Spark Cast

Personal Testimony: Kelly Gilbert Suffering is frequently understood through pithy axioms which only turn out to be half-truths. The fuller realties as found in Jesus are far more profound and beautiful.

Personal Testimony: Siddhi Sundar Athens & Jerusalem are cities that respectively represent science and faith, sense and soul, the empirical and the mystical, the West and the East. Why would Jesus and Paul use and leverage Greek ideas, terms, and images in their teaching and spreading of the Gospel? Rather than contention, perhaps there is harmony.

Personal Testimony: Rajesh Philipos Our introduction to our series surveys the "free market" of religion in America and how it has influenced our particular context of faith expression.

One of the reasons we celebrate Christmas during the darkest time of the year is because it is here that we are the most hopeful. Let us join with our ancient ancestors in bringing forth that hope from the dark.

The birth of Jesus, while unusual and strange to modern sensibilities, actually makes a lot of sense when considering the entirety of the biblical story. From the very beginning, God has been rebirthing the world, and people, out of chaos, out of injustice, toward salvation.

While we think of joyous feelings during the holidays, Mary's song is far more subversive and declarative than we perhaps recognize. It speaks to the profound levels of meaning found in the event that we celebrate and commemorate during our Christmas season.

How do we come to the end of Deuteronomy, and sum up, not just this book, but the entire Torah? In the end, we see woven throughout the text an invitation to participate in this kind of life, that we would be wooed, inspired, and drawn in to carry on the legacy of our ancestors.

Throughout Israel's history, there's been a choice. Toward the end of Deuteronomy, there is a clarion urging, to choose life.

Our question and response time with Rev. Ryan Eller after his talk.

Rev. Ryan Eller is the Executive Director of Define American (defineamerican.com). In this opening talk, he shares a call to all of us to consider a more compassionate and educated perspective on immigration.

Jesus is a chapter leader of Define American and the Sparker who conceived this event. He shares personally why this event is so important to him through his personal testimony.

This is a followup Q&R (question & response) with Professor Binford after her talk, "4 Days In Clint."

W. Warren H. Binford is an internationally recognized children's rights scholar and advocate who holds a tenured position as Professor of Law and serves as the Director of the Clinical Law Program at Willamette University. Professor Binford was a principal witness of the inhumane conditions of children at the detention center in Clint, TX, and helped to bring this issue to the media. Spark Church & Congregation Etz Chayim hosted Professor Binford for a joint worship service in which she shared first-hand witness experiences of the children and families detained at the Clint and Ursula Detention Facilities.

Chapters 19-26 of Deuteronomy is a long list of various legislation about a variety of topics. For many of us in the 21st century, some of these legal stipulations are ancient, and even barbaric, things like the death penalty, mutilation, bodily fluids, etc. But a longer historical and contextual view reveals that times have always been changing, and we are not immune. But woven into this text are threads of redemptive ethics that transformed societies then, and have the power to transform societies still today. May we be thoughtfully responsible with what God has given us, rather than simply doing what we think the text literally or mechanically says.

When we think of "prophets" and "prophecy," we too often think of some magical clairvoyance or foresight into some radical improbability. The problem is that this is not how messianic prophecy worked in the ancient world. Neither should it work that way for us today. Rather, we are committed to fulfill the calling of the messianic prophetic voice today.

When we think of "judgment," we often think of negative condemnation. But the installment of a judiciary in Deuteronomy is truly about justice, the pursuit of what is good and right in a society. It is this kind of justice—unpersuaded, not bribed, not delayed—that we are to pursue.

Deuteronomy invites us into a reset. No matter where we've been, how we've arrived, there's always the opportunity to to start over. This kind of redemptive renewal is woven into the fabric of our faith.

Five Sparkers share their stories as reflections of our values. We end with a benediction for the next seven years.

Pastors Kevin & Danielle share a brief background on our story to this point, and what brought us through these seven years.

The "Great Barrier" is our psychologies, the biases, stereotypes, and fears we all have about our most important issues. Using empathetic listening and imagination, we can hopefully move from fright to productive conversations when it comes to discussing climate change.