Slow Cooker Faith

Repent and Repair

October 22, 2023 • Dr. Harold Henderson • Luke 19:1–10

With the help of the study, “Bible Stories for Grown Ups” by Pastor Josh Scott, this series will invite us to consider new and deeper meanings in Bible characters and events that may be very familiar and yet can also be disturbing and challenging. As people who embrace the scripture as “wonderful words of life”, how do these passages call us into deeper discipleship today? “Yes, Zacchaeus repents, but he also takes another step in the process: repentance leads to repair. Perhaps we could say that repentance and repair are two sides of the same coin. It’s not simple embracing different information in our brains, but it’s also allowing that new information to transform our hearts, which will lead to a different way of being in the world.” pg. 92

Use It or Lose It?

October 15, 2023 • Pastor Beth Snarr • Matthew 25:14–30

With the help of the study, “Bible Stories for Grown Ups” by Pastor Josh Scott, this series will invite us to consider new and deeper meanings in Bible characters and events that may be very familiar and yet can also be disturbing and challenging. As people who embrace the scripture as “wonderful words of life”, how do these passages call us into deeper discipleship today? “Needless to say, I have come to realize that the standard interpretation of this parable - an interpretation I held and preached for many years - is just wrong. It paints a portrait of God as a punisher, as one deepens the suffering and injustice of the world. That is not the God Jesus knew. The more I dig into the context, both culturally and within Matthew’s Gospel, the more I think our interpretive lens for this story has been shaped by American values. It’s all about success, after all. To be faithful means to work hard and reap a reward. I don’t think this story by Jesus is affirming this lens. He’s actually challenging it.” pg. 69

A Whale of a Tale

October 8, 2023 • Pastor Beth Snarr • Jonah 4

With the help of the study, “Bible Stories for Grown Ups” by Pastor Josh Scott, this series will invite us to consider new and deeper meanings in Bible characters and events that may be very familiar and yet can also be disturbing and challenging. As people who embrace the scripture as “wonderful words of life”, how do these passages call us into deeper discipleship today? “At the beginning of this chapter, I said that I think the story of Jonah conveys one of the central messages of the Bible. Let’s unpack that now. I think the point the Book of Jonah is making has to do with how we see God ourselves, and our relationship with our enemies.” pg. 49

First UMC - Gainesville, FL