Join us for our Lenten Sermon Series, “What’s the Least I Can Believe and Still Be Christian.” Beginning February 22, 2026.
This year’s Lenten Sermon Series is based on the book “What’s the Least I Can Believe and Still be a Christian?” Pastor and author Martin Thielen has compiled a list of ten things people need to believe, and ten things they don’t, in order to be a Christian. With an accessible, storytelling style that’s grounded in solid biblical scholarship, Thielen shows how Christians don’t need to believe that sinners will be “left behind” to burn in hell or that it’s heresy to believe in evolution. And while we must always take the Bible seriously, we don’t always have to take it literally.
At the same time, Christians do need to believe in Jesus—his life, his teachings, his death and resurrection, and his vision for the world. A great benefit of those beliefs is that they provide promising answers to life’s most profound questions, including: Where is God? What matters most? What brings fulfillment? What about suffering? Is there hope?
While the question of the title is crucial, it doesn’t quite encapsulate what this sermon series will also ask which is, “What’s the most I can do so people will know I am a Christian?” Join your church family on Sunday mornings beginning February 22nd for this unique sermon series.
First Congregational Church of Tallmadge 