Living Vertizontal

In this episode we look at Luke 11:14-28. Within this passage, Jesus addresses the idea of a house divided, the returning of unclean spirits, and true blessedness. From this passage, we discussed how Jesus was cementing His identity in the minds of His disciples and those listening; as God, He has all power and all authority. He is the “stronger man” and through Him, the Kingdom of God is at hand. This conversation is so important because just as Jesus identifies the two choices for those listening, we also have two choices as a result of knowing who He is; we are either for Him, or against Him. There is no middle or neutral ground. In God’s Kingdom, we are invited into an active participation and if we are not actively pursuing Him, then we are getting further and further from Him. The invitation is His, and the choice is ours.

In this episode we jump back into our journey through Luke together, picking up in Luke 11:1-13. In this passage, Jesus continues to prepare His disciples for His departure by teaching his disciples how to pray. Together we discuss how this passage helps shape a proper orientation in prayer (who God is, and who we are), a proper orientation in persistence (keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking), and a proper orientation in God’s response to our persistence (God is a good Father who gives good gifts). As His children, we must remember that we don't know it all and cannot see it all, but He can, and, through the Holy Spirit, we have the opportunity to follow after Him in everything.

In this episode, we finish our Advent journey in Jonah 4:1-11. In this chapter, we have an opportunity to see Jonah’s response to God’s mercy on Nineveh. Together we discuss Jonah’s feelings of resentment towards both Nineveh and God, and how God uses the circumstances around Jonah to hold up a mirror to Jonah, functioning to expose Jonah’s heart and working towards transformation into God’s likeness. From this we identified that when we direct our focus and attention to Jesus, in the midst of our pain and hurt, He can help us move beyond that pain as we open up the space for Jesus to fill us with His hope, peace, joy, and love, regardless of what has happened to us.

In this episode we carry on into Jonah 3:1-10 (again the entire chapter). Finally, here in Jonah 3, we see both Jonah’s obedience as he arrives in Nineveh and shares the message from God and the response of the Ninevites. Together we talk about the miracles of obedience, belief, repentance, humility, and salvation found throughout this chapter. We reflect on God’s loving nature as the God of second chances and examine the depth and completeness of Nineveh’s repentance. Ultimately, we recognize that as people sent by God, our calling is not to condemn, but to offer salvation to those around us through Christ.

In this episode we pick up in Jonah 2, and work through the whole chapter. In this passage we explore Jonah’s prayer as he finally breaks the silence and takes the time to talk to God. Together we discuss the joy that Jonah finds as we see his focus shift from his own circumstances, to the unchanging character of God. In the same way, when we choose to focus on God’s unchanging character over our circumstances, we can find unshakable joy, this is the joy of Advent.

In this episode we push on in Jonah, reading Jonah 1:9-17, finishing the conversation on the great storm and also Jonah being cast into the sea. Our Advent theme this week is Peace, and so we explore what our passage today has to do with peace. Together we discuss the satirical form of this week's passage which forces us to see truths that we often would rather ignore. Additionally, we identify the peace that we find when we cease our striving and choose to rest in the presence of God in the midst of the storms and chaos of life.

In this episode we explore the Advent theme of Hope. while working through Jonah 1:1-8. This passage explores Jonah fleeing from God’s call, and the great storm that Jonah encounters. From our conversation on Jonah 1:1–8, we see that Jonah’s limited understanding of God’s presence may have shaped his reluctance to respond to God’s call. Believing he could escape God, Jonah attempted to flee from the Lord’s presence. Yet the hope in this passage is unmistakable: God is ever-present, and God pursues. God pursued Nineveh through Jonah, and God pursued Jonah through the storm. Just as God sought to draw near to Nineveh by inviting Jonah to participate in restoring their relationship through his prophecy, God still desires to draw near to all people today. The question, then, is this: Are we willing to answer God’s call in our own lives and allow ourselves to be instruments of relational restoration?

In this episode we finish Luke 10 with a look at Luke 10:38-42. In this passage we see an interaction between Mary, Martha, and Jesus. From this passage, we talk about the hospitality reflected by Martha, Mary, and even Jesus. We address the propensity that we have as a culture to focus more on tasks and productivity, over time and presence with others. As we live in Jesus’ upside down kingdom, we are invited into a countercultural way of living whereby we focus on time and presence with both Jesus and others, over task and productivity in action.

In this episode we look at Luke 10:25-37, we move into Jesus’ parable on the good Samaritan as Jesus responds to an expert in the law who asks about inheriting eternal life. From this we discuss how Jesus uses questions and parables to slow people down and allow a truth to move beyond head knowledge and into heart knowledge, increasing the likelihood of life transformation. From the parable, we hear Jesus’ invitation to “do and do likewise,” to participate in the kingdom even now, open to interruptions and opportunities to care for those around us, as an active reflection of the heart of God.

In this episode, we pick up in Luke 10:21-24 and look at Jesus’ prayer of thanksgiving, following the sending out of the 72. From this passage, we explore the different aspects of Jesus’ prayer of thanksgiving — from His praise for who God is, to His recognition of what God has done, and finally to a benediction that reaffirms God’s authority. As we walk through the text, we see several key themes emerge: the vital role of humility in God’s Kingdom, the authority of Jesus, the intimate relationship between God the Father and God the Son, and the open invitation for all who are willing to listen and enter that relationship. With Jesus as our model, we are reminded of the clear call to live in such a way that others may see, experience, and participate in the upside-down Kingdom of God.