Olathe, Kansas, United States - RezChat Bible Study Newsletter for Friday, 25 April 2014 of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection West

Olathe, Kansas, United States - RezChat Bible Study Newsletter for Friday, 25 April 2014 of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection West
Hi, RezChat
I'm running behind, so let's go.
   I don't know any more about Barbara Borgelt, other than the fact that she made it home from the hospital yesterday. 
NEWSLETTER CONTENTS
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Sunday's session: Steve Miller
Chewables & Cafe: Open slot
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Sunday's session: Jesus, the sequel
I'm going to do something different this week.
   This is our first time back together since the shooting at the Jewish Community Center, while we were enjoying a Passover Seder at Renay's home a few blocks north of the shooting.
   I want to give us some time to talk about that, in addition to wrapping up our 4-week series about the key Christian beliefs, as expressed in the Apostle's Creed.
   Here are some questions I'll have for you about the shooting:
•Did anyone go to the funeral or watch online? Reactions?
•How did you feel about the Fred Phelps family showing up?
•What makes you most angry about the shooting?
•What’s a Christian response to all of this?
•Does any Bible passage come to mind? Perhaps a word of comfort? 
I wrote a couple of blogs about it:
Hitler came to my Passover
Rethinking the white Protestant thing
For the Apostle's Creed part of the session, which I plan on doing first, we'll at least read the Bible passages so we get a sense of how the Creed links to the Bible. But I'm thinking we might want to spend most of the time debriefing about the shooting.
   Apostle's Creed excerpt up for discussion:
   “He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.”
Bible passages:
John 14:1-3; Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:6-11; John 5:25-30; Mark 16:19
Jesus Comforts His Followers
14 Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house; I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am.
Jesus Goes Back to Heaven
50 Jesus led his followers as far as Bethany, and he raised his hands and blessed them.51 While he was blessing them, he was separated from them and carried into heaven.52 They worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem very happy. 53 They stayed in the Temple all the time, praising God.
Jesus Is Taken Up into Heaven
6 When the apostles were all together, they asked Jesus, “Lord, are you now going to give the kingdom back to Israel?”
7 Jesus said to them, “The Father is the only One who has the authority to decide dates and times. These things are not for you to know. 8 But when the Holy Spirit comes to you, you will receive power. You will be my witnesses—in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world.”
9 After he said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 As he was going, they were looking into the sky. Suddenly, two men wearing white clothes stood beside them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking into the sky? Jesus, whom you saw taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you saw him go.”
I’ll be back
25 I tell you the truth, the time is coming and is already here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will have life. 26 Life comes from the Father himself, and he has allowed the Son to have life in himself as well. 27 And the Father has given the Son the approval to judge, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Don’t be surprised at this: A time is coming when all who are dead and in their graves will hear his voice. 29 Then they will come out of their graves. Those who did good will rise and have life forever, but those who did evil will rise to be judged guilty.
Seated at right hand of Father
19 After the Lord Jesus said these things to his followers, he was carried up into heaven, and he sat at the right side of God.
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Okay folks, that's all I've got.
   Up next, polish the RezChat lesson and write Monday's blog post. The grass will have to wait until tomorrow.
Steve
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Our mailing address is:
Stephen M. Miller
PO Box 2712
Olathe, KS 66063 United States
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