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Cancelled - Hearing & Seeing Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew
​March 27-29, 2020

In a world of division, bitter partisan politics, and violence, where do we turn?  What might truly heal us personally and communally?  Using Tim Lehman’s book, “All Authority Has Been Given to Me”, this weekend retreat will focus on the unconditional love of God as taught and lived by Jesus.  We will explore the radical nature of this boundless love as it challenges our world view, our politics, our Bible reading, and our religious comfort.  We will discover God’s love as it dispels any fear of God remaining in us.  Imagine a world changed because of God’s unconditional love channeled through you.  Imagine being loved so deeply by God that you in turn could love everyone and forgive everything.  Together we will explore living our lives as God’s images through hearing and seeing Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. 
Book Summary:
For much of Christian history, greater focus has been paid to Jesus’ death than to his three years of ministry, and his crucifixion has often been understood primarily as a means to salvation in heaven. Tim Lehman, retired pastor, has written a book on the Gospel of Matthew and contends that we’ve drastically missed the point by not looking closely at and learning from Jesus’ words and actions before his death. As a result, we lose out on the joy and freedom of living full as his disciples and experiencing salvation already in this life on earth.

Lehman will highlight parts of his recently published book and encourage us to rethink long-held assumptions; the place of violence in the Christian life; the givenness of division in our modern world; the meaning of “atonement,” “salvation,” and “the kingdom of heaven” and more. Along the way, we are sure to learn, grow and hopefully, come to know more deeply God’s unconditional love for all.
About the author:
Tim Lehman is a retired minister who served congregations in the Mennonite Church, USA, for thirty years. He is the author of Seeking the Wilderness: A Spiritual Journey (1993). He lives with his wife in the North Woods of Minnesota, where he loves to paddle the lakes of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.