Thank you, bishop Ole!

Our bishop, Ole D. Hagesæther of the diocese of Bjørgvin, has given us clear, biblically based advice on the issue of homosexuality. In a statement on our diocese’s webpage here (in Norwegian) he clarifies his own views. This comes as the report written by the Church of Norway’s Doctrinal Committee was released on Friday. Half of the committee recommends the ordination of clergy living in homosexual relationships, whereas our bishop remains on the restrictive side. For the last twelve years he has worked with this issue but has only been strengthened in his views. It is evident that our bishop has a loving heart also towards the homosexuals. We need to meet all people with generosity and respect, just as Jesus did. “But we must, in order to be truthful, also remember that in those same stories Jesus calls people to repentance and a new lifestyle,” he writes.

Pastor Geir Sakseid

The Attitudes of Discipleship

Having just completed last fall's Bible study on Paul's letter to the Ephesians, we now try something different. Actually, from one perspective it's rather traditional: We will use the Revised Common Lectionary in our worship services. This is a system of Bible readings for the whole year, and it is used by many denominations.

To help us get into the texts we have found an online tool on the ELCA's (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) web pages for evangelism. The tool, called Daily Discipleship is a series of downloadable files for individuals or small groups who want to study the Sunday gospel passages during the week.

This is what we do: On Sunday we introduce the topic of the week in the worship service. Then we use the same topic in the cell group during the week. This helps us get deeper into the texts, and perhaps Jesus can challenge us in a more personal way.

Currently, the topic of these studies is called "Attitudes of Discipleship". This winter and spring most of the texts will be from the gospel of Mark and of John.

To check out the studies, follow this link: http://www.elca.org/evangelism/dailydiscipleship/

Denne vinteren og våren bruker vi de internasjonale tekstrekkene fra "Revised Common Lectionary", som er brukt av flere kirkesamfunn. Tema akkurat nå er "Disippelsinn". Vi ser på ulike holdninger en Jesus-etterfølger skal ha. Tekstene og hjelp til bibelstudium finnes på lenken over.

Pastor Geir