Deep Dive: God's Sovereignty

Service Description

In historic Christian theology, the phrase “God is sovereign” is meant to bring comfort. Especially in "big God" churches and contexts, the doctrine of sovereignty is applied to every tragedy, every abuse by a leader, every loss. Cancer? All part of God's sovereign plan for you. Miscarriage? God has ordained this for His glory. Depression? You're in sin; you're not trusting God in His sovereignty. Experiencing domestic violence? God has willed that you should "endure being smacked around for a night." Being spiritually abused? God has sovereignly put you under their authority; you need to submit and let God sort it out. Some of us were taught that everything -- every sneeze, every victory, every trauma, every moral horror -- was directly ordained and planned by God. Some of us were told that obedience mattered more than safety, that grief was unbelief in God's goodness, that suffering and abuse were all "part of the plan." And God (we were told) didn't want that plan altered. Even if it meant the plan was for you to suffer eternal, conscious torture. At His hands. We were trained (sometimes deliberately, sometimes accidentally) to fear our own choices, silence our emotions, and surrender our agency to other human beings in the name of “trusting God.” They knew what His sovereign will was, after all. And it was your job to submit to their leadership. This ought not be. -------- The earliest Christians leaned on a formulation of sovereignty that gave them comfort that their good works mattered, that God heard their prayers, that Evil would not win in the end. Over the course of four sessions together, we'll: -- Examine how "sovereignty" actually functions in evangelical environments, and the toxic results -- Why "sovereignty" often produces anxiety, guilt, helplessness, and emotional shutdown -- How the biblical story reveals a God who listens, responds, and empowers, rather than dominates After these four sessions, you'll leave with: -- A new (old) framework for understanding how God uses His power -- A clearer sense of your agency and voice in relation to God -- A "one sheet" that contains everything we learned together -- Permission to trust your instincts again If sovereignty was ever used to control you, silence you, or paralyze you, this Deep Dive is for you. START DATE: 7pm CST, January 10th 2026 COST: No cost! Donations can be made at our Patreon or GoFundMe (see home page, or website footer).