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<DIV><FONT size=4>We lead South Africa, China, and Russia in the incarceration
of our citizens.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Each of us has a felony record in God’s sight.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Living under the heel of Roman Imperial, oppression made the
synagogue eager to hear a liberating proclamation for status seekers only.
Jesus’ message had universal appeal. They wanted to see outcomes quickly as they
had heard about in other cities. They had little respect for the crosses they
would need to carry in order to be made ready for God’s outcomes. When Jesus
called into question their faithfulness, they wanted to kill him. Such was
Jesus’ welcome to the Gospel ministry. <BR><BR>The proclamation of God’s
liberating power will often be challenged by the very people God is seeking to
liberate: both those who have a “bad” background and those who “think” they do
not.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.theafricanamericanlectionary.org/PopupLectionaryReading.asp?LRID=12"><FONT
size=4>http://www.theafricanamericanlectionary.org/PopupLectionaryReading.asp?LRID=12</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Madeline McClenney-Sadler, 2008</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><STRONG>- - - - -</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><STRONG><FONT size=4></FONT></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Nazareth itself was not a site of historic or major strategic
importance &, thus, did not merit notice in any ancient text apart from the
gospel references to it as the place of Jesus' origin. The earliest
non-Christian reference is an inscription discovered in the synagogue of
Caesarea Maritima that names Nazareth as one of the places in Galilee where the
priestly families of Judea migrated after the Hadrianic war [135 CE]. But
Nazareth remained a small Jewish village until the 4th c. CE when Constantine
constructed a church that became a center for Christian pilgrimages. It was
elevated to the status of city in the 7th c. CE. Since the 17th c. the
Franciscans have developed it into the largest Christian center in the land of
Israel.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://virtualreligion.net/iho/nazareth.html"><FONT
size=4>http://virtualreligion.net/iho/nazareth.html</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Mahlon Smith </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew
to Galilee. <B>He left Nazareth</B> and made his home in Capernaum by the sea,
in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matt 4:12-17 NRSV)</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Despite the majority of this people in this modern city being
Muslim, they always elect a Christian mayor. Nazareth is, after all, the
hometown of Jesus. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://wiki.faithfutures.org/index.php?title=Proper_4C"><FONT
size=4>http://wiki.faithfutures.org/index.php?title=Proper_4C</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>It is worth remembering that it was only the other day, in
2007, we crossed a line. Since then, for the first time in human
history, more people on the planet live in cities than in the country.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>My years in conflict mediation have given me a clue.<BR>Some
mobs, some crowds, some passionate, vindictively righteous assemblies, can get
so enraged, so angry, so violent, so hypnotized by their fulminations that
truth, light, and Universal Love, are able to depart from amongst them so
swiftly they don’t even notice!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://thelisteninghermit.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/have-you-herd-epiphany-4/">http://thelisteninghermit.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/have-you-herd-epiphany-4/</A></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Peter Woods, 2010</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV><FONT size=4><FONT color=#231f20 size=2
face=BookAntiqua><FONT color=#231f20 size=2 face=BookAntiqua><FONT color=#231f20
size=2 face=BookAntiqua>
<DIV align=left><FONT color=#000000 size=4>He {Jesus] reminded the </FONT><FONT
color=#000000 size=4>scandalized congregation that God forgives foreigners and
</FONT><FONT color=#000000 size=4>enemies, crystallized for them in the stories
of the widow in </FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT color=#231f20 size=2
face=BookAntiqua><FONT color=#231f20 size=2 face=BookAntiqua><FONT color=#231f20
size=2 face=BookAntiqua><FONT color=#000000 size=4>Sidon whom Elijah fed (1
Kings 17:1, 8-16) and Naaman, the </FONT><FONT color=#000000 size=4>Syrian army
commander whom Elisha healed (2 Kings 5:1-19). </FONT><FONT color=#000000
size=4>But what exactly is forgiveness? As a rich experience that is
</FONT><FONT color=#000000 size=4>central to Christian life, forgiveness may be
difficult to explain </FONT><FONT color=#000000 size=4>with other words. Randall
O’Brien defines it as “the removal of </FONT><FONT color=#000000 size=4>barriers
between persons caused by wrongdoing, real or </FONT><FONT color=#000000
size=4>imagined, … as sins are sent away and persons are drawn </FONT><FONT
color=#000000 size=4>together in relationships”.
</FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT color=#231f20 size=2 face=BookAntiqua><FONT color=#231f20
size=2 face=BookAntiqua><FONT color=#231f20 size=2 face=BookAntiqua><FONT
color=#000000 size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT color=#231f20 size=2 face=BookAntiqua><FONT color=#231f20
size=2 face=BookAntiqua><FONT color=#231f20 size=2 face=BookAntiqua><FONT
color=#000000 size=4><A
href="http://www.baylor.edu/christianethics/Forgivenessstudyguide1.pdf">http://www.baylor.edu/christianethics/Forgivenessstudyguide1.pdf</A></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT color=#231f20 size=2 face=BookAntiqua><FONT color=#231f20
size=2 face=BookAntiqua><FONT color=#231f20 size=2 face=BookAntiqua><FONT
color=#000000 size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV><FONT color=#231f20
size=2 face=BookAntiqua><FONT color=#231f20 size=2 face=BookAntiqua><FONT
color=#231f20 size=2 face=BookAntiqua><FONT color=#231f20
face=AkzidenzGroteskBE-MdCn><FONT color=#000000 face=AkzidenzGroteskBE-MdCn>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Robert B. Kruschwitz</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV><FONT face=TimesNewRoman>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=4>...the “christological misunderstanding” of Jesus’
role and authority is focused in the rejection of the reign on earth according
to the law of God which this Messiah has inaugurated. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><A
href="http://www2.luthersem.edu/word&world/Archives/7-1_Justification/7-1_Tiede.pdf"><FONT
size=4>http://www2.luthersem.edu/word&world/Archives/7-1_Justification/7-1_Tiede.pdf</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=4>David L. Tiede, 1987</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT
size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
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