|
The Rt. Rev. Barry Howe, Bishop of West Missouri, will make his annual visitation to Grace Church on Sunday, February 1, 2009. Mother Susan will lead an "Episcopal Essentials" series at Adult Forum at 9:00 am on Sundays throughout January. This series will prepare people for Confirmation and will be a good refresher course for those already Confirmed. Confirmation is open to all adults and to youth in 7th grade and older.
Sunday Adult Forum
9:00 AM in the Parish Hall
An Overview of "The Biblical Story"
The Scripture lessons for September through December are below.
Thematic text: So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)
The purpose of our study of the biblical story is to understand better God^s desire for the whole of creation to be restored and reconciled to a redeemed and healthy relationship with its creator. The people whom God calls are crucial instruments in God^s work of reconciliation and redemption.
NOTE: In all instances below "focal texts" means the biblical texts from which selected texts will be explored in depth. It would be great if participants could read all the focal texts in their entirety prior to Sunday’s study, but come, explore, and learn even if you haven’t had time to read the lessons.
September 7: Creation. Focal texts: Genesis 1-2, Proverbs 8:22-36; Colossians 1:15-20; Revelation 21:1-8.
Synopsis: God is Creator. In and through Christ, God made a "good" creation. Human beings are part of this good creation, serving as God^s created co-creators to be stewards of God^s good work. Yet, "good" does not mean that creation is free of chaos and the potential for chaos. God^s ultimate reconciling and redeeming goal is to create "a new heaven and new earth"; this creation will be chaos free. But creation is not there yet.
September 14: The Fall and God^s First Attempt at Reconciled Restoration. Focal texts: Genesis 3-11.
Synopsis: A good creation is not free of chaos. The power God entrusts to human beings can, when used irresponsibly, exacerbate the chaos that is part of God^s creation. Rebelling in many ways, humans unleash the forces of chaos to the point where God decides "to start over." Yet after the flood, even God sees that nothing really has changed. Human beings still are filled with pride and hubris wanting to run the world their way. Making creation right will require a new direction.
September 21-October 12: God Calls a People: The Story of the Ancestors of the People of God
September 21: Abraham. Focal texts: Genesis 12, 15, 17, and 22.
Synopsis: In Abraham God chooses to enter into a covenant with a certain people, a people to whom God promises many blessings, including land and many descendants. But God does not bless these people in order to set them apart, only to abandon the rest of the creation; rather God blesses a people to be a blessing to all the families of the earth. God sets apart a people in order that they might be God^s instruments to restore and reconcile all peoples back to God.
September 28: Jacob. Focal texts: Genesis 28 and 32.
Synopsis:
In these stories of one of our ancestors we learn two things about the people of God. One, they are blessed to encounter God in unique and distinctive ways (the story of "Jacob^s ladder"). Powerful and awesome encounters with God give strength to God's people. As the story unfolds, this will happen in worship. Two, God^s people are to have an "honest" relationship with God, which includes even "wrestling with God." Israel means, literally, the one who strives with God. As the people of God model for the rest of humanity what it means to be in relationship with God, we model not passive submission, but active engagement with the living God.
October 5: Joseph. Focal texts: Genesis 48-50
Synopsis: We will do an overview of the story of Joseph, but focus on the conclusion of the story, for it points us ahead to the future of God's people. The story reminds us that even God's people are in need of redemption, as they are capable of hostility toward one another. But it also offers hope that God can take the world as it is and help it to become the best it can be. Redemptive possibilities reside in all things.
October 12-November 23 : Covenant, Crises, and Consequences
October 12: God Establishes a Covenant with Israel. Focal texts: Exodus 20-24; Deuteronomy 28-30
Synopsis: God's covenant with God's people requires loyalty to God, which is demonstrated in both faithful worship and the practicing of justice to other human beings. The covenant clearly has a "conditional" element: lack of faithfulness on the part of God's people can turn blessing into a curse. The warnings of Deuteronomy raise the real possibility that Israel will not succeed in her covenantal relationship with God. Failure will be so great that Israel risks being removed from the "promised land." Israel, too, God's instrument for the world's reconciliation, is also in need of God's reconciling and redemptive power. But the last word offered to God's people is always one of possible repentance and assured restoration, based on repentance.
October 19 : Settling into the Promised Land. Focal texts: Joshua 23-24; Judges 1-2.
Synopsis: We will deal with the problem of "Holy War," though that will not be our focus. When Joshua ends, it appears that the people of God are well on their way to inheriting the blessing of land promised to the ancestors. Yet Judges will show a disturbing pattern. God's people have a difficult time remaining loyal to God and this brings negative consequences, as promised in Deuteronomy. But as also promised in Deuteronomy, there is always an opportunity for repentance and restoration.
October 26: No Adult Forum.
November 30 – December 21: Hopes for Restoration
November 2: Monarchy I: David and Solomon. Focal Texts: 2 Samuel 7 and I Kings 11-12; Psalms 2 and 110.
Synopsis: David and Solomon become central to the biblical story of God's people. First, a study of David and the Royal Psalms offers insight into what God expects of the ideal king who is to lead God's people. Second, the policies and failures of Solomon would also shape the destiny of God's people.
November 9: The Prophetic Demand for Justice. Focal texts: Amos 1:1-3:6; 9:11-15; Micah 1-2; 4:6-5:5; 6:1-8
Synopsis: Central to God's expectations of God's people is that they be faithful to God and God's covenant. Such faithfulness includes and demands justice. A common theme among the prophets was Israel's chronic disobedience to this crucial dimension of her covenantal obligations. Their judgmental words are harsh. Such harshness is rooted in the prophets' uncompromising commitment to social justice as a demonstration of the faithfulness of God's people. And yet we can also see clear and unambiguous evidence of words of redemption. God's determination to make things right never wavers.
November 16: Monarchy II: Hezekiah and Isaiah of Jerusalem. Focal texts: 2 Kings 18-20; Isaiah 1, 5, 7, 11
Synopsis: We will look at the Assyrian attack on Israel and Judah and the deliverance of Judah under the reign of the righteous Hezekiah. The text in 2 Kings introduces us to the prophet Isaiah, which segues to an examination of some oracles of Isaiah. Isaiah 1 and 5 echo again the prophetic demands for justice and the consequences for ignoring justice. Isaiah 7 and 11 allow us to see the consistent theme of God's persistent determination to offer redemption. Isaiah 7 speaks of God's "being with God's people" and Isaiah 11 looks forward to the rise of an ideal king, with hints that all creation will share in God's redeeming work.
November 23: Monarchy III: Josiah, His Successors and Jeremiah. Focal texts: 2 Kings 22-25; Jeremiah 3:1-8:3
Synopsis: We will look at another righteous king, Josiah, and his "Deuteronomic reforms." We will also see that the "law of Moses" was followed in Judah only when it had the support of the king, for when Josiah died, Judah went back to its old ways. We will learn about the beginning of Judah's most significant period, the Exile. Attention to the end of 2 Kings will show hints at redemption, but even such hints show the theme to be present. Jeremiah will explore more prophetic critiques of Judah and its faithlessness. As with other prophets, we encounter that worship of the living God must be accompanied by a life of obedience in accordance with the people's covenantal relationship with this living God. We will also see, again, the themes of hope and redemption.
November 30 – December 21: Hopes for Restoration
November 30: Jeremiah and Hopes for Restoration. Focal texts: Jeremiah 24, 30-33.
Synopsis: We will spend time examining the importance of the Exile and how this event of ultimate loss laid a foundation for prophetic words of hope for ultimate redemption. Jeremiah 30-33 speaks of such significant matters as the restoration of the "branch of David," the "restoration of all God's people (both Judah and Israel)," and "the new covenant."
December 7: Isaiah and the Hopes for Restoration. Focal texts: Selected texts from Isaiah 40, 49, 56, 60-61, 65-66.
Synopsis: The Second and Third parts of Isaiah offer great insight into the redemptive, prophetic thinking of prophets. Isaiah offers sure words of hope for Israel's restoration, including the restoration of Jerusalem and, implicitly, the Temple. This portion of Isaiah makes clear that Israel's mission is to be "a light to the nations," bringing all persons to recognize and worship the true and living God. Here we see coming to the forefront what was voiced even in God's call of Abraham: Abraham's descendants are blessed in order to be a blessing to all the families of the earth. These texts from Isaiah also set the redemption of Israel into the even larger context of God's desire to heal all creation, with talk of new heavens and a new earth.
December 14: Competing Visions of Restoration. Focal texts: Ezra 9-10; Nehemiah 9' 13; Jonah; Ruth; Review Isaiah 66
Synopsis: The post-Exilic period was a time of restoration: God was giving God's people a second chance. But how do God's people put into practice this second chance. We will explore how some good and faithful Jews believed that faithfulness required a strong defensive strategy: God's people must separate themselves from the nations. Other faithful Jews believed that God's people, while remaining faithful to God, were to open the boundaries to be more welcoming of non-Jewish people. It will be important to explore here that God's people can have competing understandings of "God's will"; this is not a new or even bad thing as it finds expression in the Scriptures themselves.
December 21: Apocalyptic Hopes for Restoration. Focal texts: Daniel 2, 7, 12.
Synopsis: How do the people of God hope for restoration and redemption when they are being persecuted by others and when it appears that history in the hands of "the dark forces" of life? Out of this kind of trial came a new way of thinking about how God would "make the world right": apocalypticism. Daniel offers us insight into this powerful way of thinking that greatly shaped Jewish thought at the time of Jesus. To understand the Jesus' message of the dawning reign of God it is crucial that we understand apocalypticism.
|
