SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

AFTERTALKS BEGINS...

We have a new format for Sunday, beginning this week. Worship will begin at 10 AM. About 10 minutes after worship ends, we will group together for Aftertalk. Bring you questions, stories, insights, and whatever else you need to Aftertalk. Join us for some food, fellowship, laughter, and ample space for reflection and real questions to help us make the transition from worship to the world. We hope you'll join us!

This week we focus on Wisdom, Discipline, and Guidance. 

• Wisdom, discipline, and guidance seem like "churchy" words. Or do you think of school? Or child-rearing? Or work? In your own words, what would you say about what these actually mean on the "ground" of your own day-to-day living as a Christian? Do more evocative terms come to mind?
• How do we know that our decisions are wise? That we've received real guidance? Does a story come to mind that illustrates this? How do you need to carry these questions into what you see happening for this week?
• In Mark, Jesus says to take up our cross. What does it look like to do this? And what might this not mean?

Further Reflection:

"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live."
      - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Jesus had no romantic notion of the cost of discipleship. He knew that following Him was as unsentimental as duty, as demanding as love."
      - Brennan Manning

"I am an average Good Christian, when you don't push my Christianity too far. And all the rest of you — which is a great comfort — are, in this respect, much the same as I."
      - Wilkie Collins

Lectionary Texts:

Proverbs 1:20-33 - James 3:1-12 - Psalms 19 - Mark 8:27-38

In the News:

Clerk in Kentucky Chooses Jail Over Deal on Same-Sex Marriage

Most Americans Support Sending Kim Davis To Jail, Poll Shows

Insane Things Republicans Say: Ted Cruz Edition

We Don’t Need Kim Davis to Be in Jail

(...and some additional media for consideration):