Wise Scribes: Trained for the Kingdom

Several years ago I came upon this relatively obscure passage (Matthew 13:52) in which Jesus helped His disciples to understand their ministry in the lives of others. Jesus, earlier in the day, shared many things with them in parables; as a result of His teaching in their lives, they were becoming wise scribes – trained for the kingdom. 

These words are also meant for you as one of His disciples today: “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” So that we may grow in our understanding and knowledge of the Scriptures, and to better serve our neighbor as wise scribes who have been trained for the kingdom, a one-day workshop has been developed that equips present-day disciples with the wisdom to help themselves, and others, make sense of their story in light of His story.

The "Life Is All About Stories" workshop goes from 9:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., with each of the six sessions being forty-five minutes in length – and will follow this outline:

• session 1: life is all about stories and every person has a story, filled with many conversations, scenes and snapshots
• session 2: how do you go about making sense of life’s story…and how have you gone about making sense of your story
• session 3: everyone lives by a script...so how have you been scripted by your sinful human nature (1st skin) and by your culture (2nd skin)
• session 4: not all interpretations of life's story are true for many false prophets have gone out into the world
• session 5: God has a story -- the metanarrative -- that makes sense of every human story...the sacred scriptures make known two kinds of wisdom so that every human being can make sense of his or her story in light of His story and His promises of salvation in Jesus Christ
  • soteriological wisdom…to make us wise unto salvation which is by grace, through faith, in Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 3:15)
  • hermeneutical wisdom…to help us make sense of life’s story in light of His story/stories (Matthew 13:11, 16-17, 51-52; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)

session 6: two essential ministries of His people are evangelism and edification; helping people make sense of their story in light of His story and the stories of Scripture

This workshop will be offered two times in 2018 and two times in early 2019 at these locations:

• November 10, 2018 - Calvary Lutheran Church, Verona New Jersey
• December 1, 2018 - Redeemer Lutheran Church, Newton, New Jersey
• January 5, 2019 - St. Peter, Hopewell, New Jersey
• January 26, 2019 - Redeemer Lutheran Church, Westfield, New Jersey 

​To register for this workshop through the District office, contact Caren Vogt at (908) 233-8111 or via email.

To register for this workshop online, visit the District Events webpage.

The cost for the workshop is $10.00 in order to cover the cost of lunch and snacks. Download a bulletin insert and a poster to share with your congregations.

If you would be interested in hosting this workshop in the fall of 2019, these Saturdays have been set aside for that purpose:

• November 9, 2019 - location “to be determined”
• December 7, 2019 - location “to be determined”