Arapaho UMC

What if Dorothy’s journey teaches us that we don’t need to escape to find home—we need to learn to see it? Exploring The Wizard of Oz and Jesus’ radical message that “the kingdom of God is at hand,” we discover how blessing our actual lives (not our #blessed lives) helps us see the color beneath the grey. What if Kansas was never actually grey—it was just painted over? Let’s learn to see the wonder right where we are. Part of our “Bible on Broadway” series.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Indigenous wisdom about living in sacred reciprocity with creation, honoring the interconnectedness of all life, and understanding the earth as gift rather than resource offers profound insights for our ecological and spiritual lives. Drawing from voices like Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass, we'll explore Indigenous teachings about gratitude, the Seven Generations principle, and seeing creation as relative rather than property.After acknowledging our presence on land originally stewarded by the Caddo Nation and other tribes, we'll discover how Indigenous wisdom about creation care resonates deeply with the biblical vision of humans as caretakers rather than owners of God's earth. While honoring Indigenous traditions' beautiful emphasis on living in right relationship with the natural world, we'll explore how Jesus, who spoke of God's care for sparrows and lilies, calls us into the same sacred reciprocity—receiving creation as gift and responding with grateful stewardship for the healing of the world.

Judaism, the tradition that gave birth to Jesus's own faith, offers profound wisdom about wrestling with God, arguing with the sacred, and finding identity in covenant relationship rather than perfect understanding. We'll explore Judaism's emphasis on doing justice, pursuing questions, and trusting in God's steadfast love (hesed) that remains faithful even through our struggles and doubts.The connections between Passover and communion reveal how Jesus, deeply rooted in Jewish tradition, opened the covenant of God's liberating love to include all people—a work that continues today as we gather around tables across the globe on World Communion Sunday. While honoring Judaism's beautiful emphasis on this-worldly justice and communal wrestling with faith, we'll discover how Jesus resonates with the deepest promises of the Hebrew scriptures, extending God's steadfast love to embrace every seeking heart. Jewish wisdom about questioning and justice-seeking can inspire our own courage to wrestle with God and work for the inclusive world God dreams.

Islam's core message of surrender (Islam means "submission") to the One God who is "merciful and compassionate" offers profound wisdom about devotion, prayer discipline, and commitment to justice for the vulnerable. We'll explore the Five Pillars of Islam and discover how our Muslim neighbors' dedication to daily prayer, charitable giving, and pilgrimage reflects both beautiful wholehearted devotion to God and faith expressed through concrete practice.While appreciating Islam's emphasis on surrendering to God's will through faithful action, we'll explore how this resonates with Jesus's teachings about loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Through Muslim wisdom about justice, surrender, and faith in practice, we can deepen our own commitment to lived discipleship, while discovering how Jesus embodies the merciful, compassionate character of God that our Muslim neighbors teach us.

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Jesus brings the outsider in and calls them "friend"

The Gospel of Luke introduces us to two new characters at nearly the end of the story, which is an odd choice, to be sure. Weirder still is the lengthy encounter they have with a stranger on their road back home, and how this stranger changes the course of their journey and ours. We might think we know how the story ends, but resurrection might just surprise us once again.

After the crucifixion and burial of Jesus, many of the disciples got back to their old lives, which for some meant fishing. The disciples in John are shown fishing and pulling up empty nets, until they encounter a “stranger” and… well, the story changes. Let’s talk about what it feels like to “fish with empty nets,” and how resurrection can invite us into a posture of abundance.