bible study- get to know each other thread

[nathan]

a place for anyone who wants to take part in our nerdfighter bible study to post a little about themselves/their story so we can get to know each other better.

[Emily]

 Luke:

The Parable of the Lost Son

¹¹ Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

¹³ “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

²¹ “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²² “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷ ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

²⁸ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

³¹ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

[Emily]

this is my favorite bible story because God (the father) runs down the road to us!!! He meets us on the road to His home, running! because he is so excited he can not contain it! He loves us and wants us in His house so much He runs! This verse reminds us that we are wanted, God wants us in heaven. That is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

[nathan]

thanks for sharing emily! :)

[Hannah le Faye]

I am Hannah, I'm 28 and from Oregon.  I've got a BA in English, and I put that to its non-use as a special education instructional assistant.  I like reading, crafts, sci-fi, old things, vegetarianism, strange music, and circus tricks.  I'm also a queer Christian.  I'm a Quaker at heart but my faith community is technically Free Methodist...don't ask me what that means though because we are a random bunch of ex-Catholic, -Mormon, -Church of Christ, -Assembly of God, -Baptist mish mash of people.  We are not all prettied up.  Several of us have been homeless, had/have drug addictions, or experience mental illness.  We don't have pews.  We sit in a circle.  We sing hymns and cowboy songs.  Half of us are gay or bisexual or have gay children and it's not an issue.  Our pastors are a wife and husband, the wife is 7 years his senior.  We formed with the intention of being present in our disadvantaged community, not to preach at people, but to show God to them through our actions.  We get creative and have art nights every once in a while.  It's pretty awesome.

I want to talk about Jesus and what to do about Him.  When I was in my early 20s, my view and practice of spirituality was so much different than now.  I was reading the Bible for hours a day, writing pages and pages of thoughts on my "devotional" verses.  Somewhere along the line, I got run down with it.  I still got a little baggage from my flirtation with fundamentalism.  I needed to understand that just reading the Bible every day out of habit didn't make me a good Christian, and that responding to it was not just about my thoughts on X Bible verse.  I like the Bible and all, but I don't think that it's the end all and be all of Christianity.  We serve a living Christ, who has inspired millions over the years.  I've recently been feeling like attending more to my practice of Christianity, not that I've been a Sunday Christian, Monday Sinner...I'm a pretty good girl in the scheme of things, but spirituality hasn't been much on my mind, but it is right now.

[nathan]

wow where can i find a church like yours?! haha that actually sounds amazing and like just the kind of place jesus would hang out at. and i feel ya on the bible thing, i find myself in a somewhat similar position, personally, i often read the bible and just get more confused haha but i'm trying to work on practically living out the things we're supposed to encompass and show to others but love your neighbour is hard enough to even attempt to get a handle on. anyway, thank you for sharing your story!

[Hannah le Faye]

We are in Oregon...it's kind of a build-your-own job.  We started in our church leaders' living room and our number was about 4 for a few years.

[nathan]

sounds good!

[nathan]

hi char, thanks for sharing this with the group. it's a good reminder :)

[Emily Yi]

I am Emily. I wont say my age for security purposes but i will say I also love photography!!! I live in the US and is fascinated by the world. I love the play the violin and piano, draw, read, write. I am a fan of 80's movies and music. I love food! (who doesn't?) I was born a seventh day adventist and I still am today.

[Coco Annette L'Etoile]

Hi! I'm not giving my real name for paranoid purposes, so for now y'all can call me Coco. I am from a region of the US known as the South (complete with an occasional accent) and proud of it. I like to read yet do so less than I wish that I did. I'm a fan of good music; please, don't ask me to specify what that means because I don't even know; I just know that I hear it and like it. I love the 1940's (history, fashion, music, etc.). I hope to one day speak fluent French and possibly Irish. I am a chemistry nerd (Ex: I got really excited and then very anxious when I found out that scientists got particles stable below "absolute" zero.) and am currently a freshman in college studying chemistry education; I go to a small Christian university that has been a wonderful place to help deeply root myself in God's ways and learn how to live His love daily. I have known God since I was little and have stumbled more times than I can count, but He is faithful, and I praise Him for that. I don't define myself by a certain denomination but strive to be as Christlike as possible in my daily life. So, yeah, there's more to me than that, but those are the basics. 

[Trinity Welch]

Um, hello guys. I'm a new nerdfighter and I don't really know what to say so I guess I'll just follow other people's examples.

My name is Trinity, I am 19 years old, and although this is only my second semester, I am a sophmore at a college in West Virginia. I was raised with an athiest dad and an agnostic step-mom. My mom is a Christian, but I lived with my dad until I was 15, so I never really had that kind of influence. I was never really interested in the Christian religion until this past summer, where my life was completely turned upside down and if it weren't for my best friend, I would have ended up homeless. My best friend and her family are Christians and they took me to church with them, showing me what it means to be a true follower of Christ. They also introduced me to Christian music, which had a huge influence on me. The events of this summer led me to God, but it wasn't until October that I officially accepted Jesus as beloved my savior. As far as denominations go, I honestly don't know the difference. I go to a Baptist church, but I think I would consider myself non-denominational. If ya'll want to know anything about me, I guess just ask, or you can look at my page. Also, feel free to add me as a friend if you want. I'm kind of shy and I'm afraid to add random people I don't know as friends unless they initiate it.. And also, I'm sorry this is so long, I didn't really know what I should say.