simply christian...

So we started a study on N.T. Wright's book, Simply Christian a few weeks ago and we've made it through the first three chapters which comprise part one, echoes of a voice. This is a great book and I want to use this as a tool for deeper discussion. Talk it up...

hebrews (week two)...

This past week, we spent more time in Chapters One and Two. We spoke about how Jesus is described as prophet, priest and King. We talked about how Jesus is superior to the angels. Jewish tradition held that the angels brought the Law to Moses from God, so the author, addressing Jewish believers who were tempted to turn away from their faith in Jesus due to persecution, goes on to lay out a case for Jesus' superiority by referencing various Old Testament passages that speak of Him.

Chapter Three and Four focus on the concept of God's rest. These verses hold some powerful ideas and concepts. Let's wrestle with this together as we ask God to grant us wisdom through His Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to us more clearly.

Here are some questions to think about:

What is God's rest and how do we enter into it both physically and spiritually?
What does the author of Hebrews mean by "the gospel"?

hebrews...

We cast lots to decide which book of the Bible to dive into in our gatherings and the lot fell to the book of Hebrews. This is a great book with lots of layers to uncover. Hopefully, this will be a place we can continue the conversation. We made it through chapter 4 or so, but we will probably be pondering those chapters more deeply as the weeks pass. Let the wrestling and discussion begin...

activate...

Last weekend, we talked at length about how we as followers of Jesus can live out our faith by giving back to those in need. Scripture is full of passages calling us to care for the poor, weak, widow, orphan and alien. We have struggled because we have talked about this a lot, but have not acted it out...yet. It's time to ACTIVATE! I loved Liza's post which pretty much sums up where we are. We discussed some ideas including participating in Adopt-a-Family and Family-to-Family. These are two initiatives that we will try to pursue this year. In addition, we have an opportunity to serve our neighbors in Quakertown this Sunday at the Halloween Parade at 2:00pm. We are trying to gather a group of people that can help us distribute hot chocolate or lemonade (depending on the weather) to the community as a practical way of displaying God's love.

religion vs. Jesus...

This past weekend, we spent some time discussing the difference between religion and Jesus. Jesus didn't die on the cross to start a new religion. The Latin root of the word religion can mean binding or to bind up. In the Jewish context, to bind means to forbid. Unfortunately, religion often focuses on rules, do's and don't's, and misses the point of freedom in Christ. Jesus confronted the Pharisees and religious leaders head on about their hypocrisy in not practicing what they taught and creating unnecessary hoops for followers to jump through to obtain righteousness. They seemed bent on climbing the ladder of righteousness through rules and regulations to elevate their status with God. Jesus demolishes their ladder and turns their thinking upside down and through grace welcomes all to the table. How can we as followers of Jesus demolish the ladders that modern religion creates?

they like Jesus but not Dan's hair...

We had the opportunity to watch a talk that Dan Kimball gave on this topic and although we were a bit distracted by the hair, Dan communicated some important information. He called us to be educated about the culture that we live in, step outside our Christian bubbles and redefine evangelism. How do we put this into practice, love people like Jesus, all the while not diluting or hiding the message of the Gospel?

following His lead...

This week, we walked through the first few verses of the book of Joshua and talked about what it means to follow God's vision for us. We discussed where we have been and where we are going. We talked about patiently following God's lead in His time and not rushing out ahead on our own. Our charge for this coming week is to prayerfully write down three words that describe The Village and bring them next week as we watch God craft His mission/vision statement for us.