BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//St. Luke's Episcopal Church - ECPv6.18.0//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:St. Luke's Episcopal Church
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.stlukesnewtownpa.org
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for St. Luke's Episcopal Church
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:UTC
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:UTC
DTSTART:20250101T000000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20260914T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20260914T203000
DTSTAMP:20260906T152215Z
CREATED:20260906T145715Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260906T152215Z
UID:10001107-1789414200-1789417800@www.stlukesnewtownpa.org
SUMMARY:Community Book Study - Week 1
DESCRIPTION:Fr. David Radzik will be leading a Community Book Study on N.T. Wright’s book\, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven\, the Resurrection\, and the Mission of the Church. \nSeptember 14 – November 16\, 2026\nMondays at 7:30 p.m.\nSt. Luke’s Parish House Library & Zoom \nAbout Surprised by Hope \nFor years Christians have been asking\, “If you died tonight\, do you know where you would go?” It turns out that many believers have been giving the wrong answer. It is not heaven. Award-winning author N. T. Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian’s future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright\, who is one of today’s premier Bible scholars\, asserts that Christianity’s most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection. He provides a magisterial defense for a literal resurrection of Jesus and shows how this became the cornerstone for the Christian community’s hope in the bodily resurrection of all people at the end of the age. Wright then explores our expectation of “new heavens and a new earth\,” revealing what happens to the dead until then and what will happen with the “second coming” of Jesus. For many\, including many Christians\, all this will come as a great surprise. Wright convincingly argues that what we believe about life after death directly affects what we believe about life before death. For if God intends to renew the whole creation—and if this has already begun in Jesus’s resurrection—the church cannot stop at “saving souls” but must anticipate the eventual renewal by working for God’s kingdom in the wider world\, bringing healing and hope in the present life. Lively and accessible\, this book will surprise and excite all who are interested in the meaning of life\, not only after death but before it. \nSchedule of Readings: \nWeek 1 | September 14\nIntroduction & Chapter 1 — The meaning of Christian hope \nWeek 2 | September 21\nChapters 2–3 — Resurrection in historical context \nWeek 3 | September 28\nChapters 4–5 — Death\, judgment\, and God’s victory \nWeek 4 | October 5\nChapters 6–7 — Heaven\, hell\, and new creation \nWeek 5 | October 12\nChapters 8–9 — Resurrection and Christian mission \nWeek 6 | October 19\nChapters 10–11 — Rethinking salvation \nWeek 7 | October 26\nChapters 12–14 — Justice\, beauty\, evangelism\,\nand the ascension \nWeek 8 | November 2\nChapters 15–16 & Conclusion — Hope in practice \nWeek 9 | November 16\nWrap‑Up Session — Reflection and communal\nconversation
URL:https://www.stlukesnewtownpa.org/event/community-book-study/
LOCATION:St. Luke’s Parish House\, 100 E. Washington Ave\, Newtown\, PA\, 18940\, United States
CATEGORIES:Bible Study,Meeting,Special Event,Virtual
ORGANIZER;CN="Fr. David Radzik":MAILTO:stlukesnewtownrector@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR