Loving Kindness led by Holly Strother-Waller
Our upcoming Wednesdays will explore the Hebrew word, hesed, which often gets translated as mercy. However, hesed is so much more than can be captured in this one English word. Together we will explore the history and context for hesed, discuss the expected ways that we see hesed show up in the biblical text, and discover the texts where hesed is more difficult to find. We will end the study through discussions on how this impacts our daily lives by asking big questions such as “how does our understanding of God’s hesed move us to engage those around us with mercy and ever-loving kindness?”
When God Makes No Sense: A Study of Habakkuk led by Ray Barrow
This will be a small group opportunity to explore the book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk is one of the minor prophets whose own wrestling with tough questions helps us journey through and with our own tough questions. Join in this three-week exploration of an often over-looked book of the Bible. This study is part of a new series entitled, Resurrecting the Jesus Bible, being put together by Ray Barrow. You can read more about that series below.
Resurrecting the Jesus Bible
When Jesus went out in the middle of the night to pray and meditate, did he carry anything with him?
Certainly, it was not the New Testament (not yet written). He could not get the five scrolls of Moses into the pocket of his toga. Then what did he use as his source for His “quiet time”? He carried the Old Testament scriptures, which He had studied all of his life. Living in an oral and aural culture, large passages of the Hebrew Bible had been memorized. The life of our Savior had been shaped by what we call the Old Testament.
But so many Christians are fearful of the O.T. They are disturbed by some of the images by which God is described. Except for some of the stories and many of the Psalms, it is a very neglected two-thirds of our Bible. One influential pastor in the US has suggested that we “unhitch” it from the New Testament and follow the gospels and Acts for our growth as Christians. The biggest problem with this is that the men who wrote the New Testament were Old Testament people steeped in the same scriptures Jesus quoted and taught the disciples on the Emmaus Road. By the way, the Torah has 613 commands, but the New Testament has over 800.
We cannot grasp the mind and heart of Jesus without some understanding of the Bible that shaped Him. This year we are beginning a series of classes on Reading the Jesus Bible. There will be 2 classes we are calling “J Term” classes (January and June). The first begins on Wednesday, Jan. 15th and is entitled “When God Makes No Sense” (Habakkuk). The second June class will be “When God Makes a Promise” (Genesis 1-3). An additional class will be during the Sunday School hour for Lent (March 2) called “What God Really Wants” (Hosea). Jesus knew and was shaped by these stories. If you will pardon the figure of speech, (the OT is full of them), Jesus “showered” in the Psalms and “took a bath” in the Torah.
Our Church has committed to follow Jesus in the way that He loved. We must understand the source of the love, and He found it in the Hebrew Bible. These classes will engage the text directly and are intended for people who would like to “venture past the rope and swim in the deep end of the pool” for a bit. Please pray about this, and, if you are so led, join us for an adventure into the Bible Jesus read.
In Christ’s Love,
Ray Barrow
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