The Seder: From Bitterness to the Lamb (Lent Wednesdays 23)
Every Week we will be going though the Seder plate of Passover meal. Discussing what each things mean from the Bitterness to the Lamb
Every Week we will be going though the Seder plate of Passover meal. Discussing what each things mean from the Bitterness to the Lamb
Reading Plan
The readings for Sunday
2/22/2023
Ash Wednesday
Exodus 2:1-102
Corinthians 5:16-21
Matthew 6:1-4, 16-18
Maror and Chazert Bitter Herbs
3/1/2023
10Exodus 3:1-14
Romans 12:1-2
Matthew 16:21-28Charoset Sweet Brown Mixture/Fruit
3/15/2023
Exodus 14:1-29
Matthew 11:25-30
Karpas Vegetable/parsley dipped into salt water
3/22/2023
Exodus 16:1-8,
Exodus 17:1-7
John 6:35-40Unleven bread
3/29/2023
Exodus 32:1-14
1 Corinthians 10:5-8
Matthew 5:27-30Beitzah roasted egg
![[Wednesday Lent] Matzah - The Seder](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1679455050370-GBLOV036WTS1GF65VGVZ/seder+4a.jpg)
![[Wednesday Lent] Karpas- The Seder](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1678887163301-GTRUJMGEKUXVQSJ9TEAR/seder+3a.jpg)
![[Wednesday Lent] Zeroah- The Seder](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1678285116286-8UL7RCGU3KQ4IPHRVJZW/seder+2a.jpg)
![[Wednesday Lent] Charoset - The Seder](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1677513069393-XHCDWK9PVCMCKJQ7MTUN/seder+1a.jpg)
![[Ash Wednesday] Bitter Herbs - The Seder](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/4fef5a15-d08d-4f6d-80a9-4c65ebe5bc66/ash+wednesday+23.jpg)
![[Sunday] Justice - The Way](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1676572574242-6TYC4KD192DUXY8WVVK9/The+Way+1a.jpg)
[Sunday] Justice - The Way
We see so much hurt and injustice in society, and we cry out for a better way. But even that search for something better often leaves behind a trail of hurt. Perhaps justice can find its place in the creation story and the recreation of the gardener.
We see so much hurt and injustice in society, and we cry out for a better way. But even that search for something better often leaves behind a trail of hurt. Perhaps justice can find its place in the creation story and the recreation of the gardener.
Questions This Week
Describe a time when you thought you knew “the way” but ended up getting it wrong.
Read John 8:1-11. How do they try and trap Jesus in injustice? How does Jesus bring justice to the situation?
Read John 19:12-16. What injustice is put on Jesus? How does he respond?
Read John 1:1-5. How can you see echoes of the resurrection in this beginning part of John?
How can you join with Jesus in that creative redemption of God where justice is brought?
What Had happened at Grace this week.
![[Sunday] Song of the Gardener - Resurrected Way](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1746820023029-M49V8PRFENX18UQFJSTO/2.jpg)
![[Sunday] Amazed - Kingdom Way - Mark 16](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1746065673689-DFOUX7U71BCXL4N2XOAH/RW+1a.jpg)
![[Sunday] Backwards Beautiful - Kingdom Way - Matthew 28](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1745552165848-WAAACA58WKWYMWY08VZZ/KW+25a.jpg)
Cris and Ed Bock to Tallahassee
Trip To Florida Capital.
Eb Bock and Pastor Cris Escher went to Tallahassee with Alzheimer's Community Care to promote Alzheimer's care in Florida.
When Justice is UnJust: The Death of Jesus in First Corinthians
John Barclay on the Foolishness of the Cross to the Gentiles
The Article is from When Justice is Unjust: The Death of Jesus in First Corinthians - Mockingbird (mbird.com)
New Testament scholar, John Barclay, on the foolishness of the cross to the Gentiles:
To hail Jesus the crucified as the Christ, the Son of God, was even more an outrage [than the death of Gavius]. If he was executed as a criminal by legitimate authorities, he was rightly degraded to the rank of human trash, and could not possibly be honored, still less associated with the divine. If he was properly to be honored as divine, then one of two conclusions had to be drawn. Either his death was the most monstrous miscarriage of justice … or the whole system of values that made crucifixion a symbol and enactment of abject worthlessness was itself completely worthless, mistaken to the core. Paul takes the latter course. He makes no attempt to exonerate the executioners of Jesus, nor to pass off his crucifixion as a temporary error in the otherwise sound practice of Roman justice […]
If the crucifixion of a Roman citizen is an outrage, for which Cicero wants Verres humiliated and exiled, the crucifixion of the Lord of glory by “the rulers of this age” is the clearest possible indication that this age understands nothing of the divine system of value. The crucifixion is not just a temporary aberration in an otherwise well-functioning system: it is the clearest possible proof that the norms which pass for ‘wisdom’ are completely unable to grasp what God is doing in the world. To read the crucifixion with the eyes of Paul is like reading the systems of justice in the old American South with the eyes of Harper Lee (author of To Kill a Mockingbird): it is to expose a whole system of evaluation, a matrix of norms and judgments that prides itself on its advanced state of civilization, as blind, corrupt, and barbaric, utterly worthless in its judgment of worth.
Quoted from “Crucifixion as Wisdom: Exploring the Ideology of a Disreputable Movement” in The Wisdom and Foolishness of God: First Corinthians in Theological Exploration, (emphasis added).
The Way: Finding Meaning in the Gospel of John (Teaching Series)
There are certain indicators that we are on The Way with Jesus Justice, Spirituality, Relationships, Beauty, Freedom, Truth, and Power. But what If we do not live up to these ideals, our societies and individual lives become unbalanced, creating anger and frustration that divide us from ourselves and from God. Come and see how The Way seems broken but how easter vision can bring many along the way of Hope.e. Let’s acknowledges the problem and then explore how we can respond with both grace and truth.
There are certain indicators that we are on The Way with Jesus Justice, Spirituality, Relationships, Beauty, Freedom, Truth, and Power. But what If we do not live up to these ideals, our societies and individual lives become unbalanced, creating anger and frustration that divide us from ourselves and from God. Come and see how The Way seems broken but how easter vision can bring many along the way of Hope.
Our Wednesday Series through Lent
Amazon Link
Purchase the Book
Reading Plan
The readings for Sunday
2/19/23 - Justice
Exodus 17:1-7
Hebrews 12:12-15
John 4:5-26, 39-42
2/26/23 - Love
Jeremiah 1:4-10
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Matthew 5:38-48
3/5/23 - Spirituality
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
1 John 3:11-18
Luke 4:16-21
3/12/23 - Beauty
Isaiah 52:7-12
Hebrews 13:1-16
Matthew 13:31-35
3/19/23 - Freedom
Exodus 19:1-6
1 Corinthians 9:19-27
Luke 4:1-13
3/26/23 - Truth
Exodus 19:1-6
1 Corinthians 9:19-27
Luke 4:1-13
4/2/23 - Power
Exodus 19:1-6
1 Corinthians 9:19-27
Luke 4:1-13
4/9/23 - John’s Easter
Exodus 19:1-6
1 Corinthians 9:19-27
Luke 4:1-13
![[Sunday] Easter - The Way](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1680725834707-BIIP0Y3OAE93OLBUY6HR/The+Way+8a.jpg)
![[Sunday] Power - The Way](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1680273080629-XCV03Y9J57O6AZ9Q0D3X/The+Way+7a.jpg)
![[Sunday] Truth - The Way](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1679616916854-2SW43Y0ZWQFJ8JWG9YPX/The+Way+6a.jpg)
![[Sunday] Freedom - The Way](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1679016998737-8F39VJCCXSE89XCE58XL/The+Way+5a.jpg)
![[Sunday] Beauty- The Way](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1678411008531-8LTP7MHK3L9CDMJJY8SQ/The+Way+4a.jpg)
![[Sunday] Spirituality - The Way](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1677863150736-K2MBOAAKGOBDEMD0ZHAQ/The+Way+3a.jpg)
![[Sunday] Love - The Way](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1677255701713-WZETVGX0FTZQ559BHJQO/The+Way+2a.jpg)
Vanishing Grace (Teaching Series)
Christians have proclaimed the good news about Jesus for centuries. But the good news isn't sounding so good these days, at least to some. Let’s acknowledges the problem and then explore how we can respond with both grace and truth.
Christians have proclaimed the good news about Jesus for centuries. But the good news isn't sounding so good these days, at least to some. Let’s acknowledges the problem and then explore how we can respond with both grace and truth.
Amazon Link
Purchase the Book
Reading Plan
The readings for Sunday
2/19/23 - Justice
Exodus 17:1-7
Hebrews 12:12-15
John 4:5-26, 39-42
2/26/23 - What Can We Do About It
Jeremiah 1:4-10
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Matthew 5:38-48
3/5/23 - Who are the Grace Dispensers
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
1 John 3:11-18
Luke 4:16-21
3/12/23 - Is it Really Good News?
Isaiah 52:7-12
Hebrews 13:1-16
Matthew 13:31-35
3/19/23 - Holy Subverses
Exodus 19:1-6
1 Corinthians 9:19-27
Luke 4:1-13
3/26/23 - Holy Subverses
Exodus 19:1-6
1 Corinthians 9:19-27
Luke 4:1-13
4/2/23 - Holy Subverses
Exodus 19:1-6
1 Corinthians 9:19-27
Luke 4:1-13
4/9/23 - Holy Subverses
Exodus 19:1-6
1 Corinthians 9:19-27
Luke 4:1-13
![[Sunday] Beautiful News - Vanishing Grace](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1676040883793-OD2GX6M3TC5TEP1VCAOL/VG5a.jpg)
![[Sunday] Beautiful News - Vanishing Grace](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1675435076313-HR5466XIU5C13G4RWG6A/VG4a.jpg)
![[Sunday] Love Laid Down - Vanishing Grace](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1674835948785-FT4PCOB9XY8UQMPGCZPP/VG3a.jpg)
![[Sunday] Uncomplicated Love - Vanishing Grace](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1674230189454-CL2E9LS648I57WDNKNFC/VG2a.jpg)
![[Sunday] Wells of Grace - Vanishing Grace](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1673530020140-DF98JJAF79TFM4TK0BCN/VG1a.jpg)
[Sunday] Beautiful News - Vanishing Grace
Jesus was tempted in the wilderness in every way that we are. This story right at the beginning of Luke's gospel foreshadows the way it ends: Jesus taking all our sins and struggles and giving us grace and victory over them all. Now that we have been freed, we can live knowing that grace is for all.
Jesus was tempted in the wilderness in every way that we are. This story right at the beginning of Luke's gospel foreshadows the way it ends: Jesus taking all our sins and struggles and giving us grace and victory over them all. Now that we have been freed, we can live knowing that grace is for all.
Questions for this week.
How have you seen God’s good news physically affect someone in a positive way?
Read Luke 4:1-13. How is Jesus tempted by the devil? How have you been tempted in the same way? How does Jesus free you from these temptations?
Who might you love this week, and how might you bring them good news?
What Had happened at Grace this week.
![The Urgency of Grace - Family Relationships [Video]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1676044047321-GWJKZZSUZXGT96WH4CY1/FNL-family.2.1%5B1%5D.jpg)
The Urgency of Grace - Family Relationships [Video]
How to Parent Sinners With Law and Gospel
Week 4 Vanishing Grace Together Groups
Is it Really Good News?
Pastor’s Thursday Together Group
Together Group Video Week 4
Discussion Guide | Week 4
[Sunday] Beautiful News - Vanishing Grace
What does beautiful news look like? Perhaps, it looks like ordinary, dare I say, small things, like providing for someone who's hungry, loving your spouse, and being a good neighbor. Perhaps these small things provide the cooling shade of a great tree for us to rest under.
What does beautiful news look like? Perhaps, it looks like ordinary, dare I say, small things, like providing for someone who's hungry, loving your spouse, and being a good neighbor. Perhaps these small things provide the cooling shade of a great tree for us to rest under.
Questions for this week.
When is a time when you have received good news?
Read Isaiah 52:7 and Hebrews 13:1-8. What does it look like when God’s good news comes?
Read Matthew 13:31-35. How does good news come like a “mustard seed?"
What is a small “mustard seed” way God has used someone to bring good news to you that really affected you?
What might you do to bring a “mustard seed” of good news to someone this week?
What Had happened at Grace this week.
Week 3 Vanishing Grace Together Groups
Who Are the Grace Dispensers
Together Group Video Week 3
Discussion Guide | Week 3
[Sunday] Love Laid Down - Vanishing Grace
This is how we know what love is, that He laid down his life for us. This love is like a cool breeze on a hot day, good news when surrounded by the bad, and liberty to the oppressed.
This is how we know what love is, that He laid down his life for us. This love is like a cool breeze on a hot day, good news when surrounded by the bad, and liberty to the oppressed.
Questions for this week.
When are times that you’ve been able to share good news with someone?
Read 1 John 3:11-18. Why did Cain kill his brother? How does a similar attitude prevent us from truly loving our neighbor?
What does Jesus do to enable us to simply love our neighbor?
What impact do you think Jesus' followers would have on the spiritually uncommitted people if we--pilgrims, activists, and artists, all united as a church community -- carried out John’s charge to “not love with words or speech, but in actions and in truth?"
What Had happened at Grace this week.
I Like It, So God Would Too
Egocentrism in Believers’ Estimates of God
Egocentrism in Believers’ Estimates of God
Read The Whole Article at I Like It, So God Would Too - Mockingbird (mbird.com)
eligion is often seen as a moral compass — it is frequently used by believers as a guide to doing and believing the right thing. People may disagree on social issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, and the death penalty and back their opinions by invoking God as the ultimate advocate of their beliefs. But how do people reason about God’s beliefs? In an interesting set of six studies by Nick Epley and colleagues, it was argued that people are remarkably egocentric when asked to infer about God’s beliefs — that is, people seem to draw on their own beliefs about these issues when asked to infer what God’s beli……………………………………..
Read The Whole Article at I Like It, So God Would Too - Mockingbird (mbird.com)
Week 2 Vanishing Grace Together Groups
We have a Problem
Pastor Cris Together Group [Bible Study]
Together Group Video Week 2
Discussion Guide | Week 2
[Sunday] Uncomplicated Love - Vanishing Grace
The young man who pushed aside his family now thinks of only their love as he longs for the pig feed. We tend to make love more complicated that it needs to be, but perhaps its simple.
The young man who pushed aside his family now thinks of only their love as he longs for the pig feed. We tend to make love more complicated that it needs to be, but perhaps its simple.
Questions for this week.
Describe a time you’ve felt most fulfilled in life.
Read 1 Corinthians 13. According to this passage, when we speak and act without love, what do we produce? And to what extent might we deserve the unpleasant words people use to describe Christians?
What does love always do (v. 7), and what impact will these actions have on our relationships and interaction with those who do not acknowledge God?
What Had happened at Grace this week.
Mark Driscoll and My Desert Temptation
It’s not every day that I’m near the church of a man whose rise (and fall) was the topic of so much controversy.
Read the rest at Mark Driscoll and My Desert Temptation - Mockingbird (mbird.com)
We were driving our rental car around cactus-lined streets on the first day of our snowbird getaway to Scottsdale, Arizona when we realized exactly where we were. We were only a few blocks away from a place of podcast infamy and evangelical intrigue: Trinity Church — AKA, Mark Driscoll’s new church.
It’s not every day that I am near the church of a man whose rise (and fall) was the topic of thousands of Twitter threads, blog posts, and podcast episodes about podcast episodes. That Sunday, we learned, Driscoll was starting a new sermon series titled “Real Romance: Sex in Song of Songs.” Perfect…………………………….
Read the rest at Mark Driscoll and My Desert Temptation - Mockingbird (mbird.com)
Week 1 Vanishing Grace Together Groups
We have a Problem
Pastor Cris’ Together Group
Together Group Video Week 1
Discussion Guide | Week 1
[Sunday] Wells of Grace - Vanishing Grace
Jesus was sitting by a well, and she showed up. All by herself, she carried with her the weight of so much struggle. While it would be so easy to belittle her, Jesus instead is a well of grace that is like a cool drink of water on a hot day. Maybe we can be like that.
Jesus was sitting by a well, and she showed up. All by herself, she carried with her the weight of so much struggle. While it would be so easy to belittle her, Jesus instead is a well of grace that is like a cool drink of water on a hot day. Maybe we can be like that.
Questions for this week.
How do you interact with people who are antagonistic to your faith in Jesus or living a life full of sin?
Read John 4:1-42. Why would the woman be at the well in the middle of the day? How would people in her day viewed Samatarians? How does Jesus respond to her?
What are some ways you can be a grace dispenser this week?
What Had happened at Grace this week.
- This week is the Beitza. Remembering those incomplete. Every Week we will be going though the Seder plate of Passover meal. Discussing what each things mean from the Bitterness to the Lamb