Black Letter Gospel (Weeks 1 and 2)

We're starting a new series based on Don Evert's book "God in the Flesh" called The Black Letter Gospel. The series will assemble a view of Jesus based on the "stage directions" of the Gospel story, ways people reacted to what he did and said. Weeks one and two are coming up soon! Post your ideas below....

Simply Following Jesus (9/10)
God is invisible, but Jesus is not. So Jesus shows us things no one else can. The New Testament is saturated with Jesus. Paul says over and over again to remember Jesus. Perhaps Jesus really is all we need to know. We can be simpletons who simply want to know Jesus and remember him accurately.
Think of: examples of simpleness, ways we have distorted our view of Jesus, examples of how being too complex or sophisticated can miss the point, etc...

• Amish people (simplicity is better)
• Hobbits in LOTR are simple but useful
• Simon Birch
• Kids Say the Darndest Things
• We spend more time working now than we did before "time-saving devices"
• Project Runway (simple, sleek designs always win)
• Real Simple Magazine
• Simple, organic foods vs. chemical additive foods (display nutrition facts of each)
• Animaniacs song "Be Careful what you eat"
• Forest Gump - good soldier cause he's a little simple
• "30 Days" TV show - when LA people go to Kirksville
• Rob Bell's NOOMA "Rich"

Distorted views of Jesus

• Jesus doll from Dogma
• Lip-synced Jesus video from 70's
• Conan O'brien Jesus dolls
• SNL Jesus TV funhouse
• Bumper stickers "jesus is a republican"

Complexity can be bad

• blue collar workers vs. white collar (blue collar make right choices...in a movie somewhere?)
• Saved! movie
• Jesus loves porn stars

Seized by Amazement/Unity (9/17)
Are we bored with Jesus and his stories? Do we drink in the strangeness and holiness of his life? Do we feel like Jesus' teachings are too simple, and we have to move on to meaty theology to get to the good stuff? Perhaps if we learn how to appreciate our strange, captivating Jesus, we'll be drawn into a natural unity.
Think of: things that always draw our attention, ways things lose their appeal when they get old, things Jesus did that really seem weird, caricatures of famous people, situations that force unity

Things we're naturally captivated by:

• Nature always makes people stare (Grand Canyon)
• Fire
• Grizzly Man – captivated by bears

Stereotypes:

• Ronald Reagan is a movie star – running for president
• Back the Future – Reagan
• Legally Blond – stereotyped as stupid; Martha Stewart was a model and stock broker

Getting bored with old things:

• Kids x-mas presents; get bored by “new” presents; Toy Story

Weird things Jesus did that should captivate us:

• “cut off your hand”; hanging out with the prostitutes, etc ; people broke through houses to see him ; give Cesar what is his ;

• Motorcycle Diaries (touches people without gloves)
• Lost: Jack takes charge (people drawn together)
  
• Lifeboat (Alfred Hitchcock) (people drawn together)
  
• News clips of people being thrown together in odd circumstances
  
• Alien movies; where alien invaders bring humanity together (ID4, Signs, Battlestar Galactica)

Rock: Life in the Little Things

On August 13th we'll be finishing our Elements series with a talk on setting patterns in life by paying attention to the little things. Using the imagery of building our lives on the rock (Matt 7:24), we'll be looking at how to avoid waiting for something big and dramatic to happen before we change the way we live.



Looking for ideas involving:

• Clips of the ends of movies where some dramatic life change happens
• Songs about life being boring or mundane
• Illustrations of how what we do with a little translates into what we do with much
• Illustration of someone stuck in a rut

Post your thoughts!