My newfound blogging friend Tom Ward Jr. (affectionately known in some circles as Mr. Purple) and his church (Eastpoint) is hosting two really helpful looking events in the nexts couple months. I know that I will be making an effort to try and get down to part of the weekend with Scot McKnight as we tried to get him up at The Well but the scheduling just hasn’t worked out yet.
Weekend 1: April 21-22, “What Would Happen if ‘Christian America’ Embraced the Gospel?”, Richard T. Hughes
Join us on Saturday, April 21, as Richard T. Hughes—distinguished scholar, beloved professor, and ardent follower of Jesus—helps us reconnect with the transformative power of the gospel by exploring the question, “What would happen if ‘Christian America’ embraced the Gospel?” Implicit in that simple question is the irony that while many Americans imagine their country a “Christian nation,” the nation hardly embraces even the most fundamental Christian ideals. Why, then, do so many Americans—and so many Christians—persist in calling their nation “Christian”? Is it possible for America—or any nation, for that matter—to fully embrace the ideals of the Christian gospel? And finally, could we answer this last question by raising another: “What characteristics would define a nation that sought to be faithful to the Christian message?”
The 4-hour workshop, hosted by Eastpoint Community Church, begins at 8:30 AM on Saturday, April 21. Space is limited for this event, so please reserve your seat well in advance. Reservations can be made via the Eastpoint website, www.eastpoint.org, by emailing bigchange@eastpoint.org, or by calling the church office at 302.376.8330. We invite you to come early on Saturday—the Eastpoint Café will be open at 7:45 AM and will be stocked with coffee, teas, and a variety of fruit and pastries. Dr. Hughes will also be teaching at Eastpoint on Sunday, April 22.
Richard T. Hughes is a nationally recognized scholar on the history of American religion. Prior to his appointment to The Boyer Center at Messiah College (Grantham, PA), Richard was the Distinguished Professor of Religion at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.
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Weekend 2: September 29-30, “Embracing Grace: The Gospel for All of Us”, Scot McKnight
Join us on Saturday, September 29, as Scot McKnight—award-winning author, teacher, and blogging phenom—offers us a compelling vision of the breath-taking scope of the gospel and helps us understand our relationship with Jesus by taking in the whole range of the Bible, from the original Fall to the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. As Scot points out, so often the gospel is reduced to forgiveness from sins and a ticket to heaven. While the message of the Bible, and the story of God, is actually much bigger and better than just that. It’s an invitation to not only be saved by grace but to live transformed by it as well. It’s the good news that in Jesus Christ God is at work restoring broken people to full humanity by placing them in loving communion with himself and with one another.
The 4-hour workshop, hosted by Eastpoint Community Church, begins at 8:30 AM on Saturday, September 29. Space is limited for this event, so please reserve your seat well in advance. Reservations can be made via the Eastpoint website, www.eastpoint.org, by emailing bigchange@eastpoint.org, or by calling the church office at 302.376.8330. We invite you to come early on Saturday. The Eastpoint Café will be open at 7:45 AM and will be stocked with coffee, teas, and a variety of fruit and pastries. Scot McKnight will also be teaching at Eastpoint on Sunday, September 30.
Scot McKnight is the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University. A licensed minister and nationally recognized expert in historical Jesus studies, Scot lives with his wife, Kris, in Chicago. You can visit his blog at www.jesuscreed.org.