Crossings Knoxville

What if your faith journey isn't a linear path of constant growth—but a circle of unlearning, undoing, and rediscovery? This week, we reflect on Elijah's encounter with God in the silence, explore the harm of hustle-culture spirituality, and consider how non-Western and Indigenous traditions can help us reimagine spiritual formation. Inspired by Our Unforming by Cindy S. Lee, we ask the unsettling but freeing question: What are you doing here?

How can we become better listeners? What if the church's primary role is to translate shalom - peace, wholeness, well-being - into the home languages of all people? How can we avoid using our words to dominate and instead use them to heal?

What if the Gospel is primarily about solidarity? About realizing our interdependence and connectedness? About expanding the category of "us" and shrinking the category of "them?"

The healing of the man by the pool in John 5 isn't as easy and straight forward as it seems. It does, however, force us to ask questions about what happens when things change in our lives. What does it mean to get up, take our mats, walk, and look back on the way things used to be?

How can we better live into the narrative arc of Scripture? How can we recapture the goodness of creation? How can we seek the expansiveness of a progressive love? What would it look like to make Earth look a little bit more like heaven?

What does it look like to view God as Shepherd and King in our lives? In what ways should we follow the voice of the Shepherd in our lives, politically and spiritually? How can we live more as citizens of an heavenly alternative here and now? What would it look like if we actually followed the teachings of Jesus, regardless of the cost?

This Easter season, what would it look like for our faith to be completely new, not just a dressed up version of what we received? What if we are exactly where we are supposed to be, and God is still with us? What would it look like for us to embrace a new calling and not return to business as usual?

The season of Easter continues on, and so do peoples varied experiences of faith, Jesus, and resurrection. Was Jesus trying to prove something to Thomas or was he trying to make a statement about belief and belonging?

On Easter morning we tend to focus on the way showing up early for Jesus will lead us to a new and resurrected life. But that's not actually what happened for Mary Magdalene on the first Easter morning. She didn't ultimately find what she went looking for, something found her.

What do we long for? What are our expectations of God? And what would it mean to have those expectations frustrated? How can we allow our bad versions of religion and faith—even those that have served us well in the past—die, so that something new can emerge?

All the stories that led to the table at Bethany in John 12 contribute to emotional potency of a beautiful aroma that filled a house in the face of death. Even when told it's all a waste, may we recognize the ways our lives add to beautiful and healing moments such as these.

How do we extend grace in these parched times? How do we seek justice and forgiveness? How can we make God's dream for humanity a reality in our world?

What do we need to change, starting with ourselves? How can we live more aware of how little time we might have left? What can we start doing today?

Molly's second annual “bird teaching” explored Luke 13:31-15 where Jesus identifies as a mother hen. While this is intended to be a warm and comforting metaphor, the implications of what a mother hen can't do in the face of dangerous foxes is important to consider.

Lent is a season to contemplate our mortality and the fragility of our ideals and faith. It is a time to be in the Wilderness. Do we have a faith equipped for the disorientation of Lent and Wilderness times? How can we move from scarcity to trust in abundance? How can we be moved to worship a weak, powerless God who denies dominating power and instead allows divine power to be put to death on a Cross? How can we embrace the uncertainties and ambiguities of life as a part of faith?

This teaching is for the mystic. For those who are drawn to a more mysterious and enchanted faith and spirituality. It's also for those who find themselves wondering, “Will I ever have a meaningful spiritual experience again?

What would it look like if we took Jesus' teaching to love our enemies seriously? Is this practical or ethical in every situation? How can we create more spaces to share a table with those we disagree with? What common ground can we find to see the image of God in all people?Here is a link to the Heineken ad that was shown during the teaching: Worlds Apart

How do we answer the question “Who am I?” Are we what we do, what other people think, or what we have? How can we find a level identity when the world around us is so up and down?

On our 18th birthday as a faith community, we wondered together how God might be inviting us to push out into the deep end. To go places only gods were known to go. And to learn to find our place in the family of things with however many weeks we have left together.

How do we tell the truth at this moment? How can we move beyond rage and despair into an optimism that does good work in the world? What spaces of love, safety, and generosity can we build in our neighborhoods and workplaces?

How much of faith and/or God are we actually supposed to understand? How can we embrace a faith of both tears and joy? How can we learn to live into the fulfillment of Scriptures we don't fully understand?

What would it take to imagine God as a supportive, rejoicing partner? What if God's primary concern for humanity is a restored and preserved dignity for all people? What would it take to believe that for yourself?

What would it look like if Wisdom became more manifest in our lives? How can we see God in the wisdom of the past in our stories?

How do we enter Advent we dont' like or can't connect with some of the scriptures that are supposed to prepare us?

How can we find and feel joy in a season when cynicism and frustration are an easier default setting?

Luke's gospel pinpoints the birth of Christ and the message of John the Baptist in a particular point in history. The political, economic, social, and religious situation was one when many found themselves sitting within the darkness of the shadows of death. What did the incarnation of God coming to earth as a baby mean for that point in history? What does it mean for us now, in our context?

What does it mean to truly have deep hope in Advent? How can we be on guard in these times to find light and get into good trouble? What would something completely new look like in our lives?

Before we transition to following the lectionary for several months, we take time to reflect on where and how we locate ourselves spiritually. Our hope is that we become a community where time itself becomes an anchor in the life of Jesus.

The Book of Ruth is situated “in the days when the judges ruled” and presents an alternative narrative to the stories we read in our Judges study.

How can we allow dark stories to haunt us? Where are we contributing to the darkness of our world? How do we tell stories that transcend and shed light on the brokenness to bring healing?

What do we do when the things done in the name of religion are absurdly hilarious but practically unfunny? What keeps connected to God and others when the world around us is so dark?

Judges week 10

How do we experience faith in the ambiguous? What do we do when we feel like God has let us down? How can we be sure that our ideas about God are the same thing as God, and how do we wrestle through this?

Judges 10-12 is a sad story. Sometimes we need help letting sad stories in our sacred text remain as sad stories. Ultimately our question this week is about who suffers and who is sacrificed in the process of religious and institutional battles?

Where is God's justice in the world and how do we account for the perceived lack of it? How can we view God without ascribing to God the same kinds of power we see in our world? How can we play our part in the world without seeking control and power?

How can we best tell the story of the world and our story? What stories are we ending too soon? What stories should we end that we are hanging onto?

Judges 4-5 introduces us to some strong female characters whose actions are explicitly credited as divine actions. These stories make us ask serious questions about “whose side” God is on.

The Judges Cycle begins with an introduction to our first three leaders: Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar. It's tribal and violent and graphic and it makes us questions what to do when our theology and morality don't align with our sacred text.

What kind of the theological overlay do we put on our stories? How do our metaphors about God shape our lives? How can we more consciously choose what kinds of stories we tell about God, ourselves, and the world?

The book of Judges begins by painting a picture of tribal successes and failures. As we study, we must also ask: how do we still participate in tribal politics? How do we understand the identity of "the people of God" in less restrictive ways?

The Book of Judges depicts a time of political and religious disorganization in Israel. It paints a picture of how disloyalty to Yahweh, Israel's God, leads to conflict and division internally and externally. Rather than simply narrating a historical account, Judges tells a theological story about how faithfulness leads to peace. Dark and violent, the book attempts to shock us into a realization of our own ability to do harm and forces us to ask the question, "How could things be different?"

What does the Bible say about "community"? How have we overused this word in ways that have lost its meaning?

What does the Bible say about "salvation"? What do our different understandings of that word and the theories behind it do to us? What are we saved from, but more importantly what are we saved to?

How do we understand the word "sin" biblically when there are numerous words and concepts throughout the Bible to describe it? How can we reframe the idea of sin so that it still holds meaning? How do we avoid weaponizing the term sin against others?

The ways the Bible talks about money, tithing, and generosity is more complicated than churches often make it. Should an ancient agricultural tithe that funded temple personnel apply to us today? How might we return to God what is God and bring money back to its role as a material instrument?

What does the Bible really say about things like sin, salvation, giving, and the nature of Scripture itself? It's complicated. How can we approach the Bible more humbly and appreciate its many different aspects? How can we engage multiple different readings at the same time without claiming the "right" answers for ourselves?

Join us as Matt Nance asks "Why is it so hard to fully abhor violence as a Christian? Why doesn't God just say, 'My way is peace and non-violence?'" and Emily Stott asks "How do I know that I'm finally home?"

Join us as Jennifer Long asks “Is this what you have called me to?” and Michael O'Malley asks “How can I follow the teachings of the early church in the book of Acts while owning a home amongst an ever increasing economic divide?"

God's story constantly reminds us that faith is a conversation and questions are welcome. How do honestly ask our most important questions? Join us as Kristin Smith asks “What is prayer?” and Rafael Rodriguez asks “What am I willing to sacrifice for unity?

Part 7 and final teaching in our study on the Book of Daniel. The book of Daniel concludes with a series of apocalyptic visions that take a more pessimistic stance toward power and empire. At the end of Daniel, we are left with a series of questions: how do we continue to negotiate our expectations and proximity to a power that can at times do good and bad? How can we engage in "strong misreadings" of Daniel and our world that are rooted in our ethics, morals, and values?

How do we feel when we realize the limits of power? What do we gain when we place our hope into people that are so restricted? What do we lose? What are we placing our hope in that, no matter what, we just aren't willing to give up? And is that thing worth it?