Spark Cast

Based upon decades of study on the cultural and rabbinic context of the Gospels, Dr. Steven Notley will reveal fresh insights into Luke 4 and Jesus' public pronouncement of his ministry at his hometown synagogue in Nazareth. Jesus' message of mercy marks the entire Gospel of Luke though it did not find a home in every hearing heart. Dr. R. Steven Notley is Professor and Dean of Religious Studies at Pillar College, Newark, NJ. Since 2016, he has served as the academic director of the el-Araj Excavation Project in its search for first-century Bethsaida-Julias, the lost city of the apostles. He received his PhD from the Hebrew University, where he studied with David Flusser. Dr. Notley lived for 16 years in Jerusalem with his wife and four children, during which time he was the founding chair of the New Testament Studies program at the Jerusalem University College. He is the author of many books and articles and continues collaborative research and publication with Israeli scholars in the fields of historical geography, ancient Judaism, and Christian origins. Among his list of publications, he collaborated with Flusser on the historical biography, The Sage from Galilee: Rediscovering Jesus' Genius; with Anson Rainey on the monumental biblical atlas, The Sacred Bridge: Carta's Atlas of the Biblical World; and with Ze'ev Safrai on an annotated translation of Eusebius's important description of Roman Palestine, Eusebius, Onomasticon: A Triglott Edition with Notes and Commentary. He rejoined Safrai for their second work, a pioneering collection and translation of the earliest rabbinic parables that provide the literary and religious context for the parables of Jesus, The Parables of the Sages.

Based upon decades of study on the cultural and rabbinic context of the Gospels, Dr. Steven Notley will reveal fresh insights into Luke 4 and Jesus' public pronouncement of his ministry at his hometown synagogue in Nazareth. Jesus' message of mercy marks the entire Gospel of Luke though it did not find a home in every hearing heart. Dr. R. Steven Notley is Professor and Dean of Religious Studies at Pillar College, Newark, NJ. Since 2016, he has served as the academic director of the el-Araj Excavation Project in its search for first-century Bethsaida-Julias, the lost city of the apostles. He received his PhD from the Hebrew University, where he studied with David Flusser. Dr. Notley lived for 16 years in Jerusalem with his wife and four children, during which time he was the founding chair of the New Testament Studies program at the Jerusalem University College. He is the author of many books and articles and continues collaborative research and publication with Israeli scholars in the fields of historical geography, ancient Judaism, and Christian origins. Among his list of publications, he collaborated with Flusser on the historical biography, The Sage from Galilee: Rediscovering Jesus' Genius; with Anson Rainey on the monumental biblical atlas, The Sacred Bridge: Carta's Atlas of the Biblical World; and with Ze'ev Safrai on an annotated translation of Eusebius's important description of Roman Palestine, Eusebius, Onomasticon: A Triglott Edition with Notes and Commentary. He rejoined Safrai for their second work, a pioneering collection and translation of the earliest rabbinic parables that provide the literary and religious context for the parables of Jesus, The Parables of the Sages.

A closer look at the churches in Thyatira and Sardis reveals that they are encouraged to wake up and repent, and persevere, even when everything around them looks hopeless.

Looking closely at the letters to the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamum, John the Revelator speaks to the specific context of the churches in these three cities using the language of first loves and white stones.

Seven cities. Seven churches. Why? A clue is found in the preface, that John, a brother to the people to whom he writes, shares, in Jesus, in the persecution, the kingdom, and resistance. This triad formulates the foundational agenda for John's exhortations and prepares these disciples for the encouraging hope that is coming.

Do you find yourself thinking about the Roman Empire lately? The people of the first century did too! Far removed from the Land of Israel, Jesus followers sought to live faithfully while surrounded by the powers and principalities of their day. A close look at the cultural and imperial context of the book of Revelation reveals that their time resonates with the world we are living in today.

Over the centuries, the book of Revelation has been used to instill fear and confusion in many readers, but the first hearers experienced hope unveiled with the anticipation of justice on the horizon. Let's take a fresh look at all that John saw and heard, embracing the unveiled hope that still speaks to us today.

The world feels heavy these days. Amidst the joys of new births and hopes fulfilled, we also hold loss, disappointment, fear, grief and anger. We are exhausted and brokenhearted. We are numb and overwhelmed. We are shocked and not surprised at humanity's inclination to do evil or rejoice over violence and loss of life ... and so we cry out, "How long, O Lord?" In times like these, we need holy spaces and holy moments of lament and hope, where we can join the psalmist's cries for justice and remember the stories of the prophets who came before us. We need to hear the words of Jesus who calls us to love our enemies, again and again, even as the tyrants rage. A time of worship, lament, prayer, community, and hope help us remember that the Lord is not far off, nor silent, but is listening. The Lord hears. We are not alone.

According to the Gospel of Matthew, Magi arrive in Jerusalem looking to worship the one born King of the Jews. Following prophecy, they continue on to Bethlehem, the city of David, and following the star, they find Jesus, with Mary and Joseph. Overjoyed, they worship him and present him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. For nearly two millennia, Christians have commemorated the visit of the magi with the feast day of Epiphany Sunday, also known as Three Kings' Day.

The Christmas story is good, but it wasn't meant to be safe.

Third Sunday of Advent

We reflect on the peace of God that arrives with the birth of Jesus. It is a supernatural peace that transcends above and sustains us through the woes of this world.

God meets real-life pain with surprising possibility, a hope that endures when nothing feels changeable.

Travel from Garden to Garden, from Genesis to Revelation, and discover the beautiful story of rescue, grace and love. Discover how God continues to tell this story to us today.

Part 1: Spark Church is excited to host a very special conversation between world-renowned, Grammy Award-winning hip hop artist, activist, and CEO, Lecrae, and theologian, author, and chaplain, Adam Thomason, as they discuss their journey of studying Jesus in his first-century Jewish world, leading to the Reconstruction of their faith in Jesus as Messiah and Rabbi. Part 2: Author Lois Tverberg will join them to discuss her work on how knowing the historical context of Jesus creates fertile ground for a spiritually transformative faith that transcends the Western containers of our day.

Part 1: Spark Church is excited to host a very special conversation between world-renowned, Grammy Award-winning hip hop artist, activist, and CEO, Lecrae, and theologian, author, and chaplain, Adam Thomason, as they discuss their journey of studying Jesus in his first-century Jewish world, leading to the Reconstruction of their faith in Jesus as Messiah and Rabbi. Part 2: Author Lois Tverberg will join them to discuss her work on how knowing the historical context of Jesus creates fertile ground for a spiritually transformative faith that transcends the Western containers of our day.

George E. Shinhoster came of age in the civil turbulence of the 1960s. A native of Savannah, Ga., he was one of the first African Americans to desegregate a high school and college there. He worked with the Chatham County Crusade for Voters to register black citizens to become voters. In the heat of the civil rights struggle, Mr. Shinhoster worked with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as a field organizer in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina. After joining the SCLC, George endured arrest 19 times in pursuit of voting rights and equal access to public accommodations for black people throughout the South. He marched with Dr. King, experiencing firsthand his leadership, commitment, and drive in the midst of the struggle. George worked with the YMCA for 42 years as an executive in Georgia, South Carolina, Washington state, and North Carolina, before retiring as president and CEO of the Newark YMCA in New Jersey in 2011. He was also a national trainer and facilitator for the YMCA. Today, he is president of The George Shinhoster Experience, an enterprise that highlights Mr. Shinhoster's exploits through speaking, storytelling, and facilitation. He is also a principal of the Earl T. Shinhoster Youth Leadership Institute, preparing middle and high school students to become leaders in their schools and communities. Throughout his travels across the country, in Africa and in Canada, Mr. Shinhoster energizes audiences with lessons he learned from the early civil rights movement. He is a keeper of the dream of Dr. King and believes that while much as been accomplished, much more remains to be done.

George E. Shinhoster came of age in the civil turbulence of the 1960s. A native of Savannah, Ga., he was one of the first African Americans to desegregate a high school and college there. He worked with the Chatham County Crusade for Voters to register black citizens to become voters. In the heat of the civil rights struggle, Mr. Shinhoster worked with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as a field organizer in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina. After joining the SCLC, George endured arrest 19 times in pursuit of voting rights and equal access to public accommodations for black people throughout the South. He marched with Dr. King, experiencing firsthand his leadership, commitment, and drive in the midst of the struggle. George worked with the YMCA for 42 years as an executive in Georgia, South Carolina, Washington state, and North Carolina, before retiring as president and CEO of the Newark YMCA in New Jersey in 2011. He was also a national trainer and facilitator for the YMCA. Today, he is president of The George Shinhoster Experience, an enterprise that highlights Mr. Shinhoster's exploits through speaking, storytelling, and facilitation. He is also a principal of the Earl T. Shinhoster Youth Leadership Institute, preparing middle and high school students to become leaders in their schools and communities. Throughout his travels across the country, in Africa and in Canada, Mr. Shinhoster energizes audiences with lessons he learned from the early civil rights movement. He is a keeper of the dream of Dr. King and believes that while much as been accomplished, much more remains to be done.

From the book of Acts, through the Epistles, to our modern day, followers of Jesus have wrestled with how to live a life worthy of the identity "Christian," and what our call is for The Church today. How do we carry the presence of God in this world? What does it mean to follow Jesus, to live out that calling as The Church today if we truly are living stones, and God dwells in our midst? In other words, Now What?

Who we think Christ is dictates how we live, who we love, and what we proclaim. In the Gospels, Jesus asks his disciples who they say he is. Several answers ensue from his followers, but Peter definitively replies, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Believing this, Peter went on to spread the good news of Christ through the Roman Empire and, ultimately, to his own cross.

The land of milk and honey is actually a land full of rocks. There are stones everywhere and used for everything! As such, stones are a predominant theme throughout our faith and a metaphor for how we are to understand our identities and discipleship. Being a living stone is an apt description of our commitment to the Way of Jesus.

Happy 13th Anniversary, Spark!

Jesus takes the entire story of God that God's people had carried with them, from the Garden of Eden to the pit of exile and back to the Promised Land, and he wraps that story firmly around himself. In the Gospels, we see Jesus embrace and embody the hopes and dreams of Israel's salvation, with hopes of his own that are even bigger than what God's people could've imagined.

"If anyone claims to live in him, he must walk as Jesus walked." (1 John 2:6) This core principle is the essence of Spark's mission statement, "To Inspire People To Live The Way Of Jesus." In our current socio-political and cultural context, we need a more robust and thorough understanding of this teaching that will help us understand and remedy the confusing, disconnected chasm that exists between so many different expressions of "Christianity."

As we approach the Gospels in our Garden to Garden series, we encounter the first-century world of Jesus, shaped by a deep devotion to the Text and the rabbinic discipleship system. Our journey continues through the narrative of the Bible with a closer look at Rabbi Jesus and the world of first-century discipleship.

Congratulations, Gardeners! We've traveled from the Garden of Eden to Nehemiah and Ezra and the rebuilding of God's House. And now we enter a time that protestants have long referred to as the 400 years of silence. But God is not silent! Much is being written, much history is happening and it is critical that we know and understand this culture and this time because it sets the stage for Jesus. God is not silent - perhaps we have just not been taught how to listen.

Garden To Garden | Coming Home—The Return From Exile [Kristin Young] As promised, God does not keep his people in exile forever. The time has come for the faithful remnant to return home to the promised land of milk and honey. But what happens when home becomes an unexpected hard? How does the remnant remain faithful and learn from the mistakes of their ancestors? As we travel through Ezra and Nehemiah with the prophetic voices of Haggai and Zechariah we come to understand the implications of coming home. 8/23/25 00:00

While exiled in Babylon, the King adopts Daniel and his friends into his royal court, granting them privilege and power. All he asks for in exchange is total allegiance. The way Daniel deftly navigates serving the king while never compromising his service to the Real King serves as a bold inspiration for God's people. The stories of Daniel in exile also introduce us to the “Son of Man” through whom God will ultimately overpower all the evil kings of the world and bring life to all nations.

This week is storytime! The book of Esther is not what it seems. While in exile, in an unknown and foreign land, stories like this paradoxically reveal what they conceal.

This conversation centers on Life in Exile in the context of the book of Ezekiel. What does it mean to follow God in a new world, when all your religious practices have been stripped away and deconstructed? Where do we find God when in exile, when we are so far away from the house of God's Name?

Jonah is given an impossible call ... to go and preach repentance to a people who don't deserve it. The book of Jonah isn't just a children's tale about a man being swallowed and vomited by a big fish. The book seeks to transform the hearers, move us to compassion, even love, for our enemies.

Isaiah and Jeremiah voice dire warnings to the people of God. God's judgment is coming and Israel's Kingdom will come crashing down. And yet we are called to a greater hope - God is using all these world events to bring us to repentance and the pursuit of justice. We are not forgotten. God's blessings are not far off.

Israel demands a king like the nations. They make their way from Saul to David to Solomon, but after Solomon dies, the tribes fracture, dividing between north and south. As kings now rule over each kingdom, different prophets are called to speak truth to the powers. As we introduce the role of the prophets in our Grand Narrative, we listen in to what we might also learn from these voices today.

A closer look at the life and legacy of King Solomon.

As we continue navigating the early years of Israel's monarchy, we quickly reach what Israelites will later look back on as the glory days — a united kingdom ruled by David, a heroic military leader and “a man after God's own heart”. At the same time, we see a story within this story, in which God uses prophets like Nathan to hold kings like David accountable for the blood on their hands. The life of David, in both good and bad ways, shapes our expectations of a savior.

“Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul…” Along with the launching of Israel's monarchy are our hopes and dreams of a Big Strong Man who will heroically save us from all of our problems. The intersecting and conflicting vocations of Samuel as Prophet and Saul as King speak volumes about the many (often harmful) ways we pursue and protect power, highlighting all the more how bold and bizarre it is to hail Jesus as King and the fulfillment of Israel's monarchy.

Since 2023, Aziz and Moaz have joined forces in their pursuit for peace, traveling globally and sharing their message of peace and hope with all who will listen. Together, they co-lead InterAct International, a non profit advancing sustainability, education, and cross cultural connections. Aziz and Maoz carry the weight of personal tragedies inflicted by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but they are transforming their pain into a shared pursuit of peace for all. Hosted by Rabbi Chaim Koritzinsky of Congregation Etz Chayim, and Pastor Danielle Parish of Spark Church, both located in Palo Alto, CA

Since 2023, Aziz and Moaz have joined forces in their pursuit for peace, traveling globally and sharing their message of peace and hope with all who will listen. Together, they co-lead InterAct International, a non profit advancing sustainability, education, and cross cultural connections. Aziz and Maoz carry the weight of personal tragedies inflicted by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but they are transforming their pain into a shared pursuit of peace for all. Hosted by Rabbi Chaim Koritzinsky of Congregation Etz Chayim, and Pastor Danielle Parish of Spark Church, both located in Palo Alto, CA

Today is remembered as Pentecost Sunday, a commemoration and celebration of the receiving of the Holy Spirit by the early church. In this special presentation, we witness what the experience may have looked, felt, and sounded like.

During a period when “all the people did what was right in their own eyes,” a story about loving kindness and redemption is told that points to a coming King. Through the book of Ruth, we can understand God's love, even in seasons of famine. He sees us. He cares for us. He works through us.

If you've only heard snippets of stories from the book of Judges or if this is the first time you've read the book, sit tight, friends. This is going to be a bumpy ride. The book of Judges is filled with repetitive cycles of disobedience, violence, oppression, deliverance, back to disobedience again. Joshua has died and the people are living amongst the Canaanites in the Land and things are getting difficult, to say the least.

Joshua is a story of conquest, the Promised Land, and ... violence!? How shall we understand these portions of the Bible?

The word "Deuteronomy" means a "second law." One of the features of this book is the repeating of stories, teachings, commandments, and exhortations from the previous four books. In addition, over fifteen times in Deuteronomy, we are told to remember. This repetition is by design, and has a profound purpose and meaning. The God of Israel is advancing his covenantal love and connection with God's people and reminders and repetition are the behaviors of covenantal love.

Leviticus shaped the community of ancient Israel as they sought to draw near to God and longed for God to draw near to them.

For 2000 years, a miraculous, unanticipated story of resurrection after death has been passed down, from generation to generation. This story of Jesus' victory over death changes us into resurrection people, a people who can look at the darkest moments and believe in hope and life.

Each time we come to a festival, there are themes, terms, symbols, and feelings that are deeply familiar. The revolution of Jesus is that while some elements resonate, the past interpretations and understandings are dissonant with what Jesus was advancing. Our challenge is to ensure we're in the same "key" as Jesus, to listen carefully to how our lives resonate, not with our own understandings, but with the Jesus Way.