2023 THE ACTS OF THE APOstleS STUDY

How do you tell your life story? How do you live your life story? Where does God fit into it? Is it a story of redemption, of healing toward wholeness, or is it more a story of tragedy, sadness and loss yet to be redeemed in some way? 

The Acts of the Apostles is the 5th gospel in the New Testament. Why gospel? It tells the story of Jesus just like the other four, but rather than the embodied Jesus being the main driver of the narrative it is now his Spirit, the Holy Spirit, embodying individual persons and communities becoming his hands, feet, voice and heart for each other and in the world.

How does this small group of Jesus followers devastated by his torturous death and traumatized into paralyzing fear become transformed into emboldened representatives of their Lord, finding passion, courage and joy in a whole new way? How does faith, hope and love rise up in them in ways they could never have imagined?

What does a “fearful time” look like for you? Is it a personal crisis in your health or the health of a loved one? Is it a relationship crisis or a financial crisis? Is it about a pandemic, fires, floods, and earthquakes, rising food prices and a changing economy making financial security uncertain? The book of Revelation, the last book in the bible, is all about finding resilience and hope in fearful times.

Revelation has been read and misread for thousands of years. It is symbolic language and cataclysmic imagery has been interpreted as prophecy of the end of the world, as a map of things to come. Revelation is the darling book of fundamentalist evangelicals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, and numerous cults. Many throughout the ages have studied world events and tried to predict how the end will come as mapped out by the symbolism in Revelation.

But Revelation is also part of a larger genre of ancient literature known as “apocalyptic.” Through multiple symbols and dramatic imagery (which are also found in many beloved hymns and Handel’s Messiah (The Hallelujah Chorus in particular)), the book of Revelation seeks to breathe hope into those overwhelmed by fear and crisis; it seeks to shake up those lulled into complacent ease in their prosperity and imagined security; and it seeks to challenge those afraid to stand up for their faith and for justice under the pressure to assimilate and fit in rather than resist and protest, entrusting their fate to a higher power.

“We are stardust” as the scientist Carl Sagan declared and Joni Mitchell sang. We’re part of the big bang and a process happening over billions of years called evolution. But is that all we are? Genesis is the first book of the bible, and as its name suggests, it’s all about the origins of life, life not just as a random accident or big bang, but life as a creation. So then, rather than the how questions that concern science, Genesis is more concerned to answer the why and what questions. Why are we here? What are we about as human creatures in particular? Is there a larger purpose for us to fulfill? When life becomes difficult, confused or broken, when we have lost our way in life, finding our way back to our existential and spiritual roots may also be a way to finding our destination toward wholeness.

How is this? Besides the stardust and the matter there is energy and “wind”, the wind of the Spirit, a wind that inspires goodness, beauty, delight… an energy and wind that is: love. This love is given a name: God. To understand ourselves we must open ourselves to the eternal mystery beyond the stardust and matter, the Spirit/wind/energy of love we name God. To find our purpose we need to understand how God as love creates, but also, how love can re-create and make whole again after life has broken in some way. This is the story of Genesis.

Through representative humanity – Adam/Eve and their family,
Through an effort to reset life after things have broken down – Noah and his family,
Through wandering nomads and their dysfunctional family – Abraham/Sarah and their generations, 
Love is seeking a way… Will a way be found, even with broken human beings and their dysfunctional relationships? 

This was an 8-week online study and discussion that took place Wednesdays, 7:15pm-8:30pm, via Zoom 

beginning on September 23, 2020.

The Psalms of Israel have been composed to express the vast range of intense and traumatic experiences that make up human experience. They are created to provide a pathway to personal and corporate 'therapy,' as a means to rebuilding life and growing it toward greater fullness and peace. 

But to tap into their power, we must learn their structure and how they work to heal and transfigure human experience. 

It is no accident that the Psalms are not only the part of scripture most quoted by Jesus, but also the poetry and music of the church through the ages, recited not only during worship, but at weddings, funerals, the hospital bed and at celebrations of thanksgiving.

It’s a part of our lives and it confronts us in every news broadcast – human suffering. We suffer losses, live with chronic conditions, carry helplessness, fear and stress about how we will cope. What difference does it make that we reach out to “God”? Are there ways to understand and engage suffering that can make a meaningful difference in our lives? The biblical book of Job raises all these questions and more, and provides some ancient wisdom powerfully relevant to human living today. From visual art, plays, novels, philosophy, psychology, music and more, Job has inspired seekers and sufferers in search of deeper answers for thousands of years.