Tag: Jesus

The Rescuing Counterpart

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This Sunday is Mother’s Day and coincidentally enough, in our study we’ll be reading about the very first mother, the creation of Eve. We’ll be continuing our study in Genesis, reading ch 2:18-25.

Once again, I want to remind us to manage our expectations when we come to a study like this. Remember, Genesis isn’t a modern science text-book – it is sacred spiritual literature – and we are approaching it to discover its theological truths. We’ll be reading about the creation of a counterpart for the human (Adam), and we’ll consider what this part of the story is trying to tell us. Whole fields of ideology on gender and gender roles have been derived from this section, for good or bad. Issues of gender are in the foreground of the text, but whether or not they’ve been well understood is another matter.

As you read the text, you’ll see we are confronted with another obstacle, maybe even crisis, since it is described as “lo-tov” – not good. What is it? God determines to resolve or eliminate the obstacle by providing a “helper”, which was “just right/suitable” for him.

The word “helper” in the Hebrew is EZER. Now, if you’re interested, click HERE to look at the word and a concordance list of all the times that word is used in the Hebrew bible. As you examine the passages, how might it indicate what an EZER is – that is, is it describing a subordinate who assists, or something else? Does its usage elsewhere inform you about the nature of the EZER God provides for the solitary human (Adam)?

When it describes the EZER who is “suitable” for Adam, that word is NEGED in the Hebrew, meaning “in front of, or opposite of”, like a mirror. Again, does that seem to imply someone inferior, superior, or an equal?

We’ll look at the woman’s formation, and the deep sleep Adam goes into, and consider the significance of that. Adam began alone, then the one became two, for the purpose of becoming one again. While this certainly has the marriage relationship in view, this idea spills over into a variety of relationships, not least of which is the one we have with the church in Christ. There is a pattern being revealed in this – one which carries through the entire biblical narrative, landing at John 17 and arching like an arrow through the NT epistles.

This has the potential of being an intense study – but one that can be inspiring, albeit, challenging to some of our pre-loaded assumptions about the nature of humanity as God has made us. I hope you can join us this Sunday at 10 AM!

Ash Wednesday 2024

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So…I know tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, but I really can’t help the timing, it wasn’t up to me. Ten years ago we did an Ash Wednesday service at Eastgate, and I found it to be a very moving and spiritually nourishing experience. I said back then: “We need to do this more often”….but time gets away from us. So, this Wednesday we are re-visiting that ritual from long ago. Ten years ago I also wrote an explanation of the service, which I’m going to repost here, to help explain the purpose of this service.

I grew up in a decidedly non-liturgical home.  We were evangelicals, but my father was ordained in the Methodist church, so I’m a bit confused as to why we were so far removed from liturgies…but, such is the case for me.

[Tomorrow] is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent for most Western Christian churches who observe liturgical calendars.

I have never observed Lent in my whole life.  I honestly didn’t even know for sure what it was until a few years ago.  Lent, in case YOU don’t know either, is a period of forty days prior to Easter, where the Christian, in imitation of Christ’s forty day wilderness temptation, observes a time of penitence, fasting, charity and prayer.

People practice the denial of self in a great variety of ways during lent.  Some abstain from certain types of food…I have one friend who gave up deserts for forty days (and consequently lost a lot of weight).  It was very meaningful for him.  I had another friend who quit watching TV for forty days.

Having grown up completely outside the reaches of liturgical observances, recently I’ve become quite fascinated with them.  Several years ago, I began the practice of praying the “daily office”, from the Celtic Daily Prayers book.  It has had a profound effect on me.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, and for the first time ever (second time) we will have a small Ash Wednesday service..

What is this about, you ask? Ash Wednesday is a practice that began in the middle ages – intended as a time for followers of Christ to prepare their hearts for Easter. The main thrust behind the imposing of ashes on a forehead is summed up in REMEMBER, REPENT, and RETURN.

REMEMBER – that we are mortal – from dust we were created and to the dust we return. Material wealth, plastic surgery, advances in science…none of these things can prevent our inevitable death. The ashes connect us with the reality of our finite, human condition.

REPENT – acknowledge that we don’t do this Christian thing very well, and commit our hearts to change. It does the heart a world of good to come clean with God and admit our struggles to him, and appeal for his help in our resolve to live the life he intended for us.

RETURN – the ashes are brushed on the forehead in the shape of the cross. We are mortal and destined for the dust – but the cross changes everything. The cross of Christ, the love of God in action is the only means by which we now have hope of everlasting life. The ashen cross on our forehead urges us to leave off our pursuits of lesser lovers and  return to the only source of life there is.

The meeting will be quiet and contemplative. We’ll begin at 6 PM with a brief explanation, then a worship song. After that, as Matt continues to play, we’ll invite people forward to have the ashes imposed on the forehead. We’ll be handing out a sheet with meditative prayers on it, covering the themes of remembrance, repentance and returning. As you wait for the ashes, you can meditate on and pray those prayers. Feel free to stay for the whole service, or leave after you receive the ashes, it’s entirely up to you.

“How long do I have to wear the ashes, Rob?” Again, that’s entirely up to you – what’s important is the state of our hearts, not what we have on our foreheads. This is just a time for a visceral, tangible reminder of who we are in Christ, and an opportunity to draw closer to Him as a community.

I hope you can join us, Wednesday the 14th, at 6PM.

The Mission Continues

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I still remember one of the most often repeated phrases I heard after Hurricane Michael was: “I just can’t wait for things to get back to normal”. It was an understandable sentiment. Whenever we go through times and circumstances that push us out of our regular patterns in life, as when life is hard and confusing, we just want to get back to something familiar so we can try and reorient ourselves. It’s a typical response.

We’re going to be reading about Jesus’ disciples doing just that as come to the final chapter in our study of the Gospel of John this Sunday. We’ll be reading John 21:1-25. Peter and six other disciples don’t quite know what to do with themselves after all of the events that unfolded in Jesus’ execution and then mind-blowing resurrection. They probably had hoped that the skies would rain fire and Rome collapse in a blaze…but none of that stuff happened. Instead, life seemed to just go on and Jesus only seemed to pop in on them sporadically, and I’m sure it all felt really surreal. It makes sense to me that they wanted to get back to what they knew how to do, fishing.

However, now that Jesus is on the loose, things done under their own initiative seem to result in frustration (v3). Have you ever experienced that? Have you ever not known what God is up to and so in exasperation just decided to go back to old habits and patterns you had before meeting Christ? What were the results, and what can we learn from that?

Jesus’ interaction with Peter is, to me, one of the most moving scenes in all of the Gospels. What significance do you see in Jesus inviting Peter to confess his love for Jesus three times? How could this interaction provide a sense of closure to Peter? What can that tell us about our own failures and Jesus’ intent?

Jesus doesn’t just let Peter say words, he commissions him with a way of demonstrating his love for Christ. How does Jesus indicate a love for him is revealed? Is it something we can do in isolation, and if not, what does that tell us about our Christian priorities?

Jesus finishes his instruction to Peter by commanding him to follow. What does it mean to you to follow Jesus? What does it look like for a 21st Century American Christian?

I’ve really loved this gospel. We’ll have one more study after this Sunday where we wrap up all the themes we discovered. I hope it’s not the last time you visit this gospel…we barely scratched the surface of it. I truly hope you go there often, and go looking for Jesus in those words.

I hope you can join us this Sunday at 10 AM!

A Very Present Jesus

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This Sunday we’re going to be reading John 20:19-31, which finishes up the chapter. This chapter brings us to the end of the Book of Glory, with only the epilogue (ch 21) remaining. In this chapter we’ll be reading about Jesus’ appearance to the rest of the disciples and to Thomas – and we’ll be considering the ramifications of the risen Christ in the midst of his followers.

Jesus shows up in the middle of a locked room. He is obviously present in a new kind of physicality, one that is not hindered by normal obstacles. Think about that locked door and the symbolism of it. What kind of doors do we lock in life…and how effective are they in keeping Jesus out?

The first thing out of Jesus’ mouth is the common greeting: Shalom. It means peace, wholeness, stability of life. John is using this event to convey the meaning of Christ’s presence, which is with us still – and how his presence brings with it wholeness and fullness of life. In what ways have you found stability, wholeness and well being in the presence of Christ?

Jesus commissions his followers to do the same thing he’d been doing. That would be unthinkable if he didn’t follow it up by giving the Holy Spirit to empower us for such a task. How can we start developing habits of following the Holy Spirit’s lead to do good and help the oppressed in this world?

V23 is a strange command. Whole ecclesiological frameworks have developed around the way people interpret what Jesus says here. There’s a conservative interpretation that I’m persuaded by (I’ll share it Sunday) – what do YOU think he’s saying?

The account of Thomas is awesome to me. I love that dude. Do you think Tommy was doubting Jesus, or the testimony of the other disciples? How did Jesus interact with Tom: rebuke, anger, irritation, compassion, care…? What was the first thing he said to him? Do you think that Jesus is angered by our questions or honest skepticism?  Do you believe that doubt and sincere searching is debilitating to faith, or can it actually encourage and enhance faith? How might Jesus’ interaction with Thomas inform your view?

I hope you can join us this Sunday, I think we’ll have a lot of good stuff to chew on!

A New Creation

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The creation account in Genesis begins in the dark: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”. God intervened and spoke light, order and life.

All of that went wrong when a man and a woman stood in a garden and rejected God’s rule. As a result, darkness, chaos and death again captivated the scene.

The gospel of John echoes a lot of those themes in his account of Jesus, and maybe none more so than in the section we’ve come to in our study of John. We’re going to be reading John 20:1-18 this Sunday, the account of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

The main purpose of John’s gospel, as he explained in chapter one, is to let us know that all that Jesus did and taught was revealing what God is like and what God is up to – and here in his resurrection we see it in full bloom: redemption; new creation….RESURRECTION!

As you read this account, put yourself in the place of Peter and the DWJL (the disciple whom Jesus loved) – how do you think you would have reacted to Mary’s news? What would you think was going on initially?

V9 says Pete and the DWJL returned to their own home (literally, to themselves). What ways do we turn back to ourselves when we go through dark and confusing times?

Mary was inconsolable. She was on task: find the corpse of Jesus and get it re-buried. She was so miserable and fixated on that problem that she didn’t even realize the solution to her dilemma was standing right in front of her. What can that tell us about how we perceive our troubles – how should resurrection and new creation affect our expectations?

Jesus and Mary are pictured standing in a garden – what does this harken back to? What is this image revealing to us about what has happened in Christ’s resurrection?

If I asked you who the first evangelist, ambassador, teacher and missionary of the gospel was…who would you say? I know who v 18 says it was.

This is the landing place that all of John’s gospel has been leading us to – I really hope you can join us this Sunday as we dig in and explore this passage together!

The New Normal

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This Sunday we are going to continue our study in the book of John chapter 19 verses 31-42. These verses are exciting because the Old Testament has been laying bricks on a road that led to this very moment. John has been adding to that by continuing to pave the way with every story and detail he has included in the gospel. 

What we find in these verses is a continuation of John wasting no words or adding unnecessary information. There are so many connections to the Old Testament that are linked in this section of verses alone. There are several notes that mention different prophecies being fulfilled, but even beyond that we see a wide variety of stories coming to fulfillment.

In remembering that every word is included for a reason, what do we notice with the time of year that the crucifixion takes place? Do we see significance in that? What about the landscape of the area where the tomb is located? What Old Testament stories come to mind in reading the scenery that is mentioned? What about the fact that both blood and water flow out of Jesus when the spear is thrust into his side? What stories does Jesus mention about his blood? What times does Jesus mention offering water to people?

These should be the most depressing verses found in the Bible, but they’re not. Hope, fulfillment, a plan to make things right, and the inability to fail are written all over this story. We invite you to join us this Sunday at 10:00AM as we study these verses and find the hope that overflows from these words and into our hearts. 

What Kind of King?

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At Christmastime we celebrate the birth of Jesus – and that is something that forces a question in most of our minds: why was Jesus born? Most Evangelicals would likely respond that He was born so he could die for our sins and bring us salvation. Jesus, however, actually gives us the answer as to why he was born in the text we’ll be reading this Sunday. We’ll be reading the account of Jesus before Pilate in our study of the Gospel of John, ch 18:28-40.

Pilate was the Roman governor over Judea. History recalls him as a cruel, petty, common-born politician, and I think the gospel accounts of him back that notion up.

When Pilate interrogates Jesus, he is only interested in one thing: is Jesus claiming to be a rival king to Caesar. If so, it will warrant his death. Jesus, as he so often does, turns the tables on this interrogation, so that Pilate is forced to make decisions and provide answers, and he clearly has no interest in doing that.

In the back and forth, Jesus provides some very important revelations as to the nature of God’s Kingdom, the sort of King Jesus is, the mission that he was on and in the last few verses of the section, the way in which the power of God’s Kingdom is revealed.

Jesus declares to Pilate that His Kingdom isn’t from, or like the kingdoms of this world’s system. Then he describes the difference in v36. How do you understand what he’s saying, and how might that be applied in our present day world?

Why do you suppose Jesus never says “yes, I am a King”? How would Pilate define a king? Would Jesus fit that definition?

When Jesus says that the reason he was born was to testify to the truth, what truth do you think he’s talking about?

Pilate offers to release a prisoner in honor of the Passover, so he offers a choice between Jesus, whom he describes as their king, and Barabbas, a lestes, brigand or revolutionary (as the NLT translates it). He wouldn’t have been a Roman prisoner if he hadn’t been guilty of some sort of insurrection activity. Here he is, the one guilty of the very crime Jesus is accused, and innocent, of. Jesus takes the place of the guilty, and the guilty one goes free. It becomes a microcosmic picture of the power of God’s Kingdom. How would you describe that power, and how might it be more powerful than the war-engines of Rome?

This is going to be an important study – I hope you can join us this Sunday!

A Deeper Faith

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We all know the phrase: “seeing is believing”. It’s a saying that communicates the idea that if we see something with our own eyes we will believe it to exist or be true, no matter how unexpected or unusual it may be. On the surface it expresses a willingness to accept a reality that is verifiably evident.

What’s interesting is that the phrase was coined by Thomas Fuller, a 17th Century clergyman, and the whole phrase is: “seeing is believing, but feeling is the truth”. He was suggesting that truth and evidence are sometimes differentiated. Some truths can’t be verified so neatly.

It’s a pretty deep concept, one that is the heart of our study this Sunday as we continue in our examination of the Gospel of John. We’ll be reading John 4:43-54.

Some things to keep in mind as you read: the repeated idea of “seeing” (see, seen). This is a through-line from the last section.

In our text we are introduced to a man of means and position, a government official (likely working for Herod Antipas). He implores Jesus to come to his home and heal his son. Jesus’ response is puzzling on the surface. Who do you think he’s talking to when he says “you”? Why do you think he responded that way? In what ways do you think this man didn’t believe in Jesus?

When Jesus sends the man home, what evidence did that man have that anything had changed for his son? What was the basis for him heading home? What does that tell us about the kind of faith God is looking for from us?

The timing of the boy’s healing and Jesus’ words is highlighted by John. What might it teach us about who Jesus is and what is within his control?

In v53 we are told the man and his household believe in Jesus. How is that a different kind of faith than the believing expressed by the Galileans from v45? How would you describe the deeper faith that we are challenged to in this passage?

I’m really stoked about this section, I hope you can join us for what I think will be a intriguing but very encouraging study!

Nick at Night

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It’s one of the most famous stories from the Gospels – the story of a religious leader who has a nighttime meeting with Jesus – where Jesus cryptically conveys the scope and power of his plan – where those famous words were uttered: “For God so loved the world…”.

We’ll be reading John 3:1-21 this Sunday.

While v16 of this section is probably very familiar – much of what surrounds that text is pretty mysterious stuff. Nick wasn’t the only one who got confused – scholars have had multiple interpretations about some of the things Jesus says here for more than a thousand years.

It says that Nick is a ruler of the Judeans – which means he’s on the Sanhedrin. That being the case, he must have been well older than Jesus, a respected man in the community as well as the temple, and he must have been a person from a wealthy family. What do you think was going through his mind as he met with this young, homeless Rabbi from the sticks?

Based on what he says, does he seem friendly or hostile to you? By the end of the gospel, he certainly shows signs of being a follower of Jesus, but how do you imagine him this night as he meets Jesus for the first time?

Jesus’ answers certainly don’t fit the paradigm that Nick tries to set up. Jesus talks spiritual rebirth and Nick talks obstetrics…it’s sort of a mess.

In trying to make sense of Jesus’ statements about being born of water and spirit, think about the creation account and the Spirit hovering over the face of the waters – what insight, if any, does this give you about what Jesus may be referring to?

What condition does Jesus put on receiving eternal life? What does this condition mean to you?

Read v17. Read it again. If God’s purpose is not to condemn the world, how do you understand v18-21?

God’s purpose is not to condemn – how well do you think the church has presented that truth? How can we better embody what the gospel message is?

Hope you can join us this Sunday!

Following Jesus

Rob Woodrum1 Comment

What does it mean to follow someone? It really depends on the context, I suppose. If you follow someone on Instagram it simply means you have an interest in keeping up with what content a person posts. If you follow a football team, it basically means you’re a fan – you cheer for them and wear their team logo on your person.

To be a follower of Jesus implies much, much more. Jesus’ first disciples will be the topic of our study in the gospel of John this Sunday.  We’ll be reading John 1:35-51.

As you read this account of Rabbi Jesus gathering his first Talmidim (disciples, followers) – what do you observe about following Jesus; what did it meant to them? Did they have questions, and what were they? What was their first order of business after they met Jesus? What significant thing happens with Simon – and what might it imply for him?

As the disciples tell their friends about Jesus – what is the invitation they give?

What would you invite others to “come and see” about Jesus? How has he significantly impacted your identity?

This will be a challenging study, I hope you can join us this Sunday!