July 8, 2026

The following is a few parts taken from my sermon Sunday. We are reading together the book HOLY DISRUPTION by Amy Butler and Dawn Darwin Weaks. The text sets the stage from Chapters 1 and 2. We had several folks on vacation and we also were not able to be online or record (I hope this summery is helpful).  We will journey together as these chapters set us up for “what is next.”

People want to hear renewal is possible, that it would be painless, that it could happen fast….Brian McLaren tells hard truths: renewal wouldn’t be painless, it would be almost as painful as dying.  Change will not be easy; it requires rethinking everything from theology to polity to liturgy to community to mission.

Pastors Dawn and Amy remind us there is something even more powerful than renewal, namely, resurrection. They tell the truth that resurrection doesn’t happen without death first. Which leads to life and hope, but there are no shortcuts. This book isn’t going to give us an answer- it will do something so much more important: It will try to SEED OUR IMAGINATION.

Ignoring the necessary death that precedes resurrection has been a sin of the modern church. As closure comes to our old way of churching, we are looking in unlikely places for the beginnings of new life that Jesus taught us always comes after the dying.

We [and the authors of Holy Disruption] believe as Jesus taught us that these moments of despair are seeds that, even after death, can spring up with the hope of new life. [p6]

The ask of us is to look outside of the easy expected answers and open our eyes and hearts to welcome something different.

If your goal is to keep church “right where it is” for as long as possible, you might have forgotten that we serve a risen Christ who would not stay put in a sealed tomb. He is risen and on the loose in our world! [p14]

Last fall, as a congregation, in preparing for a new pastor; you all read and discussed the book Breakthrough. It was in those discussions that you named what was dead in your life that you want resurrected:

•           Getting help from others

•           Decline in knowing neighbors

•           Celebrate the past

Acknowledging that you:

•           Are open to new possibilities

•           May not be comfortable with new thoughts/ways

•           Dare to be explorers

•           Increase visibility with things we do

•           Planting “seeds”

God isn’t finished with us yet. Faith is alive and thriving, its roots growing deeper and wider, extending far beyond the walls of the church and planting itself in every corner of our communities. [p9] The future is not clear yet, and perhaps our most faithful response in this moment of uncertainty is the courage to become holy disruptors.

The only way any group of people emerges on the other side of necessary disruption is through building trust and sharing a common goal. [p18]

We must trust each other to live into the beloved community. [p19] When trust takes root and begins to grow in the space between tradition and innovation, then we experience the truth that disruption isn’t only loss. We discover an adventure, a journey toward something new with some of the most amazing people [you beloved].

Trust is a big deal. We talk about gaining trust, breaking trust- it matters. Brene Brown give a definition: trust is choosing to make something important to you vulnerable to the actions of someone else.

If we can’t have trust between each other- then moving into a holy disruption phase is going to be utter failure.

Brene Brown uses the acronym BRAVING as components of trust:

•           Boundaries: respect boundaries and when they are unclear, ask.

•           Reliability: do what you say you will do.

•           Accountability: own your mistakes, apologize, and make amends.

•           Vault: you don’t share information or experiences that are not yours to share.

•           Integrity: you choose courage over comfort.

•           Nonjudgment: we ask for what we need and talk about how we feel without being judged.

•           Generosity: extend the most generous interpretation possible to the intentions, words, and actions of others.

God is calling us to the beautiful disruption.

There is a world desperately in need of healing, and underneath all the evidence to the contrary, there are others who have lived the truth: Holy Disruption is often the way by which God invites us into new life.

Disruption is hard, but it can be extraordinarily holy. [p15]