Two Rivers UMC's Sunday Gathering Turns to the Gospel of Luke This Fall — Starting With the People Everyone Else Left Out

ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. — Beginning Sunday, September 13, Two Rivers United Methodist Church's Sunday Gathering will spend the fall in the company of tax collectors, lepers, prodigal sons, and a thief on a cross — the cast of characters Luke's Gospel keeps putting at the center of the story. The church's new study series, Luke: Jesus and the Outsiders, Outcasts, and Outlaws, is built around the book and video teaching of pastor and bestselling author Adam Hamilton, and runs each Sunday evening at Two Rivers UMC, 1458 Julington Ct, Zephyrhills.

Why Luke, Why Now

Of the four Gospels, Luke is the one most preoccupied with who gets left off the guest list — and who Jesus insists on inviting back on. Hamilton's study follows that thread through the whole book: the shepherds and not the emperor hearing the birth announcement first, the sinful woman who washes Jesus' feet at a Pharisee's dinner party, the Samaritan who turns out to be the hero, the tax collector up a tree, the criminal beside Jesus on the cross. Session by session, the series asks a question Two Rivers hopes will outlast the study itself: who are the outsiders, outcasts, and outlaws in our own time, and what would it look like for a church to treat them the way Jesus did?

"Most people know what is like to feel like and outsider or unworthy. When we look in the gospel of Luke at who Jesus interacted with and provided a way to enter the Kingdom, it gives new hope that maybe Jesus came for someone like me." says, Pastor John Legg.

What to Expect

Each Sunday Gathering session starts with small bites and informal conversation. The study pairs a video teaching from Adam Hamilton with group discussion, drawing on Hamilton's companion book of the same name. Participants can go deeper between sessions with a guided reading plan through the Common English Bible's Gospel of Luke, available free through the church website, and the book itself is available for purchase on Amazon for anyone who wants a copy to mark up at home.

No prior Bible study experience is required, and newcomers are welcome to join in progress — Luke's own account, after all, was written for people just being introduced to the story.

There is children's programming during the event.

The Details

• What: Luke: Jesus and the Outsiders, Outcasts, and Outlaws, a book-and-video study by Adam Hamilton
• When: Sunday evenings, 6 to 7:30 PM beginning September 13
• Where: Two Rivers United Methodist Church, 1458 Julington Ct, Zephyrhills, FL 33540
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About the Author

Adam Hamilton is the founding pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, one of the largest congregations in the denomination, and the author of dozens of books on faith and scripture, including several other Gospel-based studies used widely in United Methodist churches. Luke: Jesus and the Outsiders, Outcasts, and Outlaws is his study of the third Gospel's distinctive focus on grace for the marginalized.