Planting Peace, Sowing Shalom - Lenten Bible Study Guide 2024
Rev. Joann Lee • February 18, 2024
We live in a world full of shallow wells, creating a thirsty, isolated world. There’s a lot of anxiety in the world, in the church, because we turn to those shallow wells and are never satisfied. Jesus offers the Woman at the Well living water. What would it take for us to leave our water jars by our wells so we can ha
Salvation is not an exit plan! It's God’s deep commitment to redeeming what the world has learned to call normal. God does not abandon the world’s brokenness but enters it to make it whole.
What makes Jesus angry? Injustice, exploitation, and religious complicity with corruption and power, among other things. Tom Morello said in the 80s, "If you aren't angry, you aren't paying attention." Perhaps it is time to join Jesus in overturning some tables.
Jesus' baptism is where Christian community begins. The community Jesus creates comes about because of non-anxious invitation. Inviting people to see Jesus is not a popularity contest or a numbers game where we measure victory by budgets, attendance, or other measures.
As we claim and remember our baptismal promises,
Join us as we celebrate Epiphany, when the magi journeyed to see Jesus, and receive our Star Words. The prophet Isaiah preaches to people in exile a word of hope. Even as they walk in thick darkness, he tells them that nations will come to their light. How did Isaiah's prophecy come true in the story of the magi?
Not long after the birth of Christ, King Herod's fragile ego led to the slaughter of innocents. Jesus and his family, however, were able to escape this massacre by seeking refuge in Egypt. When we welcome immigrants and refugees, we welcome Jesus who knew what it meant to be displaced and how it felt to have to leave h
The prophet Isaiah tells the story of people who walked in darkness. He also tells of how God shines light into the dark and shadowy places where people walk.
What is our call, as followers of the Christ child, to reflect God's light for people who are walking in darkness today?
In a dream, Joseph received a startling message from God turned his world upside down, and Joseph's faithfulness in responding to God's dream, changed the world. We rejoice for all who hear God's dreams and respond with faith instead of fear.
God chose an unwed teenage girl to bear the son of God.
It reminds us that God is willing to be vulnerable. Because Mary was vulnerable. There was a more than decent chance that this pregnancy could have resulted in Mary being stoned to death. God does not just have a preference for the poor and the weak. God became po
Repentance is part of the work of preparation – and both activities have individual and collective elements. As crowds come to John for baptism, their repentance becomes a community event. Preparing the path of God also requires communities to engage in peace, love, and justice.