Munger Place Church - Dallas, Texas

Christmas lives right in the tension between God’s foreknowledge and our free will. Is history pre-determined or are we free to choose our actions? To the biblical authors, the answer is, “Yes.” Christmas is about God’s sovereign acts in human history AND about our freedom to take part in what God is doing. Here’s my question: how are you going to participate? Occasion: 4th Sunday of Advent Preacher: Andrew Forrest References: Search “Jimmy Lai” to read more, or check out the movie website"

All of it is a gift. What else can we do but say, “Thank you thank you thank you!”? Preacher: Andrew Forrest Occasion: Christmas Commitment Sunday 2021

Hope is necessary for life. It’s hope that makes it possible to get up tomorrow morning, put your feet on the floor, and take a step. Hope is the belief that in the end, everything is going to be okay, and if it’s not okay, it’s not the end. We need hope, and Christmas provides it in surprising ways, as surprising as the gifts the magi brought to the holy family. Christmas is proof that God is still working, just as he promised through the prophet Isaiah. And hope is why NOW is the time for God’s people to build houses, start families, and plant trees. Preacher: Andrew Forrest Scripture: Isaiah 60:1-6, Matthew 2:1-2, 9-11 References:

I learned this week that the key to understanding Romans is to read it backwards. When you start at the end, you see that Paul really wants for the Romans is unity. Unity wasn’t any easier 2,000 years ago than it is today. Which doesn’t make it any less important. Preacher: Andrew Forrest Scripture: Romans 16

I don’t like it when people tell me what to do, but nevertheless I’m going to do just that: I want you to pick just one of the pieces of advice Paul gives in Romans 12 and put it into practice this week. Everyone wants to know God’s will for his or her life, and Paul provides a way to find it. Paul also gives the church a way forward, too. It worked 2,000 years ago, and it will work today. Preacher: Andrew Forrest Scripture: Romans 12

1. The imperative to tell the Good News to the people in our lives is the same as it’s been for 2,000 years. 2. And yet in our current cultural climate—so called “Negative World”—it’s difficult to know how to actually share our faith without turning people away from Christ. Here are some ideas. Preacher: Andrew Forrest Scripture: Romans 10:11-15

My wife asked me this week, “What have your learned?” Time is so precious, and life is so short: I want to be sure I reflect back on time that passes. So, as we celebrate our 11th birthday at Munger, I’m thinking back over these past 11 years. This is what I’ve learned.   Preacher: Andrew Forrest Scripture: Psalm 1

Preacher: Andrew Forrest

This is my definition of suffering: Living through bad circumstances that you are unable to change. These days, we face two HUGE problems with regard to suffering: 1.  It is inevitable in every human life. 2.  Contemporary American culture has absolutely no idea what to do about it. Guess what? God’s word has a way forward for us.  Turns out the Apostle Paul knew a lot about suffering, namely that, in Christ, SUFFERING leads to PERSEVERANCE which leads to CHARACTER which leads to HOPE which does not disappoint.   Preacher: Andrew Forrest Series: Romans

“Judge not, that you not be judged.” “Who am I to judge?” Yeah, well: This week I want to tell you why George Washington needs to face judgment. Actually, I want to tell you that it’s a good thing and a healing thing for George Washington to face judgment. More than that: I want to tell you why God’s judgment is actually a good thing for all of us. In fact, the reason our politics are so bitter is because we no longer believe in divine justice. But divine justice believes in us. And that’s a good thing. Preacher: Andrew Forrest Scripture: Romans 2:1-4

I know why we want to stay in the center of the herd—after all, it’s the early Christian that gets the lion. The herd gives us a (ultimately false) sense of safety, and in a world of howling jackals, we need all the safety we can get. And yet. In spite of our almost overwhelming sense to stay squarely with the herd, the Apostle Paul’s words to the Roman church have the same urgent clarity today as they had 2,000 years ago: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.”  (Romans 12:2.) As we begin our study of Paul’s Letter to the Romans, this is where we should begin: With the expectation that the safest and best place to be is where the Lord leads us.  And the Lord is leading us not to conformity with the world, but rather transformation through the Spirit. Let’s go. Preacher: Andrew Forrest Scripture: Romans 12:1-2 References: --Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart https://amzn.to/3l6pTiA --from the Dallas Morning News: "With COVID de

Where else would we go?  Whom else should we follow?  What options do we have?  Will ideology or technology or wealth or power or science give us what we need?   This is the 3rd and final sermon in a series about the church as a refuge, a bit of Eden, an oasis in the desert.   And this is the week we go on offense.   I explain *why* I’m so intense about the church and why I think the world needs the message God has entrusted to us.   I look around at the world and I see desperation and I know that Jesus is the answer.  (And this is why this honey badger don’t care no more.)   Yes, Jesus is offensive.  Yes, he calls me to come and die, to take up my cross and follow after him.   But he offers life, and nothing else and no one else does.   Where else would we go?   —Andrew Forrest   Scripture: John 6:35, 53-60, 66-69   References: CDC data on childhood obesity FBI report on murder rate WSJ story on the drone strike

I’m convinced that Aaron Renn is right, and that we live in what he calls “Negative World”.  Here’s how he describes it:   “In this world, being a Christian is a social negative, especially in high-status positions. Christianity in many ways as seen as undermining the social good. Traditional norms are expressly repudiated.”   Now, we’ve been talking about how the church is meant to a refuge, an ark, an oasis, a bit of Eden in a dry and barren land.   But, in negative world, the pressure for us to abandon the very thing that makes us have something to offer a thirsty world is going to be almost unbearable.   Almost.   Like the rich young ruler, we will have to make a decision.   I’ve made mine.   What about you?   Preacher: Andrew Forrest Scripture: Mark 10:17-22   References: “Masculinist #13,” by Aaron Renn The Church Forests of Ethiopia “Saddleback Sam”

I’m taking it back, I’m taking it all back. Like Mikey under the wishing well in “The Goonies,” I’m taking it back. I’m taking back my attention, my focus, my heart from all the voices screaming at me, from the aggregator algorithms, from the scrolling chyrons. I’m taking back the only thing I really totally control—my thoughts—and refusing anymore to give heed to the latest and loudest. I’m taking back my mind and my heart from the voices that demand I give them everything while they provide me absolutely nothing. I’m taking back my attention from the barking, baying headlines, and instead I’m going to listen for the still, small voice of the Lord. This is why. Preacher: Andrew Forrest

My main thought after being really sick with Covid is this: We’ve all been played. What I mean is that the Apostle Paul is right: there is more going on than meets the eye—“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). See, we have allowed ourselves to view this whole thing in our neat categories—red vs. blue, Republican vs. Democrat, etc.—but life resists neat categorization.  Who would have predicted that Sweden—of all places—would have a different pandemic response than its Scandinavian neighbors?  You certainly cannot claim that the Swedes are concerned with American electoral politics. The point is that we’ve all been played, i.e., we’ve allowed ourselves to be dragged out into a spiritual rip tide, and if we’re not careful, we’re going to drown. We have allowed this nasty virus to give us more excuses to hate one anothe

What the parable of the Good Samaritan has to teach us about God’s call for us to not only help but also be helped. Thank you gentlemen! Speaker: Ryan Waller

The Bible can be difficult to read, especially in its entirety. With a slightly better understanding of what the Bible is and what it is for, not only can we actually read the Bible well, but we can learn to love it. If you find yourself getting frustrated with the Bible, are you confident that you are reading it as it is intended to be read? Speaker: Rodney Adams

Kevin Garnett was right, and the Apostle Peter proved it. Okay, maybe that’s an overstatement.  After winning the NBA Championship in 2011 Kevin Garnett bellowed, “ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!” That may not be true when it comes to ordinary people playing in the NBA, but it is definitely true when it comes to the kind of life Christ has for his people. Abundant, full life is actually possible now. If you’re willing to listen to the voice of the Lord and take that first step out of the boat. Scripture: Matthew 14:22-33 Preacher: Andrew Forrest

Is it possible to have doubts and a confident faith at the same time? Does doubting prohibit us from having a relationship with Jesus to its fullness? Turns out, the Scriptures have something to say about belief, doubt, and what God can do with both.    Matthew 16:13-20 Speaker: Rodney Adams

How can Paul say, "For when I am weak, then I am strong." By embracing God's plan for life and finding that even in the most difficult of times God's grace is sufficient, even perfect.    2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Speaker: Tony Fundaro