One of my favorite passages to imagine is the burial of an otherwise unknown man in II Kings 13. As he is being buried, a band of Moabite raiders are seen and the man is quickly discarded into the tomb of Elisha. What happened next must have been stunning to those watching...the corpse of this dead man touches the bones of Elisha and he revived and stood up on his feet. I love to imagine what that would have been like to see the faces of those who just thrown him into the tomb as he came out of the tomb. The scene is a picture for me of what it is like when we touch treasures from history...those realities like Elisha's bones contain the power to release new life to us.
That is what this class is about...
We began on March 1 by looking back at the birth of the Anabaptist movement in 1525 moving up to the early 1700's when a group of pioneer Anabaptists trekked across the relative wilderness of Pennsylvania to carve out a settlement in the region immediately surrounding Willow Street. The history of those events invites us to consider our identity, both the original calling and those habits which have gotten in the way of that calling. We took time to celebrate the reality that God does not stop pursuing us, but rather continues to speak, often asking questions which will help reveal clues to our calling. We paused to specifically ask God questions and then listen to God, and see if there were any specific questions He was asking us. One of the questions that came out of the time was shared by Jeremy Peifer who said that he was asking God the question,
"Who are you? And because of that Who am I?"
This question is at the core of our moving forward, getting unstuck and living lives that match the quality Jesus dared us to believe in...
At the close of week 1, I invited the group to dig into the scriptures and look for questions that God asked, examining them for clues about the way that God relates to people alongside the reminder that when He asks us a question it is not because He needs information from us.
ACTION STEPS:
1. What question do you have for God right now?
2. Pause and listen, ask God if He has any questions for you...then write them down.
3. Look through the Gospels...jot down some of the questions that Jesus asked...what does this tell you about Jesus?
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