Wednesday Faith Growth for Adults

Wednesdays, 6:30 - 7:15 p.m.

Books are now available in the Church office.  Contact MaryKay at marykay@immanuel.us to reserve your copy.

All are welcome! 

Don’t have time to read the whole book(s)?
Further reading / shorter articles available online: Book Reviews

Virus as a Summons to Faith:
Biblical Reflections in a Time of Loss, Grief, and Uncertainty 

By Walter Brueggemann

January 6, 13 & 20 

“Why bother with the interpretive categories of biblical faith when in fact our energy and interest are focused on more immediate matters? The answer is simple and obvious. We linger because, in the midst of our immediate preoccupation with our felt jeopardy and our hope for relief, our imagination does indeed range beyond the immediate to larger, deeper wonderments. Our free-ranging imagination is not finally or fully contained in the immediacy of our stress, anxiety, and jeopardy. Beyond these demanding immediacies, we have a deep sense that our life is not fully contained in the cause-and-effect reasoning of the Enlightenment that seeks to explain and control. There is more than that and other than that to our life in God’s world!”

Available in paperback and Kindle.  Order online or register below and let us know if you'd like us to get you a copy ($14).

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87048213857?pwd=TGxmcC9BdlZCL0l3b0gzSDhmZUVtUT09 Meeting ID: 870 4821 3857 Passcode: 511587

Reading Schedule (NOTE:  Reading/discussion schedule subject to change)

January 20^th

• Chapter 5:  The “Turn” from Self to God (Psalm 77)
• Chapter 6:  God’s New Thing (Isaiah 43: 18-19)
• Chapter 7:  The Matrix of Groan (Isaiah 42: 14-15)

God and the Pandemic: 
A Christian Reflection on the Coronavirus and Its Aftermath

By N.T. Wright

January 27 - February 10

Discover a different way of seeing and responding to the Coronavirus pandemic, an approach drawing on Scripture, Christian history, and the way of living, thinking, and praying revealed to us by Jesus.
What are we supposed to think about the Coronavirus crisis?
Some people think they know: "This is a sign of the End," they say. "It's all predicted in the book of Revelation."
Others disagree but are equally clear: "This is a call to repent. God is judging the world and through this disease he's telling us to change."
Some join in the chorus of blame and condemnation: "It's the fault of the Chinese, the government, the World Health Organization…"

N. T. Wright examines these reactions to the virus and finds them wanting. Instead, he shows that a careful reading of the Bible and Christian history offers simple though profound answers to our many questions, including:

• What should be the Christian response?
• How should we think about God?
• How do we live in the present?
• Why should we lament?
• What should we learn about ourselves?
• How do we recover?

Written by one of the world's foremost New Testament scholars, God and the Pandemic will serve as your guide to read the events of today through the light of Jesus' death and resurrection.

Available in paperback and Kindle.  Order online or register below and let us know if you'd like us to get you a copy ($11).

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87048213857?pwd=TGxmcC9BdlZCL0l3b0gzSDhmZUVtUT09 Meeting ID: 870 4821 3857 Passcode: 511587

Reading Schedule (NOTE:  Reading/discussion schedule subject to change)

January 27^th

• Chapter 1:  Where do We Start?
• Chapter 2:  Reading the Old Testament

February 3^rd

• Chapter 3:  Jesus and the Gospels

February 10^th

• Chapter 4:  Reading the New Testament
• Chapter 5:  Where Do We Go from Here?

The Gathered and Scattered Church

A Study of Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians

February 17 – March 24, 6:20-6:50 pm via Zoom

2/17     I Thessalonians Chapter 1

2/24     I Thessalonians Chapter 2

3/3       I Thessalonians 3:1 – 4:12

3/10     I Thessalonians 4:13-5:28

3/17     II Thessalonians 1:1-2:12

3/24     II Thessalonians 2:13 – 3:17

3/31 HOLY WEEK – NO AFF

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Virus as a Summons to Faith (Jan. 6, 13 & 20). Check all that apply:

•   Please sign me up for "Virus as a Summons to Faith"
•   I will order my own copy of this book
•   Please order a copy of this book for me ($14)

God and the Pandemic (Jan. 27 - Feb. 10). Check all that apply:

•   Please sign me up for "God and the Pandemic"
•   I will order my own copy of this book
•   Please order a copy of this book for me ($11)

The Gathered and Scattered Church

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