This is the weekly podcast of Legend Community Church, in Cincinnati, OH
This sermon series is going to be spent looking at the scriptures as a big picture - what stories do they tell, and how can we understand them from a variety of perspectives and points of view. Each week will look at a new section of the scriptures, and work tools to read and process not only with each other, but with thousands of years of of our ancestors and people of faith.
For 3 of the major actors of the Christmas story - Mary and Joseph, the Wisemen, and the Shepherds - the come to Bethlehem to see, and they love and adore the God of the universe. This advent, as we seek more love in the world, maybe the best first step is for us to come to the Lord simply to adore him, by whatever means lead us there.
Stepping into our third week of Advent, the legend order. We come to “hope.” When Zeus gave Pandoras jar, everything was let out of it except in the end hope stayed in the jar. Philosophers throughout the ages debate whether Hope was something good which is why it didn’t leave the jar or was hope a curse from Zeus. This week we’re going to examine hope, is it good or bad, what do we do with it? Where do we get it? How do we use it?
The long awaited messiah came with a litany of titles - what happens to our Christmas story, and our world, when we take them seriously and apply them? If Jesus is the "prince of Peace," then what does that mean to a world at war?
This week is the first week of Advent, which means “coming.” We, non traditionally are starting to think about the coming of Jesus into our world with the idea of “joy.”
Reflect on these quotes and we will talk more about it on Sunday:
“Joy, the glorious surprise that what first appeared as a threat is really a blessing; joy is when monsters want to kiss.
When we are joyful, we are silly kids again. The rest of the time, we are adults, micro-managing our every pain.
My new years resolution was to have more joy...which now I realise (and as it is panning out!) means shaking hands with pain."
When we are part of the family, we'll start to have the qualities and characteristics that the family passes down.
-Paul uses slavery and servant hood to describe the process we are goin through to become part of the family. How can we, then, pick up the characteristics of this new family?
This week, we are still processing through what it means to be "slaves" to the divine, the one who loves, to Jesus. We will be taking a look at those closest to him, those who sat at the feet of their Rabbi and were left with a very specific impression of the new things God was doing. The question is, is our encounter with Jesus just as significant? "
While we’ve been studying the idea of serving other people, Paul turns the idea of slavery inside, and asks who controls us - our actions, our thoughts, our desires? This week we’ll think about what it means to stay on the easy path that we’ve inherited or to turn aside to the more difficult, but ultimately better path that God has laid out for us.
This week we continue the “dolous” (slave) series. Matthew 6:24 pretty much sums it up. What is master in our life? Is it money? Is it ourself? Or is it the way of Jesus. They don’t look similar.
