Theology

The word theology means “God-talk”. Jesus’ preferred method of talking about God was story-telling. Using images and experiences taken from the everyday life of his first-century followers, Jesus revealed God’s surprising and grace-filled presence in the world, what it means to be human, and what life is about in moments of deepest joy and unspeakable suffering. Most of Jesus’ stories tell about how God wants people to be in whole and healthy relationships – with God, with ourselves, with others, and with the whole of creation.

This is how the Bible reveals God, too. The people who wrote the Bible, under the inspiration of God’s Spirit, believed that Truth is embodied in poetry, paradox, song, imaginative tale and accounts of flawed people seeking to live together in the presence, affection, direction and provision of God. Writers of the New Testament made the astounding claim that God visited our planet and shared the human experience in the person of Jesus.

At Heart of the Rockies Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), we choose the Bible’s account of God and human experience to shape our lives, our community and our vision of the way it can be in the world. We believe that from Genesis through Revelation the Bible tells the story of God’s redeeming love at work through history and beyond, and what it means to love God and to serve others. We seek God’s Truth in the Crucified and Risen Jesus – the life he lived, the stories he told, the relationships he developed, and the ways he continues to draw near to us and to the world through the Holy Spirit.

When we talk about God’s transforming presence in the world, we are more likely to share stories than settle for abstract theory and lifeless dogma. Stories from the Bible that comfort, confound and challenge us. Stories out of our own lives. We trust that the Holy Spirit is at work in these stories to help us discern God’s presence and to lead us into experiences of God’s life-changing love for us and for the world.