Wisdom for Living: The Wisdom of Christmas (Chris)

This last lesson of Advent looks at “The Wisdom of Christmas.”  With an assist from Charlie Brown, we explore the ways in which Prophets, Parents, Powers, and (Ordinary) People welcomed Jesus into the world at the first Christmas.  They teach us to Repent, Receive, Respect, and Rejoice as we look ourselves to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior.

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Wisdom for Living: The Peace of Wisdom (Chris)

“The Peace of Wisdom.”  In the season of Advent, we look forward to “peace on earth.”  Yet, we often fail to feel this peace in our own hectic lives.  This lesson asks: what is the peace of God, and how do we find it?

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Wisdom for Living: The Wisdom of Humility (Randy)

Proverbs 11:2 says, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”  Unfortunately, our culture encourages self-sufficiency, self-promotion, and all sorts of self-centered behaviors.  We fail to recognize these as prideful behaviors that prevent us from surrendering our lives to God.  That single failure makes us fools.  It is only when we truly humble ourselves before God that Jesus can live his life through ours and impart his wisdom to us.  With humility comes wisdom.

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Wisdom for Living: Social Wisdom Part 1 (Chris)

Social Wisdom includes important behaviors like hospitality and manners and community-focused issues like gossip, slander, respect, loving our neighbors, politics, and self-sacrifice.  In part 1 of this lesson, we explore what the Bible teaches us about Christian life in each of these areas.

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Wisdom for Living: The Wisdom of Self-Control (Randy)

How many times have we tried to stop a bad habit, or promised to treat our family or friends better, or promised God that we would change?  We are subject to our passions and they cause us to live out-of-controlled lives. We over indulge in unhealthy things that destroy our bodies or our relationships.  We lack self-control.  But God gives us the wisdom to grow in self-control. We just need to run to him and know that his grace is sufficient.  In this lesson, we will learn how dangerous it is to lack self-control, and how we can go about getting it.

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The Spirit World (Bruce Jones)

The Apostle Paul writes that the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom.  [1 Corinthians 1:25]  Many of the world’s wise believe only in material things and reject the idea of spiritual ones.  Guest speaker Bruce Jones visits Open Door to share a series of spiritual stories from different cultures and perspectives.

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Wisdom for Living: Personal Wisdom (Chris)

This lesson covers Personal Wisdom: the proper use of our time and talent as disciples.  Drawing from Old Testament law, the wisdom writing in Proverbs, and Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels, the three areas explored are: 1) Worship, 2) Witness, and 3) Work.

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Wisdom for Living: Possessional Wisdom (Chris)

This lesson explores “Possessional Wisdom”: how we should handle our money and our stuff.  Scripture passages from the Old Testament and the New Testament cover a range of perspectives on the topic including abundance vs. scarcity and the paradox of gathering vs. scattering.  In the end, it turns out that everything we have truly belongs to God.  What does that mean about how we should live?

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Wisdom for Living: Plans and Outcomes (Randy)

We want to be in control of our lives.  We make plans and do everything we can to fulfill them.  We become frustrated when they don’t work out, though, and wonder what we can do to get more of God’s guidance along the way.  Jesus is our ultimate guide, as it turns out, and when we fully commit to him, God establishes our plans by making us people who make good plans.

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Listen to Plans and Outcomes (alternate recording 7/16/17)
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Wisdom for Living: The Beginning of Wisdom (Randy)

Proverbs tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This means revering and standing in awe of God, and putting our full faith and trust in him.  Our wisdom comes from that right relationship with God, the author of all wisdom.  Unfortunately, modern society has drifted toward secularism, and therefore modern wisdom reflects the bankrupt values of our society more than God’s eternal ideals.  How can we live wisely in such a society?  By focusing on our relationship with Jesus and the message of the cross.

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Listen to the Beginning of Wisdom (alternate recording 6/25/17)
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Wisdom for Living: The Wisdom and Mission of Christ (Chris)

Before Christ, we had the book of Proverbs to help us live wisely. People learned through hard experience over many generations how to make good decisions.  Now we have Christ. While Proverbs remains a guide, we can now focus on emulating Jesus to find wisdom.  WWJD really is a marvelous way to live.  We have huge advantage in living AD.  It is not foolproof, but it is much better than BC.  That is Good News!

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Wisdom for Living: The Source of Wisdom (Randy)

The ancients diligently sought to understand the source and meaning of wisdom so they could live successful lives in a world that would not have made any sense otherwise.  They captured this wisdom in the Proverbs among other writings and taught young boys its meaning in schools.  Today, we rely on morality and knowledge to make decisions, not recognizing that we lack wisdom. We are fools!  But, by understanding the source of wisdom and entering into a relationship with Jesus Christ, we can begin to become wise and live a life worthy of God’s calling.

Listen to The Source of Wisdom
Listen to The Source of Wisdom (alternate recording 6/11/17)
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Wisdom for Living: The History of Wisdom (Chris)

“What is Wisdom?”  This is the opening question from the first lesson of our Open Door series on the topic of “Wisdom.”  The session explores the history of wisdom and ways in which our Judeo-Christian understanding of wisdom is unique among world cultures.  We also introduce the Book of Proverbs as the focus of our series and see that Biblical wisdom is straightforward in some places and complex and nuanced in others.

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Symbolism in the Bible: Finale (Chris and Randy)

We spent the past few months looking at some of the most common symbols in the Bible.  Through that journey, we have seen how Biblical writers – and God himself – used these symbols to help communicate a deeper meaning in the story.  By understanding the meaning of the symbols, we have gained a deeper understanding of God’s work in the world. Today, we will recap these lessons and ask once more what we can learn about God and ourselves in the process.

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Symbolism in the Bible: Fire (Randy)

Like water and blood, Biblical writers used fire to symbolize God’s work in the world, ranging from affliction and punishment (no fire), judgement (raging fire), salvation and sanctification (cleansing fire), and eternal life (empowering fire). In this lesson, we explore some of these instances and draw out what they mean to our lives today.

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Symbolism in the Bible: The Cross (Chris)

Tim Keller teaches that the Cross represents the complete inversion of the world’s reality vs. God’s reality.  Through the cross, Christ won by losing.  As Paul noted earlier in 1 Corinthians, Jesus gave up everything that the world values (life, power, and honor) for the sake of what God values (obedience, sacrifice, and love).  Of course, any symbol has its limits.  It represents something rather than being the something itself.  We do not worship the Cross, we worship the Christ of the Cross.  As Paul said, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”  [1 Corinthians 2:2]

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Symbolism in the Bible: Blood (Randy)

Blood in the Bible represents both death and life, and like water, shows how God works in the world.  He judges, saves, and ultimately reconciles us to him through the blood of Christ. 

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Symbolism in the Bible: Water (Randy)

Biblical writers wrote during a time when water was one of the most precious resources. They lived in an arid climate where drought brought famine and war cut off water supplies.  On the other hand, rain and full cisterns meant a good harvest and plenty to drink.  Water in the Bible represents both punishment and blessing. Ultimately, Jesus transformed it to represent eternal life. 

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Symbolism in the Bible: Oil (Chris)

Continuing in our Symbolism series, Chris looks at the symbolism of oil in the Bible.

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The Gospel of Thomas (Bruce Jones)

Bruce Jones from the Passages class at PRUMC examines The Gospel of Thomas.  Bruce adds:

From a recent daily missive by Richard Rohr: “Remember, it's God in you that loves God. You, on your own, don't really know how to love God. It's Christ in you that recognizes Christ. It's the Holy Spirit, whose temple you are (see 1 Corinthians 3:16), that responds to the Holy Spirit. Like recognizes like. That's why all true cognition is really recognition ("re-cognition" or knowing something again). Only so far as you have surrendered to Christ and allowed the Christ in you to come to fullness can you love Christ. It's Christ in you that recognizes and loves Christ.”

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Why Confess Our Sin? (Allen Taylor)

Allen Taylor shared a lesson called "Why confess our sins?" that mixed theology and personal testimony into what I believe you will find an interesting culmination to our Lenten lessons.

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Symbolism in the Bible: Wine (Chris)

This week, we will look at the symbolic mate of bread in the Bible: wine.  We will build on last week’s lesson and look for ways in which wine helps us better understand our human condition and relationship with God - how it represents a symbol of life and of our relationship with God.

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Symbolism in the Bible: Bread (Randy)

Some of the Bible’s most compelling stories involve bread – manna from heaven, the feeding of the 5,000, and the Last Supper. That is because bread symbolizes God’s provision for our lives, first in a physical sense and later in a spiritual one.  Jesus became the bread of life, broken for us so that we might have eternal life through him.

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Symbolism in the Bible: Open Door (Randy)

We often become frustrated when things don’t go out way and feel like doors have been slammed shut in our face.  Yet in the Bible, God opens the door to us and invites us to enter – entering into a right relationship with him. When we do, he opens even more doors, doors of opportunity to serve him in new and exciting ways.

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Taking the Political out of Politics (Kelly Vieira)

How are we to choose our next President?  The Bible offers ideas for how to think about the decision without having to concern ourselves with politics.  There, we learn that God chooses those who only reluctantly agree to serve; God looks to the heart of a leader vs. to superficial qualities; and God encourages leaders to surround themselves with counselors and teams.  

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Symbols in the Bible: the Numbers 4 and 12 – “Political Christians” (Chris)

As Christians, we believe that the Bible is God’s Revealed Word.  We are spending a few weeks on symbols that we see repeated in Scripture, what they mean, and how they help us better understand God and ourselves.  Today, we’re going to explore the numbers 4 and 12.  In this season of politics in America, it turns out that these two numbers offer us instruction on how to make political decisions and what kind of role in politics to pursue as Christians.

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Symbolism in the Bible: Imperfect 6 (Randy)

Writers of the Bible use the number 6 to depict man’s weakness, corruption, and imperfection.  Time and time again, we see examples of mankind attempting to live without God, falling into constant sin and rebellion, and the Bible brings the point home through the number 6. Christ transformed it, though, suffering on the cross for 6 hours to atone for mankind’s sin and dying at the beginning of the 7^th hour to complete God’s plan of redemption.   

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Symbols in the Bible: the Numbers 40, 3, and 7 (Chris)

As Christians, we believe that the Bible is God’s Revealed Word.  We are spending a few weeks on symbols that we see repeated in Scripture, what they mean, and how they help us better understand God and ourselves.  Today, we’re going to explore the numbers 40, 3, and 7.

Listen to Symbols in the Bible: the Numbers 40, 3, and 7

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Symbolism in the Bible: 40 Days of Trials (Randy)

The Bible uses a wide range of symbols to communicate meaning, including the use of numbers.  Writers used the number 40 to symbolize times of tests and trials.  Jesus was tested for 40 days in the desert, too, and later transformed how we go through trials by remaining on earth for 40 days after his resurrection.

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