Sorry about the cold last Sunday. Still learning about the building’s reaction to crazy Texas weather. So our conversation was brief, but good. I shared a little (maybe a lot) about the context of Romans. Paul is often read through the eyes of previous interpreters and, in our contemporary context, Romans is often the source of our ideas about what …
Suffering and Redemption
Because Lent is a time when we tend to talk a lot about sin, I endeavored on Sunday to explain my framework for thinking about sin. Some folks asked for a write-up, so here it is if you’re interested. The reason this alternative view is important is that sin, in the Christian mindset, is thought to be responsible for evil, …
My Understanding of Sin
Because Lent is a time when we tend to talk a lot about sin, I endeavored on Sunday to explain my framework for thinking about sin. It differs from things we might have heard growing up in a modern American Christian context, whether Catholic or Evangelical. In the spirit of this church’s emphasis on questioning and conversation, I am not …
Sin and Suffering
We had a rich and wide-ranging discussion on Wednesday night after dinner. We began discussing the long-promised fifth chapter of Marcus Borg’s Heart of Christianity, which concerns the place of Jesus as central to the Christian faith. As discussions of Christianity often do, this one eventually turned to the Bible. Specifically, we talked about how our witness to the life …
Celebration and Mourning (Plus: Holy Week, Easter, and a Vote
Holy Week Easter Vote on Pastoral Resident This Sunday, Palm Sunday, is the beginning of Holy Week. The liturgical year began with Advent and the birth of Jesus. One would think that its culmination would be in the death of Jesus after a full year. However, our tradition places that event in the middle of the year signifying that death …
Mark: The End (Program and Sermon)
Program Sermon Outline (loosely followed) I. Transfiguration a. Elijah, Moses, Jesus b. Making tents c. Beloved Son II. The Way to Jerusalem a. Argument of James and John b. Bartimaeus III. Jerusalem a. Triumphal Entry b. Curse of the fig tree c. Cleansing the temple d. Teaching e. Anointing at Bethany f. Passover g. Betrayal h. Arrest i. Trial j. …
Mark: The End
We know how this ends, right? After an auspicious beginning, Jesus travels to Jerusalem, stirs up trouble, gets arrested, and is crucified. And for those of us who grew up in the church, we probably know the meaning of this as well. Allowing some variation in the way it is formulated, the bottom line is that Jesus’ death is our …
Mark: The Ministry of Mystery
(I somehow forgot to post this last week, so I’m just catching up. Sorry. – Scott) Last week, we began at the beginning. The Gospel of Mark begins with an enigma, proclaiming to readers “the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, Son of God,” a story that they are presumed to already know. To us, much of it …
Mark: The Ministry of Mystery (Program and Sermon)
Program Sermon Outline (loosely followed) I. Who is Jesus? a. Son of God Used in opening and not again until the crucifixion. b. Son of Man Jesus’ preferred way of referring to himself in Mark. “Son of man” initially just means “human” in the Hebrew Bible, but becomes the title of an eschatological judge in Daniel. This develops into the …