fiery pit.”[5]“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”The beautiful gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good News for those who gather to worship and those who have not been in quite some time, if ever, is that the love of God in Christ is ours. There is nothing we can do to earn this love and better yet, there is nothing we or anyone or anything can do to separate us from this amazing love. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Jul 27, 202011 min

Speaking Truth | The Gospel Isn't a Country Song, July 12, 2020

Romans 8:1-11Paul’s point is that sin - manifested by “peril…famine...sword...” - has been defeated by the cross of Christ. To live according to the Spirit is to live with the free confidence and joy that all that stands against God has already been defeated. By the Grace of God, we are free to set aside the agenda of life in the flesh - life consumed by us verse them, inequality and injustice, hatred and fear - and instead, being filled with the Spirit of Christ live life in a realm ruled by God. A world where Jesus is indeed Lord and the ways of the flesh fall by the wayside.Life in the Spirit moves us from condemnation and guilt to a life that is not our own. This is the life we put on as we emerge from the waters of our baptism. A life we cannot earn for ourselves, rather a life of freedom received by Grace. A life that makes is possible for us to set aside rebellion and to be swept up in the Spirit of Christ.A life free from what separates us.A life that frees us to just get along.A life free from condemnation and guilt. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Jul 14, 20208 min

Speaking Truth | The Good News in Short Shorts

Matthew 10:40-42Compassion and mercy are the model given to us by Jesus for loving and welcoming every person who comes to us in His name. The difficult task is that it will take more than a little bit of grace to open the doors of the church that have been closed to so many people - the LGBTQ+ community, single or divorced adults, those who haven’t opened a Bible in decades or ever. Then there are the doors of the church that have been used to segregate Christ’s body simply because the color of someone’s skin does not match ours. The task before us is monumental, and frankly long overdue in being addressed. But the Good News in Jesus words are not only for the ones being welcomed or ushered to the balcony. The Good News also is for the church where people are sent to the balcony to make us more comfortable, the church where a hand of welcome is not extended to someone whose hand looks different from our own, and the church where we may not participate in such actions but we certainly are not doing anything to address the actions of the larger body. The Good News is for them and for us is that we are not the Queen’s guard. We are not the gatekeepers of Christ’s body and we certainly are not the gatekeepers of the Kingdom of God! Praise be to God that we are not!Our work is monumental and yet it is simple: to offer welcome. To extend a hand of invitation to experience the same amazing grace that changed our lives when we ourselves were once lost and hoping to the be found. The work ahead of us is to offer an embrace when an embrace is invited, and to give a cool cup of water in the sweltering humidity of a Virginia summer. God will take care of the rest, even when a button pushing pastor shows up on Sunday morning wearing too short running shorts. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Jun 28, 202010 min

Pentecost | Freedom in Nothing, May 31 , 2020

The message of Pentecost is that everything has been done. Done for everyone.The Holy Spirit at Pentecost, using every language known so that there would be no mistake, no mistranslation, no nuance missed, or nonverbal misconstrued came so that those present and us today might trust, we might believe, so that we will have faith grounded in the hard to believe, impossible and yet all too real promise made by God in Jesus Christ - the perfection demanded in the Law, obedience, and perfection, has been given to you, has been given to everyone, not by what we can do but rather by what has been done.The outpouring of the power of God will touch everyone and there is nothing we can do to stop this. Try as we might to sell Jesus flavored Law - be a good person and do your best to do good things - doing our best to hide our tells behind masks of unwritten or rewritten church law, the Holy Spirit at Pentecost tells us something else.New life for everything and everyone is present in Jesus Christ. The one who while ascended and seated at the right hand of God promises to never abandon or forsake. The burden on us is not to control others or even the Holy Spirit as we share this news. Our task is not greatness. Our task, given by Jesus, reiterated at Pentecost so that all can hear and believes is to do just that: believe. To trust in, to have faith that the One who overcame the power of sin and death can and will do the same for you and through you. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

May 31, 20208 min

Grounded | Polishing Your Stones, May 10 , 2020

When I was a kid, like many of my friends, I was the proud owner of a rock tumbler. A rock tumbler allowed us to take a variety of rocks we found in the neighborhood and polish them to the point that the rocks were like gems. As a kid all we needed were a few rocks from the neighbor’s driveway, some polishing grit, and a little bit of patience. This recipe for success allowed us to (at least in our minds) print money. We would load up our rock tumblers and let them run for a few days and after we washed away the polishing grit, we believed we had diamonds and rubies in our hands.If our parents had only seen the potential in our childhood get rich quick scheme, maybe they could have retired early and today I would be the founder and CEO of Polished Rocks Inc., you’re one stop shop for fine polished driveway stones.There are few passages in the New Testament that pull us in with rich metaphorical language like our reading today. God’s grace and our election through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ grab our attention, revealing that not only are we freed from the bonds of sin and Death through Christ’s Easter victory but now we are included, because of Christ’s faithfulness, in the household of God. Those who have felt as though they were not welcomed or told they were not accepted before God now breathe a sigh of relief and then step forward and into a new home, a new grounding, with Christ as the cornerstone of the new Temple. The grounding we rely on for our faith is found in the sureness of Christ as our cornerstone. All other stones in this new structure will be shaped and set by the Cornerstone, the ultimate reference point determining the position of the entire structure. God chose Jesus Christ as our Cornerstone, a living stone – a living hope for all of creation and the living Word of God.Christ, the living Cornerstone would be rejected, the Psalmist and the prophet Isaiah foretold of these events. The Psalmist wrote, “The stone rejected by the builders is now the main foundation stone!”[1] Throughout his ministry Jesus was despised by the religious elite of the day and then Jesus was ultimately rejected on Good Friday as the crowds in Jerusalem – the home of the Temple, the place where it was believed God resided – shouted “Crucify!”Yet, rejection was not enough and Jesus Christ, then and today is the Living Cornerstone of the Church. The Living Cornerstone is not only drawing us closer to God, Christ is building us, refining us into a spiritual temple. We are brought into new life in Christ as we are joined with other imperfect stones into “God’s household.”[2]We all have had too much time on and temptation on our hands over the past nine weeks to consider a new hobby to make our COVID time a “success.” Many of us are achievers and see time at home as an opportunity to organize, clean, rearrange, or remodel. Some have taken up sewing to help make masks for those of us who either do not own a sewing machine or possess the skill set necessary for the task. We have challenged ourselves to read more or learn to play a musical instrument – to the band, don’t worry, I’ve been practicing.Even before COVID turned our world upside down, stillness was not applauded, and busyness was considered a sign of determination and grit. The same is true in the church. We fill our calendar with programming in hopes that we, all by ourselves, can build up Christ’s body for the transformation of the world. We do and we go, believing that if we just go and do enough rather than residing in stillness, our faith will grow, we will become closer to God and more sanctified in the process.One of the things I learned using a rock tumbler is that it did not matter what I did after I put the rocks and polishing grit into the tumbler. When I plugged the black power cable into the outlet and switched the machine on, I had to rely and trust that the tumbler would do what the box said it would do, trusting that the little work I did was enough for the outcome I desired.Our Living Hope, the Living Word of God, Jesus Christ is building us up. Jesus Christ has built you up and will continue building. The Cornerstone that was rejected is now placing each of us, building His Church so that we can bear His amazing Light into the dark corners of our community and world. It can feel as though we have to go, go, go, and do, do, do and because of where many of us live, just a stone throw from the Nation’s Capital this has been our normal for as long as we can remember. It can feel like we have to go, and we have to do, but the honing, shaping, and building is not our work to do. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ made nobodies into a royal priesthood, taking those who had and continue to be cast aside or told they need to go and do before God will respond, making them and us, everyone into living stones.We have been out of the physical church building for nine weeks, a building with a physical cornerstone and our hub for ministry in our corner of

May 10, 20207 min

Grounded | Hope Soap, April 26, 2020

The culmination of the Emmaus story is found in the disciples being able to see the Risen Lord in the breaking of bread, but they are unable to see the Risen Lord without Jesus’ Bible study to end all Bible studies – explaining how the entire Old Testament is actually about him. For us, as followers of Christ, we believe God’s Plan A has always been Jesus and the revelation of the coming Messiah, now present in our Risen Lord, is everywhere in the Old Testament. Jesus as Lord is the Big Picture we miss when we, like the disciples on their way to Emmaus, hone in on a detail of the story and when that detail does not suffice we, as a failing art critic would attempt to do, make sense of the story of the person of Jesus that fails to show the bigger picture – that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ Sin and Death no longer hold their boot to the throat of what God created and Jesus reigns over.While we may be hunkered down, like a teenager grounded and unable to leave the house, and wondering what we are supposed to do or where God is this Emmaus story, the entire story – not just the disciples' failure to see Jesus, the breaking of bread, or their rush back to Jerusalem – shows us that not only is Jesus at work but that he’s been at work since the beginning.Before Moses, way back when the Word was God and the Word was with God, God has been present, and God is present with us now. God is reigning now.While we may be grounded at home and feel as though our grounding is shifting, Christ remains the same. Christ - the One the scriptures were pointing to, the one who overcame the power of Sind and Death, and the one who continues to reign as Lord over all of creation – is our grounding, our sure foundation.Our Risen Lord is among us. He is present when we pray when we study when we break bread, but more importantly, he has always been present, he has always been Lord. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Apr 26, 202010 min

Who Am I? | Ashes to Asses, April 5, 2020

If we leave the story at “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven” we miss the abruptness with which Lent draws to a close, the closing is not drawn out, and the quickness with which Holy Week moves. Jesus entered the Holy City and before a week goes by, he will have been crucified. He will be dead. In less than a week the man who entered the city peacefully, with no show military force, will tell his disciples to put away their swords as he was taken from a garden, arrested and then killed. The quickness with which we move into Holy Week, beginning with this procession, is a shock we experience year after year. Rev. Fleming Rutledge describes the movement as beginning with “triumph” and ending in “catastrophe.” The “turmoil” Jesus caused as he entered the Holy City stirred up such alarm among the religious and political leaders that the only thing left to do to this peaceful prophet was to kill him. And in a moment of brief clarity the religious leadership of Jerusalem and the political leadership of Rome, two groups who did not always see eye-to-eye, found a common enemy they could focus their attention on. We cannot, as Fleming puts it, pass “from Palm Sunday to Easter without Good Friday.” Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Apr 5, 202011 min

Who Am I? | Cancelled, March 29, 2020

No amount of cancelations or changes in plans can cancel or change this condition we all face. But in Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, the One who came down from on high and took on our earthly existence we are the recipients of the promise that Death does not get the last word. The day is coming when God is going to shout, “Come out!” and all of the death will be unbound, their grave clothes will no longer be necessary. The words of resurrection spoken to Lazarus are words of resurrection spoken to us. God spoke to the prophet Ezekiel say that the dry bones shall live again. Where life and hope seem gone, in dust and ash, and in the grave God is going to shout, “Come out!” Over the past few weeks we have been reflecting on who we are as followers of Christ. As Saint Paul put it, we ‘adopt the same mind that was in Christ.” Who are we? We are resurrection people. We are people who do not believe Death holds the final word. A week after week we proclaim, boldly, Christ resurrected. As Lent begins to draw to a close and we approach Holy Week, anticipating the grand celebration of Easter, hold onto this promise - the promise that the shadow of the cross, the shadow of Death does not get the last word. We can hold onto this promise no just because of Christ’s triumph over Death on Easter but also because resurrection, new life, eternal life where death was thought to have found victory is who Jesus is. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Mar 30, 202010 min

Who Am I | The Only Must That Means Anything, March 8 ,2020

Skipping over Jesus’ bit of being born anothen, preferring the safer-waters of John 3:16, we miss that we have been born anothen. We have been born again. We have been born from above, born anew.Jesus’ resurrection sealed this for all us. Everyone. Even those of us who prefer John 3:16 over John 3:3 or 3:5.This Lenten season we are considering what it means, as Saint Paul put it, to “adopt the mind of Christ.”[3] To adopt the mind of Christ is to acknowledge that regardless if you have ever come forward during an altar call, regardless if you have your born again date circled on the calendar, regardless if you attend a “born again, Bible-believing” church or the happy middle ground of mainline Protestantism, you have already been accepted by God. The faithfulness of Christ to the will of God is what gives us life. This is something we could never do on our own.So while you may have a date you can remember - confirmation as a teenager, an altar call way back when, or just a few years ago - the anniversary date on your calendar is a signifier of your recognition of something accomplished for you, whether you knew you needed it done or not, whether you wanted it done or not. Hold onto those dates and keep them circled but don’t forget that the sorrow of Good Friday does not last indefinitely. We are Easter people and when the stone was rolled away and Mary found Jesus, she mistook the New Adam for the gardener, the caretaker on the first day of God’s new creation.What Jesus accomplished for us remains the if/then of being born again - if you are born again, born from above, born anew, then you will see the Kingdom of God. What Jesus accomplished for us is true today, now and will always be true.For all of us. Everyone.This is not just Good News. This is Great News! Some might call it Awesome News!This Awesome News we celebrate today, gathering around the baptismal font, we are reminded that each of us has been born anothen, through water and the Spirit, as we celebrate the baptism of Eliza Charlotte.Being born anothen gives each of us new sight - to be able to see Jesus in the darkness of night, to see Jesus while the shadow-side of creation looms, to see him not as the gardener but rather the new Adam, the first of God’s new creation.Seeing Jesus and trusting that his faithfulness is enough frees us to see all of creation with new eyes. The darkness does not seem so dark because the light of Christ - because of his faithfulness and love of God - shines on each of us, exposing our born anothen-ness to the world but more importantly, to those of us who doubt our enoughness. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Mar 10, 202013 min

Who Am I? | A Silly Question, March 1, 2020

God is willing to risk our disobedience in hopes that we will freely turn towards God and proclaim that we are followers of Jesus Christ, that we have adopted the attitude of Christ.” Not followers up to a certain point.Not followers with prerequisites - God must first prove something in hopes that we might repent and follow Christ. Throughout our Lenten journey we will turn towards Christ, turning away from the temptation of sin, and consider the question “Who am I?”It can often feel as though we are people, who when presented with the discomfort of temptation will lean into the comforts of this world, through our own devices and means. But our Lenten journey is an invitation to lean into the faithfulness of Christ. Our faithfulness to our Lenten fasts will wane. We will be tempted to break our fast or to test God’s faithfulness as a way to ignore the suffering around us or to accept the trappings of this life. This journey we find ourselves on, a journey that will ultimately lead us to the cross, is an invitation to lean into the faithfulness of Christ when our own faithfulness wanes. The Good News is that the proclamation that echoed as Jesus exited his baptismal waters and began his journey in the wilderness - “This is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well- pleased” - is the same proclamation made by God to you at your baptism. Because by water and the Spirit, you are in Christ. His belovedness is yours. So, back to the silly question I was asked by that interviewer, “Who am I?” I am a sinner. When push comes to shove I have fallen and will fall again to the temptation of sin. But more importantly, it’s not up to me or my ability to hold a fast during Lent or overcome my own sin. Regardless of what I have or have not given up for Lent, regardless of how well I hold that fast, I am God’s beloved, in whom, for Christ’s sake, God is well pleased. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Mar 1, 202017 min

Won't You Be My Neighbor | Grace and a Straight Razor, February 9, 2020

Every time we hear Jesus’ invitation to his table and we share bread and wine, taking seriously his invitation to all people - the poor and the rich, the meek and the powerful, the hungry and those with plenty - we are experiencing the grace and promise of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus’ table is a table of blessing, a common table where the excluded are welcomed and blessed. What we do here this morning, breaking bread, sharing the cup, extends outward to all of the other places we do not want it to happen, where we are told it cannot happen. The grace extended to us by G-d, at this table is a call to extend grace at the tables of our own making - coffee shops and barbershops, playgrounds and lunchrooms. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Feb 10, 202013 min

Won't You Be My Neighbor | Around the Table - February 2, 2020

Every time we hear Jesus’ invitation to his table and we share bread and wine, taking seriously his invitation to all people - the poor and the rich, the meek and the powerful, the hungry and those with plenty - we are experiencing the grace and promise of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus’ table is a table of blessing, a common table where the excluded are welcomed and blessed. What we do here this morning, breaking bread, sharing the cup, extends outward to all of the other places we do not want it to happen, where we are told it cannot happen. The grace extended to us by G-d, at this table is a call to extend grace at the tables of our own making. A place setting has been prepared for you and no expense has been spared by the host. Jesus is the host of this feast and he has invited us to join him those whose we have neglected to invite. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Feb 4, 202011 min

Won't You Be My Neighbor | Do it Again - January 26, 2020

The invitation to grace was part of what made Mister Rogers and the Neighborhood of Make-believe tick. Fred Rogers was a Presbyterian minister. His calling was to care for children, me and you, in a world that often neglects the intelligence of children in exchange for easy distractions and questions unanswered. Mister Rogers once said, “Love isn’t a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.”This is grace at its most basic definition, extending love and acceptance to someone exactly as they are, exactly where they are. This is precisely what Jesus did in going to Galilee instead of Jerusalem. Jesus went to a place where the law, the thing that was supposed to guide the liturgy of the community was not always followed. He went to this place and said “Here comes the kingdom of heaven, not because of your ability to follow the liturgy of the community perfectly but because, as you are and where you are, G-d has come down from on high to heal and share the good news that while we may be filled with sin, G-d still loves you. G-d has not abandoned us, leaving us to figure it out on our own. The new liturgy for this community, for the world, we will write it together, guided by G-d’s love.The pattern of our community may not always mirror G-d’s plan but G-d, in Christ can work with us, guiding us to a new pattern of holiness. This is at the heart of Jesus’ invitation to Change your hearts and lives!” Repent, turn towards G-d because the G-d’s Kingdom is at hand.Jesus extended an invitation to the disciples he called by the Sea of Galilee and it is the same invitation he extends to use when we answer his call to follow him and we emerge from the waters of baptism. This invitation is to change the narrative of the community by changing the pattern, changing the liturgy that guides us. The patterns created by our lives together do not change because of anything we do but because we have been changed by Christ’s invitation to grace and cannot imagine doing anything but changing. A liturgy of grace, the work of God’s love we participate in does not remove us from the weekday and weekend liturgy of the neighborhood. Our work continues. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Jan 27, 202013 min

God Doesn't Forget - January 12, 2020

Assuming our unrighteousness upon himself, Jesus will take our unrighteousness with him to the cross - by the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection, Christ has done for us that which we were and continues to be unable to do for ourselves. We have been made righteous.We are right before God.Our justification began in the Jordan River and was realized on the cross when Jesus died for the empire colluders, thieves, and religious hypocrites. John’s baptism of repentance was about soliciting a pardon for us from God. Jesus baptism and our baptism into his death and resurrection is about the work completed by God. The waters of baptism are not a solicitation, no, we are celebrating that in Christ we have received the pardon we could have only hoped for and have claimed the name beloved child of God.The water we sprinkle or plunge into may look sentimental. After all, on most Sundays, our baptismal font is well-places so family photos catch the sun shining from the east side of the building. But this water is outrageous - the grace extended to us and to others is offensive. Attached to these waters, so much that it cannot be strained or filtered, is that because you have been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection you are forgiven.You are clean.You are righteous.Your sins, all of them, including that one you cannot forgive yourself for committing, has been washed away.It is done.Once and for all.For everything, full stop.No asterisk.No, if/then prerequisites.Because you have been baptized into Christ you are no longer your sin.You are no longer what sin and death call you.In these waters, God has clothed you with the righteousness of Christ and given you a full pardon. Not because of the one doing the sprinkling or pouring but because Christ took your, took my unrighteousness upon himself, was nailed to the cross, walked out of the empty tomb, leaving our sin and unrighteousness behind. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Jan 13, 202012 min

Peace on Earth - December 24, 2019

The birth of Christ was and continues to be Good News for all people. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Dec 25, 201910 min

Hope | Dream On

God’s dreams seem beyond us because they are.This is the work of God that we get to be a small (very small) part of. The beginning of the dream Isaiah saw was revealed to Joseph. The scandal of the incarnation is that in Christ, God is prepared the rearrange the ordering of creation - beginning not with power and political might but rather through a child born in a manger, and eventually on the cross and in an empty tomb. While scientists can debate the purpose and function of dreams in our lives, God’s dreams have a specific purpose. In Joseph’s dream, we relinquished control and on the cross and in the empty tomb God’s plan for the redemption and salvation of all people was revealed. All of creation will be made new.As the shadows of Advent begin to give way to the Light revealed at Christmas, we recall the beginning of the Kingdom of God in a child and in doing so we await the full realization of a dream bigger than we can imagine but not so big that any of us will be left out.We can dream on because behold, a Savior has come and will come again. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Dec 22, 201912 min

Hope | Keeping Watch in the Dark

On Christmas, we will recall how Jesus entered into the darkness of this world, the darkness created by sin, as the great Light. Yet, we allow the bright lights of Christmas to overtake the darkness of Advent begins with. Standing in the Light of the Christ child in the manger is more comfortable than waiting in the shadow of what is to come because in waiting we relinquish control of the agenda. In our waiting during Advent we are acknowledging the limitedness with which we can predict and control G-d’s acts of grace. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Dec 1, 201911 min

Grateful | Storytelling

Our circumstances may give us pause, distracting us from the larger story we are a part of, but the Psalmist is reminding us that our response to G-d’s mighty acts is a posture of worship - praise and thanksgiving - aka a posture of gratitude. Gratitude because today, regardless of the affairs in your life, the moment your feet hit the ground and you took a deep breath of a new day it was the divine breath of life that fills your lungs. While chaos may be swirling around us and the melodies we find ourselves singing sound anything but grateful, the sound of praise and gratitude, worship, is our default because G-d is in the business of creating order out of the chaos of this world. We are grateful for what G-d has done because what G-d has done and what G-d continues to do is bigger than anything we can imagine or do on our own. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Nov 18, 201911 min

Grateful | Rejoice, Pray, Give Thanks - November 10, 2019

The Thessalonians, one of the earliest Christian communities, like many Christians today, earnestly expected Jesus’ return within the lifespan of the first generation of Christians. Their hope for the new age to come was giving way, challenged by the realities of life. The grind of everyday life had shifted the Thessalonians' posture of anticipation and gratitude to impatience. Community members were dying from old age and persecution. Hardship seemed to have fallen on those who believed Jesus had and would continue to free them from the bondage of this world. Rejoicing, prayer, and gratitude shifted to doubt, laziness, and a lack of focus on the cross.Jesus promised a blessing upon the poor and weak, and those who mourn, but the harshness of the rough road of life had overshadowed the promised hope to come. As the shadow grew larger, the mundane of this life took priority over the promised hope to come. Redemption, fulfillment, and blessing were forgotten as the community traded gratitude for impatience. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Nov 11, 201915 min

Grateful | The Grateful Dead - All Saints 2019

Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Nov 3, 201912 min

Blessed to Be a Blessing | Blessed By the Word of God

Jeremiah 32:1-3, 6-15Luke 16:19-31Everything necessary for salvation - the saving of us and all of humanity - is found in this book. On face value, the stories are complicated, grotesque, beautiful, and full of hope. We do not have to twist the words in this book to fit the agenda of the Church or our politics. Jesus’ teachings, while confusing at times, clearly outline what the garden in Revelation will look like and how we get there - the Great Commission given to the Church by Christ, is clear. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Sep 30, 201918 min

Blessed to Be a Blessing | Blessed by Grace

Words like Grace make little sense outside of communities unified in the Lordship of Christ.Our need for the unmerited love of G-d is the thread that holds us together and we cannot be a community of faith without Christ and His Grace as the center.We can excel at doing good things for people in need but without the Grace of G-d, we are people trying to be good, knowing (or unknowing) that the good we do cannot repay the Sin humanity has committed against God.Much to our chagrin, this gift of a unified Grace-filled community may seem like the last thing we could want or need and yet, this unmerited gift is a forecast of the Kingdom Christ inaugurated through his own ministry.The Good News is this - amid division and disagreement we are still the recipients of G-d’s Grace. There is no theological disagreement or division of the Church on socio-economic status, race, political affiliation, or sexual orientation that change the blessing we have received by the Grace of God. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Sep 23, 201911 min

Blessed to Be a Blessing | Formed to Be a Blessing

The journey we find ourselves on is about us having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (a frightening thought) but at the same time, we are part of a community formed by the Potter for the task of being the Potter’s hands and feet in the midst of what the Potter has created.Jesus was the ultimate vessel created by the Potter. Taking the form of the first human created out of clay by the Potter, Jesus, from the manger in Bethlehem all the way to the cross was shaped and moved by the Potter. Jesus did this by remaining open to the will of G-d. In worship, in community, through spiritual disciplines, and in his generosity, Jesus remains the unbroken vessel that we now follow. The Good News is that while we individually may be broken vessels and at times our community may fall short of what the Potter has formed us to be, the Potter is not done with us. The Psalmist writes that G-d is distant and still intimately close with every aspect of our lives. We were created and we exist today to marvel in the Potter’s brilliance. When we turn towards G-d we are no longer passive lumps being formed but rather we, a community, are a vessel open to the possibility that the Kingdom of G-d may take shape through G-d’s work in us. The journey we find ourselves on places us in the hands of the Master Potter, and in the process we relinquish our own will and turn towards the One who will mold and shape us despite our own desire to mold and shape ourselves. The mercy of the Master Potter is ours. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Sep 11, 201910 min

Simply put… God breaks the rules (and that’s OK)

We are assured that things will be put right in the presence of Christ, regardless of how people like me interpret the Law. Regardless of what religious professional debate endlessly, regardless of what a finalized doctrinal statement says, Jesus, G-d, will have the final say over our application of G-d’s Word.The indignation of the synagogue leader revealed that he found his justification by following the rules. There is nothing wrong with being a rule follower (this coming from a self-confessed chronic follower of rules). But in Jesus, G-d revealed that we do not have to seek out our justification through the rules. We do not have to seek our righteousness by doing the correct action on a particular day while on a different day not performing the action we had previously done.We, all of us, find our justification, our “enoughness” in the eyes of G-d not through our own actions, and not in our own ability to not work on the Sabbath and keep it holy. We find our Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Aug 25, 201913 min

Simply Put... God is Faithful

Whatever may come the way of the church, we know that the faithfulness we exhibit is grounded in the faithfulness of Christ. Without relying on the faithfulness of Christ, to the point of death, the church then and today has little to stand on.Simply put… because G-d is faithful, we are assured that we may live more faithful lives. We do not have to live in fear of weariness or hardship.We do not have to live in fear of what if’s.We do not have to live as though we are doing this on our own.Each of the people listed by the author of this letter, referencing stories from the Hebrew Bible were not exactly the perfect people or events we think G-d would use.Moses, before leading Israel to freedom through the Red Sea, killed a man.The battle of Jericho gave a new home to Israel but another group of people was displaced.Rahab may not have been a prostitute.David, the great king of Israel, had a man sent to the front lines and killed so that David could then take the man’s wife as his own.Throughout the Psalms, many of which are attributed to David, we read of weariness and difficulty in keeping one’s faith.But through the saints imperfections and our own, through the weariness experienced by the saints and the weariness we experience, the endurance of Jesus in the journey we all find ourselves in is sufficient when our endurance wavers.Christ is the perfecter of our faith. Not our individual-personal faith but rather the faith we cling to as a community, the faith of saints of today and saints who have gone before us. Christ’s faithfulness perfected the faith we claim and remains sufficient for us today when our faith wanes. Not only are we the beneficiaries of the witness of the saints but we are the beneficiaries of G-d’s faithfulness through the saints and throughout Jesus Christ. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Aug 19, 201913 min

Simply Put... Christianity is Not DIY

The DIY faith Paul is writing to correct calls us away from quick-fix solutions, and towards grace and mercy, telling us the work of Christ was and continues to be insufficient. Paul was calling the ancient church away from revolutionized human teachings - three-quick and easy steps and back to a life of extravagance.Extravagant grace.Extravagant compassion.Extravagant mercy.Simply put… the foundation of our faith is not something we do or accomplish. The foundation of our faith is someone, someone who accomplished that which we could never do for ourselves.Christianity is not DIY.Christianity is discipleship, meaning in following Christ we acknowledge and hold onto Christ’s reconciling work that we, us and them, are unable to accomplish for ourselves. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Aug 12, 201914 min

Simply Put... You Are a Fool

In Christ, we discover that the poverty we enter into at death - you cannot take it with you - and the sad comprehension of the cruel reversal turns into Good News. Just as Jesus fully revealed God’s good purposes for creation in his earthy life, so too is it for us who have clothed ourselves in Christ at the time of our death. There is nothing left to do, no barns to take down or to build up, and instead, through the grace of Jesus Christ, we are invited to lean into God’s good purposes revealed to us by Christ. Now we await the day when the fullness of God’s new creation, made possible through the faithfulness of Christ, is finally revealed Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Aug 5, 201914 min

Simply put… Bon Jovi is Right

July 28, 2019Luke 11:1-13Simply put… Bon Jovi is right, we are a community living on a prayer. A prayer mind you, that lacks $15 seminary words and is not longwinded. The prayer Jesus taught to his disciples is sufficient witness to G-d, made truthful by worshipers, through the One who taught is to be prayed. Jesus offers us, through this prayer and all prayer to G-d, sufficient grace and compassion to ensure our needs, our daily bread is made available. The response we receive from G-d to the need we present may not match the desires we have. The daily bread or the healing we request from G-d may not mirror what we desire and this is where the difficult work of seeking G-d’s will through prayerful dialogue with our Creator begins. This is when we begin to lean into the Lord, bending even further towards G-d so that we can catch a glimpse, we pray, of what G-d’s will is for our lives and for the new creation inaugurated by Christ’s death and resurrection.As we pray and make the words of Christ not only our prayer but a post by which we build our faith - knowing we were created by a G-d who desires to provide for our needs - know that when you do not feel like speaking the words or that you do not have the faith to do so at the moment, not only is this community praying the words for you, but the church universal is as well. In a world full of division among the church, Christ is still the head of the church, and through prayer, we are still connected to Christ and one another. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Jul 29, 201915 min

Simply Put... God Is As Nice As Jesus

Scripture tells us Jesus is the capital “W” word of God, the fullness of God’s image that is otherwise invisible to creation. Jesus is the full revelation of God when we otherwise rely on those who caught a glimpse of the infinite wonder of God. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Jul 21, 201915 min

Simply Put... You're in the Ditch

Go and care for the person in the ditch.Go and care for the person, the group of people you despise.Go and care for the person wearing the MAGA hat.Go and care for the person wearing the Black Lives Matter shirtGo and care for the person who has wronged you.Help every single person that comes across your path without first wondering if they are “just going to buy booze” with the fist-full of money you are going to give them.Go and care for every single person who you believe has gotten what they deserved without reservation and instead with extravagance. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Jul 14, 201916 min

Simply Put...You Can't Fool God

To make Paul’s words through this entire letter plain - Simply put… it is foolish to think we can fool G-d with self-righteous works of the Law to achieve salvation. Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection are sufficient for all people.It is foolish to think circumcision - works of the Law - is a sufficient alternative to the Gospel. When we buy into the idea that there is something necessary for salvation apart from the grace and mercy of G-d in Christ we are like the ancient church in Galatia foolishly (Paul’s words, not mine) turning toward a different gospel (1:6). It is foolish to fail to see the universal scope of G-d’s grace that brought the ones outside the original covenant into the presence of Christ’s grace and mercy. Paul’s Galatian opponents believed Gentile converts needed to first be grafted into the original covenant established by G-d with Israel. Paul wrote that we, all us, everyone full stop, are children of G-d through faith. Clothing ourselves in Christ removes the title “Jew or Greek.” Paul continues, “there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” (3:28-29, NRSV)Jesus ministered to those outside the original covenant established by G-d with Israel by going to the “other side.” Jesus went to the very people, extending grace and mercy, Paul’s opponents say first need to adhere to the Law.We are fooling ourselves if we think we can fool G-d. The focus of the Law more often than not is us, acts we can do to save ourselves, when the reality is, as Paul tells us, that it is the indwelling of G-d’s Spirit that produces saving works in our lives. We are foolish Paul writes to put our focus in the wrong place. Our attention on the cross is to be focused on Christ’s faithfulness because every time we place our attention on our own works our faithfulness will fall short.The Law in place of the Gospel is an attempt to hide the scandal of the cross - Jesus came to save all. In belonging to Christ, all are “heirs according to the promise” (3:29). Not some. Not this group or that group. All, everyone, are heirs, including you.Avoiding the scandal of the cross enables us to “feel religious” apart from Christ. Avoiding the scandal of the cross enables us to say things like “I find G-d in nature” or in whatever hobby you may have when the reality is that for Christians, those of us who have died to ourselves in the waters of Baptism, we find G-d in Christ. Law abiding righteousness misses the real-life, self-sacrificing love of G-d and misses the power of G-d’s Spirit in Christians and among Christian communities.Christ has freed us from the Law. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Jul 9, 201915 min

Simply Put... You Are Not Jesus

It was Jesus that freed the man removed and restrained by his community, not the disciples.It was Jesus that freed the man by removing the restraints place on him by his community, not some do-gooder neighbor that finally felt guilty about the man’s situation. So thanks be to G-d that we are not Jesus because how often do we ignore the bondage of those removed and restrained from the community. How often to we fail to act when we see a person laying by the side of the road and choose to pass by on the other side rather than bandaging that person’s wounds?Jesus, extended freedom and mercy to the unnamed man and Jesus extends freedom and mercy, through his bride, the Church Universal, whenever we respond to the movement of the Holy Spirit and go where we are sent by the Most High Son. When we respond to the movement of the Holy Spirit and go, engaging in acts of justice and mercy, we are instruments of Christ’s grace and mercy. We are instruments being used by Christ but we are not Jesus. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Jun 24, 201913 min

Loving | Empowered

We will pray that as you come to know the love of G-d in Christ that you will welcome the Holy Spirit’s movement for yourself. Know Milana, that the Holy Spirit is not oppressive, forcing itself upon you, but rather the Holy Spirit, just like Christ, is life-giving. The late Phyllis Tickle wrote that we today are living in the age of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is moving us within the Church and those outside the church, in a moment of Holy Revitalization so that Christ’s Lordship may be known throughout creation. The confirmands and Milana are joining us, the body of Christ, in proclaiming Jesus to be Lord and everything to be… Milana, you are becoming part of the Body that seeks to end suffering and oppression around the world not by our own hands but rather by the movement of the Holy Spirit and the work of Christ. This means the Holy Spirit may not act like an anesthesiologist numbing you or us to the suffering of the world. To the contrary, the Spirit of G-d may just place the suffering of the world front and center in your life, front and center in our lives. Milana, just like the confirmands upstairs, the weather that is about to be placed on your head - an outward sign of an inward and invisible grace - seals you as a beloved child of G-d and in that same moment marks you. Our faithfulness to the leading of the Spirit results in our adoption as heirs to the Kingdom of G-d, right there alongside Christ himself. The Holy Spirit is coming for you! It may not seem like it but you Milana, and all of us, have been set free from the bondage and slavery to sin and death. Through this sealing and marking, you are now part of a community of freedom and as you emerge out of the baptismal waters, dying to yourself, you will receive new life, being adopted in the New Creation established by Christ’s death and resurrection.The Good News Milana, and everyone who has nodded off by this point, is that we are not in this alone. We are a community of believers, doubters, and skeptics. But Milana, we are committed, just as your parents are, to doing this with you and with one another as part of Christ’s Universal Church. As the Holy Spirit works within you, and as the Holy Spirit works within us - sustaining us in times of suffering, sealing our adoption, and empowering us in the life changing ministry Christ has called us to, and will call you to. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Jun 9, 201911 min

Loving | Embodied - June 2, 2019

The world will know Christ's love by not the unity we advertise, but by the unity we find in Christ's love for one another. Our unity - beyond Mount Olivet the United Methodist Church but also including them - shows to the world Christ's love through the way we love one another.The Good News is through Christ's faithfulnesses to us, Christ's prayer for us does not change because of our lack of unity or faith. Our lack of unity - our willingness to cutoff and push aside part of the body - does not reduce what happened in Bethlehem, in the Jordan, on Calvary's Hill, in the empty tomb, or in Christ's ascension. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Jun 3, 201916 min

Loving | Sent - May 26, 2019, Easter 6C

"The Holy Spirit’s proper work never goes anywhere without Christ, and the Spirit does nothing apart from resurrecting Christ in dead sinners. The Spirit does not moonlight in any other job but to drive everything in all creation to Christ."We are a community of disciples and no one is expect to grow, learn, or minister alone. Jesus promises us the Holy Spirit will, is, working in and through us. The Holy Spirit is working for you, in you, revealing Jesus in our midst and continuing to reveal the teachings of Jesus. As we figure all of this out, the churchy-phase for that is "discerning G-d's will," we do not have to feel naked, afraid, or alone. The point of all this is not merely survival but instead we are invited to thrive because the Holy Spirit has been sent, is present among us. The Holy Spirit is revealing Christ's presence and teachings to us. And that friends, the assurance and sending of G-d's Advocate, is grace in its fullest. Grace upon Grace. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

May 26, 201913 min

Living | Listen to Him

The problem, like the religious leaders, we cannot come to faith through knowledge and empirical truths. Every time we approach faith in this manner we come up short because the answer given by Jesus does not fit in our empirical truth box. Our faith in the messiahship of Christ, what we believe to be true about who Jesus is and what Jesus is doing today, is only possible through G-d’s faithfulness. Jesus told the religious leaders, “the works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me.” (John 10:25) Everything Jesus did connected him intimately to the One who sent him. They, Jesus and G-d his Father, our Creator, are one.The faithfulness of the One who sent Jesus is just as assured as the faithfulness of the One who overcame the power of death. The faithfulness of Christ reveals the faithfulness of G-d. Listen to him. We are not separated from G-d because of our sin. We find eternal life not because of our attempts at faithful living or to prove the Messiahship of Christ. We have been saved because Jesus was faithful and continues to be faithful, even when we approach him with questions to which we think we already know the answers. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

May 12, 201911 min

Living | No, Follow Christ

The calling extended to Peter, “Follow me,” is the same calling extended to each of us when we emerge from our baptismal waters. This calling - “Follow Me” - is an invitation to meet Christ at his table, but “Follow me” is also an invitation to experience the fullness of the freedom extended to us by the power of Jesus’ Easter victory - the final victory over our captivity to sin and death. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

May 6, 201913 min

Living | Belief, Not Doubt - April 28, 2019

Thanks to preachers and fresco artists, Thomas has carried a bad reputation for 2000 years.Because of people like me using the doubter to convince you not doubt but to have faith, Thomas is known for something not entirely accurate to who he was or what he was doing in his moment of infamy. “Doubting Thomas” was simply asking for something he had been accustomed to receiving. Because the crucifixion itself was a sign - “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,” (John 17:1) - a sign confirming Jesus’ resurrection was/is not an unreasonable request from someone who had been receiving confirmation of what was being taught for the past three years.The signs performed by Jesus - wine in Cana (my favorite), healings, feedings, walking on water - were confirmation of what Thomas along with the other disciples had been taught by Christ. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Apr 28, 201916 min

Collision Course - April 14, 2019, Palm Sunday

When the Kingdom of G-d and earthly realms collide, it is not always immediately apparent, but the Kingdom of G-d is always victorious. We have seen these collisions throughout Christ’s ministry but now on Palm Sunday as the shadow of the cross begins to appear on the horizon we may not be so sure of what is to come.The prophets foretold what would happen - “despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.”Jesus told his disciples exactly what was going to happen - “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”“Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”The crowd's proclamation, an echo of the angel’s announcing Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, points to the promised peace of G-d through Christ. The coming collision between the Kingdom of G-d in Christ and the religious and political powers of Jerusalem will become a point of contact between heaven and earth. The shadow of the cross blinds us to the peace of heaven spilling over into creation. The domination through ruthlessness - Pax Roma - is no match for the justice and mercy - Pax Christi - of the Kingdom of G-d. So enjoy the celebration of Palm Sunday because if you think this is something, remember, even though the darkness of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday is ahead of us after the collision Easter is coming Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Apr 14, 201910 min

Making a New Thing With All Your Heart - April 7, 2019, Lent 5C

Because we live on this side of the empty tomb we have the ability to see the new thing the Lord did in Christ Jesus and yet still, we still stand with our arms folded, hardened to the possibility that this new thing really changed the world. We find it hard to believe the new thing the Lord has done is still changing the world.Jesus told his disciple in orders to experience the newness of what the Lord is doing we are to assume the posture of a child. Meekness in the sense that we are open to joyful possibility and not despair caused by the current state of society or the church. Jesus invites to open ourselves to experience the fullness of new creation. We find it hard to experience the new thing promised to us by G-d through the prophet and realized in Jesus Christ because the institutions charged with cultivating and nurturing our childlike openness have at some level fundamentally failed. Doctrine and polity have taken the place of promise and experience, the surprise of the new thing the Lord has promised to all of creation.Whether we opened ourselves up to what the Lord has promised or we wait decades to do so, the invitation to all is still the same. Jesus told his disciples to taste and see. The invitation is extended to everyone. And once you taste and once you have seen the new thing the Lord is doing the childlike wonder and joy reenters your life. You, we are radically changed. When we taste and we see, we embrace G-d’s new thing like a child, seeing the fullness of what G-d makes possible. Viewing the world with possibility changes the way we see the calling G-d has given each of us. Childlike wonder opens us to seeing the bread and the cup as an invitation into full participation int he new thing G-d did through Jesus Christ and continues to do today. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Apr 7, 201912 min

Come Together With All Your Heart - March 31, 2019, Lent 4

Reconciliation with one another - which enables us to gather around Christ’s table - cannot happen without forgiveness. After all, if we have been reconciled to G-d by Jesus and G-d is no longer “counting people’s sins against them” then we are a community called to the same work. We are a community seeking reconciliation but without forgiveness, we cannot be reconciled to one another. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Mar 31, 201913 min

Repent With All Your Heart - March 24, 2019, Lent 3

Luke 13:1-9For Jesus - his life, death, and resurrection - the Kingdom of G-d is always at the forefront. The Kingdom of G-d is priority number one for Christ. When we accept Christ’s invitation to repent w are intentionally turning towards his kingdom. In this turn, we begin to see, experience, and become a part of the healing, liberation, and compassion extended to all of creation by G-d through Jesus Christ. The Good News is that in five weeks, through the emptiness of his grave, we see the healing, liberation, and compassion of G-d in its fullest. In the empty tomb we find the extravagant grace of the Gardener - G-d Almighty - as the healing grace of Christ is extended to us regardless of our ability, and willingness, to repent with all our heart. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Mar 24, 201913 min

Imitate With All Your Heart - March 17, 2019, Lent 2

Philippians 3:17-4:1, Genesis 15Pauls’ words speak life to Mount Olivet. We are reminded that in all we do, everything, we are to imitate Christ’s love. No exceptions. This work is not easy, and like the Philippians, we will miss the bar established by Christ. We will fall short. In our shortcomings, G-d’s grace - the love unmerited love of G-d - is still ours. That never changes.So whether we are engaged in acts of justice and mercy - not just speaking and marching but engaging in meaningful change in the lives of those who are experiencing persecution, exclusion, or violence, or mudding through doctrinal and theological impasses, Christ not only remains with us, but also continues to extend an invitation to Mount Olivet, and to each of us. There was no skill to be learned before this invitation was extended. No degree or piece of church legislation can change our calling. We are imitators of Christ. Whatever the perceived distance between us and G-d is gone. The truth is through Christ’s faithfulness the promises of G-d, G-d’s covenant established with Abram is not out of our reach. Christ dwells in each of us and because Christ is in each of us, Christ is present here at Mount Olivet, in Arlington, and throughout the world. Like Abram, we have been reassured of G-d’s promise - even when we miss the mark, we are invited into the waters at our baptism and a seat at Christ’s table is always waiting for us. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Mar 18, 201916 min

Wander & Wonder With All Your Heart - March 10, 2019, Lent 1

The Law worked to offer the assurance of G-d’s presence in a period of waiting on G-d to make good on a promise. But as the story continues to unfold we see the generosity of G-d, and the promises of G-d fulfilled as Israel established itself in the promised land and later returned home after the exile.Israel’s response to G-d’s generosity was to give thanks, yet as the early church began to find its way, Israel’s response to the generosity and the ordering of a community began to be used to separate and exclude people from the body of Christ. The early church and we today forget that when G-d makes extravagant promises they are kept. We may have to wait but as resurrection community, we are able to enter periods of wander and wonder knowing G-d’s promises are always kept.It’s not easy. Wander and wonder do make good bedfellows as we are finite creatures and have the tendency to keep our eyes on earthly promises - winter will always give way to spring, even when it seems as though the cold darkness wants to hold on for one last snow. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Mar 10, 201914 min

Don't Blow Like a Trumpet - March 6, 2019, Ash Wednesday

We have missed the mark, and so on Ash Wednesday, the marks on our foreheads are a reminder to us to ask for forgiveness and try again. The Good News tonight is that on the cross and in the victorious empty grave we will find on Easter morning we are made righteous before G-d. Lent is not about giving something up so that we can be uncomfortable like Christ spent 40 uncomfortable days in the wilderness. During the season of Lent we remember that which we could not and cannot do for ourselves, Christ has done for us. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Mar 7, 20198 min

You Can’t Legislate Away Grace - March 3, 2019

While little of what happened in a once indoor NFL stadium resembled a group of people following Jesus, today, a few days removed from General Conference, Jesus is still the transfigured Messiah, guiding his disciples down the mountain, heading towards the cross. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Mar 3, 201918 min

Awesome | Night Shift - February 10, 2019

Jesus sought these three men out. Before he was teaching on the banks of the Sea of Galilee they were a group of business partners who had a bad night at work. Before Jesus stepped into Simon’s boat, Simon was just a guy trying to clean his fishing gear and go home. But that’s the way discipleship works. Before you or I decided to be a follower of Jesus, Jesus revealed the awesome abundance of G-d. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Feb 10, 201914 min

January 6, 2019 - Epiphany, Year C

Worship establishes in us a new posture to not only approach G-d with but also a new posture for how we approach all of creation. Like the magi, we approach the manger not knowing all of the answers. We approach the manger not having all of the junk in our lives we continue to carry with us not quite figured out. We approach the light of the manger still struggling to over come the curse of sin that we fall back into no matter how many times we think we have overcome it. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Jan 6, 201911 min

Let All Creation Praise Emmanuel - December 24, 2018, Christmas Eve

The reality of what happened in Emmanuel trading the clothing of royalty for bands of cloth and laying in the manger is found in those who had forgotten or ignored the promise made by G-d. The good news changes the reality for all people, and invites all of creation to enter into the grace of G-d regardless of what the powerful say. Regardless of what the darkness of sin says. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Dec 25, 201813 min

Let All Creation Praise the Unlikely and Unthinkable - December 23, 2018, Advent 4C

December 23, 2018 - Advent 4CMicah 5:2-5Luke 1:39-55 Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Dec 23, 201814 min