Prayer: The Frontier of the Spiritual Life




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The Growing Community of Disciples

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A disciple is a "learner," a student.  We also identified them as "followers of Jesus: and "choice-makers" (that's a good one!). Who are Jesus' disciples in the gospel stories?  We began to make a list. Simon Peter (the fisherman in Luke 5:1-11 and later a visible leader among the disciples) Andrew (Simon's brother; in John's gospel the first disciple) John  (he and brother James are the sons of Zebedee and fishing partners with Simon and Andrew) James Mary Magdalene  (one of our early names, and a key follower of Jesus!) Judas Iscariot (known as the one who betrays Jesus) Matthew  ( a Roman tax collector called to follow Jesus) Philip Bartholomew Thomas The Other Simon: the "Zealot" or Canaanean  ( the Zealots were revolutionaries who fought the Roman occupation) James son of Alphaeus Thaddeus Nathaniel Levi (also identified as a tax collector) Judas son of James We always hear about "The Twelve."  Bu...
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Prayer

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"Prayer is acknowledging that we are always in the presence of God." --Desmond Tutu "I pray because I can't help myself.  I pray because I'm helpless.  I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping.  It doesn't change God; it changes me."                                                                                                                           --C.S. Lewis We started out sharing some of our own understandings of prayer.  These included: --Talking to God --Talking to Jesus --Asking for health --Asking for forgiveness (prayers of asking are petitions) --Asking God to help others (intercession on someone else's beh...
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New Life Invades the Ordinary!

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Our class focused on the immediate impact of the birth of Jesus on the world around him.  In Luke's narrative, we were aware of the isolation of the young family, sheltered in stable, the baby placed in the feed trough.  There was no place for them to stay, no tending for the birth.  They had come an impossibly long journey in the ninth month of Mary's pregnancy, because of the demands of the Roman Empire.  Though Bethlehem was the ancestral home of Joseph's family, and he likely had kin there, no one welcomed them, perhaps because of the scandal of the pregnancy.  The poverty and fragility of their situation was something we felt deeply.    The first expressions of community and solidarity came from the shepherds working the night shift in the local fields.  These were people of low social status but integral to the unfolding story of salvation coming to earth.  The shepherds go forth as, literally, the first apostles!  Below is an arti...
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