Sisters Classes
Messianic Themes in Children’s Literature:
A Lion, a Boy Wizard, and a Giver
Corina Midgett - not recorded
June 29 - July 3
10:30am PT / 12:30 CT / 1:30 ET
Calling all literature readers! I will need some dedicated participants who know the above books and be willing to share ideas as they are led through a series of questions. Even if you haven’t read these books you can join us and perhaps be motivated to read one or more of them!
These interactive discussion sessions will define themes and symbols, explore story arcs, discuss and compare characters, and focus on certain plot-defining moments. The goal is to explore the stories themselves and how the fictional Story functions as a means of internalizing the gospel. The underlying premise is that I can get to know Jesus better by becoming more intimately acquainted with the idea of him when the idea is presented well in literature. An idea, a logos, has a great deal of power, in whatever form it is made manifest.
Contact Corina: cmidgett@gmail.com
Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes:
Jacob and the Prodigal Son
Sarah Joiner
July 6-10
1pm PT / 3pm CT / 4pm ET
In our five sessions together, we'll discover that the "Lost and Found" parables of Luke 15, are actually components of just one parable - where our Lord uses the saga of Jacob and Esau to create a new story, with himself at its center. Our Lord Jesus is inviting us to be part of this story of being lost and found. It is our family story. Our hope. Drawing on cultural details provided by scholars such as Kenneth Bailey and David A. deSilva, we'll plummet the depths of Luke 15, in order to cultivate a deeper relationship with Our Lord Jesus Christ - and each other.
Food in the Bible
Lorna Dean
2 sessions - July 16-17
11am PT / 1pm CT / 2pm ET
From Genesis to the kingdom age the unfolding story of God depicts, many times over, one part of the world we know: saint or sinner, we all have to sit down and eat. Assisted in our appreciation by some of the customs and practices of meals and their preparation, we are invited to some of those meals. But this is not for foodies: the tableau of people seated and eating is the foundational scriptural device to denote service, harmony established or fellowship restored.
Our calling is to serve God and in response to Him to serve each other and our wider world.
We have received the welcome of the Gospel. How are we to be more like Jesus with his overflowing hospitality and message of welcome to the least and the lost?
How do we ensure our Sunday table is a safe place of refuge for all of us?
How do we extend that welcome of Jesus to everyone we meet?
These two meditative sessions will see us walk through the pages of the bible to dine, ‘eat and think’, with kings and paupers, jailbirds and jailers to find refreshment and strength and to see the transforming power of a simple meal served with love.
Practical Faith
Lucy Dangerfield
3 Sessions July 13-15
5pm PT / 7pm CT / 8pm ET
1. 'The next right thing.' An exploration of guilt, forgiveness and the restoration of joy. What can we do when we feel bogged down by feelings of guilt over a sin? A look at the theology and practicalities of this painful topic and how to live out the freedom of being forgiven.
2. 'Going equipped.' Do our lives seem to be a perpetual failing struggle with sin? Trying to please God by our own efforts usually results in disappointment, so how do we be 'more than conquerors'? I believe that God has equipped us to lead lives of holiness and spiritual victory by the power of the Holy Spirit.
3. 'A happiness that makes you serious.' As followers of Jesus, can we expect our lives to be filled with happiness? An exploration of happiness, humour and Biblical 'joy', which transcends our circumstances.
The Ancient Near Eastern Context of the Old Testament
Wendy Johnsen
July 20-24
4pm PT / 6pm CT / 7pm ET
Just as the contexts of the global village and modern science inform the 21st century worldview, so the context of the story of the people of God in the OT was the culture and worldview of the Ancient Near East, that part of the world that stretched from Mesopotamia to Egypt.
We will look at what the ANE thought about deity, the origin and operation of the cosmos, and the roles of human beings, and see how the God of Israel communicated with his people in language and concepts that were culturally familiar to them while teaching them that he, and his relationship with them, was very different.