Crossings Knoxville

How do we tell the truth at this moment? How can we move beyond rage and despair into an optimism that does good work in the world? What spaces of love, safety, and generosity can we build in our neighborhoods and workplaces?

How much of faith and/or God are we actually supposed to understand? How can we embrace a faith of both tears and joy? How can we learn to live into the fulfillment of Scriptures we don't fully understand?

What would it take to imagine God as a supportive, rejoicing partner? What if God’s primary concern for humanity is a restored and preserved dignity for all people? What would it take to believe that for yourself?

What would it look like if Wisdom became more manifest in our lives? How can we see God in the wisdom of the past in our stories?

How do we enter Advent we dont' like or can't connect with some of the scriptures that are supposed to prepare us?

How can we find and feel joy in a season when cynicism and frustration are an easier default setting?

Luke’s gospel pinpoints the birth of Christ and the message of John the Baptist in a particular point in history. The political, economic, social, and religious situation was one when many found themselves sitting within the darkness of the shadows of death. What did the incarnation of God coming to earth as a baby mean for that point in history? What does it mean for us now, in our context?

What does it mean to truly have deep hope in Advent? How can we be on guard in these times to find light and get into good trouble? What would something completely new look like in our lives?

Before we transition to following the lectionary for several months, we take time to reflect on where and how we locate ourselves spiritually. Our hope is that we become a community where time itself becomes an anchor in the life of Jesus.

The Book of Ruth is situated “in the days when the judges ruled” and presents an alternative narrative to the stories we read in our Judges study.

How can we allow dark stories to haunt us? Where are we contributing to the darkness of our world? How do we tell stories that transcend and shed light on the brokenness to bring healing?

What do we do when the things done in the name of religion are absurdly hilarious but practically unfunny? What keeps connected to God and others when the world around us is so dark?

Judges week 10

How do we experience faith in the ambiguous? What do we do when we feel like God has let us down? How can we be sure that our ideas about God are the same thing as God, and how do we wrestle through this?

Judges 10-12 is a sad story. Sometimes we need help letting sad stories in our sacred text remain as sad stories. Ultimately our question this week is about who suffers and who is sacrificed in the process of religious and institutional battles?

Where is God's justice in the world and how do we account for the perceived lack of it? How can we view God without ascribing to God the same kinds of power we see in our world? How can we play our part in the world without seeking control and power?

How can we best tell the story of the world and our story? What stories are we ending too soon? What stories should we end that we are hanging onto?

Judges 4-5 introduces us to some strong female characters whose actions are explicitly credited as divine actions. These stories make us ask serious questions about “whose side” God is on.

The Judges Cycle begins with an introduction to our first three leaders: Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar. It’s tribal and violent and graphic and it makes us questions what to do when our theology and morality don’t align with our sacred text.

What kind of the theological overlay do we put on our stories? How do our metaphors about God shape our lives? How can we more consciously choose what kinds of stories we tell about God, ourselves, and the world?

The book of Judges begins by painting a picture of tribal successes and failures. As we study, we must also ask: how do we still participate in tribal politics? How do we understand the identity of "the people of God" in less restrictive ways?

The Book of Judges depicts a time of political and religious disorganization in Israel. It paints a picture of how disloyalty to Yahweh, Israel's God, leads to conflict and division internally and externally. Rather than simply narrating a historical account, Judges tells a theological story about how faithfulness leads to peace. Dark and violent, the book attempts to shock us into a realizati...

What does the Bible say about "community"? How have we overused this word in ways that have lost its meaning?

What does the Bible say about "salvation"? What do our different understandings of that word and the theories behind it do to us? What are we saved from, but more importantly what are we saved to?

How do we understand the word "sin" biblically when there are numerous words and concepts throughout the Bible to describe it? How can we reframe the idea of sin so that it still holds meaning? How do we avoid weaponizing the term sin against others?