Munger Place Church - Dallas, Texas

This week marks a year of life with the pandemic—and all that has come with it. If nothing else this past year has reminded us that this life is so fragile. How do you find joy when some much of the good in life proves time and time again to be so fleeting?

Elaine and I are definitely the Unexperts when it comes to marriage.  So, why should anyone listen to us?  You shouldn’t.  We don’t know anything, which is why we are the Unexperts.  Though I guess I should say that we have had the privilege of knowing thousands of couples over the last 11 years at Munger, so it’s possible that we've learned a thing or two about successful marriages….  Plus we love you, and that motivates us to do whatever we can to bless you and make our church families strong. —Andrew Forrest

If you’ve had a happy life, chances are there was a point somewhere, sometime when someone reached out and took a risk on you. Those moments of grace will change a life forever. In the early church, there was a man named Joseph Barnabas who TWICE took a risk and reached out to two different, talented men, and those actions literally changed world history. Let’s talk about it.

We’ve had a difficult week here in Texas—record low temperatures, power outages, water shortages—but Jesus told us to expect storms. Are you prepared for the next one? Preacher: Andrew Forrest Scripture: Matthew 7:24-26

NOTE: Because a snowstorm caused the cancellation of Munger’s Sunday services on Valentine’s Day 2021 (2/14/21), our pastor the Rev. Andrew Forrest taught a live online Bible study instead.  This is a recording of that study. What if the pandemic is preparation? There is a ten year period in which the Apostle Paul drops out of history following his encounter with Jesus on the Road to Damascus and subsequent transformation.  He is sent home to Tarsus and we don’t hear from him again until Barnabas goes to fetch him and bring him to Antioch around AD 48. What happened in that 10 year period?  We don’t know, but we do know that God used Paul in a mighty way after that. What if God is using the pandemic as preparation for you? Scripture: Acts 9:20-30; 11:19-26

Have you ever read a story and thought that it was written about you? After many years of God working His plan of redemption throughout history, the question finally came up about who salvation was meant for.   Was it meant for Jews? Was it meant for those who were circumcised? Was it meant for everyone?   Those who were far off were finally being brought near and the story would finally say with finality who all would be included.   Join us as we continue our study in Acts and discover with us how we were included in God's story.   Andrew Forrest

He’s the most important person in the New Testament (aside from Jesus, of course), but many modern Christians have almost no understanding of the early life and motivation of the man who became the Apostle Paul. So, here are 20 minutes about Paul, and then a closing question. Preacher: Andrew Forrest Scriptiure: Acts 9:1-9, 19-22

The pandemic has forced many changes and forced many of us to change directions in big and small ways. What if God has purposely closed off some opportunities to get us to move in a different direction? Maybe it’s time to stop banging on closed doors and to start asking, “What does this now make possible?” In fact, this is exactly the pattern we see in the Book of Acts: God uses larger circumstances to move the church into new ground. The first wave of nasty persecution that breaks out is used by God to move the church to minister to new people in new places. References:“Tell All the Truth, But Tell It Slant,” by Emily DickinsonPastor Wang Yi

Let’s talk about how to kill the church from the inside. In the previous sermon in this series, we talked about why we can be hopeful about the future of the church, because the church is antifragile, that is, it gains from difficulty. Like the early church, we too can learn to become antifragile. But following up on that, we need to hear a warning, a warning that comes from the early church as well. It’s a warning about what will kill the church from the inside, if we’re not careful. Here’s why you should care: Because the very sin that will kill the church from the inside will destroy you as well. Guess what, though? In light of this, the way forward will not only make the church more antifragile, but it will do the same for your life, too. Scripture: Acts 5:1-11

Something fragile is hurt by stress and difficultly. Something ANTIFRAGILE becomes stronger through stress and difficulty.                 • A candle in the wind is quickly snuffed out;                 • A fire in the wind gets stronger. If ever there were a time to learn how to get stronger through difficulty, now is that time. Now is the time to become ANTIFRAGILE. The early church in Acts faced great difficulties *and it grew because and not in spite of those difficulties*.   When Peter and John are arrested, for example, their response to the threats they face is *astounding*.   (Hint: they don’t ask for the threats to be removed.)   Scripture: Acts 3-4

We begin our series on the Book of Acts looking at the final words of Jesus to the apostles. Jesus has a specific task for his church, a task that is ours to take up today. In a violent, turbulent world, what if this is the only thing that will actually work?    

What I find fascinating about Matthew’s account of the visit of the Magi is that *no one else in Jerusalem made the short trip to Bethlehem to see the Christ child for himself or herself*.   Things haven’t changed.  How many of us are too busy or otherwise distracted to actually show up to see God at work?   How many of us permit our schedules to keep us from what’s most significant?   This leads me to my 2021 New Year’s Resolution for you:   Be at church every Sunday in 2021.   Seriously.   (I know it’s presumptuous for me to give you a resolution, but there ya go.)     Occasion: Epiphany Sunday, January 3, 2021 Series: New Year 2021 Preacher: Andrew Forrest Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12

Think back over the last 365 days, since last Christmas.  Think of all the things that have happened: a global pandemic, civic unrest, a presidential election, etc.   How do you know you were paying attention to what really mattered?   It’s easy to be distracted by what the world considers important: politics and war and wealth and the like.   But, what if God is up to something else entirely?  What if God is at work in other ways?  What if you and I on our own are completely unable to tell what’s truly important from what is just distraction?   What if you’ve been distracted this entire year and missed what’s really been happening?   After all, when the first Christmas came it happened in a surprising and unexpected way.   And they all missed it.   Preacher: Andrew Forrest Scripture: Luke 2:1-20   References:   Painting: “The Census at Bethlehem,” by Pieter Brueghel the Elder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Census_at_Bethlehem   Good 48 minutes BBC documentary on the painting: “Private Life of a Masterpie

Joseph finds out Mary is pregnant before he hears from the angel. Thanks be to God Joseph decided to act mercifully toward Mary. To whom can you show mercy—unmerited favor—today?

There are 2 basic ways of looking at the world:   The Abundance mindset and the Scarcity mindset.   People like King Herod see the world through a scarcity mindset—I had better get mine before you do.   The birth of Jesus offers another way, a way of abundance—there is plenty for all.   Which way are you going?   Preacher: Andrew Forrest Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12

You have absolutely no idea what’s hanging on your obedience.   Like Mary, obedience opens up opportunities that cannot come any other way.   What is it that you’re resisting?  What might be waiting on the other side?

If you know how something you're going through will end, you know how to order your life while you are going through it. The end of Revelation is a good end, and it tells us something important: our actions in this life matter.

Questions: What is the Ratpure? Who is the “John” mentioned in Revelation? What is signified by the great prostitute if Babylon in Revelation 17-18?

This week we are going to look at the beast of Revelation, the mark of the beast, and the famous number of 666.     Do we need to be afraid?     What are primary weapons of the beast?     Is the beast of Revelation on earth now, in 2020?     ————     There are two things people get wrong about the beast of Revelation.  One is that they don’t know what to look for, and the second is that they don’t know how to defeat it.     Preacher: Andrew Forrest     Scripture: Revelation 13

I can’t be the only one who wonders, “Lord, what are you up to?” What is God’s plan?  God, what are you doing?  Jesus has already been resurrected, so Lord, what are you waiting for?  Why do you allow the world to keep on going its miserable way? To answer this question, the Lord gave John what we call the book of Revelation. It turns out that God’s secret plan for history involves the church and a willingness on behalf of God’s people to live not by lies. Will you accept the challenge? Preacher: Andrew Forrest Scripture: Revelation 11:3-13 (The Parable of the Two Witnesses)