Good of the Bluegrass Conference Audio

Click here to download the PDF version of Dr. Bradley’s Session 2 slide deck.

Click here to download the PDF version of Dr. Bradley’s Session 1 slide deck.

The final word of the 2022 conference.

Robert and Will sit down with our global partner Macklann Basse to hear his West African perspective on sexual identity.

The first of two sermons given to close out the 2022 conference.

The final main session of the 2022 conference.

The talk give during the second session of the conference.

The first main session talk of the conference.

Robert shares some context about some issues relevant to the conference discussion around sexual identity.

A sermon given by Pastor Robert Cunningham on Sunday, February 13, in advance of the 2022 Good of the Bluegrass Conference.

Reflection Questions:1. There are generally four positions we can have in relation to God. Over (Indifference), Under (Judgment), For (Mission), From (Blessing). Where do you stand? How does it affect your relationship with God and others?2. What are the implications of our peace with God being a “past accomplished event”? What would change if you believed this was your objective reality?3. John Stott said the degree of love is measured by both the costliness of the gift, and the worthiness of the beneficiary. Reflect on Romans 5:6-8. What can you conclude about God’s desire to be with you?

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:1. Reflect on the disciplines in your life. What’s the “why” resting beneath them? To “attain a reward” or “apprehend a person”? (Think: do they increase anxiety or anticipation?)2. “You don’t have to use the disciplines, but Jesus is waiting for you in them.” How does the first part challenge you? The second part encourage you? How would your use of the disciplines be different if you believed both?3. Consider Jesus’ use of wedding imagery in Mark 2:18-20. What can you conclude about his view of the disciplines? What hope does this offer as you approach them?

Reflection Questions:God is a God of enemy love. Who are your enemies? (Think: whose receiving of God’s mercy makes you bristle?) How can God’s grace help you to enlarge your heart toward them?Do you have the language of grace but lack the life of grace? (Think: do you tend to apply grace to yourself but Karma to others, wanting a God who shares your prejudice rather than shatters your prejudice?) How can you more deeply experience the transforming grace of God?Jonah ends in tension; the story waits to be finished. Take some time to write out your ending. What kind of neighbor do you want to become? 10 years from now? 6 months from now? Today? Jesus’ mission is neighbor redemption. How is he specifically calling you to engage this mission?

Reflection Questions:1.) How has the false dichotomy of sacred vs. secular kept you from seeing your neighbor’s deep religiosity? Do you tend to view your neighbor in a separate category from yourself? How has this kept you from neighbor love? Be specific.2.) Our “boats” are filled with deeply religious, fearful, and desperate neighbors. Are we asleep and detached or awake? What would being awake toward your neighbor look like? Awake toward their misplaced worship? Awake toward their fears? Awake toward their desperation?3.) Our greatest problem is not being against others but being for ourselves; not a how to problem but a want to problem. What’s the greatest want to hindrance in your heart? Nationalism? Fear? Comfort? How does the gospel free us from these concerns?

Reflection Questions:1. How does your orthodoxy tend to be a replacement for neighbor love rather than an inducement to neighbor love? Give specific examples.2. The ethic of our culture is tolerance; the ethic of the gospel is love. Which one best describes the ethic of your heart? How does tolerance undermine the gospel?3. Does your life have the optics of neighbor love but lack the substance of neighbor love? What steps can you take toward being a loving neighbor rather than just looking like one?