Hey Element Church! We are only two weeks away (Sunday, February 3rd) from the start of our new sermon series called “Grace & Truth”. In this series, we will be engaging in the conversation around faith, sexuality, and gender. Specifically, we are leaning into the LGBT conversation. I don’t know of more important or relevant conversation happening in our culture today than this one, and the church must engage it with both grace AND truth.
Along with this four-week sermon series, we are also doing a 10-week small group study by the same name. You’ll need two books for the small group season called “Grace // Truth 1.0” and “Grace // Truth 2.0”. You can pick those books up at the Element Store, or by going to the Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender website HERE. You can sign up for a small group HERE.
While we will be addressing what we currently believe as a church concerning sexuality and gender, we are focusing much more on the posture the church needs to take as we love ALL people, including LGBT people. If you are an LGBT+ person or if you are planning on inviting someone who is, I want to be upfront and clear. As your pastor, I want to care for your heart and protect you in advance as much as I can. Everyone needs to understand, by attending this series or small group study you might encounter teaching or beliefs that offend you or seems like an attack against you. If you do feel that way I can completely understand, but I also want you to know that the posture we will take as a church, regardless of what we believe, is one of radical love, compassion, and grace. If you are planning on inviting an LGBT+ person, please make sure they understand this as well before they come. I don’t want anyone caught off guard or feel like this was a “surprise attack.”
While we do our best to extend the kind of radical grace and compassion that Jesus did, we will also stand on what we believe to be a relevant truth. Anytime you lead with radical love and stand on relevant truth it gets messy. We’ve decided to embrace the mess. The stakes are too high and the people are too real for us to not address this subject.
I’d love for you to be a part of this very important sermon series and small group study. Below is a brief outline of how the series will lay out and also two videos that explain more in depth why and how we will be doing this series.
Sunday, February 3rd (No 6 PM service): A conversation starter.
Sunday, February 10th: A conversation about gender identity.
Sunday, February 17th: A conversation about sexual identity.
**Sunday, February 21st: A conversation about a broken and beloved person.
**Monday, February 22nd: 6:30 – 8:30 PM, open forum Q & A (Childcare Provided)
**With Special Guests Laurie Krieg and Greg Coles.
Element Church is located at 600 E. Carlson St. in Cheyenne, WY. Our normal service times are 8:30 AM // 10:00 AM // 11:30 AM // 6:00 PM (On Sunday, February 3rd we will NOT be having our normal 6:00 PM service). There are fun, relevant, and secure kids ministries for children infant through 12 years old.
If you have any questions about the series or about the small group study, please contact us HERE.