This coming Lenten season, we plan to start a book study of "The Ladder of the Beatitudes," by Jim Forest, secretary of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship.

The study begins at 7:00 pm, Wednesday, March 12 and continues for about 8 weeks. The study will be led by long-time parishioner Larry Wilson. Each week we will discuss a particular beatitude as described in Forest's book. If you’re interested, please send your name, phone, and email address to larywilson@gmail.com.

Please read pages 1-37 before March 12. Come prepared to answer 3 questions:

• What stood out to you reading about this beatitude?
• Do have any questions we can discuss about what we read?
• What is your take-away from this reading?

We chose this book because the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) and the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) describes the very foundation of what life in God's Kingdom looks like. This is the life Jesus has called you and me to live—a radical, revolutionary, counter-cultural kind of life, led by the Holy Spirit. Collectively, as the Church, we are called to model this life in community, and through this community, partner with Jesus in turning the world upside down.

The beatitudes are not "good advice" about how to live. They are gospel, they are good news. Through these beatitudes, Jesus launched a new era for God's people and God's world.

We believe this is the life that those of us who follow Jesus at St. James Church are being called to. As a community of faith, this is who are. So let's take a deeper look at what that life looks like!

If you're interested in joining this study, here are some place you can purchase the book:

• Target
• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Christian Book

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