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Personal Growth

Everyone who has ever lived has encountered a particular problem: being born a little person in a big person’s world and being given the task of becoming a big person over time. [We all deal with] the problem of coming out from under a one-down relationship to the adult world and assuming one’s role as an adult equal with other adults… Becoming an adult is assuming the authority position of life, an important part of the image of God.

Contextualize It:
-Why do you think entry into adulthood, as described by Henry, is being delayed in the U.S.?
-How does knowing that self-esteem comes from gaining expertise in an area change the way we look at gifts and talents? Parenting?
-How do you intentionally put yourself out of your “comfort zone” in order to grow?

Jan 30, 2012 by Keith • category: Continuing Conversation • comments: zero

The Way In A Manger

There were two main ways in which the early Church erred in their thinking about Jesus. There were those who tended to see him only as this guy, this great guy mind you, but just a guy, with a special message and work that should inspire us.
On the other side, there were those who really emphasized the fact that Jesus was God, of the conceptions of God being what they were they couldn’t see how this Jesus was really a real human.
However, we confess Jesus was both this guy and this god, and would heartily argue with someone who suggested anything different. And yet, like with this Carol, our worship and liturgy is much better about emphasizing the glory of Christ divinity than the earthiness of Christ’s humanity.

Join the conversation:
-What is your favorite Christmas Carol?
-Do you have problems picturing the filthy reality of Jesus’ birth? Explain.
-Which part of the incarnation means the most to you, the guy or the god?

Dec 19, 2011 by Keith • category: Continuing Conversation • comments: zero

Prepare The Way: Luke 1

The births of both Jesus and John the Baptist were foretold and then came about just as it had been believed. They were both destined to bring about repentance, salvation, and change for the better.
John would prepare the way for the light and message of Jesus. He would baptize Jesus and declare: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
Today we continue our “fireside” reading of the Christmas Story from the Bible. Prescription today is taken from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1.

Join the conversation:
-What’s your favorite or least favorite commercial?
-Why was John the Baptist’s birth and ministry so important?
-Why would Mary’s words be banned in certain countries?

Dec 13, 2011 by Keith • category: Continuing Conversation • comments: zero

Daniel: Gratitude

The fate of Nebuchadnezzar is one of the most tragic in a long list of calamities that have overtaken the great and powerful of the earth. According to Daniel, it was just after the king have spoken those words of exulting pride as he walked in the palace of the Kingdom of Babylon: “Is not this great Babylon that I have built,” when he was attacked by that dreadful form of madness, called by the Greeks, lycanthropy (wolf-man), in which the victim fancies himself a beast.
Nebuchadnezzar’s madness became so violent that for four years he was exiled from his throne & from the company of men, and wandered in the fields, eating grass like oxen, “and his body was wet with the dead of heaven, and his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.”
What would drive a king to such madness? And how did he recover? Today’s Old Testament Story is from the 4th chapter o the loo of Daniel.

Join the conversation:
-What do you think led to Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity?
-What is the opposite of Gratitude?
-For what or who are you grateful today?

Nov 27, 2011 by Keith • category: Continuing Conversation • comments: zero

Daniel: Dreams

It has been said that dreams are the garbage of the mind. But what happens when dreams are conduits of the supernatural?
Today we continue in the book of Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. But he refused to tell the dream to anyone. However, he threatened his wise men with death if they couldn’t tell him the dream and interpret it.
Included in that death threat were Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. How would God respond to their prayers and reveal the dream to Daniel?

Contextualize It:
-Have you had a dream that you remembered or was meaningful to you? Explain.
-Has God ever spoken to you through a dream? Tell us about it.
-Does God know the future? How do you know?

Nov 13, 2011 by Keith • category: Continuing Conversation • comments: zero

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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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