Topic: Discernment

A church discerns its new name while remembering that identity is not possession, but a journey of love shaped by God’s call to be a blessing.

Despite our almost idolatrous attachment to social structures like traditional family and monarchy, God wants us to live up to our calling to be a radically egalitarian community of prayerful shared responsibility.

The doctrine of the Trinity teaches us how to take sides when the Bible brings us conflicting voices, especially over persistent issues like ethno-nationalism, racism, war, and genocide.

Both contemporary and ancient understandings of the rainbow sign point to God’s expansive love overcoming our fears and hostilities.

Following Jesus in ministering among the needs around us is not a call to do everything ourselves.

As we journey with and into God, we all prepare carefully, travel persistently, seek advice, approach the sacred with humility, and discern the way forward.

Discovering who we are called to be is an ever-evolving journey as we follow Jesus in changing circumstances.

Looking for emerging patterns can help us (and Jesus?) recognise the ways that God is opening new pathways of grace and inclusion.

Jesus calls us to look to the new things God is doing and seeks to humbly cooperate with them and bear witness to them.

Like the woman at the well, we can encounter Jesus not simply as a historical worker of “signs and wonders” but as a contemporary spirit powering our actions today if only we are willing to take a leap of faith and believe in His Word.

Stunning moments of spiritual clarity can be life-changing, but the real measure of our faithfulness is in how we live for the rest of the time.

Jesus challenges us to bring our lives to where God is active, to share in building the kingdom of God.