By Brandon Lemons
Seven years ago, I wrote a few notes in a Word document about an idea for a sermon series. I gravitated toward the title “Threads,” as in a thread that weaves its way through the biblical storyline. Yet as much as I liked the idea, I struggled to see how it could be an engaging sermon series; I worried it might feel too “heady,” too intellectual. So I moved on to a different idea for my next sermon series.
In the years since then, the “Threads” idea has returned to my mind several times. A few months ago, I began giving it serious consideration. This Sunday, we are launching the series that has been marinating in my mind since 2017. It’s called “Threads: Tracing Themes Through Scripture.”
Much of my enthusiasm for this series comes from its potential to capture our attention and imagination regarding the beauty and richness of the Bible. I say this from first-hand experience, because of how this type of study captured my heart while studying for my Masters of Divinity degree.
This series is based on “biblical theology.” Biblical theology studies how themes develop through the course of Scripture. As God reveals more about Himself and His ways, we can learn more about specific themes. For instance, the idea of a sacrificial lamb is more developed by the time we get to Jesus and to Paul’s letters in the New Testament than it was in the Law of Moses in the Old Testament; going a step further, the image of a “lamb that was slain” goes to a whole new level in the book of Revelation.
In this series, I’m choosing eight topics that transform through the course of Scripture and develop multiple layers of meaning and significance. These topics have a lot of practical application, they illuminate key elements of the biblical storyline, and all of them feature Jesus in a major way. Plus, they all span Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.
The topics I plan to study are: light, kingdom, exile, temple & priests, lamb, marriage, rest, and glory.
Most sermons at Friedens dig into a single main passage. Threads is different. It will be deeply biblical but will jump from one passage to another to another as we trace themes through Scripture. If you would like to dig deep into specific passages related to the topics we are studying, I recommend the “Digging Into Scripture” class between services on Sunday mornings; starting on April 14, this class will dig into a key passage per week, based on that day’s Threads theme. (On April 7, the class is finishing its previous study.)
Please join me in praying that God will open eyes and hearts to the wonder of His Word, and that this will lead to greater joy in knowing and representing Jesus to the world around us!
Comments