Free Webinar!
Sept, 1, 2020 // 1:00 PM EST
Helping People
Follow Jesus
In a Divided World
As we head into the fall, we’re feeling the effects of an increasingly polarized world. The rise of an “us versus them” mentality seems to be ever-present - even in the church. So, how are we to navigate the complexities and difficulties of this reality?
Author Dick Staub wrote, “When we are faithfully following Jesus we will be too Christian for our pagan friends and too pagan for our Christian friends.” When we follow Jesus faithfully we will find that this is the reality of the overlapped life.
As Christians, we’re called to live with our feet firmly planted in two different worlds: heaven and also earth. Jesus called his followers to pray the Lord’s prayer. That powerful line - your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven - is the overlapping world Jesus wants us to embrace. This heaven-overlapping-with-earth reality is what it means to faithfully follow Jesus - and invite others to follow him, too. But how are we to do that when the polarization seems to grow more intense with each passing week?
In this webinar, J.R. Briggs will:
• Explore the ways in which Jesus lived faithfully in a both/and reality in a divisive world
• See the ways in which the Christian life is found within a healthy kingdom tension
• Discover specific practices which can help us be faithfully overlapping people of God
• Unpack how we must embrace wisdom, courage, and compassion in the days ahead
Join us for this free webinar on this crucial topic for you and your church.
Sept, 1, 2020 // 1:00 PM EST
Tell Your Friends
Dr. J.R. Briggs
J.R. Briggs is a Mission Strategist and Trainer with Fresh Expressions US. He is Founder of Kairos Partnerships, a ministry seeking to love the Church by caring for Her leaders through coaching, consulting, speaking, equipping and writing. He is an adjunct professor at Missio Seminary, and guest instructor at Friends University. He serves as the Director of Leadership & Congregational Formation for The Ecclesia Network. J.R. is an author, co-author and contributor of nine books. J.R. and his wife Megan have two sons, Carter and Bennett. They live in the heart of Lansdale, Pennsylvania.
Host- Sarah Keasler
Sarah Keasler serves as Director of Innovation and Ministry Effectiveness with Fresh Expressions US. She is responsible for fostering innovative approaches and growing the importance of user experience (UX) research and innovation in service of Fresh Expressions’ strategic initiatives. Keasler is a leader in non-profit management and human-centered design methodologies, and has received her undergraduate degree from University of Miami and her MBA from Friends University, with a concentration in Change Management and Innovation. Sarah and her husband Keas live in Wichita, KS with their baby boy Theo.
And PRE-ORDER the new book from J.R. Briggs!
Special Low Fresh Expressions Pricing!
Releasing 9/8/2020
“J.R. Briggs offers us a wise and compelling vision for moving beyond either/or categories. In a society increasingly polarized along theological, political, and social lines, this book is a breath of fresh air. We can all benefit from J.R.’s strong and tender voice. God knows we desperately need it in the cultural moment we are in.”
— RICH VILLADOS | LEAD PASTOR OF NEW LIFE FELLOWSHIP, QUEENS, NY
“In a day where the world, our culture, and even more distressingly, the church, is marked by a continual default to division and defensiveness, J.R. Briggs offers us a vision of an interconnected, integrated—and yes, incarnated—way of being in the world.”
— TOD BOLSINGER | AUTHOR OF CANOEING THE MOUNTAINS AND TEMPERED RESILIENCE
EMBRACE the TENSION of LIVING in TWO WORLDS
The widening of political, racial, and religious differences often leads to an “us vs. them” mentality all too common today. But is there a better way? In The Sacred Overlap, author J.R. Briggs explores how God’s divinity overlaps with his humanity and communicates a refreshing vision that embraces the tension of the both/and of God’s presence in the world and in us. Brigg calls us to live in radical love and faithfulness between the extremes that can easily isolate and divide people across the church and throughout the world.
This is not an approach that encourages us to take whatever bits we might choose from world religions, personal preferences, and ideologies and throw them into a cosmic blender for a tasty theological smoothie. Instead, Briggs offers a fresh understanding of Jesus, of his model of evangelism and discipleship, and shows us how we need to be engaged in our own both/and tension. The Sacred Overlap helps readers see that Christians are called to live with their feet firmly planted in two different worlds—both heaven and earth—living naturally with grace and truth. Only then can a Christian be a faithful witness in the way of Jesus.