I loved the discussion about Moses and the burning bush but now it’s time to begin thinking about the second lesson in our summer Bible study – The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold (Luke 1:5-20). Instead of a burning bush we have an angel appearing in front of Zechariah to deliver God’s message to him. Once again, like Moses before him, there is fear, disbelief, doubt and even suffering (Zachariah is struck mute) before understanding and accepting what God was telling him to do.
It dawned on me that neither Moses or Zechariah were looking for God’s call at the time they received it. We at Sunnyside Church are actively asking God for it. Maybe that will make us better prepared to see, hear, understand and believe it when it comes. The Bible study this summer is the first stepping stone of our journey. I believe it is already helping. I’m looking forward to the sermon and discussion on Sunday.
Great points! As we seek (in a brainstorming way) God's call, identifying that call will be an interesting experience as we view the world and each other through our own individual acquired and given traits. Peace be with us all! Gene Bruce
ReplyDeleteKen, I appreciate your reflection on the differences between activly listening and looking for God and being startled by God. I think that even as we actively listen and look for God, we need to be thinking as well about whether or not we are flexible and agile enough as a congregation to respond in more postive ways than Moses and Zachariah first did to God's call.
ReplyDelete- Pastor Rebecca
I cannot wait to see how God will come to us and lead Sunnyside into the future. It is only the second week of our Stepping Stones journey and already I feel our Sunnyside family growing in faith. I love that we are all talking about the bible study, sermons and Sunday discussions.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the conversation in today's Stepping Stones Bible Study. It is always interesting to hear different perspectives on the same story:how each one of us viewed Zechariah, Elizabeth and John the Baptist differently. I like looking at things differently. Perhaps that is what God is seeking from us.
ReplyDeleteI also think our Stepping Stones initiative is beginning to engage our congregation. I know of one group of individuals that are meeting on a regular basis to discuss the bible studies. Very committted, but very low profile. As Abbe posted, we hear and learn different messages from the same lesson. We also have to expect Sunnysiders to absorb and approach the Stepping Stones process differently.
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