Awaken Community

Micah opened the gathering with a poem from Langston Hughes. It beautifully illustrates this section of Galatians where Paul writes "...in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."   I Dream a World By Langston Hughes   I dream a world where man No other man will scorn, Where love will bless the earth And peace its paths adorn I dream a world where all Will know sweet freedom's way, Where greed no longer saps the soul Nor avarice blights our day. A world I dream where black or white, Whatever race you be, Will share the bounties of the earth And every man is free, Where wretchedness will hang its head And joy, like a pearl, Attends the needs of all mankind- Of such I dream, my world!

Pastor Micah uncovers an interesting fact about the translation of Galatians 2:15-16. In a world of binary thinking, which can sometimes be helpful for survival, there are other times it can cut out the third option. "Is the answer A or B?" "Yes, and..."  

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul insists that adding anything to the gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected changes the very nature of the good news and then, Christ died for nothing. As we celebrate the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Micah reminds us that the work of justice related to race is not an addition to the gospel but is connected to the heart of the gospel.

We were privileged to have guest speaker Scott Austin with us this week. He spoke on the first five verses of Galatians, encouraging us to not skip over the preamble as we are often tempted to do. Even in the seeming niceties of Paul's letter to the Galatians there are important points to note.

Join in as Micah introduces the Galatians series as we step into the new year. 

This week Pastor Micah continues our advent series exploring the difficult experience of Joseph in the midst of the Christmas story.

Pastor Micah continues our Advent series with an exploration of Matthew’s visit from the Magi.  It seems that like Herod, the Magi and the teachers of the law, we’re all a mix of light and darkness. The song is always playing and the invitation is always happening, the question is whether we can hear it.

Micah continues into Week 2 of the Advent 2019 series and looking at the Hidden: Zechariah in scripture.

Micah kicks off the Advent 2019 series entitled "Hidden - What Lies Beneath the Christmas Story" with the Shepherds of Luke 2.  What does Jacob, David, Bethlehem and Migdal Eder have to do with the Christmas story and just who were these shepherds?