From the blog ...

Garage Sale

Every weekend you can find a garage sale somewhere. Someone in a neighborhood near you is trying to sell off some of their “stuff.” It’s an American pastime for some people every week of the year. And don’t get in their way.

Author Phyllis Tickle recently commented in her book The Great Convergence, something to the effect of: Every 500 years or so the church has a huge rummage sale—deciding what to keep and what to throw out.

Today we look back on our first 5 years and ask: What should we throw out and what should we keep?

Maybe it’s time for an Agora garage sale.

- What is your favorite garage sale story?
- What are some ways we can be good news to our surrounding community?
- What are some other options for our next 5 years?

Nov 6, 2009 by Jeff • category: Continuing Conversation • comments: zero

Prayer and Presence

Anointing of the Sick (and Dying) is a sacrament of the higher church traditions and a discipline or practice in many protestant churches. Usually accompanied by the laying on of hands, it is an act of obedience by and for those who are sick. The recipient is dabbed with oil and then prayed over by a pastor, priest, or group of elders. The desire is healing.

Doctors are called upon to provide cures from disease or the mending of broken bones. But a cure is not the same thing as healing.

80% of Americans believe that God miraculously heals today. And although it is rare, I have certainly witnessed it many times over my lifetime.

Join the conversation today as we look at the power of Prayer and Presence in the anointing of the sick.

- Can one be cured but not healed? Healed but not cured? Explain.
- Tell us about a time you or a friend were healed.
- How much does presence versus prayer aid in true healing?

Oct 26, 2009 by Jeff • category: Continuing Conversation • comments: zero

Confession

Holding out on God, friends, and family when it comes to confession is a little like holding back puke. There’s a good reason for the involuntary reflex of vomiting. Whatever it is on the inside that is making us sick needs to come out.

However, too often we withhold the truth from those we love, and the tension mounts. Unfortunately, unlike puking, confession is totally voluntary. Therefore, like a balloon being blown up to the point of breaking, we wait to the last possible moment. Then we “fess up.”

But, confession is not only about telling God our sins, it is also about professing our common truths.

Join the conversation as we look at this sacrament and discipline of the church: Confession.

- Have you ever had to “hold someone’s hair back?” Describe (politely).
- Describe stress or anxiety that you have experienced.
- What are some things that we confess/profess together?

Oct 21, 2009 by Jeff • category: Continuing Conversation • comments: zero

Water Grave

For hundreds of years, one of man’s greatest fears was being buried alive. That has long since been replaced by the fear of terrorism and clowns. But dozens of true as well as legendary stories have contributed to the fear.

Today, as followers of Jesus, we look at Baptism. In a very real spiritual sense, water baptism is like being buried alive.

Jesus said, “‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.’” – Matthew 16:24 – 25

Join the conversation today as we explore the second in our series of church ordinances (or sacraments).

- What is your greatest phobia?
- Have you ever been baptized? Tell us about it.
- Have you ever been given a second chance? Describe.

Oct 16, 2009 by Jeff • category: Continuing Conversation • comments: zero

Life Is in the Blood

The Jewish culture into which Jesus was born was one of blood sacrifice and of blood covenants. Even today, the modern Jew celebrates events marked by blood: Childbirth, Bris, Yom Kippur, Marriage.

The Torah (the five books of Moses) teaches the Jew that “Life Is in the Blood.” Therefore, it belongs to God alone and is not to be consumed by humans.

However, one day, late in his ministry, Jesus told his disciples and the multitudes who were following him: “Unless you drink my blood and eat my flesh you have no life in you.” This was so offensive to his listeners that the Bible says “many turned back and no longer followed him.”

Later, Jesus would present the cup of wine and the unleavened bread of the Passover Seder as representative of that very thing. The scripture says that he took the cup and said, “This is my blood.” The bread and said, “This is my body. Do this and remember me.”

- What is the appeal of the vampire?
- Do you ever feel like Peter, wondering if there is another way to eternal life?
- (Asked by Dr. Paul Brand:) “If Jesus had been born in the twentieth century, would he have chosen the image of transfusion for his forgiveness, love, and healing?”

Oct 7, 2009 by Jeff • category: Continuing Conversation • comments: 2

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welcome

A•gor•a (Ә-gōr' -Ә) ∍n., pl. [Greek] 1. Marketplace. 2. A place of assembly, debate. 3. Town square.

In the Ancient Scriptures, a public gathering place for: a. business dealings such as the hiring of laborers (Matt. 20:3), b. the buying and selling of goods (Mark 7:4), c. the games of children (Matt. 11:16; Luke 7:32), d. exchange of greetings (Matt. 23:7; Mark 12:38; Luke 11:43; 20:46), e. the holding of trials (Acts 16:19), f. public discussions (Acts 17:17), g. bringing the sick to Jesus (Mark 6:56).

Agora is a gathering of Jesus followers, seekers, doubters, and skeptics who are on a life journey together. Our relationships with one another help us to discover, decide, and define what our relationship to Jesus will ultimately be.

We are located at:

4959 South 79th East Ave
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74145

Please feel free to email us at agora@agoratulsa.com or visit our contact page for phone numbers and directions to the church.

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