29 March, 2016
Topic: The theophanies of God
Speaker: Gary Nelson, President of the Tyndel
University College and Seminary http://www.tyndale.ca/
(Wiki info: The Toronto Bible Training
School was founded in 1894 by a group of brethren under the supervision of
Elmore Harris pastor of Walmer Road Baptist Church. In 1998 the school was
renamed Tyndale College and Seminary after William Tyndale, a Reformation
theologian of the sixteenth century. The leadership intended the name change to
indicate their vision to build “a world-class centre of Christian higher
education in Canada”. Tyndale Seminary is now the largest accredited seminary
in Canada with more than 700 students at the masters or doctoral level, and the
University College received high rankings in the 2009 Maclean's University
issue's measure of student satisfaction)
Scripture: Luke 10
Each Gospel book have a different focus. For
example, Mark ends abruptly with the women: Some monk didn’t like the ending of
Mark and inserts more stuff. Mark ends it because he wants to. He could be saying
“the women saw it, now it’s your turn to be the witness…”
Luke tells the story as a historian. Rather
than linear history, he’s gathering stories together to drive home the theme.
Luke 10 talks about the theophanies of God.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan is a story
of what happens when God gives us an opportunity to respond to. Regine is a
survivor of the Rwandan genocide. The church’s response to the genocide: did
not respond. Yet, at the same time there were also amazing stories of when
people responded to the “God moments”. For example, one of the priest’s
response: When the Hutus came and said “we are here for the Tutsis.” The priest
responds, “There are not Hutus or Tutsis. We are all one in Christ. If you want
to kill the Rwandese kill me first.”
The story of Martha and Mary tells us to
not miss the moment to sit at the feet of Jesus. Recognising times, and
realizing there are particular times where the moment is critical in our lives.
Some people seem to have the concept that you find God when you retreat to the
mountains. Being a city dweller, how do we find God in the midst of the
concrete? By being and doing.
The opposite of hope is not hopelessness,
but the lack of imagination. Let God tune us to His imagination.
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