Thursday, 7/2, we'll continue our Bible Study discussion topic is what's a Christian, and how do you become one?
 Join us, 7:30-8:30pm, on Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/703956236.  
On Thursday we may discuss (depending on interest of the group):

• What does it mean to be a Christian?
• Is being a Christian a matter of behavior, belonging, belief, or a combination?  
• By whose action/will does someone become Christian?  (Is it God's doing, or ours?)
• Is being a Christian different than becoming a Christian (especially if you consider baptism as a part of how one becomes a Christian)?
• What do Christians look/behave like?
• Is a necessary part of being a Christian to belong to a church?

Scripture verses to consider:

• Depending on translation, the word "Christian" only occurs in the Bible <7 times.  One of the first is here in Acts 11: "Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for an entire year they associated with the church and taught a great many people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians’."
• In Acts 26, Paul is in prison, and there's this reference: "Agrippa said to Paul, “Are you so quickly persuading me to become a Christian?” Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening to me today might become such as I am—except for these chains.”"
  
• Jesus never used the term "Christian" in scripture, and it doesn't appear in any of the gospels.  Jesus spoke about "my followers" and also used other words to describe the relationship or state of being.  Consider that Jesus also used a variety of terms like "children of God" and who he meant.
• Paul in many of the epistles (letters to parts of the early church) uses the term "servant of Christ" where we might use "Christian."  
• Consider this verse: Galatians 1:10 "Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ."
• What scriptures or Biblical concepts come to mind or do you use to describe what it means to be a Christian?

From our Lutheran tradition/understanding:

• "What does it mean to be a church 'member'?" Book excerpt, brief read of one page,  gets at larger questions above about being a Christian.
• From the Large Catechism, Martin Luther: "We do not put he main emphasis on whether the person baptized believes or not, for in the latter case baptism does not become invalid.  Everything depends on the Word and commandment of God.  This is a rather subtle point, perhaps, but it is based upon what I have said, that baptism is simply water and God's word in and with each other; that is, when the word accompanies the water, baptism is valid, even though faith is lacking.  For my faith does not make baptism, rather it received baptism.  Baptism does not become invalid if it is not improperly received or used, as I have said, for it is not bound to our faith but to the Word."
• My (Pastor Brett's) two cents just off the top of my head: there's a distinction here between being a Christian (baptized, God's doing), and actively participating/practicing (our response to the Spirit's movement within us).  Baptism is the sign and promise of God that can never be taken away, an affirming promise, rather than God drawing a line of exclusion.  In our confirmation and any time we affirm our faith, we remember these baptismal promises which we strive to keep ("I do, and I ask God to help and guide me.") - to me, this is what the Christian life looks like:
  • live among God's faithful people
  • hear the word of God and share in the Lord's supper
  • proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed
  • serve all people, following the example of Jesus
  • strive for justice and peace through all the earth  (From our Baptism/Affirmation of Baptism liturgy in Evangelical Lutheran Worship)
    

​What do you notice about these promises?  How is keeping these challenging?  Do you think this describes what it means/looks like to be a Christian?

Thursday, 6/25, we'll continue our Bible Study discussion topic is church and society.  Join us, 7:30-8:30pm, on Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/703956236
What do you consider as the relationship between church/faith and society?  And/or what should it be?
A new resource published by our denomination (ELCA) week of 6/22, Being a Public Church, outlines what's acceptable and not for congregations and clergy's public engagement in elections and campaigns.
From this morning's daily prayer, the reading was Ezekiel 34:1-16 - about the leaders of the people who are false shepherds, and God's promise to be a good shepherd.  God has a lot to say in scripture about leaders, governments, kings, leaders, and the weaknesses of societies, for the sake of the people.  What does that mean for how we as people of faith are to respond?
Any study of this topic often begins or can be helped by starting with (but not necessarily sticking to or accepting) H. Richard Niebuhr's categories in his book Christ & Culture (as summarized by Pt. Bob Benne here, with some edits): 

Ok.  But what does that mean to you?

What are the scripture verses/concepts/religious teachings that come to mind when you consider this topic?  
Check back later here and I'll update this with some for us to discuss - feel free to add yours in the comments below.

Some other questions to consider:
What is the Christian call/duty to advocate to change society?
How much did Jesus talk about social/civil/political matters?
What does it mean to you for a topic to be "political?"  Where is the line?
A couple examples for you to consider/question the church and society place here:

• A pastor in Florida famously was arrested dozens of times for feeding people, since the local ordinances had banned feeding people outdoors to discourage homeless folks from congregating.  The pastor continued to do so.  What things that are illegal have been deeply moral?  (Or said the opposite way, when has the church/faithful people been called to take a stand or change society?)
• Right now, on the Georgetown neighborhood email listserv, there are a couple threads with a subject line regarding "calls for reducing funding to MPD" - initial responses from folks on the listserv are entirely about protecting the Georgetown neighborhood, and that the MPD response could be even better in Georgetown, so MPD funding should not be reduced/diverted.  Is there a faithful response here?  What would Jesus say?  Or would Jesus stay out of the conversation?  (Because, cards on the table, my (Pastor Brett)  feeling at first read of these is understanding their personal desire for protection, but wanting to invite them to put themselves in others' shoes, and consider the needs of more vulnerable DC residents.  I've also been really thinking about all the police do, and how it's maybe too many different things - and really reflecting on what a faithful response is.)

Our denomination, the ELCA, determines the church's official position on social matters, from which the church advocates (and lobbies) through Social Statements.  Social Statements are documents of theology and teaching that take years in the making.  In each one, there are some firm positions and some spectrum of intepretation.
There is an ELCA Social Statement on Church and Society - click here for the brief summary (1pg) or the full social statement (8pg), which was approved in 1991.

Free will.  Do we have it?  Yes?  No?  About some things but not about others?
Where does your belief about that come from? 
Were you explicitly taught, reasoned it out, or have  you read scripture or theology that informed your thinking?
What are the implications about your beliefs about free will? 
How does this belief interplay with beliefs about choice, blame (since people can/cannot choose/will themselves), fate/destiny/God's plan...
Furthermore, how does you belief about free will (or lack thereof) 
OR are you just like - I never think about this at all!
Question - if you've been in Lutheran worship, about every time we worship together we start with confession, using these or similar words: "we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves."  What does that mean to you?
Also informing or a part of the conversation - Martin Luther writes in the explanation of the third article of the Apostles' Creed: "I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in my Lord Jesus Christ or come to him, but the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel..."
Christians, generally, believe a wide spectrum of things about free will - from none at all and complete predestination and God's plan, to none at all and humanity has complete will/choice.  
This is a topic on which there is a pretty specific Lutheran doctrinal position - however, as with other things, believing differently would not exclude anyone, and realistically there is a wide spectrum of belief about this among Lutherans as well.  
Here is a succinct summation of the Lutheran doctrinal position on free will, as explained in the book, Lutheran Questions, Lutheran Answers.
However, if you'd like further reading, one of Martin Luther's most important (and debated, and still one of his most-read today) writings is The Bondage of the Will, which is a relatively short and digestible read... kind of, if you like that kind of thing. 
This "Lutheran" position on the question of free will is actually a quite radical and impactful belief, if you think about it.  Let's engage it, and your opinions, openly in Bible study, this Thursday, 6/4, at 7:30, on Zoom here: https://zoom.us/j/703956236 
Here are a couple further texts to consider and possibly discuss:
Romans 7:14-25:  For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. 15I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 23but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.

​The Augsburg Confession (the Confessional Doctrine of the Lutheran Church), Article 18, Free Will:

Regarding free will, this is what we teach: Humans have a free will to a certain extent. They have the ability to live an outwardly honorable life and can make choices among those things that pertain to reason.1 But without the grace, help, and working of the Holy Spirit they are not capable of becoming pleasing to God, of fearing or believing God from the heart, or of expelling the innate, evil inclinations from their hearts. This rather takes place through the Holy Spirit, who is given through God’s word. For Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2, “The natural man understands nothing from the Spirit of God.”2
And so that it may be recognized that we are not teaching anything new and strange, we include here the clear words of Augustine on free will, from the third book of his Hypognosticon:3
We concede that there is a free will in all people, for all of them have natural, innate understanding and reason. We are not saying that they are capable of dealing with God in some respect, such as loving and fearing God from the heart; only in the outward works of this life do they have freedom to choose good or evil. By “good” I mean what their nature is capable of, such as working in the field or not, eating or drinking, going to see a friend or not, putting on or taking off a piece of clothing, taking a wife, pursuing a trade, and doing something useful and good of that sort. Of course without God none of these exists or continues; everything is from him and through him. On the other hand, man can also undertake something evil by his own choice, such as bowing down to an idol, committing a murder, etc.