Christopher McCandless fled American society all the way to Alaska and moved into an abandoned bus. He died there in 1992, and hunters found beside him a book with a handwritten note in which he had concluded that happiness is only real when there is someone to share it with. From there the preacher raises the question of the church: what if it is a scam, a social club, or a course in good manners? The answer comes from the letter to Timothy (1 Timothy 2), because the church exists to connect people to Jesus, and sin is not merely a bad deed but the result of lost intimacy with the Creator. Listen if you go to church out of habit and no longer know what for.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In 1 Timothy 2:4-6 Paul writes that God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth, and that Jesus is the one mediator. What do these words tell us about who God is?
- Why might the truth about one Mediator between God and people have mattered so much to Timothy and the first Christians in understanding why the church exists?
- The speaker asked whether church is just a social group, a school for morality, or something a good therapist could replace. Which of these ideas about church feels closest to you, and why does it fall short?
- Mac Johnson said sin is not only the bad things we do but the result of a lack of intimacy with our Creator, like a son cutting himself off from a good father. How does that change the way you see your struggle with your own weaknesses?
- Martin Luther compared Jesus to a bridegroom who eagerly waits for his bride, even though she brings nothing but herself. What in this picture moves you, and how does it shape the way you think Jesus looks at you?
- The speaker said you cannot say: I'll take Jesus, but I want nothing to do with the people He died for. Through which believers might Jesus want to minister to you this week, and how can you open yourself up to that?
