Spark Cast

Palm Sunday commemorates the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, a declaration of peace with tears of sadness for so many expectations of war.

In summation and reflection, we consider the journey we've been on through Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs.

The Song of Songs has long been understood as a theological metaphor for God's love of God's people, and as such is included in our canon. But while the traditional interpretation is valuable, perhaps there is more to be discovered and celebrated in this beautiful poetic song.

How might we revisit Ecclesiastes in light of the gospel accounts, Jesus, and Israel's story? What is the relationship between wisdom literature and Jesus? What about Qohelet—the teacher of Ecclesiastes—and Jesus?

The author of Ecclesiastes provides an important last word. He says we are to "Fear God and keep the commandments." How are you interpreting the commandments and living them out in our particular place and time?

The Teacher in Ecclesiastes offers many hot takes and dark reflections on the way the world works, repeatedly chanting that "everything is meaningless"... right from the start! How do we make sense of the apparent senselessness? How do we think of the Teacher's tirades as wisdom? Despite the controversy, God's people have canonized Ecclesiastes and found enduring value in it over the centuries.

The final chapter of Proverbs uses language and imagery that is widely diverse and presents an incredible image and vision for women as central to biblical wisdom.

Proverbs promotes humility, a modesty that leads to justice.

The blind pursuit of given principles may itself be folly, the very kind of foolishness the Proverbial wisdom is attempting to remedy. Rather than mere revelation, these proverbs exhort us to reason together.

Psalm of Lament express the depths of human emotion, and invite us to embrace the cries and suffering of others.

While we think of praise as a feeling, or even a genre of music, the psalms of praise are a declaration of the affections, benefits, and characteristics of the god we worship. To sing, then, those psalms of praise is to invoke their presence and value upon ourselves, and this life.

Whether "ascent" means a geographical going up, or a musical elevation, these Psalms lift our eyes, our hearts, and our attentions to the place from where our help and life comes.

The Job story is…absurd. Recognizing and accepting this absurdity is itself a gift, that liberates us from the expectations and perceptions that frequently don't make sense in this chaotic world.

Job is not just wisdom literature, but permission, to ask questions, to speak, to be silent, to wrestle, and to say, "I don't know." That permission is a spiritual liberation from the expectations of other religious ideas.

This first Sunday of 2022, Pastors Kevin & Danielle reflect a bit on 2021, highlight a few key observations, and briefly share what's coming in 2022.

Each of the declarations by the angels is,...odd. Yet, precisely because they are strange are they also profound.

In a world of kings, rulers, authorities, and...well, adults, God's medium of salvation came in the form of a helpless child. What does that teach us about the message of Christmas and the radical shift in values that transformed our world?

”COP” stands for “Conference of the Parties,” the United Nations annual gathering of world leaders to address climate change. Pastor Danielle Parish of Spark.Church was an official United Nations Conference Observer at this year’s COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. At this event, Pastor Danielle shared a report on her experiences, key moments and decisions, and discussed how faith communities can continue to pursue justice in our current climate crisis. We were also introduced to Violet Wulf-Saena, Founder & Executive Director of Climate Resilient Communities, a community-based organization dedicated to serving the underrepresented through empowering community voices to implement climate solutions that bring about unity and resilience. (www.climatercommunities.org)

Do not be afraid. Rather, be amazed. And through that amazement, tell the story.

This story we tell every year, when considered, is really a strange way to bring salvation. In this introduction, we consider one possible avenue of thinking about the Virgin Birth.