Awaken Community

How does bearing witness show up in the scriptures? It's a thread that winds its way through the people and parables of the Old Testament. And then Israel begins to worship idols and no longer bears witness of the love of God. Perhaps the stories of Acts is the way they find their way back to bearing witness to the good news of the love of God. 

This morning we take some time to lament the last week in the life of our city and also think about the prophet and the lament and the role they play in scripture and in our lives.

Our brains tend to want to put all of life into categories - good/bad, saved/unsaved, in/out. But God's heart pulls us beyond the categories into a world of inclusion and welcome through the particular and specific work of the life of Jesus.

Continuing in Acts, we read the story of the Ethiopian eunuch in chapter 8 in a whole new light. It's as impactful now as it was then - a religious, ethnic, sexual outsider becomes the first named convert in the book of Acts. That's not by accident. 

In Acts chapters 6 and 7, Stephen speaks to those in power and show that God has moved beyond their temple and their law; that they've been holding God hostage in a box of their own creation. 

This week, Micah brings a new take on the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. After everything their community had gone through, they missed the point; they lied and withheld resources from each other. What do those actions mean for a community that was present for the death and resurrection of Jesus?

In Acts 4, Peter and John are being charged by the Sadduccees of mixing things up too much in the temple. Why are the Sadduccees going on the offensive? And what do they stand to lose if Peter and John and the gospel of the apostles, who were with Jesus, is heard in the temple? Like so much of the gospel, the way of Jesus is backwards and upside down from what is expected. He uses the unschooled and ordinary to speak to those that have power and influence. Sign up for the Awaken Weekly to receive resources developed by the Awaken staff for you to use however you gather at home.

As we make our way out of the Easter season, we begin a new series to think about the implications of the resurrection. This week, Micah starts with a question from the first chapter of Acts: “Why do you stand here looking at the sky?”

On this very different Easter resurrection Sunday, Micah speaks a word of liberation and victory. And even though it is difficult to not be able to gather together this morning, it is a joy to see the fruit of these echoes - presence, love, and peace - showing up in our community and in our lives. Sign up for the Awaken Weekly to receive resources developed by the Awaken staff for you to use however you gather at home.

The Good Friday Tenebrae service includes the seven last words of Jesus, meditations on those words by our staff, music and Eucharist. To participate in the service, gather seven candles and the elements for communion.