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Transgress—the limits and purpose of boundaries
It is not only about right and wrong, but is entirely about our relationship to the rules themselves and to one another.
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When someone cheats
The thing about playing a game with someone who is cheating is that we feel trapped. But there are things we can do.
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Breaking the Rules
We all get the point of rules. Half of the time we act like rules shouldn’t apply. And half the time we act as if they’re perfect.
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While we’re focused on doing it right
So much of our energy is focused on what we are supposed to do at any given moment, we hardly listen to what Jesus is saying.
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A Convincing Argument
We sometimes get stuck in a convincing argument because it sounds right. In the case of Sabbath law, we’re seduced by only half of the point. Sabbath remains a revolutionary conceptProper 16C | Luke 13:10-17 When we remember the creation story, we recall more than an origin. We receive our purpose. Light and dark. Day…
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What God Intends
In Mark 7, Jesus responds to a challenge over rule-breaking by exposing their hypocrisy. Is this just a takedown, or is he saying something else? The challenge of following Jesus isn’t doing or believing. It’s both. Proper 17B | Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 We have to go back nearly two months. Back in June, we…
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Hallowing the Sabbath
The Pharisees confront Jesus because his disciples break Sabbath law. Jesus turns the story around to show how few of them are really keeping the Sabbath. We could easily say the same about us. In Breaking the Sabbath, Jesus seeks to keep it. Proper 4B | Mark 2:23-3:6 “One sabbath Jesus and his disciples were going…
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Abide the Rules?
Jesus has a pretty conflicting relationship to the rules. And for many Christians, you’d think Jesus gave us a mountain of rules to follow. But really there is just one really vague rule and he constantly urges us to look past the rest to see it. Rule-breaking and rule-making in the love of Jesus Easter…