Continuing our look at the broad context of Jesus’ life and ministry, this sermon focuses on Jesus as a Jew, and the bigger picture of Judaism in Israel during Jesus’ lifetime. Who were the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Levites, and all the rest? What distinguished them from each other? Why was he called “Son of David?” and how did the politics of empires play into all that?
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This sermon takes a look at Jesus as a human being, living in the first century in the Roman colony of Palestine. Where do scholars agree and disagree about his life? What was Nazareth like at the time? Who were his friends? Family?
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In the early months of 2022, Crawford Memorial United Methodist Church joined with other members of the Winchester community to form the Winchester Interfaith Resettlement Partnership. Our goal was to provide support to a family of Afghan refugees – two parents and five children – resettling in the area. One of the Partnership’s co-leaders provided this heart-warming update in mid-November.
“Many wonderful things have happened with this lovely family including improving their medical and dental care, providing childhood healthcare immunizations and assessments (including in one case physical therapy and adaptive equipment), moving forward with advanced immigration status which will enable them to more easily integrate into American society, educational and language opportunities for the children and parents, recreational and social programs in the community, two jobs for Ihsanullah to contribute to the household and friendship from our over 70 volunteers.
“Your financial support of the family has allowed us to continue in reasonable housing, managing educational, food and household purchases and working toward self-sufficiency as the family begins to stand on their own over the next several months.
“One of the greatest miracles of this whole journey from Afghanistan to America has been the arrival on Monday, November 14 of a baby girl to the proud parents. Aisha Rawan has just now returned home to the embrace of her five siblings with lots of kisses and hugs. She is the first US citizen of the family with hopefully more of them to follow.
“We invite your faith community to offer prayers of thanksgiving and safe delivery for Aisha and Zahida. We look forward to continuing our Interfaith partnership with each of your communities in the next critical months of transition and self-reliance for the Rawan family.
“Betty Stone and I as the co-leads of our Winchester Interfaith Resettlement Partnership give thanks for God’s many blessings during this season of Thanksgiving,”
– Bob Davidson
One of the reasons our debates about the Bible get so heated is a difference of opinion over how much authority the Bible should have in daily life. People then end up on different sides of that question because of the related question of what role God played in the creation and preservation of the biblical texts. This sermon focuses on the intersection of those questions, the different ways Christians answer them, and how we can be more aware of our own assumptions about those things.
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After you’ve watched, be sure to subscribe to our channel!
Watch or Read
After you’ve watched, be sure to subscribe to our channel!