Thursday, June 3
Finishing up ‘Turning a Big Ship…
We concluded a teaching series at Crossings this past week entitled ‘Turning a Big Ship’. The basic idea of the series is that we believe that the teachings of Jesus, these unbelievably revolutionary teachings of Jesus, can literally change the world…which would be a lot like ‘turning a big ship’.We worked our way, for 12 weeks, through Luke 4, Luke 14, Acts 4, and Matthew 5, 6, and 7. We used as some basic foundational pieces the books ‘Culture Making’ by Andy Crouch, ‘After You Believe’ by NT Wright, and some of the teachings on the sermon on the mount from Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, MI.
The entire series was great for our community. The use of the phrase ‘turning a big ship’ has definitely become a regular part of our conversations.
For me, I still go back to the first week…a study of Jesus’ first public teaching, in Luke 4, when He first ‘stepped up to the mic’. I love to study and teach that passage. I love to try to enter into that story and imagine what it was like to be there that day when Jesus taught in the synagogue out of Isaiah 61 about how the Messiah would come and proclaim good news to the poor, set prisoners free, give sight to the blind, and set the oppressed free.
And then after reading those words from Isaiah 61, He looks at and into the crowd and says simply, in verse 21 of Luke 4: "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." And in the Message version: "You've just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place."
Oh to have been there…to have heard Him say those words, to proclaim words of liberation and restoration. Oh to hear Him speak those same words today through scripture…oh to have those words ‘come true just now in this place’.
Mark Nelson at 7:43 AM 0comments