We are in a malleable place, where new customs, traditions and institutions can be forged — and in that place is great hope. How will we use this time and place to move more fully into God’s calling of us to love ALL our neighbors?
Maybe this is the time we can learn a better way to be the church. Maybe it’s the time we can learn how many more ways God can be worshipped, and Christ confessed. Maybe it’s a time for us to issue a new invitation and put out a new welcome mat.
When we use our God-given gifts as a confession of faith, they become the gifts we give. They become an act of worship, and they allow us to be instruments of God’s own will. What your gift, or cross, looks like says a lot about who Jesus is to you.
We don’t think we exclude anyone - but if someone came in and did not look like us, would they really be welcome? What if one of them reached in and took a piece of the loaf, and it was your turn next? Would they really be welcome? If the church of Christ is to thrive in these times, we must answer this question.
Fear in our spiritual lives can harm us for three reasons: God has not come to harm us; God does not stand still, and God is meant to be mysterious. All He expects us to do is come to him in faith.
What is the hunger that has no name? It’s the soul reaching out for a closer walk with God and His Christ, and we often trade it for the things that do not feed our real hunger. For whomever feeds us, owns us. Let it be the hand of God.
Where is the line between wisdom and want? And what are the risks in crossing it? God taught Solomon — and all of us — how a bit of humility can help us stay on the side of wisdom.
Read MoreJacob’s night in the wilderness is about the human encounter with God - how God shows up for us between yesterday and tomorrow. Between a rock and a hard place. Between the days before COVID and the days when that threat will be removed. It’s when we are the most vulnerable. What better place for a ladder to God to show up?
Read MoreOur journey to the other side of this pandemic is not back to the same place we were. But learning how to live in a new place will be worth the trip. Because the God of all things has assured us there will be a better tomorrow, better than yesterday ever was. Let take the first steps of that journey, together.
Read MoreAre we all weary? Yes. But numbing our emotions puts us at risk of turning off our calling to share the gospel and minister to this world, in all its brokenness. God invites us to yoke ourselves — with peace and confidence — to the only place our souls can rest.
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