Joy is a time traveler: it catches God’s future vision for justice, peace, and restoration and superimposes it on the present landscape. Joy celebrates the future as if it’s already happening while getting down to work to make it a reality. It can coexist alongside sorrow and pain and ebbs and flows in our lives […]
Sometimes we settle for peace as the absence of violence or tension. John the Baptist and other prophets call us to a more robust peace: one that brings safety, refuge, and rest to the vulnerable. Peace enacts justice, and it requires the hard work of constructing new roads through the wilderness. This worship service includes […]
Hope is often defined as “positive thinking” or optimism. But viewed through the lens of the cross, hope becomes an agent of empowering transformation. It does not deny suffering. Hope acknowledges that the present conditions are desperate, and it depends on God, with whom nothing is impossible. Hope is both honest about suffering and urgent […]
We often define justice as people getting what they deserve, but as king, Jesus shows us a kind of justice that is more interested in what is necessary and loving than in what is fair. Jesus’ justice is ridiculously unbalanced: the Human One takes all of the hits, and humanity gets all of the benefits. […]
“Just have a little faith!” Our culture often frames faith as something we can force into existence by sheer willpower. On the other hand, the words of a much-loved hymn point to God’s faith: “Great is thy faithfulness!” God shows up for us in baptismal waters, in bread and cup, in the word proclaimed, and […]
Care is often conflated with love. But care is characterized by devotion, consistency, attention to detail, and some sense of obligation. It may require specialized skills, or it may just require time. Either way, care requires consistent investment—attention provided over the long haul. Scripture is full of examples of God’s care for us, especially in […]
There’s no nice way to say it: Death stinks. Today we remember those who have gone on ahead of us, but we also struggle with the reality of death separating us from those we love. Jesus goes head-first into that reality with us, sits with us, weeps with us, and gives us hope and new […]
Grace, love, and warm fuzzies. Wait…what’s wrong with that? Today for Reformation Sunday we celebrate God’s amazing grace, but we also remember that God will not be controlled by our whims, desires or emotions. Christ is not waiting on the sidelines to step in as our backup. Even when life reminds us (painfully) that we […]
Love God. Love your neighbor. Love yourself. It’s not rocket science. But what is it? Jesus teaches why these commandments are inseparable, and why together they consolidate and sum up the entirety of the law. Together they reveal the mystery of divine love. This worship service includes Communion as an extension of the table at […]
How do you know when you’ve made it in life? When you have all the best things? When you do good deeds for other people? When you earn the most “points” possible? In the words of a well-known improv show, “the points don’t matter.” God gives life, eternal life, as a pure unearned gift. No […]