Responses to the resurrection range from disbelief to a race to see it firsthand. But Luke's telling of it reminds us that experiencing the resurrection is most tangibly experienced around the table.

As we enter Holy Week, what would it mean to avoid making sense death and suffering? How can we see God as both with us and forsaking us? How do we maintain faithfulness even after the worst things have happened?

The way Luke writes about Jesus trials may give us a framework for how to approach life when it seems unfair.

Luke Study Week 20

What happens when God’s place of encounter becomes a place of exploitation? Jesus and the temple authorities confront each other with competing visions of the temple and how it mediates God’s presence to his people (and others). In the end, the invitation to encounter God will overcome any obstacle obscuring that invitation.

When was the last time you prayed to, “God Our Mother Hen”? What does it mean that the God of all creation both creates tears AND cries them? And what is Luke trying to communicate through a more subdued version of the Triumphal Entry that leaves out the palm branches and the hosannahs? Maybe knowing a God who cries is the beginning of our recognition of the things that make for peace.

What parts of faith do we pay attention to because they hold special value to us? What parts have we become numb to? How can Lent help us understand our lives and limits better?

It’s Crossings 17th birthday. It’s also the Sunday before Ash Wednesday and Lent. The concepts of birth and death may seem like opposites, but maybe they are linked more than we think. Paul gives us a vision in 2 Corinthians 4 to describe what life could look like as we make our circles around the sun.

How can we reconcile what we say we want to be about as followers of Jesus with how we choose to interact with those around us?

What do Jesus’ parables about dinner parties teach us about hospitality and inclusion? What kind of hosts are we supposed to be in this world? How can we navigate the messiness of relationships to include those who are left out or undesired?