Adult Education Series: The Path

We are starting to make our way through The Path: A Journey Through the Bible. The Path gives us a guided tour through the Scriptures with prompts for reflection and notes to help us along. The book serves as a gateway into the wider world of Scripture, especially for those who feel that they may be unfamiliar with the larger scope of the Bible. This is a great opportunity to acquaint ourselves with the stories, images, and teaching of the Bible.

Apr 23rd: Our text this first week comes from Genesis, and will probably be a reading that is familiar to many of us. We will be discussing chapter 1 and the stories of creation that begin the Bible.

Apr 30th: We are making our way through chapter 2 this week. We will be looking at the stories of Cain and Abel, Noah, and the Tower of Babel. One of the main themes in these stories is the covenant. We will be able to see how God works with humanity through the making of covenants. The human response to the covenant takes a number of forms, but most importantly for us may be Noah’s response in worship. Key questions for us will be how we give thanks to God and how we know what God wants for us.

May 7th: Our chapter in The Path this week focuses on the story of Abraham’s life. Abraham is a pivotal figure not just for Christianity but for Judaism and Islam as well. As we read through his life, though, we may find him to be a rather surprising patriarch for these major religions. He doubts, argues, and bargains with God. The picture that emerges is one of God’s faithfulness to Abraham’s long journey of figuring things out for himself. Even when he seems to figure out, we are still left with the disturbing and strange story of the binding of Isaac. Life with God does not seem straightforward at all. What do we make of Abraham’s long work of learning to be obedient to God? Do we see any of ourselves in the story of faithfulness and doubt? God remains faithful to Abraham even as he goes astray at times. The image of the covenant gets fleshed out in God’s faithfulness to Abraham. We are also beginning to see the reason for the covenant with Abraham. God desires to bless the world through the people he is setting apart in the Abrahamic covenant. What are we being set apart for in our own lives and in our church life together?

May 14th: This is a week of blessings, tricks, dreams, and forgiveness. We take on the stories of Jacob and Joseph on this week. One of the key themes we run into in these stories is that while people are often up to less than good things, God, somehow, manages to bring good things about from those bad things. We may find this frustrating or we may find it a relief depending on how we think of our own relationship with God. Do we think of ourselves as a Jacob who has gotten away with a few things or an Esau who has been dealt a rough hand? We also see that God does not speak to anyone very directly. God works in dreams and in mysterious figures who wrestle and wound. Does our own life with God feel like a wrestling match sometimes? Finally, we see that God leads people to forgiveness again and again, and that forgiveness seems to be a major part of God’s way of working. Have you had times when you have forgiven or been forgiven in your own life?

May 21st: Our first week with Moses has finally arrived. Moses begins his time in the spotlight by committing a murder and fleeing to the wilderness. God chooses Moses to lead God’s people out of their slavery in Egypt. While Moses does turn aside to see the burning bush, he attempts to avoid responding to the call of God to lead the people. God persists by accommodating Moses’s concerns so that Moses can indeed return to confront Pharaoh. This part of Moses’s life leads us to ask questions about how suitable we are for the work God has called us to do. Do we feel inadequate to the task God has set for us? Or do we feel too morally compromised to be someone that God calls? Moses’s eventual willingness to follow God can help us think about these questions. The other major figure in this chapter is Pharaoh. Pharaoh is threatened by the increasing number of Israelites in the country. When he interacts with Moses, though, his heart becomes even more hardened to God’s people. Sometimes he hardens his heart but sometimes it is God’s work. What do we think this hard heart means? What do we think it means for God to harden someone’s heart? We will yet again be returning to discuss how God works in the world and how God takes sides.

June 4th: Our readings this week take us into the Promised Land at last. The stories this week detail the journey of the Israelites as they conquer by various means the land that God has promised to them. We see God delivering the land through fantastic means, as with Jericho, as well as by more conventional means of warfare. What does it tell us that at one point God works through a sex worker, musical priests, and a red string while at other times God simply gives the army success? How do we feel about the way God decides to get things done at this point? The other major theme this week is God’s demand for loyalty. Again and again, the people are warned not to begin worshipping other gods. Do we worry about worshipping other gods? Why might God give this directive to the people as they enter this new land?

June 11th: Our Scriptures for this meeting take us into the time of the Judges. The Judges were charismatic leaders of Israel who helped shepherd the people after the death of Joshua. The familiar scheme of faithfulness, turning away, and repentance comes into play as these Judges arise when they are needed to help the people return to God. Returning to God, though, involves some of the more difficult aspects of the Old Testament. We see the leaders of the people killing, lying, and going astray as they try to navigate the way forward in the Promised Land. In Deborah and Jael we are given an early picture of female leadership. They, nevertheless, use this leadership to lead the people into battle on behalf of God. What do we think about this temporary form of leadership that arises when it is needed? What are the strange gods that we run after as Israel did before us? How should we call someone back when they seem to have wandered away?

Sunday mornings at 9:15, we meet in Fox Hall, or you can access our meeting online by any of the following methods:

1. Click here – https://zoom.us/j/91297837526

Or

2. Go to Zoom.us, click “Join Meeting” & enter Meeting ID: 912 9783 7526

Or

3. On your cell, call (312) 626-6799 and enter Meeting ID 912 9783 7526#