Deep-Grace Diving with Tim Wright and Terey Summers

Tim and Jon take a deep dive into the latest Knives Out murder mystery (on Netflix) and its both challenging and deeply moving exploration of faith.

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Tim and Jon are joined by Tim Madigan, author of, I’m Proud of You: My Friendship with Fred Rogers. During the episode Journalist Tim M talks about the life-changing impact Mr Rogers had on his life and how the world longs for that kind of grace today.

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Terey shares her personal experiences navigating her favorite holiday while grieving the loss of her husband.

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Behind the sweeping beauty, imagery, romance, and magic of Luke’s telling the birth of Jesus stands a subversive, provocative, reckless challenge to the Roman Empire, a challenge of grace vs power; love vs. oppression.

Luke 2:1-20

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.

The Shepherds and the Angels

8 Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”[

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, 19 and Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.

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This week we take a deep dive into Luke’s retelling of the birth announcement to Mary, the mother of Jesus.

More than re-telling a story, however, Luke positions the story to say something unique about Jesus, setting us up for the Jesus story ahead.

Luke 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”[b] 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”[c] 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born[d] will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

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Happy Holidays. Holiday Trees. Snow flake cups. Commercialization. Are these all signs pointing to a concerted effort to remove Christ from Christmas?

Or, might Christmas actually be subversively drawing people to the story of Christmas itself?

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Paul’s invitation to

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

can be seen both as a promise and a potential shame producer, depending on how we understand it.

We take a deep dive into the wonder-filled promise of God as we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!

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Jon brings us some more questions from his HS youth group. We spend most of our time looking at what it means for God to be in control of our lives. Really good question. But still a good podcast.

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This episode turns to questions from a youth group Jon works with, including a question from Jon: Pastor Tim said that Jesus was wrong about something. Is that even possible?

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A few weeks ago Terey emailed Tim about a Bible verse that stood out to her. It was a promise made to the people of Israel thousands of years ago. She wondered if she could claim that promise as her own, leading to the question:

How do we hear God speaking to us through the Bible?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit recklessgrace.substack.com