Welcome toManna and Mercy

Values to hold us … Respect everyone’s integrity Listen without interrupting Celebrate our diversity TASK in order to grow – not argue to win Humility + Honesty = Growth Give ourselves to the process Receive assertions as questions Breathe and smile …

Seeing with new eyes …

The Mercator Projection of the earth, in use since 1569, greatly exaggerates the size of countries in the Northern Hemisphere. The Peters Projection represents all countries according to their relative area.

Peters’ Projection

The Jesus story …the Christ event

is the

interpretive lens

through which

we are to

read Scripture.

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The four most important questions to ask of any

Scripture

What does the text say about:• God?• Humanity?• Creation?• Their relationship?

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Context gives meaning

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DateAuthor

AudienceLanguage

Social Setting

Genesis 1A sermon from the

banks of Babylon to getthe choir to sing the

Lord’s Song.

Genesis 3 is a TRUE parable“Now, I don’t know if it happened this way or not,

but I know this story is true.”

The TREE is the gift of free choice.The air love breathes is freedom.

SNAKESdon’t talk,

but that does not mean we do not hear them speak!

The SNAKE represents anything and everything in the world that raises questions about where our salvation is found.

The Ancient Pictorial View of the Universe

The Ancient Pictorial View of the Universe: (1) The waters above and below the earth. (2 – 4) Chambers of hail, rain and snow. (5) The firmament with its “sluices”. (6) The surface of the earth. (7) The navel of the earth – “fountain of the Great Deep”.

(8) The mountain-pillars supporting the firmament. (9) Secret waters (rivers, lakes, seas) on which the earth floats. (10) Sheol, the realm of Death (the “Pit”).

The Babylonian Story Creation in an act of violence. Order is established by means of superior force. Evil is prior to good – the creation is fallen from the outset

and therefore cannot be redeemed to any “former good”. Violence is part of God’s nature. Evil/violence is the very nature of reality. Humanity is created in violence – therefore we are

natural born killers. Humanity exist to serve as slaves to the king who

represents the gods on earth. Resistance to slavery is the highest treason. Unquestioning obedience is the highest virtue.

The Biblical Creation Story A good and loving God creates a good and loving

creation. Neither evil nor violence are an inherent part of

creation, rather evil is a problem that requires redemption.

A basically good reality is corrupted by human sin and the “serpent mystery”.

What VIOLENCE was for the Babylonian story – LOVE is for the Biblical story.

Humanity is created in love, by love and for love – therefore we are natural born lovers.

A Biblical Creation Theory Example

No one is born hating another person because of the colour of their skin,

or their background, or their religion.

People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love,

for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.

Nelson Mandela

Humanity is created in God’s image

Created by God: in Love by Love for Love

… yet with the freedom not to Love.

God = Loving Creator

Genesis 1 – 11: Pre-history for all historyGenesis 1 – 3: Sermon + ParableNot How: But Why? And Who?

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I am born in love, by love and for love

Justice = Love Distributed

Society is created:

in Justice

by Justice

for Justice

… yet with the freedom not to be Just.

TRUST IN …

Force

OR

LoveBiblical CreationNatural Born Lovers

Our free choice to

Babylonian CreationNatural Born Killers

The Biblical Story of Mending … Fall

Redemption is the promised possibility with God People can change Structures can change

The way things are needn’t be the way things remain …

Genesis 11: Ends in Death!Genesis 12: New Beginning!

Abraham/SarahHagar/IshmaelIsaac/RebekahJacob/Rachel/LeahJoseph

Blessedto be a Blessing

“Without God we cannot.Without us God will not.”

Augustine

Called into Holy Partnership

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Freedom even not to Love

Structural Sin

Fall 77

ME

SOCIAL

Personal Sin

There is no such thing asPrivate Salvation!

Salvation – like the sin we are saved from –

is both personal and political!

Reading Scripture with a Wide Angle & Zoom Lens

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God hears!God calls!God sends …

God has BIG ears!

FEARFULFORGETFUL

Joseph

Egypt

Moses … a redeemed murdererMoses … a redeemed murderer

Moses

Gift of Free Freedom

Work to earn a giving!Eph. 4:284040

Abundance Generously shared Shalom Peace by justice Friendship God

Others Self Creation

Wilderness School

Egypt

Promised

Land

Today’s Lesson:

Living as free people

Law is a gift to protect Covenant Relationship

We obey the 10 commandments,

not to make God love us,

but because God already loves us.

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DAILY SABBATH PRINCIPLES Exodus 20: REST! Enjoy being enjoyed!

Deuteronomy 5: REMEMBER! Work for the day when all

people are free!

SABBATH Day Year Jubilee

CONTRASTCOMMUNITY

WORSHIP

SACRIFICE

POOR

God enjoys you!

Enjoy being enjoyed!

Our Faith Journey There will, however,

be no one in need among you … Deut. 15:4

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest …Lev. 19:9

Principle ... Personal …Policy … Practice …Politics …

Concerned with the shape and shaping of any human community.

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Not everything that isBiblical is Christ-like

Gen. 4:23-24 LamechDeut. 19:21 Eye for EyeMatt. 5:43 Hate and LoveMatt. 18:22 Forgive 70x7

Unlimited VengeanceLimited Vengeance

Limited ForgivenessUnlimited Forgiveness

EXAMPLES Adultery: Lev. 20:10; John 8:4

Violence: Samson’s Jawbone; Jesus’ Cross

Understanding upon Understanding

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For Love to stop loving …is for Love to stop being!

For God to stop loving …For God to stop loving …is for God to stop being!is for God to stop being!

Because God is Love!

Sam

uel

“Sin divides and if not stopped,

it destroys all that it divides.”

B Gaybba

JUDAH

ISRAEL

Samaria

“Love unites and by uniting,

it transforms all it unites.”B Gaybba

PROPHETSGod’s spokespeopleSee with eschatological eyesNot fortune tellersPlace plumb-lines for the nation Present a clear choiceSurrounded by conflict

God is not into ReligionGod is into Relationship

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Prophetic Truth The wealthiest 20% of the world’s population

use 80% of the world’s income! The poorest 20% of the world’s population use

2% of the world’s income! This is unsustainable! In South Africa this unsustainable equation is at

one of the highest levels of tension in the world! This is South Africa’s biggest threat to peace

in our land!

United Nations Human Development Report

Assyrian Empire (North)722

Babylonian Empire 587/6

Persian Empire 539/8 CYRUS

Long Walk to Freedom

Samaritans

JUDAH

ISRAEL

REMEMBER:Our attitude towards others not only says

something about them, but also about God!

ReconstructionDevelopmentProgramme

We’re the best …exclude everyone!

Jonah + Nineveh= Satire

Ruth (Moabite)Boaz (Jew)

love uniteslove transforms

BOAS

RUTH

Radical

Deut.23:1-3 &

Gen.19:30

Love Story

Nationalism

JONAH

NINEVEH

HomeNationalism

Moses

Revolt

ProphetsPriests

ProphetsProphets

Prophets

± 100 years independence

… SURPRISE!

Big Deal

722Assyria

PropheticStory & Satire 333

Greek

Egypt

587/6Babylon

167Maccabean

IsraelKings

539/8Persian

63Rome

Jesus’ Social Context

Peasants

AnawimOutcasts

Rome

KingMilitaryReligion

Business

MerchantsArtisans

Sellouts

Mary is the most radical of Prophets!

According to God’s promised future, one day all people will … … … …

She is so certain about God’s promised future that she sings about it in the PAST tense!

John the Baptiser:

Isaiah 40:3-5 John studies scripture Luke 3:1-6 John’s mission Luke 3:7-20 John’s ministry Luke 7:18-35 John doing time in prison Mark 6:14-29 John killed by compromising pleasers Matt. 14:1-2 John’s witness is resurrected by Jesus

The life and death of a faithful disciple!

and turn around …Repent = Stop≠≠ Repentance is more than remorse!Repentance is more than remorse!

Before Godwants us to be happy,

God wants us tobe faithful.

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The temptation in all temptations is to get us to

doubt our deepest identity!WILDERNESS TEMPTATIONS TODAY Survival and Security } Money Affection and Approval } Money Power and Control } Money

We keep thinking that our happiness will be fulfilled in fulfilling one of these or all of them. This is both childish and an illusion. T. Keating

We believe not to get into heaven,

but to have life in all its fullnessLife that death cannot take away

IT IS ETERNAL LIFE!

A life of faith does not earn Eternal Life1414

Invited Included Affirmed Loved

Touched Liberated Held Embraced

Healed Cleansed Fed Given Dignity

Forgiven Reborn Called Made Whole

Freed Given Hope Received Honoured

What do you need most from Jesus?

Mercy for all … Jesus resisted dividing the world into good people and

evil people. The line that separates good from evil does not run

between people but rather it runs through people! Alexander Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago

At best … we all fail. We are all beyond Innocence!

I have messed upI don’t deserve to be fixed up

But God has raised me up

We fallintograce

EPHESIANS 1 & 2 1515

What does it mean to say “YES” to Jesus?

To say YES to Jesus means allowing Jesus to DETERMINE our understanding of God!

This means …God has created YOU special and sacred …God loves YOU, yes YOU, and God enjoys YOU …God loves to forgive YOU and longs for YOU to know that YOU are forgiven …God calls YOU into holy partnership to help God heal this broken world …

Anyone want to say AMEN?and …

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What does it mean to say “YES” to Jesus?

To say YES to Jesus means allowing Jesus to DETERMINE our understanding of God!

This means …God has created EVERYONE special and sacred …God loves EVERYONE and God enjoys EVERYONE …God loves to forgive EVERYONE and longs for EVERYONE to know that they are forgiven …God calls EVERYONE into holy partnership to help God heal this broken world …

Anyone want to say AMEN?and …

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What does it mean to say “YES” to Jesus?

To say YES to Jesus means allowing Jesus to DETERMINE our understanding of God!

This means …God has created YOUR ENEMIES special and sacred …God loves YOUR ENEMIES and God enjoys them …God loves to forgive YOUR ENEMIES and longs for YOUR ENEMIES to know that they are forgiven …God calls YOUR ENEMIES into holy partnership to help God heal this broken world …

Anyone want to say AMEN?

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“Jesus called for followers … not admirers!” S. Kierkegaard

Before Jesus wants to be worshiped, he wants to be followed!

It is only by following Jesus that we worship him!

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FROM NOW ON …Not looked upon it in the same lightA new creation in ChristEverything old has passed awayEverything has become newAll this is from GodGod does not count our sinsMinisters of ReconciliationChrist’s ambassadorsGod’s righteousness 2 Cor. 5:16-21

What makes the Faithful, faithful?

It is not that they do not fail, but that they know WHO to turn to when they do fail.

God is eager

to forgive

us!

Good News!

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We can be so brutallyhonest about human sin because we are so confident of the love of God towards sinners …Will Willimon

and structures.

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Manna for all…WORLD-VIEW

ScarcityFear

HoardingCompetition

ConflictWar

BIBLICAL-VIEW

AbundanceLoveSharingCo-operationCompassionShalom

When a little is shared it becomes a lot!A little only becomes a lot once it has been shared!Note:

2020

See Parker J. Palmer

Unearthing the VALUES within economic systems …CAPITALISTIC ECONOMYCore value = FreedomSacrifice equalityInequality sabotages the core value of freedom!

CENTRALLY PLANNED ECONOMYCore value = EqualitySacrifice freedomNo freedom sabotages the core value of equality!

Christ calls us to freely sacrifice for the sake of equality!

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Holy Communion

Do what?Feed each other,

making sure there is no-one in need

among you!

Do this in memory of me!

LUKE

22:7

-38

Thisis mybody

God sent Jesus to love… to love loving more than anything else.

Jesus refused to restrict his love… this made people angry enough to kill him.

Mark 12:1-12Historical reasons for Jesus’ deathTheological explanations

AT-ONE-MENT.2222

BECAUSE of us!The Cross as a story of our sin …

WITH us!The Cross as a story of shared suffering …

FOR us!The Cross as a story of God’s saving love …

CHRIST died …

The Cross is inevitable when love meets sin!

To say the

Cross was

inevitable

is

NOT

to say that

it was

planned!

“It was not an accidental, marginal type of happening; it grew out of the nature of the facts. It had to happen.

For it is a law of life that where love meets sin in the loved one, at the junction of that sin and that love, a cross of pain is set up. It is the nature of love to insinuate itself into the sins and sorrows of the loved one and make them its own. If it does not do that, then it is not love.

All love has the doom of bleeding upon it whenever the object of its love goes wrong.”

E. Stanley Jones

ResurrectionThe world really is the way Jesus described it:

Love is the greatest power.

When love breaks, it doesn’t break down …it breaks OPEN!

Ron Morgan

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Filled with the very Spirit of Jesus to celebrate and share God’s Manna and Mercy in the world …

As bold and generous servants As a contrast community As a sign of God’s kin-dom on earth!

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The Pentecost Contrast Community

The powerless are given the gift of tongues to speak the truth!

The powerful are given the gift of ears to hear the truth!

A Pentecostal Community is one where the TRUTH is both spoken and heard!

Agenda for theFirst Church Synod

The most defining characteristic of the early Church is that it was an

enemy loving community!

Apartheidbetween

Jew and Gentile

All violence is family violence!

Oh Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all the sufferings they have inflicted on us. Remember rather the fruits we have bought, thanks to this suffering: our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, our courage, our generosity; the greatness of heart that has grown out of all of this. And when they come to judgement, let all the fruits we have borne, be their forgiveness. Amen.

An unknown woman’s prayer found pinned to the dead body of a little girl in Ravensbruck Concentration Camp.

Jesus said: Pray for those who persecute you.

The Real Real World• The revelation of Jesus Christ• John to the seven churches that are in Asia: • Grace to you and peace

• from him who is and who was and who is to come• and from the seven spirits who are before his throne• from Jesus Christ:

• the faithful witness• the firstborn of the dead, and• the ruler of the kings of the earth. • To him who loves us • and freed us from our sins by his blood, • and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving

his God and Father• to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen.

The Real Real World Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even

those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, “Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest.

His head …

The Real Real World His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow;

his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnishedbronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters.

In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first andthe last, and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades.

Now write what you have seen, what is, and what is to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”

God’s dream is to mend the entire universe in holy partnership with a Manna and Mercy people!

Can God count on us as holy partners?

What are we willing to commit to?In Jesus, God has played the winning move. The “game” is not yet over, but it has already been won!

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Remember:Manna and Mercy

is not a course, it is

a way of life!

Acts 1:24 Acts 4:31 Acts 6:4Acts 7:59 Acts 8:15 Acts 9:11Acts 9:40 Acts 10:30 Acts 11:5Acts 12:5 Acts 12:12 Acts 13:3Acts 14:23 Acts 16:13 Acts 16:25Acts 20:36 Acts 21:5 Acts 22:17Acts 28:8

The first ACT of the Apostles was to PRAY!

Praying OPEN the Scriptures …

1. Trust2. Read and re-read3. Reflect4. Honest conversation5. Feel6. Obey

SIX STEPSObedient

Prayer

Experiencing

Newness

Believing is one thing!Living out what we believe is another thing!

Sometimes there seems to be such a wide gap between what we believe

and how we actually live our lives. Almost as if our beliefs and our behaviour

are not on speaking terms!

This can be equally true for the life of the Church!

A Christ-Centred Church

Steps towards a Christ-Centred Church

List the character traits of Jesus to get our view. Jesus’ character traits are to shape our values. List the needs in our local context. Connect the character traits of Jesus with the most

important needs in our local context. These connected and contextualised character traits of

Jesus are the values that are to determine our vision. This vision is to determine our venture. Our venture is to embody our values and thereby

incarnate the character of Jesus in our community.

So the world will experience the Resurrected Christ!

Steps towards a Christ-Centred Church

So the world will experience the Resurrected Christ!

Steps towards a Christ-Centred Church

So the world will experience the Resurrected Christ!

COPYRIGHTCopyright of the Manna and Mercy Book is held by the author, Daniel W. Erlander.

Copyright of the Manna and Mercy PowerPoint Presentationis held by Alan P. Storey e-mail: aslowwalk@gmail.com

SOUTH AFRICAThe sole reproduction and distribution rights in South Africa are held by Alan P. Storey e-mail: aslowwalk@gmail.com

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