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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (Aug. 29, 2011) —A sermon series led by Milligan College faculty and staff will explore some of Jesus’ most challenging words recorded in the Gospels.
The series titled “The Hard Word: Things I Wish Jesus Never Said,” begins Thursday, Sept. 1, at 11 a.m. in Milligan’s Mary B. Martin Auditorium of Seeger Memorial Chapel, and continues each Thursday throughout September. All of the services begin at 11 a.m. They are free and open to the public.
“Throughout the Gospels, Jesus’ invitations to come to him for unconditional love and spiritual rest live side by a side with a series of seemingly impossible demands such as ‘love your enemies,’ ‘take up your cross every day,’ and ‘deny yourself completely,’” said Brad Wallace, Milligan’s campus minister. “Led by Milligan’s own faculty and staff, this sermon series is a monthlong look at the hard sayings of a Savior who gives, and requires, more than we might think.”
Thursday, Sept. 1: Rich Aubrey, women’s basketball head coach and adjunct instructor of human performance and exercise science, explores Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:43-48, admonishing followers to love and pray for their enemies.
Thursday, Sept. 8: Jeff Miller, associate professor of Bible, tackles Mark 7:24-30, a passage that recounts Jesus’ surprising response when he encounters a Greek mother requesting his help with her demon-possessed daughter.
Thursday, Sept. 15: Ronda Paulson, cheer and dance coach and adjunct instructor of biology, takes a look at Luke 18:24-25, where Jesus states “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
Thursday, Sept. 22: Kit Dotson, associate director of church relations, explains Jesus’ words in Luke 9:62: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom of God.”
Thursday, Sept. 29: Theresa Garbe, director of alumni relations, concludes the series with a close look at Luke 14:26, including Jesus’ reminder to his followers that anyone who does not hate “even his own life” cannot be his disciple.
For more information about spiritual formation programs at Milligan, contact Campus Minister Brad Wallace at 423.461.8748 orbswallace@milligan.edu.