This week: “The World of Jesus and the Apostles”

Events happening now in Israel, Gaza, and throughout the Middle East have antecedents in long established tensions between the inhabitants of the entire region.  The first Christians spread explosively after the crucifixion and resurrection stories , and the unfailing love early believers shared between themselves and toward those in need drew many inquiries from their neighbors.  Important questions had to be faced.  How much of the surrounding Greek, Roman, and Jewish cultures could be absorbed and still remain true to the message of Jesus? In what ways did early believers overcome religious and cultural divides to become one body in Christ?  What aspects of the time and place in which Jesus’ life occurred contributed to the success of the spread of the Gospel?  I once read a quote stating, “How odd of God to choose the Jews, when He could have waited for America and saved the world in record time?  What assumptions are being made in statements like that?  What are the consequences?

For this series, get ready for an adventure! From our various backgrounds all of us come to the Bible with ideas as to how the writings we call scripture came to us. We also share or wrestle with what value we give to these “ancient words” in our everyday lives. Some believe all Scripture is inspired by God. Others find biases of the human authors clearly conflicting with what they believe God reveals to us in Christ. For several weeks we will explore video presentations followed by class discussion of “The New Testament You Never Knew—Exploring the context, purpose, and meaning of the story of God” by N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird.

Join us Sunday for the second study in the series The New Testament You Never Knew by N. T. Wright and Michael Bird. Please note that due to copyright issues, this series is not being recorded or livestreamed.

The dates for the series are:
Oct 15, 22
Nov 12, 19, 26
Dec 3, 10, 17