Category Archives: Bible Study

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2017 Lenten Study Groups

Liberation Theology Study Group Sundays at 3 pm

Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God

Liberation Theology Study group is currently discussing Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God by the womanist theologian Kelly Brown Douglas. Local activist T. Marie King is co-facilitating the book discussion with Rev. Jennifer. All are welcomed to join the discussion!

 

Bible study Wednesday nights at 6 PM
Plenty Good Room: A Lenten Bible Study Based on African American Spirituals

This unique short-term Bible study combines an in-depth look at Scripture, American history, and the music and lyrics of six African American spirituals. The six-session study provides biblical, social, and historical analyses of  ‘Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit,” “This Lonesome Valley,” “Bow Down on Your Knees,” “Plenty Good Room,” “Ain’t Dat Good News,” and “Were You There?” Bible Study facilitated by Rev. Sally Harris at Beloved, Wednesday nights at 6 pm.

 

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Bible Study, Get to know Beloved, Lenten reflection, Social justice

Lenten Reflection from Rev. Lawton Higgs: A message to the white protestant church

2 Corinthians 5:16 (New Revised Standard Version)

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view, even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer that way.”
 
2 Corinthians 5:16 (The Message)
“Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way any more.”
 
Phil. 3:4b (New Revised Standard Version)
“If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more:”
 
Phil. 3:4b (The Message)
“we can list what many might think are impressive credentials.”

The White Protestant Church in Alabama has failed God. We evaluate people by what they have and how they look. You have to be born straight, out of a white, thin, rich belly from a white male, as a white male to count. We no longer see our Christ as a poor, brown, unattractive, Jewish, Palestinian, peasant as the embodiment of God’s rule among us, as the spokesperson and demonstration of the Queendom/Kingdom of God.

Continue reading Lenten Reflection from Rev. Lawton Higgs: A message to the white protestant church →

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Bible Study, Economic justice, Gender Justice, Get to know Beloved, Healthcare, Housing Justice, Immigration Justice, Lenten reflection, LGBTQI, Racial Justice, Social justice

Lenten Reflection from Rev. Lawton Higgs: Praxis

Luke 4: 5-8 Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'”

Romans 10: 11-13 The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Continue reading Lenten Reflection from Rev. Lawton Higgs: Praxis →

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Bible Study, Get to know Beloved, Lenten reflection, Sermons

Sermon from Rev. Emily Freeman Penfield: Can’t Keep Quiet


The Procession in the Streets of Jerusalem by James Tissot, 1890s

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Bible Study, Get to know Beloved, Lenten reflection

Lenten Reflection from Carmen Maria Austin: Smell the Flowers

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not peddlers of God’s word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence. -2 Corinthians 2:14-17

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Bible Study, Get to know Beloved, Lenten reflection, Sermons

Sermon from Rev. Pamela A. Canzater: Living with Forgiveness

Based on Psalm 51 and Luke 5. From a sermon delivered on March 6, 2016 by the Rev. Pamela A. Canzater

My sisters and brothers, how do we live with the forgiveness of Christ?

Hold onto that question as we recall how God was gracious to a man of the ancients. A man said to have inherited a handsome face, athletic body, a voice of song which was so pure, it gave sweet relief to those who were in pain.

Continue reading Sermon from Rev. Pamela A. Canzater: Living with Forgiveness →

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Bible Study, Get to know Beloved, Lenten reflection, Music

Lenten Reflection from Neko Linda: Mitakuye Oyasin

“Mitakuye oyasin” is an expression from the Lakota Sioux language. It reflects the worldview of interconnectedness held by indigenous peoples of North America. The phrase translates as “all my relatives,” “we are all related,” or “all my relations.”

It is a prayer of oneness and harmony with all forms of life: other people, animas, birds, insects, trees and plants, and even rocks, rivers, mountains and valleys.

Continue reading Lenten Reflection from Neko Linda: Mitakuye Oyasin →

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Lenten Reflection from Rev. Angie Wright: The Promise

Today’s reflection comes from Rev. Angie’s parting words to us at her final service with us last month.

I once had a dream that I was given a very sacred duty of safely carrying a very large, very fragile vessel across a fallen log suspended over a raging river.

I dropped it.

Continue reading Lenten Reflection from Rev. Angie Wright: The Promise →

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Bible Study, Get to know Beloved, Lenten reflection, Music

Lenten Reflection from Robyn Hyden: Am I Really Doing This?

So, I used to think that I don’t “do” Lent. The part about fasting or giving up something for 40 days is just hard for me to get with.

Continue reading Lenten Reflection from Robyn Hyden: Am I Really Doing This? →

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Bible Study, Get to know Beloved, Lenten reflection, Music

Lenten Reflection from Palmer Maxwell: Remember you are dust

I was watching a science documentary from NOVA on PBS recently. The topic was the origins of life on the earth. Charles Darwin thought that life would have originated in a warm, shallow pond where all the conditions were right for the first microorganisms to appear.  Sunlight was always considered a necessary factor for life to originate so scientists were very surprised when they discovered micro-organisms living in the deepest and darkest areas of the ocean floor near thermal vents that generate temperatures they never thought could sustain life.

Continue reading Lenten Reflection from Palmer Maxwell: Remember you are dust →

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