Consider using these talks in your classroom! See our EWP website for more.
Karam Forum 2021
Gavin Ortlund | Worth Standing Up For: Hearing a 4th-Century Witness for Justice and the Gospel
Christians have always recognized that the gospel calls us to stand up for justice – as difficult and complicated as that can be. Gavin Ortlund of First Baptist Church of Ojai draws on Gregory of Nyssa’s prophetic stand against slavery to help us see how we can stand up for justice in our own time.
Consider assigning in: History, Ethics, Culture, Pastoral Leadership, Theology
Jennifer Powell McNutt | A God Who Crosses the Tracks: Social Action in Reformation Theology
Luther and Calvin said justification by faith alone sets us free to love and serve others, working to bring life to the world, with special care for those most in need – and in their churches and communities, they practiced what they preached. In this stirring talk, Jennifer Powell McNutt traces the connection between justification and social action in Reformation theology.
Consider assigning in: History, Ethics, Theology, Pastoral Leadership
Karam Forum 2020
Greg Forster | Fruitful Paradoxes: Bringing Life to the World in the Modern Economy
Being the church means bringing life to the world, but how do we help our students lead churches that do that? In this stimulating talk, Oikonomia Network Director Greg Forster argues that “economic life is the most powerful way to bring life to the world,” because “the economy is where people mostly live.” Drawing on the ancient Letter to Diognetus, Forster unpacks fruitful paradoxes to help Christians think about how to bring life to the world in the modern economy.
Consider assigning in: Ethics, Pastoral Leadership, Culture, History
Jules Martinez | Reconciled to Reconcile: Making the Kingdom Visible in a Divided World
When the church is divided by ethnic separation and political polarization, the kingdom of God is revealed less fully to our neighbors, and has a gravely diminished impact on communities. In this powerful and personal talk, Jules Martinez of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School points us toward essential kingdom virtues and practices that help local churches grow together and make the kingdom visible and effective.
Consider assigning in: Ethics, Pastoral Leadership, Culture, Spiritual Formation
Karam Forum 2019
Fred Sanders | The Portable Trinity: Working within God’s Work
The Trinity isn’t about counting to three, Fred Sanders tells us, it’s about the God who sends his Son and his Spirit, and then sends his people. Far from a dry abstraction, the doctrine of the Trinity shows us that we do our daily work within the work of God himself.
Consider assigning in: Theology, New Testament
Michael Wittmer | The Same Call: Vocation Is Integral to the Gospel
Michael Wittmer shows us how to leave behind tired debates (evangelism v. justice) and false dualisms (“I left my job to go into full-time ministry”) by seeing that the call to receive forgiveness through faith in Christ and the call to serve Christ with good works in the world are the same call.
Consider assigning in: Theology, New Testament
Chris Armstrong | God’s People, Christ’s Body, Spirit’s Temple: Being a Sacred Church
What if we’re getting the whole sacred/secular problem backward? Chris Armstrong invites us to rethink what the church really is – a visible sign of invisible grace – before we roll up our sleeves to change the world.
Consider assigning in: Pastoral Leadership, Theology, Spiritual Formation, Ethics, History, New Testament
Karam Forum 2018
Andy Crouch | A Pruned Life: Isaiah’s Posterity Gospel
Drawing on Isaiah 5, Andy Crouch speaks about the challenge of separating real flourishing from mere material prosperity in the midst of economic growth and technological innovation. In a world of instant gratification, what is of lasting importance?
Consider assigning in: Culture, Ethics, Spiritual Formation, Old Testament
Deborah Gill | Discipleize! The Great Commission in All of Life
Deborah Gill of Assemblies of God Theological Seminary carefully unpacks the Greek text and biblical/cultural context of the church’s original misison statement, the Great Commission, to show how the church’s task is to “discipleize” in every area of life.
Consider assigning in: New Testament, Spiritual Formation, Theology, Culture
Nathan Hitchcock | A Plan for All Things: The Economy of God in Ephesians
Nathan Hitchcock of Sioux Falls Seminary unpacks the meaning of the biblical term oikonomia. He points out that Paul uses this term frequently; reviewing Paul’s use of the phrase oikonomia theou in Ephesians, Hitchcock argues that God’s creation plan – the economy of God – is an audacious enterprise.
Consider assigning in: Theology, New Testament
W. Jay Moon | Economics and Mission: The Connected Complexity of Cultures
Drawing examples ranging from the book of Acts to modern Africa, W. Jay Moon of Asbury Theological Seminary unpacks how Chrsitian involvement in the economy is vitally interdependent with Christian witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Consider assigning in: Culture, Pastoral Leadership, New Testament
Keith Reeves | Family and Opportunity in the Law and the Prophets
Keith Reeves of Azusa-Pacific University describes the connection between the household, family structure, land ownership and economic opportunity in the Old Testament law and prophets, and how these connections apply today.
Consider assigning in: Old Testament, Ethics, History
Eric Tully | Proverbs and Money: You’re Not Playing Monopoly
Why isn’t Monopoly as fun as it should be – grabbing everything for ourselves should be fun, shouldn’t it? Eric Tully of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School brings wisdom from Proverbs to help us rethink the role of money in our lives and in our economies.
Consider assigning in: Old Testament, Ethics
Joshua Jipp | Jesus the Economic Teacher
In this highly personal talk, Joshua Jipp of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School shares stories of his grandfather on the Iowa farm where he grew up. Grandpa Wayne had absorbed key economic teachings from Jesus, prioritizing contentment, productivity and community.
Consider assigning in: New Testament, Ethics
Karam Forum 2017
Tom Nelson | If We Would Be Faithful: Fruitfulness Matters
Made to Flourish President Tom Nelson speaks on the integral relationship between faithfulness and fruitfulness, reviewing passages including the Genesis creation account, Proverbs 31 and the teachings of Jesus.
Consider assigning in: Spiritual Formation, Pastoral leadership, Theology, Old Testament, New Testament, Ethics
Bruce Fields | A Humble Dignity: Striving in His Image Is Flourishing
In this very personal talk with a surprise twist at the end, Bruce Fields of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School reflects on a childhood model who helped him learn that striving to bear the image of God more fully is what it means to flourish as a human being.
Consider assigning in: Theology, Ethics
Constantine Campbell | Chosen Sojourners in 1st Peter: Living between Two Worlds
Constantine Campbell of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School describes how Peter calls us “chosen sojourners” because we can make a bigger difference for Christ in this world when they live more fully for the next world instead of this one.
Consider assigning in: New Testament, Theology
Celeste Cranston | Two Sons: The Gospel and Work
Celeste Cranston of Seattle Pacific University demonstrates how the story of the prodigal son invites us into a life of kingdom work marked by abundance and gratitude, not scarcity and fear.
Consider assigning in: Spiritual Formation, New Testament
Mark Roberts | All Good Work: Creation and Parenthood
Mark Roberts of Fuller Theological Seminary draws on the Genesis creation account to invite us to resist the cultural narrative that “work” only happens in a job, contending that all good work is God-valued work – including the critical task of raising children.
Consider assigning in: Ethics, Old Testament
Vincent Bacote | Sending Disciples to a Pluralistic World: Imagination, Hospitality and Hope
Vincent Bacote of Wheaton College invites us into a more full understanding of how worship can form us for a lives of Christian discipleship in a pluralisic world, marked by imagination, hospitality and hope.
Consider assigning in: Culture, Pastoral Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Ethics