Skip to content

Thriving

Thriving: Seeing in the Dark (Jn. 9:1-41) Chris Altrock – January 31, 2016

20160103 01- Title Center Screen Still

1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (Jn. 9:1-2 ESV)

Sometimes, when darkness falls in life, all we can see is the darkness. We are often blinded by the darkness. When faced with situations of suffering, it’s often difficult for us to see any meaning or purpose in it.

That was true in this case. This man has been blind from birth. And when the disciples see it, all they can see is darkness. They want to analyze it. They want to scrutinize it. They don’t even really see the man. They just see his condition. His suffering. They are blinded by the darkness.

We are as well.Read More »Thriving: Seeing in the Dark (Jn. 9:1-41) Chris Altrock – January 31, 2016

Thriving: What You Bring to the Table (Jn. 6:1-15) Chris Altrock – January 24, 2016

20160103 01- Title Center Screen Still

A few weeks ago I was with some friends in Nashville. We hadn’t seen each other since early November, so we were catching up–sharing how things had gone for us over Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.

One friend showed a gift she had received. It was a piece of jewelry. She said the piece had been given to her by a friend at church. The jewelry was tiny. It probably didn’t cost much. But as my friend talked about the small gift, tears welled up and fell from her eyes. Apparently that tiny gift meant a lot.Read More »Thriving: What You Bring to the Table (Jn. 6:1-15) Chris Altrock – January 24, 2016

Thriving: Coming to Life in Jesus (Jn 20:30-31; Jn. 1:1-5) Chris Altrock – January 3, 2016

20160103 01- Title Center Screen Still

Resolving to Thrive

John Ortberg writes about a medical phrase: “Failure to Thrive.” His wife Nancy, a nurse, says that doctors and nurses apply that phrase to an infant who can’t seem to grow or gain weight. The baby is alive. But it does not thrive. It suffers from a failure to thrive.[1]

C. S. Lewis wrote of similar failure faced by adults. He used two words–bios and zoe–to describe it. Bios, from which we get the word “biology,” refers to living. Every person not in a cemetery succeeds at bios. Zoe, however, refers to more than living. It refers to thriving. Every person has bios; not every person has zoe. Bios, Lewis proposes, is like a statue. Zoe is like the statue coming to life. Many of us have bios but we suffer from a lack of zoe. We are alive but we do not thrive. Our heart beats but our soul does not flourish. But when you finally go from just having bios to also having zoe, it’s like you’ve been a statue all your life and you’ve come alive as a real human.[2] It’s like you were once a wooden puppet and now you’re a real boy named Pinocchio.Read More »Thriving: Coming to Life in Jesus (Jn 20:30-31; Jn. 1:1-5) Chris Altrock – January 3, 2016