Oct. 18th: God is in All Things (Scriptures)

Hey everybody —

This Sunday, October 18, 10:00 a.m., at the Foster Theater. We're staying in the God in All Things series, and this week Pastor Joel is backing all the way up to a foundational question:

How did Jesus read Scripture?

That's the question. Not what the Bible says about a given topic, but how Jesus himself handled the text he inherited — and what that means for how we handle it.

Joel is working from two passages. The first is Jesus stating his own approach outright:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

Matthew 5:17

And the second is Jesus doing it in real time: John 7:53–8:11, the woman caught in adultery. A crowd with stones in their hands and a verse on their side, and Jesus somehow more faithful to the law than the people quoting it.

Joel's summary of the connection: “Jesus fulfills the law by advocating for the vulnerable with grace and mercy.” His aim for the morning is to focus on how, for Christians, we interpret all of Scripture through Jesus — and, in his words, “to encourage us to re-examine and hopefully re-engage with Scripture.”

How this lands

A few ways this question isn't abstract for a church like ours.

• It drives our mission. “Our desire is Jesus. Our mission is Justice.” That's a reading method as much as a mission statement. If we interpret all of Scripture through Jesus, then showing up for vulnerable neighbors isn't a political add-on to our faith — it's what following the text where it actually leads looks like. - It's a word for anybody carrying scar tissue. Some of us came to Access having had Scripture used on us rather than offered to us — in a family, a former church, a workplace. “Re-examine and re-engage” is an invitation, not an assignment. If the Bible is complicated for you right now, this is a good Sunday to come anyway. - It asks about the stones in our own hands. The famous line in John 8 is aimed at the accusers, not the accused. In a room our size, where most of us know most of each other's business, the question of who we're quietly ready to write off is not theoretical. Notice that Jesus doesn't throw out the law. He just refuses to let it be used to destroy a person. - It sets up next week. Next week we’re talking about “Jesus at the Border.” Reading Scripture through Jesus, and toward the vulnerable, is the same move.

Next Sunday: welcoming Gaby Viesca

On Sunday, October 25, we welcome our first guest speaker at the Foster Theater: Gaby Viesca, with a working title of “Jesus at the Border.”

Gaby is a friend of Joel's — they met in early 2020, and he's been encouraged by her preaching ministry and her theological vision ever since. We're grateful and more than a little excited that she's coming to us. Watch for her bio and a proper introduction in next week's update.

Reminders

• The forum. Keep Sunday going midweek at accesscov.com/forum — questions, sermon debriefs, introductions, and whatever's actually going on in your life. - Wednesday book group — 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at First Tongan United Methodist Church. To get connected, reach out to James Lopez Ericksen at jvjs88@gmail.com. - This Sunday, October 18 — Foster Theater, 10:00 a.m. God in All Things: Scriptures. - Sunday, October 25 — Foster Theater, 10:00 a.m. Gaby Viesca preaching. - Sunday, November 1 — Community Meal at First Tongan United Methodist Church (by Pardee St), not the theater.

One final thought

Notice what Joel has done over the last few weeks. He set out to teach the Lectionary, backed up to the Church calendar instead, and has now backed up one more step — to how we read the thing at all. The foundation needs attention before the rest of the house goes up.

And that’s right where we are right now. New room, new rhythms, new staff, a lot of freshly built structure. It’s a good season to check what all of it is resting on.

The answer he's offering is not a principle or a system. It's a person. We read it all through Jesus.

See you Sunday.

Onward in the love and grace of Jesus, who as always, gives us Access to God.