March 7          A Call to Repentance                                                    Communion Sunday

Jesus calls us to make sense of senseless tragedy by giving our own life meaning. Do we want answers or a relationship with One who lifts us from our sea of sorrow, from our confusion, from our pain?...

March 14       The Prodigal Father

God has two kinds of children – prodigals and pharisees, arrogant wasters and self-righteous “straights.”  Makes no difference, you are still loved.  God, the greatest prodigal of all, acts with extravagant generosity, and has a reputation for forgiving everybody.  Come to the party!

March 21      Costly Perfume

Mary finds the freedom to be extravagant when she realizes how much Jesus has given to her.  Her extravagant act is a harbinger of Jesus’ burial, a reminder that ministry happens with the transforming presence of God.

March 28      Judas & the Shadow of the Cross                                            Palm Sunday

Rolling the camera forward beyond the parade to the betrayal and arrest of Jesus, let us ask what we might learn from Judas, the jaded mandarin of Christian history.

John Shelby Spong  - will be guest presenter of the theme Eternal Life: A New Vision – Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven & Hell at Westminster Canterbury Retirement Center on Tuesday, March 23, 7:30 pm (Reservations are required: 804-200-1502).

Some of you may remember “Jack” as one of the featured speakers in the LTQ (Living the Questions) series that we have used with our Faith Formation Cell Group.  He is the retired Bishop of Newark, New Jersey, a columnist and author of over 14 books, including Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism and Why Christianity Must Change or Die.

Previously a lecturer at Harvard, Humanist of the Year, and a guest on numerous national television broadcasts, including The Today Show, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, and Larry King Live, he will explore a very different interpretation of what the Christian story and history can mean to the modern mind.  I heartily encourage your consideration of hearing him as a refreshingly honest pursuer of truth in the face of life’s toughest questions.

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