call stories – Matters of Interpretation

Reflecting on Luke 5 1-11

Simon does a favor for Jesus with his fishing boat, then experiences the catch of a lifetime, then leaves everything and follows Jesus, in Luke 5:1-11, the text we are studying for Sunday, January 10. [Some notes on the text are here.] Here are some questions we might want to think about: When we read…

HAT

January 8, 2021

Text of the Week – Questions

Bible study, call stories, Christian ideas and practices, discipleship, gospel of Luke, Luke 5:1-11, meditation on scripture, reading the Bible

Fourth Sunday in Lent

Our pastor was on vacation this week. When I saw the bulletin for this morning’s service, I thought: Will we ever get out of the fourth chapter of Luke? Is something going on, or is this just what happens when pastors are ill or on vacation and guest preachers substitute during Lent? Did Jesus wonder…

HAT

March 31, 2019

A Month of Sundays

call stories, Christian living, family, Jesus, Luke 4, relationships, stories

Study Notes – Mark 1 16-20 and Luke 14 25-33

We are studying two texts for Sunday, March 10: Mark 1:16-20 and Luke 14:25-33. Both are – at least on the surface – texts about leaving everything to follow Jesus. Maybe this is no coincidence, since Sunday is the first Sunday in Lent this year. The Mark text is Mark’s account of Jesus’ calling the…

HAT

March 5, 2019

Text of the Week – Notes

Bible, Bible study, call stories, discipleship, gospels, Jesus, Luke 14:25-33, Mark 1:16-20

Questions for Reflection and Discussion – Genesis 12 1-4 and more

We are studying portions of Genesis 10, 11, and 12, specifically 12:1-4, for Sunday, October 14. Here are a few questions that we might want to consider before, or in, class: Genesis 10:2, 11:10, and 11:27 introduce sections of genealogical material. What makes a genealogy meaningful to us? (For instance, knowing the people, or something…

HAT

October 12, 2018

Text of the Week – Questions

Bible, Bible study, call stories, genealogies, Genesis 12:1-4, Text of the Week – Questions

Exegetical Exercise (Acts 10 19-33)

The Uniform Series text for Sunday, August 27 (last Sunday of the Summer quarter) is Acts 10:19-33, a smaller piece of the longer narrative of Cornelius’ and Cornelius’ household’s acceptance into the Christian community, featuring Peter’s vision of the thing like a large sheet filled with treif animals, etc. Here are my very few notes…

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August 25, 2017

Text of the Week – Notes

Acts 10 19-33, Bible, Bible study, call stories, Christianity, exegesis, religion, Uniform Series

Exegetical Exercise (Ezekiel 3 1-11)

The Uniform Series text for Sunday, July 23, is Ezekiel 3:1-11. Here is the text (including a couple of verses from chapter 2; version: Inclusive Bible), along with my exegetical notes: 2:8 But you, mere mortal, heed what I say to you and don’t rebel like them. Open your mouth and eat what I feed…

HAT

July 18, 2017

Text of the Week – Notes

Bible, call stories, exegesis, Ezekiel 3:1-11, Hebrew Bible, prophets

Exegetical Exercise (Jeremiah 1, 4-10)

The Uniform Series text for Sunday, July 16, is Jeremiah 1:4-10, “the call of Jeremiah.” Here is the NRSV’s text, starting from Jeremiah 1:1, followed by my exegetical notes: The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the Lord…

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July 11, 2017

Text of the Week – Notes

Bible study, call stories, exegesis, Jeremiah 1:4-10, midrash, Uniform Series

Two Poems by Christina Rossetti

This morning, fourteenth Sunday in ordinary time, the breeze, as I was sitting on the balcony of the hotel where we are staying for vacation, and noticing the rustling in the tall grass that architecturally landscapes the view so as to make the view of the outdoor water park more natural-seeming and almost beautiful, reminded…

HAT

July 9, 2017

Reading Out Loud

call stories, Christianity, personal, poetry, prayer, religion

Questions for Reflection and Discussion (Exodus 3:1-12)

Still thinking about the Uniform Series text for Sunday, July 2 – Exodus 3:1-12 – some questions for reflection and discussion: Assuming Moses is on an unusually long trip with the flock (typical shepherd trips are evidently on the order of 20-25 miles these days – according to material on Navajo and Bedouins): what difference…

HAT

June 30, 2017

Text of the Week – Questions

Bible, Bible study, call stories, Christianity, Exodus 3:1-12, Moses, religion, Uniform Series

Exegetical Exercise (Judges 13:1-7, 24-25)

The Uniform Series text for Sunday, June 25, is Judges 13:1-7, 24-25, which we might describe as the “call of Samson,” but which in a way is more precisely the “call of Samson’s mother/Manoah’s wife/Zlelponi (by tradition).” The text (in the NRSV with slight modification) is: 13:1/ The Israelites again did what was evil in…

HAT

June 21, 2017

Text of the Week – Notes