Christianity

In a previous post, we went over who the Pharisees and the Sadducees were. There were several other Jewish sects, or schools of thought, during Jesus' earthly life that didn't wield quite as much power in the first century. Essenes The Essenes were a monastic sect of Jews who lived communally and claimed no personal possessions. They took no part in the political hierarchy of Israel, and settled in many towns of Judea, particularly near the Dead Sea. Essenes spent their time

Modern Christians sometimes regard the word Pharisee as an insult, because of Jesus' words. However, Jesus was just calling them what they were, and then called out their hypocritical behavior. During the early life of Jesus, Jewish leaders were split into several groups. Some call these sects, others refer to them as political parties. They were more like schools of thought, or might even be comparable to what Christians call denominations today, but not quite. They varied

The holy scriptures have well documented the last week of Jesus' earthly life, which was the week of Passover in the Jewish faith, when hundreds of thousands of Jewish people would make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It begins with Palm Sunday, the day of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem through the Eastern Gate. He was riding a young donkey. therefore fulfilling the prophesy in Zechariah 9: 9-11. During that week, Jesus spoke to his followers in the temple, confronted the

Easter is a moveable feast, and falls on a different date each year, but it's always Sunday. Easter is set for the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. It often coincides with Passover, which is based on the Hebrew calendar. Holy Week is the last week of Jesus' earthly life. We track it during the week before Easter, to commemorate the crucial events leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection. The writers of the four gospels reconstructed Jesus

Lent is a period of 40 days leading up to Easter in which people prepare themselves to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, often by fasting and prayer. The 40 days is a reference to the 40-day period in which Jesus fasted in the desert in preparation for beginning his ministry. Forty days symbolizes a time of testing in the Bible: 40 days of rain for the flood, 40 days on the mountain for Moses to receive the ten commandments (twice), 40 days that Jesus spent on earth

As a ministry grows and flourishes, it may become burdened with rituals, rules, traditions, and all kinds of bells and whistles that aren't necessary. Every once in a while, someone needs to steer things back to the basics. In the Christian church, that means focusing on Jesus Christ. The adult Sunday School class at FCC has been studying the life and philosophy of Martin Luther, who was one of those reformers. We began with a movie provided by Pastor Tibbs, and continue with