Ponder Anew Podcast

Probably the briefest book of the Bible that will get its own podcast in our reading of the Bible:  Colossians.  But, wow, there is so much in this short epistle!

Some questions:

1)  What did you make of Pastor Rob's claim that Christianity demands theology?

2)  Do you consider the Gospel writers to be theologians?  How might you answer the question:  How do Matthew, Mark, Luke and John distinctly answer the question "Who is Jesus?"

3)  What are the biggest mysteries of the Christian faith in your mind? 

4)  Do you think Christianity needs to lean more into the mystery or clarity of teaching when presenting the Gospel to our world?

5)  What might it mean for Jesus to be the "Image of God"?

6)  In what ways is Jesus like us as humans?  In what ways is Jesus not like us as humans?

7)  How important is having common doctrine to have a healthy community?

"Paul seems different than Jesus!"  Sometimes Paul says things in his letters that don't quite resonate.  In fact, they confuse, if not even offend us.  As we continue working through the Bible, one book at a time, we come to Ephesians.  We will use this letter to take up the question of what we make of Paul today, when some of the things he says seem to come from a galaxy far, far away and a long, long time ago.

1)  What are parts of the Bible you struggle with?

2)  What are ways you justify ignoring those particular parts of the Bible?

3)  What do you think of the argument that Paul did not write Ephesians or other letters in the Bible?  (Feel free to do other internet research!)

4)  When you read Paul, are there moments when you say to yourself:  "This man was truly inspired by God!"

5)  Does Ephesians 5 and what Paul says about marriage inspire you?  What can we gain from Paul regarding marriage? 

6)  What do we make of "Slaves and Masters" talk in the Bible?  What gives us permission to ignore parts of the Bible that acknowledge the reality of slavery?

7)  What might be a helpful filter for determining what we "take" from the Bible and what we "leave" as a cultural relic from a distance place?

As we head into Easter, we resume our weekly podcast, picking up with the book of Philippians.  This is admittedly not the directly next book in the Bible, but Philippians 2 is part of the Holy Week readings and as the podcast reveals, Pastor Rob has an argument to make:  Paul is not responsible for American Christianity's focus on the individual, the transactional nature of religion and its escapism. 

Questions:  

1)  What do you think it means to have the same mind among you as Christ Jesus?

2)  Would you say your faith tends to be more personal or more communal?  Are both necessary?  Can you have a personal relationship with Jesus if you don't have a community of faith?  Can you have a community of faith without people having an individual relationship with Jesus?  Can you nurture both at the same time?

3)  For people today, what do you think is the significance of Paul's argument that Jesus was not like other Greco-Roman gods?

4)  Would you say the best way to introduce people to Christianity is by talking about it in terms of transaction or in terms of transformation?  Or even in terms of conformation?

5)  How has Jesus Christ conformed you to his life of death and resurrection?

6)  Do you believe that Christianity is inherently escapist -- get me outta here?

7)  Do you find there are times when you are ready for heaven?

8)  Did Pastor Rob convince you that Paul is NOT to blame for the problems of American Christianity?  Or are there other problems that need to be addressed!

Two weeks ago, we heard about Paul telling Christians in Corinth that just because Jesus had come doesn't mean they could throw aside all ethical considerations.  This week, as we read Galatians, we hear Paul telling Christians that the ethical doesn't amount to much.

What is going on?  This week we delve into the brilliant theology of Paul in his letter to the Galatians, but also begin to unpack the back story.  Ultimately, what we experience profoundly shifts our theological imagination and what we end up believing about the law, faith and righteousness.

Read the whole letter (you could skip chapters 3 and 4 if needed, but it is so short!)  Some questions for consideration:

1)  Have you ever been part of a community, like Galatia, that felt too legalistic and too exclusive.  Did you choose to stay?  Why or why not?

2)  Have you ever had an experience of such sheer grace, like Paul, that you could not conceive of a world in which God could actually embrace humans outside of grace?  What was it like talking to people that weren't blown away by God's grace after you had been?

3)  Have you ever had a phase of life, like Luther, where you have earnestly tried to be a better human and have failed?  

4)  Have you ever been part of a community in which accountability, even accountability to Christ's teaching, was important?  Can community - or any relationships - thrive outside of accountability?

5)  Have you ever been part of a community where ethical teachings helped set healthy boundaries for the community or for you as an individual?  Do you know people or have you been a person where you needed moral clarity from a church and did not receive this?

6)  Have the teachings of Jesus ever been a source of inspiration to you that has ever changed your course in life?

7)   What might it mean for Christ to live in us?

As we work our way through the Bible, one book each week, we come to 2nd Corinthians.  In some ways, the book reads as an awkward apology and fundraising letter at the same time.  Ouch!  On the other hand, it reads as a very personal reflection, by Paul, on what it means to have Jesus with us in times of suffering, challenge and division.  Paul writes about the cross in 1st Corinthians.  But in 2nd Corinthians, Paul writes through the cross, that is, what faith looks like when things in life are hard.

You can probably read 1-2 chapters a night, but I would especially focus on chapters 4 and 5, perhaps even reading them more slowly.

Questions:  

1)  Have you ever had to apologize and ask for money at the same time?

2)  Have you ever been mad at a faith leader (as the Corinthians were at Paul!)

3)  Do you sense that God is more alive in your life when things are good or when they are bad?  Why is it that many people actually stop attending church when life is hard?

4)  Have you ever felt like a clay pot - ordinary, fragile but holding, or at least capable of holding, something good?

5)  What is the appeal of a faith where as long as you believe enough, good things will happen?  What is a potential problem with this?

6)  Are there times in your life where you've needed to engage in conflict for their to be true reconcilation?

7)  Are there times in your life where conflict was avoided and therefore true reconciliation did not happen?

8)  When have you experienced reconciliation in your life?  What role did faith play in this?

"Love is patient, love is kind."  These are familiar words.  But the original audience wasn't a couple on their wedding day, but a dysfunctional and divided congregation!

1st Corinthians presents us with a society and congregation divided by wealth, status and religious background.  Paul will have to marshal all the theological resources he has to reorient these people back toward Christ and toward each other.

Can Paul's rhetoric work on our hearts today, to bring us together across divides?

Read the whole letter, but at the very least:  Chapters 1, 3, 5, 11, 12, 13 and 15

1)  Does it disrupt or enrich your appreciation for "Love is patient, love is kind" to realize this was written to a dysfunctional congregation? Should it be used at weddings?

2)  In what relationships and communities do you experience love like Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians?

3)  Have you ever gone to worship simply because you thought someone else needed you there? To what extent does Paul's letter reveal the self-orientation of our faith communities today?

4)  In Corinth, religion and class were clearly intertwined.  How do you see religion and class working our world today?

5)  Do you think a church can be politically engaged without taking the side of a certain class of people?

6)  Paul offers a number of arguments / images / metaphors to unity in the congregation.  Which of these do you find the most convincing yourself?

6b)  What kind of experiences have you had within a faith community that have helped you see someone different as a brother or sister in Christ?

7)  Could we skip the rest of the letter and just have chapter 13?  Would that be enough to make us a loving community?

I confess, we didn't make it through the Bible in a Year.  We did finish the Old Testament though.  The culprit is the group that meets locally to discuss these podcasts feasted on them and didn't want to miss episodes when the group couldn't meet during the summer and the holidays.

But we pick back up with Romans!  For this podcast, I want to tie together the personal impact of Paul's letter to the Romans on the reader, with the particular ways in which the reading of Paul's letter to the Romans has shaped Western and Christian history.   In short, buckle up because we have a lot of ground to cover.  If you want to read it over a week, aim for two chapters a day.

Questions

1)  What parts of Romans were you familiar with prior to reading/listening?  Have their been key points in your life -- funerals, weddings, baptisms or rites of passage that involved a reading from Romans?

2)  Why do you think this book in particular has impacted so many?

3)  How does the fact that Paul is writing this from prison shape your understanding of the letter?

4)  Paul tends to have an urgent, if not passionate nature, a conviction that something deep is at stake with regards to what Christ has done for you, humanity and creation.  Do you find yourself drawn to faith that is more zealous:  The job of religion is to transform our fallen humanity through the brutal and glorious acts of death and resurrection OR drawn to a faith that is more "common sense", in that the job of religion is to tame our worst instincts and draw us into encounters with God that give us a sense of love existing in the world?

5)  When you think about the ethics laid out by Paul (Romans 12 and 13) -- do they sound like kind of ethics that American society guides us toward or do they have a different approach?

6)  Do you share Paul's conviction that nothing can separate us from God's love in Jesus?

The most important book for the church in the 21st century?  That is my claim!  

As we continue to work through the Bible, one book per week, we move into the book of Acts.  This book records what happened after Jesus was risen from the dead and how the church began to spread throughout the Roman Empire.  

I offer this book is supremely important for us in the 21st century, when the church again finds itself dislocated from the center of power.  Suggested readings

Acts 1:  Ascension and the first followers of Jesus regrouping in grief and joy

Acts 2: Pentecost and birth of the church

Acts 8:26-40 Philip and the Eunuch

Acts 9: Conversion of Paul

Acts 10: "Conversion" of Peter

Acts 16:  Paul in Philippi

Acts 17:  Paul in Athens

Questions

1)  Are there any stories in the book of Acts that you know?  Have you ever sensed the connection to our lives today?

2)  Have you ever talked about your faith with someone who did not believe in the Gospel?  In what ways is this hard?  In what ways is this easy?

3)  Have you experienced the Christian community as more, less or the same level of loving as the broader culture?

4)  Who has been a witness to the Christian Gospel in your life?

5)  Would you say the decline of Christian cultural influence:  Doesn't seem real in your community and family?  Is something that you grieve?  Is something that you feel needs to be stopped by law?

6)  Has your faith ever caused you to "suffer"?

7)  Early on in the podcast, Pastor Rob mentions that the book of Acts has a number of miracles.  What seems a bigger miracle:  That the early church grew or that it grew without power?

In the Beginning was the Word.  The Gospel of John presents Jesus as an intimate friend who is caring, strong and compassionate.  Yet, the Gospel of John also has layers of symbolism and theology that make it a source of unending reflection.

As we continue reading through the Bible in a year, we enjoy the Gospel of John this week.  I have included a few more suggested readings because there will be no podcast dropped over Thanksgiving.

To read:   John 1 (creation and call of disciples; this passage is long enough you can break it up into two sections)  

John 2 (Wedding at Cana and cleansing of Temple) 

John 3 (Nicodemus)  

John 4 (Woman at well) 

John 6 (New Passover) 

John 11 (Lazarus)

John 13 (Last Supper and friendship)

John 14 (Many rooms) or John 15 (Vine and Branches)

John 17 (Last prayer before his passion; it is a prayer for unity)

John 18 and John 19 (Passion)

John 20 and John 21 (Resurrection)

Questions for discussion

1)  Why do you think John doesn't begin with the birth of Jesus?

2)  How else does John feel different to you as a reader?

3)  Do you think of Jesus as a friend?  Why or why not?

4) What is easier, to think of Jesus as teacher, savior or friend?

5) Can you think of any Old Testament references in the Gospel of John, in parts you have read?  Do some research on "lamb of God" from John 1.  What did John mean by this?

6) Do you find yourself drawn into the Christian intellectual tradition or scared of it?

7)  Do you find it easier to think of washing someone else's feet or having Jesus wash your feet?

Perhaps the greatest storyteller the world has ever known -- Luke, the Gospel writer!  Pastor Rob reflects on what makes Luke so unique (his emphasis on women!) and also compelling.

We continue reading the bible, one book, each week.  This week we work through the Gospel of Luke.  Seven chapters to read:

Chapter 1 (Jesus birth); Chapter 4 (Temptation and first sermon); Chapter 5 (Call of Simon); Chapter 6 (start at vs 17, sermon on the plain); Chapter 10 (Good Samaritan and other good stuff!); Chapter 15 (the 'lost' parables); Chapter 24 (Resurrection)

Questions for discussion

1)  What is your favorite story in Luke's Gospel?

2)  Do you know a person named Mary, Lydia, Anna, Joanna or Elizabeth who are faithful?  

3)  Do you think that our church emphasizes women in Scripture enough?

4)  What stories (likely from childhood) informed your moral and spiritual imagination?

5)  Pastor Rob argues that for Luke, the Gospel of Jesus changes lives.  Have you seen people changed by Jesus?  Have you seen people NOT changed by Jesus?  How has the Gospel changed you?

6)  Pastor Rob argues that Luke is actually okay with the rich, he just wants them to be generous.  Is he letting them off the hook too easily?