Weekly MomenToUs

What is the difference between judgment and condemnation? When are either appropriate? Join us while we spend some time learning more about what Jesus does(n’t) say about judgment and condemnation, how that impacts so many aspects of our lives, and how a story about how religious leaders at the time treat a woman in their community reminds us that our work to be the church together often begins with looking at o...

The next episode jumps in to a few places in the Gospels where Jesus tells people to hate everyone who is close to you and also says that he didn’t show up to bring peace, but instead a sword. That doesn’t sound like the Jesus we know and preach. Are we supposed to love others or hate them? Are we actually supposed to love our neighbors and hate everyone who lives inside our homes? So, what is going on in these verses?

If you are angry, frustrated, and Seeing Red at how the Christian faith and the words of Jesus are being quoted and manipulated to harm others, it's time to reclaim Christianity as a religion of peace, mercy, and hope.

This episode focuses on marriage, divorce, and adultery. 😬 We’re going to be jumping around a few different places Jesus talks about both of these in the Gospels. Are there times w...

If you are angry, frustrated, and Seeing Red at how the Christian faith and the words of Jesus are being quoted and manipulated to harm others, it's time to reclaim Christianity as a religion of peace, mercy, and hope.

This episode focuses on the Beatitudes as they show up in Chapter 5 of the Gospel according to Matthew and Chapter 6 of the Gospel according to Luke. This is a portion of scripture where Jesus blesses lots of surpri...

In this week’s episode, we are going to be jumping all around the New Testament, pulling in some short stories about some of the women who were vital to how the early Christian Church grew. In this episode, we are going to be learning more about Sapphira, Tabitha, Lydia, Priscilla, Phoebe, Euodia & Syntyche, and Junia.

[T]hey are important simply because their names and a portion of their stories were included in the sto...

In both of these stories, women encounter Jesus and they are not defined by what their culture says should keep them separate. In both stories, there is no judgment from Jesus to the women; the judgment comes from others in the story - the scribes, the Pharisees, the disciples - those who were trying so hard to be faithful to God and how they understood scripture that they missed the opportunity to extend grace and build relationsh...

These stories are sometimes pulled out to be examples of how a strong faith can result in either ourselves or someone we love being healed. These stories end up getting used as motivation to just believe more, pray more, go to church more, and stop asking so many questions. But here’s the thing: healing and being restored into community doesn’t depend on how strong or fragile someone’s faith is at any given point....

In this episode, we are focusing on several different people, all of whom were also early followers of Jesus, who are listed as being present at the end of Jesus’ life. This is an episode focusing on what we know about the women who wept and sat vigil during Jesus’ death, were charged with caring for his body after his death, and who were the first to tell the world that Jesus had risen and conquered death, even before ...

Martha and Mary show up in the Gospels in a few short scenes, that show us Jesus’ ministry and continuing to grow and expand and that the care supporters are showing him is mutual. Jesus’ heartbreak at Lazarus’ death is real. The network of safety is strengthening as Jesus is beginning to return to supporters’ homes multiple times; this network of care and safety will be especially important as the religious...

Remembering that both Mary and Elizabeth are integral to the stories of Jesus and John the Baptist, helps to shed some light on how important community and relationship is to God. Neither Jesus nor John the Baptist came into existence completely on their own. They came into existence through the limitations and wonder of very human bodies, relying on families and larger communities to raise and form them into the people they were c...

Each of these stories shows how the definition of who is included as part of God’s people continues to expand throughout the generations, pointing us ahead to the New Testament where people across the world are included in God’s people. Including these women in the genealogy of Jesus means that their entire identities and story is included, even the parts that make our stomachs churn. This points to God’s presence...

This entire book uses the marriage between Hosea and Gomer as an extended metaphor for God’s relationship with God’s people. This doesn’t mean that we strive for infidelity in our relationships or that we force ourselves to stay in relationships where infidelity is happening.

This is a book that draws out the reality that God’s people, even today, continue to be unfaithful in how we tend our side of our rel...

Sharing these stories together highlights several things:

the necessity of consent in relationships,

the importance of voices from the margin having access to individuals in power,

the reality of treating humans as resources and commodities, a practice that continues today,

the power of using your influence to advocate for marginalized people, and

the importance of honesty and truth-telling in the face of abuses of power.

This isn...

This week on Reading between the Lines, we are learning more about the story of Hannah.

Hannah’s story is a brief one, but an important part of the story of God’s people. Samuel was integral in spiritual leadership as God’s people transitioned from being led by judges to being governed by a monarchy. Her faithfulness in prayer and in honoring commitments and promises to God had used to point to God’s faithfu...

This week on Reading between the Lines, we are learning more about the stories of Jael, Deborah, and Huldah.

Each of these women show up in the story of God’s people in surprising ways: Deborah as the only female judge recorded in scripture, Jael as an unexpected warrior and hero, Huldah as a female prophet within the temple. All of their stories, when added together, only make up a very small por...