Faithelement Conversations

Mary Knew

For the session to be discussed on December 24, 2023

Luke 1:46-55

David Cassady

Lacey Wondree

Crystal Shepherd

Daniel Glaze

Today we look at the Magnificat – in it Mary sings a beautiful song, magnifying the great love of God. She sings of a God who gives us a vision of a world where differences are not solved by violence and children never go to bed hungry. She sings of a world where the rich and powerful are brought low and the poor and outcast are lifted up. Does Mary’s song show us a world we could have if we could practice God’s love?

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Notes

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24/7

For the session to be discussed on December 17, 2023

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

David Cassady

Lacey Wondree

Crystal Shepherd

Daniel Glaze

Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. That’s a good word for today, the third Sunday in Advent, Joy Sunday. We also discuss finding joy and gratitude when it is difficult to do so.

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Notes

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Longing for Home

For the session to be discussed on December 10, 2023

Isaiah 40:1-11

David Cassady

Lacey Wondree

Crystal Shepherd

Daniel Glaze

For Isaiah, too many years have come and gone without even a sign of God’s presence. Isaiah speaks for a people whose tears have turned bitter, whose sorrow has become anger. And in blunt and violent terms, the prophet demands God to come out of retirement. Tear open the heavens and come down, he demands. Don’t just stand there! Wake up! Come down! For God’s sake, do something! For four long weeks this Advent we’ll wait, in yearning, in expectation, in repentance, and in hope.

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Notes

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Hopeful Pottery

For the session to be discussed on December 3, 2023

Isaiah 64:1-9

David Cassady

Nikki Hardeman

Daniel Glaze

David Adams

For Isaiah, too many years have come and gone without even a sign of God’s presence. Isaiah speaks for a people whose tears have turned bitter, whose sorrow has become anger. And in blunt and violent terms, the prophet demands God to come out of retirement. Tear open the heavens and come down, he demands. Don’t just stand there! Wake up! Come down! For God’s sake, do something! For four long weeks this Advent we’ll wait, in yearning, in expectation, in repentance, and in hope.

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Notes

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True Shepherd

For the session to be discussed on November 26, 2023

Ezekiel 34:1-31

David Cassady

Nikki Hardeman

Daniel Glaze

David Adams

Today’s passage is from the 34th chapter of Ezekiel. And while it’s fairly lengthy, it comes down to a simple concept: The people who God trusted to care for God’s people proved untrustworthy and took care of themselves. So God is bringing destruction on them, but God will ultimately take care of God’s people and do all the things his so-called shepherds should have done and more. We discuss the ways each of us are tasked with being good shepherds for others.

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Notes

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Harbinger of Hope or Declaration of Demise?

For the session to be discussed on November 19, 2023

Zephaniah 1:1-2:3

David Cassady

Nikki Hardeman

Daniel Glaze

Crystal Shepherd

Today we explore a difficult text where we are confronted with an angry God. The prophet Zephaniah comes forward with a strong sermon, preaching that God is ready to destroy the world. Of course, this is not the only Old Testament passage calling for the destruction of humanity as the only recourse for human sin in the state of the world. We discuss the harshness of the text, the ways prophets point out the natural consequences of greed and selfishness.

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Notes

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A Dark Day

For the session to be discussed on November 12, 2023

Amos 5:18-24

David Cassady

Nikki Hardeman

Daniel Glaze

Crystal Shepherd

This episode engages a difficult text. In it, we hear Amos saying, woe to you who wish for the Day of the Lord. You don’t know it, but you’re already dead. You aren’t going to come out on top. This day will be your undoing, your day of doom. Amos expresses God’s anger: Take away from me the noise of your songs. I will not listen to the melody of your harps. Your Feast of Passover and Tabernacles mean nothing. Your offerings are worthless. Your gatherings and their songs are socially and spiritually off-key. Instead, God wants justice to roll unhindered and righteousness to be a never-ending stream. This passage from Amos gives us the opportunity to pause and reflect. How is our worship insincere and our faith mere words in the face of the injustices of our day?

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Notes

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Averting Our Eyes

For the session to be discussed on November 5, 2023

Micah 3:1-12

David Cassady

Nikki Hardeman

David Adams

Daniel Glaze

Micah’s words in chapter 3 are graphic, particularly the first four verses. He paints quite the word picture when describing the injustices committed within his context, the 8th century BCE. Our first inclination is to skip over those verses. We may want to avert our eyes, just like when the evening news is overwhelming. We discuss how, in the face of violence, of hurt, of abuse, of oppression we must not avert our eyes. We must not walk away. We must not remain neutral.

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Notes

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Changing the View

For the session to be discussed on October 29, 2023

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

David Cassady

Nikki Hardeman

David Adams

Daniel Glaze

In this passage we find the Hebrew people peering into the promised land, having escaped captivity and years of wandering in the wilderness. God shows Moses the promised land – a land Moses will not enter. One way to read this passage is to understand that God is walking Moses through time to show what has been and what is to come before the end of time. How does our perspective change as we allow God to help us survey our lives?

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Notes

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Flipping the Coin

For the session to be discussed on October 22, 2023

Matthew 22:15-22

David Cassady

Nikki Hardeman

Crystal Shepherd

Daniel Glaze

It’s been said that in polite company, there are three topics you should avoid: religion, money, and politics. We here at Faithelement like to live on the edge, so today we’re going to talk about all three. And apparently Jesus liked to live on the edge, too, because in just eight verses here in Matthew 22, he manages to discuss all three.

The Pharisees and the Herodians, normally at each other’s throats, put that aside in order to focus their ire upon Jesus, and they want to trap Him. The question they ask Jesus sounds innocent enough. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?

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Notes

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