Crossings Knoxville

How can we be good neighbors to Christians who believe differently than we do?

A series of invitations to reconsider some of the worldview that we hold.

What can the faith of Muslims teach us about how to be better Christians?

How can we be good neighbors in a world with so many different expressions of faith?

This teaching is called Faith in the other and is week 1 of our Holy/Other series.

How are creativity and spirituality linked? How does thinking of God as the Artist change our theology? What would a church of artistic heretics look like?

How do we follow the call to give all of our possessions to those in need? Do I have a place to belong? Are you there, God - and do I still need you?

How do we reconcile the good of the church with the struggles of the "Church?" What hills are we willing to die on, to fight for? If God is for all people, why is that not how Christians act?

What does it mean to believe? How should we reframe the age-old question "Why does God let bad things happen?" What is the purpose of the church today?

How do we enter into rest through the rhythms of orientation, disorientation, and new orientation? How do we understand and engage in "praise" as we consider the full range of our experiences? How can we navigate our own individual faith expressions in the midst of a larger community and culture?

How do the psalms teach us to express the emotions and experiences of betrayal? How can we learn to embrace an authentic faith that doesn't shy away from vocalizing the raw feelings we encounter? How do we understand or maintain belief in the midst of saying these things?

How do we better understand ourselves as creatures within God's creation? What does it mean to fall in love with the created world so that we may better live our lives? How do we understand God's power through creation, even when it seems like the created world is coming undone?

What do we do when we find out that we have missed the mark and unintentionally caused harm? How do we unpack the baggage around the word "sin" and learn to make amends when we have done wrong? What do the Psalms teach us about repentance and repair towards God and others?

How do we engage in faith when past and current versions of Christianity are rightly the laughingstock of society? How do we express ourselves to God and each other when we are lumped into to caricatures of religion that aren't accurate? What does it look like to demand that God do something about the damage done to the divine reputation?

The Psalms contain a variety of different postures and genres. Some psalms orient us to God and the world while others express a sense of disorientation. How do we answer God through the psalms when God seems distant? How do we give voice to all our emotions and doubts without being controlled by them? Can we hold together complex emotions and thoughts with a connecting "ands" rather tha...

The Book of Psalms is filled with laments and cries for justice; for the brokenness in our human systems of justice to be made right. Psalm 82 makes clear that justice includes relief for people who are poor, widows, orphans, those who are sick, and oppressed people. This psalm puts ancient "gods" on trial and has implications for the way we live today. How do our cries for justice today...

The Book of Psalms contain Israel's ancient poems and prayers. How do we allow the Psalms to speak to us and for us? How do we embrace a faith the spans the spectrum of human emotion and experience? How can we use the Psalms as a response to God in all of life's circumstances?

What does it mean that there are four distinct accounts of the same Resurrection event in the Gospels? Why does the lectionary offer us a choice between two of these accounts each year on Easter Sunday? How do we embrace the truth of Resurrection while embracing the diversity of details recorded in Scripture and our own unique experiences?

As we enter into one of the most important seasons of the year for the Church (Holy Week), how might our perspective of what it means to be "Christian" shift when we realize the crowds chose palm branches over Jesus? What do the symbols Jesus chose teach us about the kind of Kingdom God is bringing to earth?

How do we feel about a God who sometimes waits to bring life out of death? How do we approach death and suffering even if we believe that life is somehow on the other side?

John 9 describes how Jesus healed a man who was born blind. In this story, the characters all have different assumptions about who is to blame and how God's justice works (or doesn't) in the world. How do we avoid keeping this story at arm's length and risk asking ourselves about the confidence with which we view the world? What if seeing the Kingdom of God isn't about being certai...

What if we've been reading the story about Jesus and the Samaritan woman incorrectly? What if this story isn't about a sinful woman's past but an influential woman's ability to help bring about the reconciliation of different people groups? How can we take the risk of seeing past our narrow categories and enter into deep relationships with others that can lead to healing?

John 3 recounts the mysterious conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. How do we embrace the reality that all we know is not all there is? How can we become more comfortable in our lack of knowing things? What do we risk by being born anew?

This week begins the first Sunday of the Lenten season, the forty days leading up to Easter Sunday. It is a time for reflection, fasting, and renewal. This week, we begin by asking ourselves about what kind of story we have landed in. If we enter the season of Lent with the proper attitude, what are we willing to risk? Will we trust God to rule and heal the world? Will we trust God to reveal who w...

How do we exist as a church during and after a pandemic, deconstruction, and negative experiences with faith communities? What would it mean if we embraced an identity as exiles and refugees? What can two soccer clubs teach us about ownership and building community from the ground up for the sake of the community?