IBC Blog
Posts by Ryan%20Sanders
Formed
What are you afraid of?
This is going down as one of the most fearful years on record. There’s a global pandemic that has killed 828,000 people. There’s a recession that has left us with double-digit unemployment. There are racial injustices and unrest in the streets. There are murder hornets, hurricanes, and fire tornadoes. That’s right: fire tornadoes. Look it up.
Last fall, before our problems reached 2020 levels, the home security company ADT released a study that identified America’s most common fears by state. The “research” was little more than a Google report showing which fear-related terms were used most in internet searches. But the results were interesting.
Formed
The Gospel According to Monty Python
Recently, I introduced my fourteen-year-old to the cult classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Watching it with him, I felt a need to make excuses for the film’s irreverence, adolescence, and general British-ness. (I feel the same urge now, admitting these parenting decisions to our whole church.) But watching it this time I also noticed a few one-liners aimed at more than a cheap laugh.
Formed
Blessed are the Curious, When Doubt Pays Off
One of the most memorable sermons I’ve ever heard at IBC was about doubt. The preacher’s name was Jay. To illustrate the importance of faith, Jay invited a volunteer to come to the stage. He held out a closed fist to the volunteer and said, “I'm going to give you whatever is in my hand. I'm telling you now, before I show you, that what's in my hand is one hundred dollars.”
Got Questions
Go WITH God? Or go FOR God?
The centripetal force is represented in the inward focus of God’s people, especially in the Old Testament. Then, worship of God was centralized and controlled. God is always sovereign over all people in all places, but he started his rescue effort with one family in one place at one time.
eLetter
Beloved
This morning I read Acts 13, a chapter in the impressive saga of Paul's first missionary journey. After a wild time on Cyprus, (striking a sorcerer blind and whatnot) Paul and Barnabas travel to Pisidian Antioch where they find a hearing. The leaders of the synagogue there are receptive and attentive. It appears that their preaching might have great effect.