05.27.24 | Pastor's Bible Study, Perspectives Podcast
Join the women clergy of First Church of San Diego as they start a new multi-episode exploration of “Divine Gifts” with Perspectives FUMCSD Pastors Podcast.
In this episode, Rev. Hannah and Rev. Brittany talk about opening ourselves to the divine gift of wonder and surprise.
They use the story of the pharisee Nicodemus from the Gospel of John. Nicodemus visits Jesus in the secrecy of night to gain one-on-one time. During the interaction, he gets confused by Jesus’ language of “anothen”, often interpreted as “born again” or “born anew”, failing to move beyond the surface meaning of the words to get to a spiritual meaning.
We come into conversations with others – and with God – bringing our existing knowledge and convictions. And that certainty can hinder us from seeing something new and surprising in life. But when we relax our understanding of what’s possible, we may gain a fresh new surprise from the Divine.
We’ll continue to dive deep into the Divine gifts through our next several episodes. Talking about the acts of grace that we receive from God that open our hearts and minds for us to see and experience the world differently. We hope you join us!
Our weekly Bible Study discussion group, Convergence, is currently taking a break for Summer. But we invite you to ponder and discuss the following questions with your friends and family:
- Do you like surprises?
- Have you been surprised by God? If so, how?
- What questions about faith and God when you’re alone at night?