The goal of this study is to pry open our imaginations with a fresh look at the biblical story. It is hoped that such an approach might free us to respond more authentically to the claims of the cross of Christ.

1.     What Is Wrong With Us? (Facing Our Sin Problem Concretely)

Most of us view the cross as having something to do with Jesus dying for our sins. But we often think too abstractly or generically about sin. Thus, we are ill equipped to ponder the significance of the fact that Jesus tied the call to repentance to his announcement of the coming of the kingdom of God (e.g., Matt. 4:17). More tragically, however, is the fact that our generic thinking about "sin" leaves us vulnerable to being complacent about the violence of the cross. So what, according to scripture's story is wrong with us?

2.     The Plague of Violence (Genesis 4; cf. Gen. 6:11)

3.     Sin as Failure to Be Satisfied With What God Provides (Genesis 2-3; James 4:1-2)

4.     Sabbath Keeping and the Kingdom of God (Deut. 5:12-15)

5.     The Defining Choice (1 Samuel 8:7; Matt. 4:8; 26:51-54; John 18:36; 1 Pet. 2:21-24; Matt. 6:33)

Theme for Session Two: Many stories we hear are predicated on the premise that "might makes right." Scripture's story urges us to remember that the righteousness of God
stands with the powerless/oppressed of our world.

1.     The God-forsakenness of Jesus

2.     Prayer (Israelite Style)

3.    Israel and the God of Ishmael (Whose Prayers Does God Hear?)

4.    The Justice (and Mercy) of God
 

Questions for Reflection:

-If the cross is a sign of God's identification with the powerless/oppressed of this world, are we, as followers of Jesus, called to identify with the powerless/oppressed of our community? If so, what would that look like? What would such identification involve?

-Do our ministries, lifestyles, and commitments reflect the righteousness of God? Or do they assume the truth of the "might makes right" story?

Theme for Session Three: To see the cross of Christ in the light of scripture's story is to apprehend if not comprehend in the death of Jesus God's own suffering. The story of the cross cannot be told without this truth. There is a way of telling the story that keeps God from suffering, truly, or in reality. In that telling of things God the Creator, infinite in power, remains on high, removed from the messy business of redemption. But this is not the Bible's way. In scriptural idiom, to speak of God as creator is to invoke the manifold images of God's relationship to the world-God as king, God as caretaker, God as father (and mother?), God as shepherd, God as provider, God as husband, God as helper, God as sustainer. God as judge, God as redeemer. But because God's relationship to the world is real and full of the pathos and passion and integrity of any genuine relationship, none of these images is fully adequate in and of itself to describe or define God's relationship to the world, nor should any particular image be allowed to drain the significance out of the clear indications found throughout scripture of God's passionate involvement with the world and the genuine suffering such engagement entails.

1.     Scriptural Signs of the Suffering of God

--The Grief of the Creator (Gen. 6:6)

--The Passion of the Redeemer (Hosea 11:1-9)

--The Intimacy of God with the Suffering of God's People (Exod. 3:7)

--The Cross as a Sign of God's Power (1 Cor. 1:18-25; Col. 2:15; cf. the plagues as "signs" of God's power v. the power of Pharaoh)

--The Cross and God's Love (John 3:16)

Theme for the Session: Although the sacrificial system in ancient Israel provides important background for many of the New Testament's notions concerning Jesus and his
death, a scriptural accounting of the notion of sacrifice might best begin with the prophetic insight that to obey is better than sacrifice. (1 Sam. 15.22) As the heart and
soul of the Old Testament, the prophetic perspective challenged any view of sacrifice that sought in any ritual, however carefully prescribed and practiced, a covering for sins
without true repentance. The great need for atonement derived from the holy presence within Israel's midst that issued the signal challenge to God's people to be like God. We
must never interpret the death of Jesus in such a way that we seek only a covering for our sins. The cross of Jesus displays Jesus' obedience "to the point of death-even death on a cross." (Phil. 2:8)

1.     "To Obey is Better Than Sacrifice" (1 Sam. 15:22)

2.     The Radical Simplicity of God's Will (Micah 6:6-8; Matt. 7:12)

3.     Our Savior or Example? (1 Pet. 2:21)

4.     A Living Sacrifice? (Rom. 12:1)

5.     Practical Challenges?