Awaken Community

Feb 18_Listening: Jonah's Reluctance

Feb 11_Songs of Humanity

Guest speaker Jim Bear Jacobs sheds light on the complexities of Galatians 3 and Paul’s vision for a kingdom of God that does not recognize difference. How does this vision, written by someone within the dominant culture, impact those who find themselves outside of it? Jim Bear illustrates the difficulty of this passage with powerful stories of the realities of indigenous life and how Creator God shows up.

Feb 4_1 John: We Carry the Idea

1 John 4:7-12, John says "no one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." Multiple times in John's gospel he says that no one has seen the father and has this idea of the "invisible" God that is made known in Jesus. In so far as we love one another, the image of God lives in us and in the world. It's like an atom...no one has ever seen an atom, but we have this picture that carries the idea.

Jan 28_1 John: Beginning In Love

1 John 3:11, 16-18, 4:18-19 - We begin in love, we don't work for it or earn it or attain it...IT IS. Because this gift is ours to receive/participate in, we should love others which begs the question: what is love and who gets to define it?

Jan 21_1 John: Light of God

1 John 1:5-10, 2:7-11, God is light and that light has appeared. If God is trustworthy and true, then following and seeking after them should lead us to a love and light that illuminates the world around us. How do you know when you’ve seen and experienced it?

Jan 14_1 John: Ongoing Revelation

The book of 1 John taken outside of it's context can sometimes be counter productive to the heart of the gospel. Micah discusses the fundamental differences in our understanding of 1 John if God's revelation to humanity is limited to what's in the Bible and not also open to the continuous work of the Spirit in us.

Jan 7_1 John: Prologue

1 John 1:1-4, Awaken kicks off a new series on the book of 1 John, 11 years after Awaken's first journey through the text. Micah provides the background and context for the book to set the tone for the rest of our exploration together.

Christmas Eve_The Journey of Christ

Micah brings our Journeys of Christmas series to a close with the arrival of Jesus into the world.

Dec 17_Journeys of Christmas: The Shepherd’s Journey

Luke 2:8-20, The shepherd’s journey from the fields to the manger. Micah introduces the different interpretations of who the shepherd's might have been and how that affects the deeper meaning of the story. How much more powerful is the story when it happens exactly as the angels described?

Dec 10_Journeys of Christmas: Magi’s Journey to Herod

Matt 2:1-12 - The Magi’s journey to Herod and then eventually see the Christ child themselves. Micah unpacks myths about the magi and then draws attention to the religious leaders and how differently they respond to the reality of the christ. What is religion or faith without a physical embodiment of our beliefs?