Narrate Church

Matthew 13v24-53

Where is the world headed? What if this was a question in Jesus' day as well as our own? What if these parables are Jesus' way of speaking to these issues? Listen in as Adam explores these questions and more. 

How will you prepare for Christmas?  In keeping with our changing times, this year we’d like to invite you to try something new.  Not that our idea is new, more honestly, it’s an old idea we’re dusting off and putting back to use.

The idea is this, what if you and some others (immediate family, friends, roommates, some combination of friends and family) committed to have dinner once per week for the four weeks leading up to Christmas in order to share intentional conversation around the original Christmas stories?  And what if those conversations were framed by some ancient themes that suddenly make lots of sense?  Said differently, what if we don’t have to reinvent the wheel as we strive to make sense of these times. What if the Christmas stories provide many waypoints that coincide with this present moment?

What are the themes?  Disorientation.  Waiting.  Maintaining a unique vocational identity in a world with very different priorities for your life and identity.  Putting one’s hope in God and His Kingdom, and thus avoiding being polarized by competing political ideologies.  And finally, discerning when wisdom calls you to accommodate and when it asks that you resist.

To make it all the more special, we’ve created Advent Wreaths.  Each week you'll leave your phones away from the table and enjoy an analogue candle dinner. As we move toward Christmas each dinner will have more light as you light the number of candles that correspond to the week of your journey.  If you’re able to help cover the costs for a wreath ($10) that would be helpful. If not, we’re glad for you to take one for free.

Interested? If so, there's several ways to group up. First, you can form your own group by asking your household or a group of friends to share a meal and a specific conversation once per week. You can also repurpose an existing group for the four weeks of Advent.  Another option is you can let us put you in a group. If that's your desire, simply use the sign-up sheet on the heat registers to indicate which day(s) of the week you're available or send Hannah ([email protected]) an email and we will put you in a group of six(ish).  

Matthew chapter 1 through chapter 13v23  read by Nathan, Ashley, Steve, Anna, Roxanne, Nick, Shari, Troy, Abbie, Derek, Jill, Bob, Alex, JoLin, Karen, Bill, Alex, Tiffany, Jenn, Andy, Darrel, Justine, Linnea, Carol, Karin, Tiffany, Donnie, David, Jheri, Chris, Elsie, Amy, Christian,  Susie, Jeff, Dave, Sheila, Leslee, Tristan, Sean, Angie, Travis, Connie, Mark, and Coty.

Matthew 13v1-23

This week Adam takes us into the parable of the sower. How does the parable of the sower relate to attentiveness and the difficulty and importance of it? What if following Jesus isn’t easy and takes work?


Questions for reflection:

• What if presence isn’t a task but rather a lifestyle?
• What kind of soil are you?

This week, Adam walks us through Matthew 12v22-50 with ideas around evil. What if Matthew wants his readers to know we’re all living in contested space? What if evil was not a topic Jesus avoided? What are we to do with this?

Questions for reflection:

• What’s the value of rediscovering spiritual practices, such as fasting? 
• How might fasting help you in your battle with evil, both your temptations and your vocational role to the world?

Matthew chapter 1 through chapter 11v19  read by Nathan, Ashley, Steve, Anna, Roxanne, Nick, Shari, Troy, Abbie, Derek, Jill, Bob, Alex, JoLin, Karen, Bill, Alex, Tiffany, Jenn, Andy, Darrel, Justine, Linnea, Carol, Karin, Tiffany, Donnie, David, Jheri, Chris, Elsie, Amy, Christian,  Susie, Jeff, Dave, Sheila, Leslee, Tristan, Sean, Angie, Travis, and Connie.

Matthew chapter 1 through chapter 12v21  read by Nathan, Ashley, Steve, Anna, Roxanne, Nick, Shari, Troy, Abbie, Derek, Jill, Bob, Alex, JoLin, Karen, Bill, Alex, Tiffany, Jenn, Andy, Darrel, Justine, Linnea, Carol, Karin, Tiffany, Donnie, David, Jheri, Chris, Elsie, Amy, Christian,  Susie, Jeff, Dave, Sheila, Leslee, Tristan, Sean, Angie, Travis, Peggy, and David.

Matthew 12v15-21

What if finding our vocation in Jesus is understanding Jesus' vocation? What if Jesus' vocation was self-giving love and Christ-followers are being called to that as well? Adam explores these ideas along with thoughts from The Second Mountain by David Brooks.


Question for reflection:

How could self-giving love be translated to the specificity of your life?

This week we were fortunate to hear from guest speaker, Brian Hopkins. Listen in as Brian talks about the importance of attitude and insights gained from Paul's letters to the Corinthians.

4 Key takeaways:

• Self help is always inferior to sovereign help
• Jesus doesn’t need our help in becoming more appealing.
• Don’t just pass the class - master the message
• Hope is the fuel of endurance

Matthew chapter 1 through chapter 11v19  read by Nathan, Ashley, Steve, Anna, Roxanne, Nick, Shari, Troy, Abbie, Derek, Jill, Bob, Alex, JoLin, Karen, Bill, Alex, Tiffany, Jenn, Andy, Darrel, Justine, Linnea, Carol, Karin, Tiffany, Donnie, David, Jheri, Chris, Elsie, Amy, Christian,  Susie, Jeff, Dave, Sheila, Leslee, Tristan, Sean, Angie, and Travis.