As we have seen and read already in the past two weeks, our theme this year is “Holy Conversations: Who We Are and Whose we Are.”
Whose are we? One answer to that question is this: we belong to Jesus, the one whose birth we celebrated a few weeks ago, the one whose baptism we celebrated this past Sunday. We belong to Jesus, who was a Jewish man born more than 2,000 years ago into a culture and a world that is unlike anything most of us have experienced or can even imagine.
In order for us to understand more of who we are and whose we are as followers of Jesus, we have the opportunity to find out more of what life was like during the time of Jesus’ life on earth. We have the opportunity to ask and consider questions like these – What does it mean that the One we follow was Jewish and not only that, he was a Jewish rabbi? What do the ancient practices of the Jewish faith have to do with us? What difference would it make for us to know more of what Jesus knew, saw, experienced, and celebrated at that time in that place in history?
If any of those questions resonate with you, perhaps the following book description will also pique your interest.
“Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus takes you on a fascinating tour of the Jewish world of Jesus, offering inspirational insights that can transform your faith. Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg paint powerful scenes from Jesus’ ministry, immersing you in the prayers, feasts, history, culture, and customs that shaped Jesus and those who followed him. You will hear the parables as they must have sounded to first-century Jews, powerful and surprising. You will join the conversations that were already going on among the rabbis of his day. You will watch with new understanding as the events of his life unfold. And you will emerge with new excitement about the roots of your own Christian faith. Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus will change the way you read Scripture and deepen your understanding of the life of Jesus.”
If you are interested in reading and learning more about Rabbi Jesus and the world in which he lived, please join the Adult Christian Education (ACE) class for a study of the book “Sitting At The Feet of Rabbi Jesus” by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg.
Justin Martin will lead the class this Sunday, January 19th, in which the book will be introduced and available for pick up. By way of reminder, the ACE class meets from 9:45 am until 10:45 am in the Shelby Room. Discussion of this engaging book will begin next week, on Sunday, January 26th.
There will be more information and a link to a reading for Sunday’s class in Caldwell This Week in a few days, so be on the look out for that. In the meantime, you are invited to read and ponder Luke 10:38-42, the story in Luke’s gospel where we meet Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, and join her at the feet of Jesus.
Grace and peace,
Gail