An Ugly, Institutional Church
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The Church
o This is evident by what people bring to the Church
o People bring the deepest questions of ___________________________
 Purpose of life, ethics, suffering, afterlife, etc.
Organized Religion
o Seen as a dirty word
o Human construct
o __________________
Bored in Church
How often have you been bored in an institutional religious setting (i.e. sitting in a church)?
Name an incident that you were a part of that you found incredibly boring. Why did you find
it boring? Then name a time that you were in a church setting that was actually spiritually
enriching. What made the experience enriching?
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Organized Religion
o Often thinks the ____________ is more significant than the _________ aspect
o It organizes and forces square pegs into round holes
o But this divorces the surface – the institutional structure – from the spiritual
depths of the Church
o Rather these things spring from the spiritual depths of the Church
o Nothing is done for its own sake but for the greater ______________________
The Middle Road
o “Spiritual but not religious”
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Belief in God and a doctrine of ___________________
Religious tendencies but avoids organized religion
This decision amounts to “go it alone”
Consider what God said to Adam in Genesis and Adam’s response
Wisdom gained throughout history proves that we are made to live in
_____________________________
Organized Religion
o At its best, _________ elements of the Church work hand-in-hand with the
________________
 Church is the largest health care provider in the world
 Catholic hospitals provide ¼ of the world’s healthcare
 At their worst they conflict
The human element
o The church is no doubt institutional
o More to it than that – it is people trying to live the gospel message
 Jesus came so that humanity might have __________ and have it more
abundantly
o The Church is seen as a perfection of this group of people
 Again, consider what is contained within that history
 They are the people of God
 Yet despite their differences members are united in ______________
o This assembly includes some major sinners
 How do families deal with mistakes and missteps
 How do we understand living in an imperfect community?
o The community remains based on somebody who was completely holy in every
way – it is based on ______________
The God element
o Despite the human imperfections, the Church is God’s instrument on earth
o The Church is based on the teachings of _______________
o Which are radical teachings
o Teachings center on ____________, not ______________