•Luke 18:35-42•“But it may still be objected that some people’s capacity for agency, their ability to respond to a truthful story, is so buried by accidents of their history, so crippled by their past, or so determined by a story that has taught them to despise themselves, that they have lost (or never found) the ability to participate in the forming of their character. More plausibly, their lives are so complex, their responses shaped by so many different stories, that the unity of character which seems necessary to order the multiplicity of loyalties in their lives may well seem unattainable.No guarantee can be given to insure any on person from being so “determined.” Yet it is the Christian claim that no one is so completely determined that they lack all means to respond to the story of God and thus find some means to make their life their own. Such a claim is not based on optimistic assumptions about our goodness or our innate ability. Rather it is an affirmation of God’s unrelenting desire to have each of us serve in the Kingdom. The call to such service we find only in the presence of another, whose need is often the very occasion for our freedom. For it is through the need of another that the greatest hindrance to my freedom, namely my own self-absorption, is finally not so much overcome as simply rendered irrelevant. It is through the other that I am finally able to make peace with myself and thus have the power to make my life my own.” Stanley Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom•Psalm 149:1-4•Christianity is fundamentally not about:How I can avoid doing wrongHow can I do rightBut…How can I be a reconciling presence in the life of my neighbor.•Galatians 5:13-26•John 15:12-17•“Bearing fruit is more like becoming something than doing something – yet, the results are not only tangible, they are nourishing for others. Bearing fruit is to let ourselves become gifts for others. As Jesus did, as Jesus is.” –David Burrell “Contemplation & Action”

•Luke 18:35-42•“But it may still be objected that some people’s capacity for agency, their ability to respond to a truthful story, is so buried by accidents of their history, so crippled by their past, or so determined by a story that has taught them to despise themselves, that they have lost (or never found) the ability to participate in the forming of their character. More plausibly, their lives are so complex, their responses shaped by so many different stories, that the unity of character which seems necessary to order the multiplicity of loyalties in their lives may well seem unattainable.No guarantee can be given to insure any on person from being so “determined.” Yet it is the Christian claim that no one is so completely determined that they lack all means to respond to the story of God and thus find some means to make their life their own. Such a claim is not based on optimistic assumptions about our goodness or our innate ability. Rather it is an affirmation of God’s unrelenting desire to have each of us serve in the Kingdom. The call to such service we find only in the presence of another, whose need is often the very occasion for our freedom. For it is through the need of another that the greatest hindrance to my freedom, namely my own self-absorption, is finally not so much overcome as simply rendered irrelevant. It is through the other that I am finally able to make peace with myself and thus have the power to make my life my own.” Stanley Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom•Psalm 149:1-4•Christianity is fundamentally not about:How I can avoid doing wrongHow can I do rightBut…How can I be a reconciling presence in the life of my neighbor.•Galatians 5:13-26•John 15:12-17•“Bearing fruit is more like becoming something than doing something – yet, the results are not only tangible, they are nourishing for others. Bearing fruit is to let ourselves become gifts for others. As Jesus did, as Jesus is.” –David Burrell “Contemplation & Action”

•Luke 18:35-42•“But it may still be objected that some people’s capacity for agency, their ability to respond to a truthful story, is so buried by accidents of their history, so crippled by their past, or so determined by a story that has taught them to despise themselves, that they have lost (or never found) the ability to participate in the forming of their character. More plausibly, their lives are so complex, their responses shaped by so many different stories, that the unity of character which seems necessary to order the multiplicity of loyalties in their lives may well seem unattainable.No guarantee can be given to insure any on person from being so “determined.” Yet it is the Christian claim that no one is so completely determined that they lack all means to respond to the story of God and thus find some means to make their life their own. Such a claim is not based on optimistic assumptions about our goodness or our innate ability. Rather it is an affirmation of God’s unrelenting desire to have each of us serve in the Kingdom. The call to such service we find only in the presence of another, whose need is often the very occasion for our freedom. For it is through the need of another that the greatest hindrance to my freedom, namely my own self-absorption, is finally not so much overcome as simply rendered irrelevant. It is through the other that I am finally able to make peace with myself and thus have the power to make my life my own.” Stanley Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom•Psalm 149:1-4•Christianity is fundamentally not about:How I can avoid doing wrongHow can I do rightBut…How can I be a reconciling presence in the life of my neighbor.•Galatians 5:13-26•John 15:12-17•“Bearing fruit is more like becoming something than doing something – yet, the results are not only tangible, they are nourishing for others. Bearing fruit is to let ourselves become gifts for others. As Jesus did, as Jesus is.” –David Burrell “Contemplation & Action”

•Luke 18:35-42•“But it may still be objected that some people’s capacity for agency, their ability to respond to a truthful story, is so buried by accidents of their history, so crippled by their past, or so determined by a story that has taught them to despise themselves, that they have lost (or never found) the ability to participate in the forming of their character. More plausibly, their lives are so complex, their responses shaped by so many different stories, that the unity of character which seems necessary to order the multiplicity of loyalties in their lives may well seem unattainable.No guarantee can be given to insure any on person from being so “determined.” Yet it is the Christian claim that no one is so completely determined that they lack all means to respond to the story of God and thus find some means to make their life their own. Such a claim is not based on optimistic assumptions about our goodness or our innate ability. Rather it is an affirmation of God’s unrelenting desire to have each of us serve in the Kingdom. The call to such service we find only in the presence of another, whose need is often the very occasion for our freedom. For it is through the need of another that the greatest hindrance to my freedom, namely my own self-absorption, is finally not so much overcome as simply rendered irrelevant. It is through the other that I am finally able to make peace with myself and thus have the power to make my life my own.” Stanley Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom•Psalm 149:1-4•Christianity is fundamentally not about:How I can avoid doing wrongHow can I do rightBut…How can I be a reconciling presence in the life of my neighbor.•Galatians 5:13-26•John 15:12-17•“Bearing fruit is more like becoming something than doing something – yet, the results are not only tangible, they are nourishing for others. Bearing fruit is to let ourselves become gifts for others. As Jesus did, as Jesus is.” –David Burrell “Contemplation & Action”

•Matthew 28:16-20•Rather – the Gospel is the message that God is and is becoming King through Jesus in order to establish God’s Kingdom among and with and for humanity. •Acts 1:9-11•Because for us to fully understand who Jesus is we need:CrucifixionResurrectionAscension•“The power of Christianity lay not in its promise of other worldly compensations for suffering in this life, as has so often been proposed. No, the crucial change that took place was the rapidly spreading awareness of a faith that delivered potent antidotes to life’s miseries here and now” – Rodney Stark•“Throughout the first five centuries people understood Christianity primarily as a way of life in the present, not as a doctrinal system, esoteric belief, or promise of eternal salvation. By followers enacting Jesus’ teachings, Christianity changed and improved the lives of its adherents and serves as a practical spiritual pathway. This way – and earliest Christians were called “the People of the Way” – bettered existence for countless ancient believers.The way, with its transformative power, challenged the status quo and infuriated ancient defenders of Roman religions. These behaviors, at odds with Roman customs, earned Christians the reputation of being revolutionaries and traitors to the good order of the state.” –Diana Butler-Bass “A People’s History of Christianity”•“We who formerly valued above all things the acquisition of wealth and possession, now bring what we have into a common stock, and communicate to everyone in need, we who hated and destroyed one another, and on account of their different manners would not live with men of a different tribe, now, since the coming of Christ live familiarly with them, and pray for our enemies.” Justin Martyr (150 AD)•The Gospel message is about:Salvation.Freedom.Life.Liberation.Equality.Embrace.Inclusion.Hope. Opportunity.Life. Life. Life.•The Gospel message is not and shall not ever be:Hate.Exclusion.Separation.Domination.Oppression.•1 John 3:11-18

•Matthew 28:16-20•Rather – the Gospel is the message that God is and is becoming King through Jesus in order to establish God’s Kingdom among and with and for humanity. •Acts 1:9-11•Because for us to fully understand who Jesus is we need:CrucifixionResurrectionAscension•“The power of Christianity lay not in its promise of other worldly compensations for suffering in this life, as has so often been proposed. No, the crucial change that took place was the rapidly spreading awareness of a faith that delivered potent antidotes to life’s miseries here and now” – Rodney Stark•“Throughout the first five centuries people understood Christianity primarily as a way of life in the present, not as a doctrinal system, esoteric belief, or promise of eternal salvation. By followers enacting Jesus’ teachings, Christianity changed and improved the lives of its adherents and serves as a practical spiritual pathway. This way – and earliest Christians were called “the People of the Way” – bettered existence for countless ancient believers.The way, with its transformative power, challenged the status quo and infuriated ancient defenders of Roman religions. These behaviors, at odds with Roman customs, earned Christians the reputation of being revolutionaries and traitors to the good order of the state.” –Diana Butler-Bass “A People’s History of Christianity”•“We who formerly valued above all things the acquisition of wealth and possession, now bring what we have into a common stock, and communicate to everyone in need, we who hated and destroyed one another, and on account of their different manners would not live with men of a different tribe, now, since the coming of Christ live familiarly with them, and pray for our enemies.” Justin Martyr (150 AD)•The Gospel message is about:Salvation.Freedom.Life.Liberation.Equality.Embrace.Inclusion.Hope. Opportunity.Life. Life. Life.•The Gospel message is not and shall not ever be:Hate.Exclusion.Separation.Domination.Oppression.•1 John 3:11-18

•Matthew 28:16-20•Rather – the Gospel is the message that God is and is becoming King through Jesus in order to establish God’s Kingdom among and with and for humanity. •Acts 1:9-11•Because for us to fully understand who Jesus is we need:CrucifixionResurrectionAscension•“The power of Christianity lay not in its promise of other worldly compensations for suffering in this life, as has so often been proposed. No, the crucial change that took place was the rapidly spreading awareness of a faith that delivered potent antidotes to life’s miseries here and now” – Rodney Stark•“Throughout the first five centuries people understood Christianity primarily as a way of life in the present, not as a doctrinal system, esoteric belief, or promise of eternal salvation. By followers enacting Jesus’ teachings, Christianity changed and improved the lives of its adherents and serves as a practical spiritual pathway. This way – and earliest Christians were called “the People of the Way” – bettered existence for countless ancient believers.The way, with its transformative power, challenged the status quo and infuriated ancient defenders of Roman religions. These behaviors, at odds with Roman customs, earned Christians the reputation of being revolutionaries and traitors to the good order of the state.” –Diana Butler-Bass “A People’s History of Christianity”•“We who formerly valued above all things the acquisition of wealth and possession, now bring what we have into a common stock, and communicate to everyone in need, we who hated and destroyed one another, and on account of their different manners would not live with men of a different tribe, now, since the coming of Christ live familiarly with them, and pray for our enemies.” Justin Martyr (150 AD)•The Gospel message is about:Salvation.Freedom.Life.Liberation.Equality.Embrace.Inclusion.Hope. Opportunity.Life. Life. Life.•The Gospel message is not and shall not ever be:Hate.Exclusion.Separation.Domination.Oppression.•1 John 3:11-18

•Matthew 28:16-20•Rather – the Gospel is the message that God is and is becoming King through Jesus in order to establish God’s Kingdom among and with and for humanity. •Acts 1:9-11•Because for us to fully understand who Jesus is we need:CrucifixionResurrectionAscension•“The power of Christianity lay not in its promise of other worldly compensations for suffering in this life, as has so often been proposed. No, the crucial change that took place was the rapidly spreading awareness of a faith that delivered potent antidotes to life’s miseries here and now” – Rodney Stark•“Throughout the first five centuries people understood Christianity primarily as a way of life in the present, not as a doctrinal system, esoteric belief, or promise of eternal salvation. By followers enacting Jesus’ teachings, Christianity changed and improved the lives of its adherents and serves as a practical spiritual pathway. This way – and earliest Christians were called “the People of the Way” – bettered existence for countless ancient believers.The way, with its transformative power, challenged the status quo and infuriated ancient defenders of Roman religions. These behaviors, at odds with Roman customs, earned Christians the reputation of being revolutionaries and traitors to the good order of the state.” –Diana Butler-Bass “A People’s History of Christianity”•“We who formerly valued above all things the acquisition of wealth and possession, now bring what we have into a common stock, and communicate to everyone in need, we who hated and destroyed one another, and on account of their different manners would not live with men of a different tribe, now, since the coming of Christ live familiarly with them, and pray for our enemies.” Justin Martyr (150 AD)•The Gospel message is about:Salvation.Freedom.Life.Liberation.Equality.Embrace.Inclusion.Hope. Opportunity.Life. Life. Life.•The Gospel message is not and shall not ever be:Hate.Exclusion.Separation.Domination.Oppression.•1 John 3:11-18