Going deeper ...
I'm doing a series of messages entitled The New Exodus that are based upon the teachings of Don Golden and Rob Bell of Mars Hill Bible Church in Granville, Mich.
Last year during Lent, I picked up several of Rob Bell's Nooma videos for Wednesday night gatherings. They went over pretty well. The videos led me to Mars Hill Bible Church's Web site, where I was able to download some of Rob's messages. The first series that really capitvated me was The New Exodus. I downloaded the four messages onto my Palm Pilot and consumed them on summer vacation. The more I listened, the more I thought, "This is a message for God's people in The Meadow."
In the meantime, I was sensing that God was drawing me into the Old Testament, which fit with the texts touched upon during the messages: Genesis, Exodus, I Kings, Isaiah 61, and others.
This past fall, I decided that the time between Epiphany and Lent would be appropriate for the messages and, as God would have it, my winter Course of Study class was Hebrew Bible I.
Gee, go figure ...
The first message centered upon how personal sin always has a social and global impact; sin building an empire for itself; always moving from the garden (of Eden) to the city (Jerusalem).
The second message was how God has been looking for a body for thousands and thousands of years. He told Moses, "You will be like to Pharaoh." He told the Hebrew people, "You will be a kingdom of preists and a holy nation."
This week, it's The Dark Side: How Solomon forgot the story of how they had been rescued from slavery, from bondage, and began accumulating slaves, marrying foreign wives and following foreign gods (Molech, etc.), and becoming an arms trader.
The teaching style has been a departure for me, but it's been great hearing those pages flip in the Bible as the congregation follows along -- not to mention my own growth during this time.
Makes me want to continue to go deeper.
Grace and peace ...
Last year during Lent, I picked up several of Rob Bell's Nooma videos for Wednesday night gatherings. They went over pretty well. The videos led me to Mars Hill Bible Church's Web site, where I was able to download some of Rob's messages. The first series that really capitvated me was The New Exodus. I downloaded the four messages onto my Palm Pilot and consumed them on summer vacation. The more I listened, the more I thought, "This is a message for God's people in The Meadow."
In the meantime, I was sensing that God was drawing me into the Old Testament, which fit with the texts touched upon during the messages: Genesis, Exodus, I Kings, Isaiah 61, and others.
This past fall, I decided that the time between Epiphany and Lent would be appropriate for the messages and, as God would have it, my winter Course of Study class was Hebrew Bible I.
Gee, go figure ...
The first message centered upon how personal sin always has a social and global impact; sin building an empire for itself; always moving from the garden (of Eden) to the city (Jerusalem).
The second message was how God has been looking for a body for thousands and thousands of years. He told Moses, "You will be like to Pharaoh." He told the Hebrew people, "You will be a kingdom of preists and a holy nation."
This week, it's The Dark Side: How Solomon forgot the story of how they had been rescued from slavery, from bondage, and began accumulating slaves, marrying foreign wives and following foreign gods (Molech, etc.), and becoming an arms trader.
The teaching style has been a departure for me, but it's been great hearing those pages flip in the Bible as the congregation follows along -- not to mention my own growth during this time.
Makes me want to continue to go deeper.
Grace and peace ...
posted by Pastor Buzz at 11:08 PM
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