Inspired
During August and September of 2022, we take a fresh look at familiar stories, seeking inspiration once again from ancient and sacred text. Guided by the book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by the late Rachel Held Evans, we examine these stories with modern scholarship and our inspired imaginations as our guides.
Inspired: Church Stories
This week we conclude our worship series “Inspired” based on the book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans. This week we explore the letters from the Apostle Paul, our earliest glimpses into the early Christian church. These letters–epistles–highlight the struggles and gifts of these communities. As churches struggle today, we may find comfort in knowing we don’t struggle alone and we may find new ways of learning from these ancient letters.…
Inspired: Fish Stories
This week we near the end of our worship series “Inspired” based on the book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans. Some of the loudest critiques from our non-theist friends about sacred Christian texts have to do with the more extraordinary and even super-natural stories. Did those things happen or were they written as allegory and an exaggeration? As Wesleyans, we understand the value of reason in our spiritual life—but this…
Inspired: Gospel Stories
This week we continue our worship series “Inspired” based on the book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans. As United Methodists and Christians, I think it’s a safe assumption that the Gospel stories hold particular significance for us. This is the Gospel, the Good News! In these stories are the proclamations that we are no longer slaves to sin and death, that we are not alone, that God has walked with…
Inspired: Resistance Stories
This week we continue our worship series “Inspired” based on the book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans. One of the main themes of the Bible is that God is on the side of the faithful minority within vast, oppressive empires. God shows up to walk alongside the poor and disinherited. God gives strength to those who speak truth to power, those who display courage in the face of death. Even…
Inspired: Wisdom Stories
This week we continue our new worship series “Inspired” based on the book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans. As humans working in and through all that their is in this world to work in and through, we seek guidance and wisdom and inspiration. This week we look at where we might find such wisdom in our sacred text. Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (CEB)
Inspired: War Stories
This week we continue our new worship series “Inspired” based on the book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans. It is my hope that people of faith regularly read from our sacred texts. For any of us who regularly read, I suggest that we sometimes find stories and passages that we find difficult to read or even troubling. I believe that facing these difficult stories and passages and questions is essential…
Inspired: Deliverance Stories
This week we continue our new worship series “Inspired” based on the book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans. It is surely safe to say that we all wish for deliverance from something. For some of us we may wish for deliverance small inconveniences and annoyances. Still others may wish for deliverance from major emotional upheavals and other difficult circumstances. We are reminded that God hears our cries, even our most…
Inspired: Origin Stories
This week we transition from our series on the Apostles’ Creed to our new worship series “Inspired” based on the book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans. In this book, Rachel draws on the best in recent scholarship and uses her well-honed literary expertise to examine some of her favorite Bible stories and possible interpretations, retelling them through memoir, original poetry, short stories, soliloquies, and even a short screenplay. Undaunted by…