Two and a half years ago, my congregation in Hollywood, California, embarked on a journey guided by a question: “What would it mean for our church to have a genuine missionary encounter with our neighbors?” This question itself suggests a whole load of other questions.

The Historical Jesus?

This week’s lesson claims that “the historical evidence is overwhelming clear” that Jesus lived on earth. We should be careful about making this claim, even though his life and death is at the center of our Christian beliefs and we are prepared to testify that he lived in Palestine about two thousand years ago.