Brewing Theology With Teer Hardy

The Big Relief | Guilt Trip? There's Relief for Tha!Relief from GuiltJohn 10:11-18October 12, 2025Rev. Teer HardyYou have heard it in the voice that says, “If I can just feel terrible long enough, maybe I’ll prove I’m sorry enough.” But guilt doesn’t purify you; it just punishes you. It keeps you circling the wound instead of seeking the healer. Feeling bad is not the same thing as being made new. But guilt only knows one trick—accusation.It can name your failure, but cannot free you from it.Grace, on the other hand, feels conspicuously easy.Surely, we must do something—a little spiritual penance, a touch of self-loathing—to make things square.But the Good Shepherd does not drive His sheep with shame; He leads them with love.Relief begins the moment you stop trying to atone for what has already been forgiven.You are not the hired hand’s responsibility. You are the Good Shepherd’s joy. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

The Big Relief | Relief from ControlLuke 10:38-42October 1, 2025Rev. Teer HardyYou are not in charge of salvation—yours or anyone else’s.You are not in charge of the Kingdom of God.You are not in charge of Jesus.And that is relief. Because the Savior of the world has already come. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

The Big Relief | Relief from RejectionLuke 19:1-10September 28, 2025Rev. Teer HardyHere’s the problem: we’re pretty good at defending our trees. We like the safe distance. Voyeurism through the news, doom-scrolling, even church from the bleachers instead of the pews—it lets us watch without risking rejection. But the cost of staying up there is high. Loneliness calcifies. Isolation deepens. And grace—grace!—gets treated like a spectator sport.Jesus didn’t die because he was nice; he died because he insisted on spending time with the wrong people. Which means if you’re feeling wrong, you’re exactly right. Jesus looks at you—yes, you—and says, “Come down. I must stay at your house today.”So, for heaven’s sake, don’t stay in the tree. Come down. Let Jesus meddle in your business. Allow grace to cover you. Because the Big Relief is this: in Christ Jesus, loneliness is met with belonging, rejection is met with welcome, and even little losers like Zacchaeus—like us—are remembered by name. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

The Big Relief | Relief from RegretRomans 5:1-11Luke 7:36-50September 21, 2025Rev. Teer HardyOr as David Zahl says, “Forgiveness may be a miracle, but that doesn’t mean it’s unavailable.” In fact, in Christ, it is the most available thing in the room.That’s Romans 5 with skin on it. That’s what it looks like when “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”[vi] gets lived out in a real life. She brought her regret to the only One who could bear it, and what she got in return was not shame, not judgment, but peace.And that’s the invitation for you, for me, for anyone who limps into church carrying regrets too heavy to keep shouldering.So, the next time you’re stuck in an airport, eating bad chicken wings, and CNN, Fox, or MSNBC is blaring the sins of the world on an endless loop, remember this: Jesus isn’t interested in running your failures as “breaking news.” He’s not cataloging your regrets for the evening broadcast.He’s looking you in the eye, like he did with that woman at Simon’s dinner party, and saying: “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

The Big Relief | Relief from DeservingWhen Grace Throws a Party Before You're ReadySeptember 14, 2025Luke 15:11-32Rev. Teer HardyThe relief in this story is that the father also goes to see him. The father moves toward both sons—grace for the wild one, grace for the resentful one. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Choosing the Narrow Way | More Than a Quality Sermon“From soundbites to surrender”August 31, 2025Matthew 7:24-29Rev. Teer HardyThe Sermon on the Mount only makes sense if Jesus Christ really did conquer sin and death. If He is still in the grave, then sure, treat His words like inspirational wall art. But if He is risen, if He is alive, then His words are not optional. They are the blueprint for life on resurrection ground. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Choosing the Narrow Way | Sunday Best, Counterfeit Faith“Why Jesus isn’t fooled by our religious résumés”August 24, 2025Matthew 7:21-23Rev. Teer HardyAnd here is the Good News: The One who warns us is also the One who knows us. The Judge is also the Savior. The same Jesus who said, “Depart from me,” also promises, “I will never leave or forsake you.”Our hope is not in how loudly we can shout “Lord, Lord.” It is not in the mighty works we like to show off. It is not in how we behave or how clever we think we are. Our hope is in the One who knows, claims, and holds us. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Choosing the Narrow Way | The Golden Rule in a Good Friday World"The Rule We Can’t Keep—and the Love That Keeps Us"August 4, 2025Matthew 7:12Rev. Teer HardyThe gospel is not fairness. It is mercy.It is not “treat others how they treat you.”It is Jesus on the cross saying, “Father, forgive them. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Choosing the Narrow Way | Knock, knock. Who’s there? Grace.July 27, 2025Matthew 7:7-11Rev. Teer HardyPerhaps the best prayer we can offer today sounds like knuckles hitting the wood. The rhythm of our pleading. The hollow echo of the hallway outside the closed door.But resurrection means the knocking is never in vain.We do not knock on the door of a stranger. We knock on the door of the One who knows our name. Who hears before we speak. Who has already rolled the stone away. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Choosing the Narrow Way | A Log in Your Eye“Double Halos and Dirty Mirrors”July 13, 2025Matthew 7:1-5Rev. Teer HardyThe way is narrow because it asks something hard of us: to love before we correct, to confess before we critique, to see others through the lens of grace before we try to fix them through the lens of the Law.We do not see clearly because we are right. We can see because we have been seen and forgiven. Because we are loved by the One who had every right to judge us harshly and instead chose grace. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Practicing Resurrection | More Than EnoughJuly 7, 2025Matthew 6:25-34Rev. Teer HardySo, if you are carrying anxiety this morning, not as an abstract idea but in tight shoulders and sleepless nights, here is the Good News:The One who raised Jesus Christ from the dead has not abandoned you.You are not alone.You do not have to hold the world together. That job is already taken.So, stop.Breathe. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Practicing Resurrection | Drowning in Treasure“Jesus Isn’t Against Success. He’s Just Asking a Better Question.”June 29, 2025Matthew 6:19-24Third Sunday After PentecostRev. Teer HardyJesus is not mad at you for having wealth; he’s just tired of seeing it break your heart.So here is the invitation again: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The question is not what do you own. The question is, what owns you?And if the answer is not Jesus, then it might be time to let some things go, not because you’re being punished, but because God wants to set you free. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Practicing Resurrection | Drop the Mask. Wash Your Face.June 22, 2025Matthew 6:16-18Season After PentecostRev. Teer HardyWe’ve swapped out the mask of indifference for the mask of self-righteousness. We’ve dressed up our ego and religious clothing and called it faithfulness. That still is just a mask. And the father who sees in secret wants more than that.And that is the reward: The Father sees in secret. Not the praise of people or the illusion of control. The quiet, sustaining truth that God already knows you and loves you anyway. That, friends, is grace. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Practicing Resurrection | Folded, Bowed, and Closed.Matthew 6:5-15June 15, 2025Trinity SundayRev. Teer HardyBecause Christ is risen,Because Christ is ascended,Our prayers are not flung into the void.They are gathered into the life of God.So:Don’t pray like God is far away.Don’t pray like no one’s listening.Don’t pray like someone auditioning for a part.Pray like the tomb is empty.Pray like the Son is alive.Pray like someone who’s already been heard. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Resurrection Discipleship | This is Not About You (Thank God)“Pentecost, Inclusion, and the Quiet Power of Resurrection Generosity”June 8, 2025Acts 2:1-21and Matthew 6:1-4PentecostRev. Teer HardyPentecost was already inclusive before we got around to recognizing it. God was already including the lost, erased, and invisible. The one's history forgot. The people the Church has too often pushed to the margins, the ones we struggle to understand. God brought all of them into the story.So yes, we can celebrate Pride Month throughout June. And yes, it matters deeply because the Church (capital C) and The United Methodist Church has done immeasurable harm to the LGBTQ+ community. That harm must be named, confessed, and repented of. But we must also say this plainly: Inclusion is not a seasonal offering. It is God's default setting, and as Christ's body, inclusivity is an inherent part of the church's nature. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

 Resurrection Discipleship | Ascended, Not AvengingChrist’s Victory Over Death (And Over Our Addiction to Payback)June 1, 2025Matthew 5:38-48Seventh Sunday of EasterRev. Teer HardyNone of us likes to admit it, but we love a good revenge story. We love seeing someone “get what they deserve.” But when Jesus says, “You’ve heard it said, but I say to you…” He isn’t just calling us to be slightly nicer people — He’s flipping the script entirely. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Resurrection Discipleship | God Doesn’t Believe You Either“Fake News Isn’t Just Out There. It’s in You”May 25, 2025Matthew 5:33-37Sixth Sunday of EasterRev. Teer HardyThe fake news we are most tempted to believe is not about others. It is about ourselves.That if the truth came out, we would be abandoned.Exposed.So we lie.We spin.We control the narrative.And Jesus says, “You do not have to do that anymore.”The resurrection of Christ, promised to us, tells the truth about us.And thanks be to God, because it is worse than we thought but still more hopeful than we imagined.At the end of the day, “Let your yes be yes, and your no be no,” is about trust. Not just people trusting you but also us trusting God enough to stop performing.Jesus says, “Let your yes be yes, and your no be no.”Because his yes, spoken from the cross and shouted from the empty tomb, has already been declared over you. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Resurrection Discipleship | No One Is DisposableWhat Resurrection Says About Anger, Lust, and DivorceMay 18, 2025Matthew 5:21-32Fifth Sunday of EasterRev. Teer HardyWhether Jesus is talking about anger, lust, or divorce, he’s addressing the same core sickness:We treat people like they’re disposable.We get angry, and suddenly that person doesn’t deserve our grace.We lust, and that person becomes a fantasy rather than a human being.We divorce (in Jesus’ context, especially men divorcing women), and someone gets thrown away like a used napkin.And Jesus says: That’s not how it works in my kingdom.The resurrection is God’s definitive declaration that nobody is disposable.Not the ones we’re angry at.Not the ones we’ve objectified.Not even ourselves when we’ve failed. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Resurrection Discipleship | Stay SaltyEmbodying the Resurrection in a World That Needs the Real ThingMay 4, 2025Matthew 5:13-16Third Sunday of EasterRev. Teer HardyThe resurrection empowers us to bring renewal and transformation wherever we go.It doesn’t mean we walk around glowing. It means we are walking witnesses to a kingdom that doesn’t run on power, pride, or self-protection. It runs on mercy. It runs on grace.Friends, Easter isn’t just a holiday. It’s a whole new way of seeing the world.The tomb is empty. Jesus lives. And now, so do we.We live in the wake of resurrection, called not to blend in but to bless, not to retreat but to reflect, not to sanitize but to salt.So, stay salty. Let your light shine.Don’t hide. Don’t settle.Resurrection doesn’t need a megaphone—it needs someone whose life makes people wonder if the tomb really is empty.And when they ask what’s gotten into you, tell them it’s not strategy.It's Jesus. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe

Resurrection Discipleship | Blessed are the Upside DownResurrection, the Beatitudes, and the Audacity of God's BlessingApril 27, 2025Matthew 5:1-12Second Sunday of EasterRev. Teer HardyOur risen Lord calls us to lose ourselves for His sake in a world that tells us to protect ourselves at all costs. The empty tomb declares that true power is found in humility and true blessing in mercy. The resurrection does not just vindicate Jesus—it vindicates the whole upside-down Kingdom of God.Do not walk away from the Beatitudes.Do not water them down.Do not wait for the world’s approval.Live them as if Easter is the truest thing that ever happened.Because it is.Blessed are you who do. Get full access to Brewing Theology with Teer Hardy at teerhardy.substack.com/subscribe