Explorers Groups

Let's face it: most of us have questions about faith and spirituality. Often times, our friends don't really want to talk about these things, and churches seem to look down on people expressing their doubts and struggles. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a safe place to figure out what you think about God, regardless of what you conclude?

Introducing Explorers - a group for skeptics, doubters, and people with questions to take a fresh look at the biblical Jesus. If we're honest, that includes all of us.

So Explorers is a place for unbelievers, and for the unbeliever in all of us. It's a place where you can be honest about what you think, and get honest answers about the Christian faith. It's a place where you can make up your own mind about historic Christianity, by looking at the sources, rather than settling for second hand opinions.

Fundamentally, Explorers is all about working on our spirituality in community. It's a place where you can be yourself - have a beer, share a meal, wrestle with your faith, as friends rather than foes. We meet on a weekly basis to build meaningful relationships and figure out what we think about the Jesus of Scripture.

We offer a couple of different variations:

1. Explorers 1 (Who Is Jesus?) - The purpose of this group is to help people take a fresh look at the person, work, and claims of Jesus, from the perspective of classic Christianity. In 7 weeks you'll study an entire book of the Bible - the Gospel of Mark. You won't be asked to sing, pray, or do anything that would make you feel uncomfortable. You can come as you are; you can say as little or as much as you like. No one's going to nag you, try to convert you, or ask you for money. Our job is simply to help you figure out what you think about the Jesus of Scripture.
   
   
2. Explorers 2 (Doubts about God) - This group considers a lot of common doubts about God: How can there be one true religion? Hasn't science disproved Christianity? How could a loving God send people to hell? Great questions like these deserve thoughtful answers, and one of the best tools we've found to help us work through them is Tim Keller's Reason For God. We structure this as a weekly book group. If you wonder if it's possible to believe in the Christian God without turning off your brain, this might be just the group for you.
   
   
3. Explorers 3 (The Freedom of Grace) - This group considers one of the great claims of Christianity - that when we really encounter Christ (as a real, live person), we actually experience tremendous liberation and freedom. Conversely, we explore how approaching God impersonally - through religious performance or moral effort - can lead us to miss God altogether and experience tremendous bondage. Our guide for the journey? St. Paul and his letter to the Galatians.
   
   
4. Explorers 4 (The Bondage of Idolatry) - Our newest group, coming in Spring 2010. We'll be reading and discussing Tim Keller's Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power and the Only Hope That Matters. While many of us think that idols are a bygone relic of primitive cultures, Jesus claims that idolatry is alive and well within our hearts. If you find yourself wondering why you do the things you do - and why it's so hard to change - this book is for you!
   

All of these groups are dedicated to helping you figure out for yourself what YOU believe (and why!). Our aim is never to proselytize or convert (we don't think we can). Instead, we desire to be a resource, to honestly answer any question you want to ask, even if it leads you to reject the very Jesus we embrace.

Our goal is to give people like you the data you need to draw intelligent conclusions about one of the most influential figures in human history. And we think the best place to develop thoughtful opinions about Christ and Christianity is in a community of friends.

Sound interesting? We think so. And we'd love to have you join us. For more information, browse the FAQ or contact us. We look forward to seeing you soon...