Our collection of EWP Talks on Culture helps people understand how we are formed by, and have the chance to form, our social environment. We are made by God as cultural creatures, extensively formed by the social structures within which we live. Faithfulness requires disciplined formation in a new life that is radically different from, but seeks the good of, our communities and cultures.
Here’s a closer look at some of the talks in our Culture collection:
Vincent Bacote | Sending Disciples to a Pluralistic World: Imagination, Hospitality and Hope
Vincent Bacote of Wheaton College invites us into a more full understanding of how worship can form us for a lives of Christian discipleship in a pluralistic world, marked by imagination, hospitality and hope.
Consider assigning in: Culture, Pastoral Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Ethics
W. Jay Moon | Economics and Mission: The Connected Complexity of Cultures
Drawing examples ranging from the book of Acts to modern Africa, W. Jay Moon of Asbury Theological Seminary unpacks how Chrsitian involvement in the economy is vitally interdependent with Christian witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Consider assigning in: Culture, Pastoral Leadership, New Testament
Anthony Bradley | Christian Personalism: How to Preach a Public Faith without Making Atheists
Anthony Bradley of The King’s College looks at the fallout of the Religious Right, and how the school of thought known as Christian Personalism can provide an alternative approach to bringing our faith into the public square.
Consider assigning in: Culture, Ethics, Pastoral Leadership, Theology, History
Andy Crouch | A Pruned Life: Isaiah’s Posterity Gospel
Drawing on Isaiah 5, Andy Crouch speaks about the challenge of separating real flourishing from mere material prosperity in the midst of economic growth and technological innovation. In a world of instant gratification, what is of lasting importance?
Consider assigning in: Culture, Ethics, Spiritual Formation, Old Testament
Jules Martinez | Reconciled to Reconcile: Making the Kingdom Visible in a Divided World
When the church is divided by ethnic separation and political polarization, the kingdom of God is revealed less fully to our neighbors, and has a gravely diminished impact on communities. In this powerful and personal talk, Jules Martinez of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School points us toward essential kingdom virtues and practices that help local churches grow together and make the kingdom visible and effective.
Consider assigning in: Ethics, Pastoral Leadership, Culture, Spiritual Formation
Gavin Ortlund | Worth Standing Up For: Hearing a 4th-Century Witness for Justice and the Gospel
Christians have always recognized that the gospel calls us to stand up for justice – as difficult and complicated as that can be. Gavin Ortlund of First Baptist Church of Ojai draws on Gregory of Nyssa’s prophetic stand against slavery to help us see how we can stand up for justice in our own time.
Consider assigning in: History, Ethics, Culture, Pastoral Leadership, Theology
Charlie Self | Faithful Churches Create Flourishing Communities: Righteousness, Peace and Joy
Charlie Self of Assemblies of God Theological Seminary draws together God’s communicable attributes with church experiences from Dallas and Oregon all the way to Sri Lanka and Cambodia, presenting the church’s mission embodying righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit within all the world’s communities.
Consider assigning in: Pastoral Leadership, Theology, Culture, New Testament
Rachael & Jacob Denhollander | Justice and Vocation: A Conversation with Rachael and Jacob Denhollander
Why has the church uncovered more sexual abuse and exploitation in its ranks than almost any other institution in our society? Why is it so difficult for the church – of all institutions! – to respond to abuse with justice and mercy? And what does justice have to do with vocation? In this powerful video, Rachael and Jacob Denhollander speak theologically and practically of the urgent call to the church today to protect the vulnerable. They discuss the atonement, eschatology, vocation and a right understanding of the role of pastoral leadership, showing that justice is woven together with everything the church is and does. Patrick Smith of Duke Divinity School moderates the discussion.
Consider assigning in: Ethics, Pastoral Leadership, Theology, Culture, Spiritual Formation
And More:
Christopher Brooks | Rethinking Urban Poverty: Context, Data and Collaboration
Deborah Gill | Discipleize! The Great Commission in All of Life
Lisa Slayton, Terry Timm & Deborah Gill | Staying Rooted: Discipling People in the New Economy
Greg Forster | Fruitful Paradoxes: Bringing Life to the World in the Modern Economy
W. Bradford Wilcox | The Ball and Chain Myth: Marriage and Sacrifice