Volume 2 Issue 2

If you are visiting our website for the first time, welcome! You are invited to “sign up” for the weekly newsletter (you may unsubscribe at any time) and consider yourself a part of our growing virtual community of faith. Take a moment to peruse the postings on the Bulletin Board, and feel free to respond with your own thoughts and opinions. The voice of God grows louder with each one who chooses to participate in this theological forum. Our ongoing prayer is that Growing in Christ will inspire you to share this ministry with those you know and love.
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This has been a week of significant milestones in the Hanna household. Mary celebrated her __ birthday on the 24th (I have already apologized to her for failing to announce this last week, and hope to make up for it with this first ever GiC “guess how old she is” contest; winners will receive a free one-year subscription to this newsletter). Those wishing to express their belated birthday wishes may e-mail her at: Maryteach5@aol.com Rebecca successfully obtained her minor’s driver license last Tuesday, earning a “perfect parallel parking” comment from her examiner (proof of both of her grandfathers’ driving genes being present in her makeup). Rachel has found employment that will make it possible for her to spend the summer in Flagstaff’s cool clime as she prepares for her sophomore year at Northern Arizona University. To top it all off, we gassed up our new Toyota Prius for the first time today and proudly announce 47.2 miles per gallon on the first tank. What would Jesus drive?
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I “heard” from a couple of you this week, and cannot tell you how much it meant. The seeds of doubt have been taking root in my mind with regard to the effectiveness of this website, but their growth was substantially stunted by your reports that you have been finding the content here worthwhile. When I read that the www.agonist.org site has had over 60,000 visitors a day since the war with Iraq began, with about 100 replies to each of its postings, I was beginning to think that GiC’s total of 1,653 visitors since last September and diminishing number of bulletin board postings that have no replies at all was indicative of a venture that was reaching no one. It is rewarding to learn that this is not the case, and I do believe that wherever two or three gather together the Christ is among us—even in cyberspace.
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Until next week…….Shalom!
P.S. A clue to Mary’s age: we were having trouble with N. Korea for the first time the year she was born.

Volume 2 Issue 1

Refreshing and renewing spring showers have ushered in Easter here in Las Vegas. I’ve discovered that an annual average rainfall of only four inches heightens one’s appreciation for this precious element of nature when it does appear, and it is so in keeping with this season of resurrection. May the wonder, joy, and meaning of this day be yours as Growing in Christ enters into its second year of theological thought and reflection.
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We have the joy of the whole family gathered this weekend. This will not be true for so many families that are separated by the winds of war, and so I feel all the more fortunate to share the Easter experience firsthand with those I love. I know that our thoughts and prayers are with those who are so far from home, and may Godspeed their return.
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What began as Easter & Beyond a year ago has grown into the website you are viewing now. It is my hope to continue to provide a source of theological stimulation and development, and so once again I invite and encourage your participation. More than anything I want Growing in Christ to be relevant, and to that end I solicit your input regarding topics and ideas you would like to see explored. Beyond that, your insight and perspective can benefit the whole community when you share through the Bulletin Board, so please consider it your forum for the free exchange of ideas.
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If you are visiting our website for the first time, welcome! You are invited to “sign up” for the weekly newsletter (you may unsubscribe at any time) and consider yourself a part of our growing virtual community of faith. Take a moment to peruse the postings on the Bulletin Board, and feel free to respond with your own thoughts and opinions. The voice of God grows louder with each one who chooses to participate in this theological forum. Our ongoing prayer is that Growing in Christ will inspire you to share our ministry with those you know and love.
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Until next week…….Shalom!

Volume 1 Issue 33

Sorry to be tardy with the “release” of this issue, but I’ve been having a wonderful visit with Dad and Rhonda this weekend. It has been renewing to continue the conversation of my life with one of the principal contributors. Our only regret is that their visits are always too short, and we hope that it won’t be long before we get to see them again. The invitation is extended to all who compose this virtual congregation to be sure to come see us whenever you’re in Las Vegas.
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In the Christian tradition, today is Palm/Passion Sunday and begins Holy Week. For those who desire to follow the week using Scripture, the recommended passages per the Revised Common Lectionary (Year C) are:
Proclamation of the Entrance into Jerusalem – Luke 19:28-40
Proclamation of the Passion Story – Luke 22:14-23:56
Holy Thursday – Exodus 12:1-14; Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19; John 13:1-17, 31b-35; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25
Good Friday – Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25; John 18:1-19:42
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Today’s sermon concludes my Lenten series on Jesus’ wilderness experience with temptation. I have followed the sequence that biblical scholars surmise was provided by ‘Q’ (from the German “Quelle” meaning “source”). For those of you who are interested in learning more about this fascinating “lost gospel”, I recommend “The Lost Gospel Q: The Original Sayings of Jesus” by Marcus J. Borg (editor) et al (1996, Ulysses Press). This marvelous little book (only 128 pages) is currently available for $9.56 from:
www.amazon.com
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The Growing in Christ experiment begins its second year next Sunday, Easter. I express my thanks to all who have supported this effort from its introduction as “Easter and Beyond” to the present. If you are visiting our website for the first time, welcome! We invite you to “sign up” for the weekly newsletter (you are always free to unsubscribe at any time) and consider yourself a part of our growing virtual congregation. Take a moment to peruse the postings on the Bulletin Board, and feel free to respond with your own thoughts and opinions. The voice of God grows louder with each one who chooses to participate in our theological forum. Our ongoing prayer is that Growing in Christ will inspire you to share our ministry with those you know and love.
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Until next week…….Shalom!

Volume 1 Issue 32

Things are saturated with moral law. Every cause in Nature is nothing but a disguised missionary.
-–Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Almighty God, your blessed Son was led by the Spirit
to be tempted by Satan.
Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations.
And, as you know the weakness of each of us,
let each one find you mighty to save;
through Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord. Amen.
(The Book of Common Prayer, U.S.A., 20th Cent., Alt.)

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Our Lenten journey draws us daily nearer to the Cross and all that it means. Can there be anything more ironic, more paradoxical than that, as the great “Christian” nation “under God,” the United States of America will in all likelihood continue its violent attack upon a foreign land throughout Holy Week and on Easter? Even if we humbled ourselves enough to seek it, how misguided it would be to expect forgiveness for the kind of arrogance that allows us to think that the Creator of the Universe is so easily fooled!
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If you are visiting our website for the first time, welcome! We invite you to “sign up” for the weekly newsletter (you are always free to unsubscribe at any time) and consider yourself a part of our growing virtual congregation. Take a moment to peruse the postings on the Bulletin Board, and feel free to respond with your own thoughts and opinions. The voice of God grows louder with each one who chooses to participate in our theological forum. Our ongoing prayer is that Growing in Christ will inspire you to share our ministry with those you know and love.
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Until next week…….Shalom!