Gospel & Culture Lectures Year at a Glance
June/July 2011by Amilee Watkins
Last year the Center for Faith & Work initiated a monthly lecture series to engage the broader Redeemer congregation, particularly those who are not available to regularly participate in monthly vocation groups. The goal of the series was to help process what it looks like for Christians to participate in culture.
What is the link between the gospel and culture? Our work! As creatures made in the image of God, we reflect his character—of cultivation, of creation, of molding and shaping. In our daily work, as we steward the gifts and skills we’ve been given, we have the greatest ability to both create and influence culture. By looking at the society around us from various vantage points over the course of the past year our guest lecturers have helped to point us towards where God’s Spirit is at work and how we can join into His work of renewing all things.
|
Month
|
CFW Group
Sponsor
|
Who
|
What
|
Attendance
|
|
Apr 2010
|
All CFW
|
N. T. Wright
After you Believe
|
In light of the resurrection, we are new creatures,
more fully human, given a tangible purpose of
participating in God’s work of building for his
Kingdom.
|
800 |
|
Oct 2010 |
Business
Fellowship
|
Jeff Van Duzer
Why Business
Matters to God
|
Exploring the purpose of business through the
lens of the biblical narrative reveals its created
good as being intended for the service of society,
its brokenness displayed in both individuals
and institutions, and a vision of its potential to
serve God’s purposes of renewal.
|
189
|
|
Nov 2010
|
Entrepreneurship
Initiative
|
Andy Crouch
Creating Power
|
In opposition to Nietzsche’s view of power as a
force of domination, the biblical view of power
shows us an all-powerful god creating mankind
in his image, and pouring out his power to make
all things flourish. Through worship, we are
re-oriented towards this God in order to steward
our power in like manner.
|
288 |
|
Jan 2011 |
All CFW |
Tim Keller
Why Work
Matters to God
|
God matters to our work and our work matters
to God. He has given us co-regency over His
creation, to cultivate and steward all things
towards their intended end—that is, His glory.
Our work is thereby not only validated but
also vital to his purposes.
|
923 |
|
Feb 2011 |
Arts
Ministry
|
Adrienne Chaplin
Art Matters for
God's Sake
|
The arts saturate our culture and if Christians
are not shaping the arts, they are certainly
being shaped by them. Thus, the call to
transform culture is as necessary in the arts
as in any other area of culture. The arts nurture
our imagination and encourage empathy,
allowing us to make sense of the world, to
experience the transcendent, and thereby to
be as fully human as God intended.
|
225
|
|
Mar 2011
|
Legal
Fellowship
|
Robert George
Natural Law, God,
& Human Dignity
|
Natural law provides a compelling basis—for
both those inside and outside the church—for
human rights and social structures that promote
human flourishing.
|
236
|
|
Apr 2011
|
Gotham
Alumni
|
Os Guinness
Challenging the
Darkness: Towards
a New Christian
Renaissance
|
We are living in an age that yearns for a new
Reformation, but one of humility and realism.
As followers of Christ, we must acknowledge
the brokenness of the church alongside the
brokenness of culture and rely upon the unique
and powerful cultural dynamics of the Kingdom
and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in
seeking cultural renewal.
|
685
|
|
May 2011
|
Educators
Groups
|
James K. A. Smith
Culture as Liturgy
|
We are primarily creatures of love and
desire—creatures created to worship. Cultural
institutions put forth varying ideas of human
flourishing. The “liturgies” (rituals, practices)
inherent in culture form and shape human beings
into creatures who desire the specified end-goal.
The practices of Christian worship bring about
a counter-formation—in essence, re-ordering
our loves that we may desire the kingdom.
|
TBD |
|
June 2011
|
International
Diplomacy
|
Douglas Johnston
Faith-Based
Diplomacy:
Bridging the
Religious Divide
|
Emphasizing the tenet taught by Muhammad
that God created people to do good works,
and therefore Muslims are to respect people
of other faiths, Johnston enters diplomatic
relations in the Middle East with the name
of Jesus. He has found that operating on
faith-based principles rather than a secular
construct provides grounds for cross-cultural
peace-making.
|
TBD |
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