Emmaus Way

Sunday, Febuary 28 - 2nd Sunday of Lent

Wade Baynham — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:00:00 -0500

This week we'll return to the lectionary (Psalm 27; Genesis 15:1-12,17-18; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28-36) as is our custom for Lent. Our focus will be Psalm 27, a royal song of trouble and triumph, which will help us transition from the hope series we're concluding. The theme of the conversation will be the relationship of hope to grief. Does our grief (and our vision of the wounds of our world) contradict a posture of hope? How can grief become a discipline and practice that catalyzes our hope?

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Hope and Mission, Living into "Beautiful"

Wade Baynham — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:00:00 -0500

Our hope conversation has been dominated by the theme of resurrection, a physical redemption and transformation of not just individual bodies but a redemtive restoration of God's creation — in other words a hope that is comprehensive, complete, physical, present and future — and, as we saw last week, beautiful rathering than frightening. This week will discuss how these hopes shape our present living and missional commitments.

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"Happy Endings?"

Wade Baynham — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:00:00 -0500

This Sunday, as our hope conversation nears its conclusion, we are going to step into what has been controversial ground — considering the return of Christ and also the doctrine of hell with a dialogue entitled, "Happy Endings?". Our key texts will be 1 Thess 4:13-18 and Rev 21-22. What did the historical church believe in these two realms? I believe that when we ask the right questions about the completion of God's work, the promises of the text become sources of good news that frame our hope. In my opinion, common conversation about these mysteries has been dominated so often by many of the wrong questions.

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Body and Creation; Resurrection & Hope

Wade Baynham — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:00:00 -0500

We're back in action this Sunday (after our snow break) with the Hope conversation. Previously, we discussed the the Jewish and then Christian perspectives on resurrection by looking at several key New Testament texts (Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 15). This week we'll add one more, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Most importantly, we want to make the link between the resurrection of physical bodies and God's created world, and a hope that drives our lives today.

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Emmaus Way Benefit Concert

Wade Baynham — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:00:00 -0500

Tonight's concert in the snow features the original songs and work of Wade Baynham, Tim Carless and Dale Baker. Proceeds go to the Emmaus Way artists' fund, supporting local professional arts of many genres.

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The Narrative of Hope II: Anticipated and Unprecedented

Wade Baynham — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:00:00 -0500

Last week, we looked at the great narrative of hope as it originated in the stories, prayers, and hopes of Israel. This week, we'll look at the much anticipated, but unprecedented coming of the Messiah into this story. Our focal point will be on the resurrection of Christ — how Jesus and the church interpreted this event and what it proclaims to contemporary folks like ourselves. 1 Cor 15 would be some excellent background reading for our conversation.

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The Narrative of Hope Begins

Wade Baynham — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:00:00 -0500

Our conversation series on Hope continues with its second week — "The Narrative of Hope Begins." This week, we'll see that our hopes are rooted in a long story of God's gracious work. We also want to address the question,"What hopes did the Israelites hold before the time of Christ?" Were concepts such as redemption and resurrection part of their vocabulary, along with their hopes for their nation? I would encourage you to read Genesis 22 and Isaiah 2 as background to this conversation.

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"What are we hoping for?" Part I

Wade Baynham — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 17:00:00 -0500

This Sunday we begin a new conversation series on Hope entitled, "What are we hoping for?" These dialogues will nudge us to consider the reality of Christian hope, as given in historical belief and the scriptures. There will obviously be some important, essential, fun, and controversial questions to consider... * What is God doing with this world? Are we expecting a coming kingdom or a quick escape before a huge cataclysm? * What about heaven, hell, and eternity? Realities? How do the scriptures and the historical church use these terms? How do they relate to our contemporary sensitivities? * Who or what is God redeeming? What is the extent of God's redemption? * Speaking of God's redemption, is it something to be excited about or hopeful for, or is it just an inevitability that is better than the alternatives? * Resurrection? What did that mean for Christ and what does it mean for us? Do sensible people believe in this? * Who stole our hope? How does historical and contemporary culture dull our hopes in Christ? In other words, some easy stuff that we can wrap definitively up in just a few weeks! This week, we'll begin with "Where did our hope go?" This conversation will be designed to address how history and culture have affected our hopes by hearing our community describe the hopes they have and those they lack. This first conversation offers an obvious presumption that will shape the series--I believe that our hope is far less than it could be and should be as contemporary God followers, searchers, and doubters!

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Feast of Epiphany

Wade Baynham — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:00:00 -0500

We want to begin our worship gatherings for 2010 by looking to what might be a very familiar text, Luke 15 (the stories of a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son usually referred to as "the prodigal son"). As we look to this year, I would like to press the question of what it means to be an "invitational community." This Sunday also marks a wonderful passage for our community as we become fully self-sustaining. In our dialogue, I would like to make a connection between this passage and the invitation we can now offer to our extended community. I think this will be a very critical agenda-shaping dialogue for us.

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First Sunday of Christmas

Wade Baynham — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:00:00 -0500

This Sunday is the first week of the short season of Christmas (note in the church calendar that Christmas is a season of celebration rather than just a day!) The lectionary texts are 1 Samuel 2:18-20,26; Psalm 148; Colossians 3:12-17; Luke 2:41-52.

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