December 28, 2008 – Jewish Jesus

Storyline: Jesus was a prophetic character. When we think of prophets we think of those who see into the future and make predictions. For Jewish audiences, however, prophets were individuals who rose from obscurity to push back on the religious systems that exploited, marginalized, and oppressed. Jesus was certainly a prophet for his day and age. He lived a life that pushed against the grain of those who thought they had it, the leaders of the Jewish religious system; the priests. We must understand Jesus’ Jewish heritage to understand why merely conforming outwardly to traditions and religion is not enough. God desires sincere hearts who sincerely believe the kingdom of God is at hand and want to give of their entire lives in making it a reality.

January 4, 2009 – Political Jesus

Storyline: In Jesus’ day, Roman leaders declared themselves gods. Different groups arose vying for power in different ways. The Pharisees were the purists of the bunch and chose to abstain from political life and instead held to a hyper-spiritual interpretation of the Torah. The Sadducees aligned themselves with the Herodians (named after the puppet ruler Herod) and compromised themselves theologically and politically. The Essenes withdrew to the desert and stayed completely out of the public eye to remain pure and wait for the end of days. Finally, the Zealots called for a radical overthrow of power. All of these people were in opposition to how Jesus interpreted the kingdom of God. We must change how we judge success and what powers (stuff) we align to truly enter the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not one of Bible memorization, propositions, lots of money, and large numbers. Instead, the threatening part of the political message of Jesus is that it first seems like a failure but subversively gets at the heart of the issues.

January 11, 2009 – Revolutionary Jesus

Storyline: Jesus would have found himself in the lineage of a cosmic story with seven key characters; God, Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Moses, and David. Through these characters a subversive revolution is going on for God to create a people for Himself in spite of the many hurdles in His way. Jesus participates in this cosmic story and brings its to its ultimate meaning. Brian McLaren in his book, The Secret Message of Jesus, writes about this revolution, “Is it possible that the message of Jesus was less like an advertising slogan – obvious and loud – and more like a poem whose meaning only comes subtly and quietly to those who read slowly, think long and deeply, and refuse to give up?” This ‘poem’ continues to this day and we’re asked to participate in this subversive revolution in small ways around our community. We must prayerfully consider how we’re wired and how God might use us to continue His creation story!

January 18, 2009 – Divine Jesus

Storyline: To fully understand Jesus, we must dig in and better understand how He is eternal and divine. These words strike us as almighty and powerful in nature. In reality, the life of Jesus and our very purpose as humans flows out of the relationship God shares within Himself in the Godhead. We better understand community, the purpose of our existence and the ultimate beauty of the ascension when we ponder afresh how this almighty God has never known a life apart from community, a life apart from love, and how through this Divine Jesus, our God solidifies how much risk He is willing to take to restore His beloved back to Himself. As we gather together, there is a way in which people together praying, singing, eating, laughing, crying…just sharing life… mirrors the Divine Jesus to the world.

January 25, 2009 – Loving Jesus

Storyline: How much time and money do we expend to support false selves and to attempt to find security, hope and comfort in things of the here-and-now? How many of us walk around wounded, bleeding and struggling to get by because we have unhealthy understandings of God and others? Jesus shows us true love as He dies on behalf of us so that we never have to experience separation from God. What if we need to learn to die to self to fully understand Jesus’ amazing love for us? What if it is only in letting the false loves of our life fall to the ground that we experience what true love is and taste a love unconditional, eternal, divine, and purposeful?