Tag: repentance
-
Thoughts on “Being the Church” on a Bad Day
[Trigger warning: this post talks about sexual violence, Biblical violence, and church.] My denomination is in the national news these days, because Judges 19 was the text for the exegesis ordination exam given at the end of January. The miserable consequences were, it seems to me, foreseeable, and avoidable, and are still unfolding. For a…
-
Yom Kippur
For thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:I dwell in the high and holy place and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit,to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite. Isaiah 57:15
-
“Our Problem”
Jesus’ parables of the lost sheep and lost coin, told to grumbling Pharisees and scribes, raise a lot of uncomfortable questions …
-
Reflecting on Jonah 3
We are studying Jonah 3 for Sunday, May 30: the imaginative, over the top vision of successful prophetic ministry: universal repentance, and divine forbearance. [Some notes on the text are here.] Here are some questions we might want to ask ourselves, or discuss in class: The people and animals of Nineveh in this story give…
-
Reflecting on Matthew 3 1-12
We are studying Matthew 3:1-12 for Sunday, December 27 – studying, that is, when we are not preoccupied with whatever Christmas plans we are carrying out this week. [Some notes on the text are here.] Here are a few questions that might help us think about the text: John the Baptist seems to have been…
-
Studying Matthew 3 1-12
We are studying Matthew 3:1-12 for Sunday, December 27 – studying, that is, when we are not preoccupied with whatever Christmas plans we are carrying out this week. [Some questions on the text are here.] Here are a few belated notes on our text: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: Our text this week is the next episode…
-
Conviction
I am behind everywhere in my life. At a time when it feels wrong to say nothing at all, because what is happening is happening now, and how things “will turn out” is actually partly up to each one of us. I normally feel I can’t do much to affect “big things.” My world is…
-
Study Notes – 1 Kings 8 22-30 and following
We are studying 1 Kings 8:22-30 and up through verse 53 for Sunday. This is Solomon’s prayer on the occasion of the dedication of the first Temple in Jerusalem – the one we sometimes call Solomon’s Temple, since he was the one who built it. Here are my [belated, brief] notes on this text: BACKGROUND…
-
Study Notes – Psalm 66
We are studying Psalm 66 for Sunday, February 17. Psalm 66 is a song of praise to God for God’s mighty works. [Study questions on Psalm 66 are here.] Here are my notes on this text: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: Again, all things we know about Psalms will help us in reading Psalm 66. These are…
-
Questions for Reflection and Discussion – James 4 1-10
We of the Not-That-Early Sunday school class, along with lots of others, are studying James 4:1-10 for Sunday, January 13 – a text that points us to the roots of conflicts and that contrasts two kinds of friendship: friendship with God and friendship with “the world” – with the clear implication that friendship with God…
-
Questions for Reflection and Discussion (2 Chronicles 7 12-22)
The text we’re studying for Sunday, March 25 is 2 Chronicles 7:12-22. Here are some questions it might or might not be helpful to consider in class: God (YHWH) appears to Solomon at night – possibly in a dream or “vision of the night.” What would be our response to an appearance from God? Why?
Matters of Interpretation 