Crossings Knoxville

How can we reconcile what we say we want to be about as followers of Jesus with how we choose to interact with those around us?

What do Jesus’ parables about dinner parties teach us about hospitality and inclusion? What kind of hosts are we supposed to be in this world? How can we navigate the messiness of relationships to include those who are left out or undesired?

Luke 12 and 13 reveal several stories and teachings from Jesus about the Kingdom of God- a way of living God intends for us. This teaching gives attention to the anxiety that often draws us to be secretive and greedy that ultimately bind us instead of move us toward life and freedom.

How do we resist the urge to control and exert power over others when we are in conflict? How can we flip the script of judgment on to ourselves first?

Many of us feel unsure (and insecure) about what prayer looks like for us now. Luke 11 invites to picture God in a few different ways, and consider what it means to ask God and our neighbors for what we need.

What can the story of Martha and Mary teach us about the diverse ways of following Jesus? How can we enter the new year with less anxiety and more focus on the few things that are necessary?

How can we reconcile a season of what can often feel like cheap joy when events in our lives feel anything but joyful? Lectionary References for this week: Old Testament Reading - Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11  Psalm Reading - Psalm 126 New Testament Reading - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 Gospel Reading - John 1:6-8, 19-28

Isaiah the prophet, John the Baptist, and Emily Dickinson all lead us into the second Sunday of Advent. They all seem to have something to say about peace when “hate is strong and mocks the song of ‘peace on earth goodwill to men.’” Advent Readings: Old Testament Reading - Isaiah 40:1-11 Psalm Reading - Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 New Testament Reading - 2 Peter 3:8-15 Gospel Reading - Mark 1:1-8

How do we become people of hope when our time of waiting is uncertain? How can we enact deep hope in the world while we continue our searching and waiting? This week's readings from the Lectionary -  Psalm 80:1-7; 17-19 Isaiah 64:1-91 Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:24-37 

What can the revelations of quantum physics teach us about our experience of time and faith? How can we approach the season of Advent as a shift in perspective that brings us into community?

As Jesus ministry takes a turn toward Jerusalem, we are reminded of the way our faith is lived out as we go- along the way. For the lawyer in Luke 10, and for all of us, there is a question behind the question, “Who is my neighbor?”

How do we cope with unmet expectations? How can we find the Divine in our disappointments, frustrations, and misunderstandings? Can we learn to balance belief with a humble lack of certainty?

How can we adopt a faith of radical hospitality and dependence on others? How can we seek the welfare of others as an act of opposition to the political and spiritual forces of darkness?

What do the Parable of the Sower, Jesus healing and resurrecting people, and John the Baptist have in common? The confusing, excessive, life-giving grace of God.

Jesus' teaching 'on the level place' gave the crowd a picture of what solidarity with the hurting and poor might look like. It includes a picture of a tree living into its purpose of producing good fruit and a building withstanding storms because of its foundation.

How did Jesus both inhabit and honor his Jewish faith while offering unique and daring visions of it for his time? How are we called to both honor the traditions we inherited and adapt them for our current moment?

Luke 4 launches us into a new phase of Jesus' life and ministry. He makes very clear to his hometown synagogue and to the surrounding communities his preferential treatment toward the poor, the hurting, and the stranger. This posture and this announcement prompted the opposition Simeon predicted in Luke 2.

How does Luke present the upside down Kingdom of God as a Wilderness story? How can a singular voice be as powerful as an Empire? How can we immerse ourselves in God so that we lead more ethical lives?

Luke 2 invites us into two stories of Jesus in the temple and two stories of people who are looking for and surprised by who they discover Jesus to be. What happens when we, like Mary and Joseph, lose the Jesus we thought we knew? 

The story of Jesus may be overly familiar to some or completely new to others, but there’s always potential for new insights because we are never the same people we were the last time we read the story. What if the story of Jesus still has surprising ways of bringing us into the upside down Kingdom of God? How can we appreciate the surprises that may happen in others that will be different from ou...

What would happen if we expanded our understanding of creativity to something that was not for a selected few but built into the fiber of all of us? The book of Ecclesiastes pushes us to ask questions about what we are creating in the short lives we are given. This teaching references the song No Hard Feelings by The Avett Brothers, which you can find here: No Hard Feelings

Authenticity in faith is not a goal to set or a something we try to do. What if authenticity is a blend of simply being honest when theology doesn’t conform to our experiences and finding good role models of faith?

How can we have a more holistic faith in a compartmentalized world? How can we embrace a radical acceptance over perfectionism or detachment?

Restoration is ongoing work that happens on all levels (personal, communal, systemic, cosmic). What might the visions of the Hebrew Prophet Ezekiel show us about God's idea of restoration?

We like to think of our values as a compass that allows for adventure along the unknown trails. Our value of ‘story’ helps us understand the direction the compass points toward and of story and stories of we find ourselves living in.