Book: Luke

God is always reaching out to those who we have cast off as nobodies, treating them as beloved somebodies, and calling us to follow in doing the same.

Our identity as a community of Jesus’s followers is primarily expressed in love, gratitude and hospitality, not in compliance with a negative code of conduct.

God meets us in the midst of our worst nightmares, calling life out of death, but seldom in the ways we might most wish for.

Being a follower of Jesus means honouring his authority by following his teachings and his example (something that has become surprisingly rare).

Jesus leads us in the way of redemptive freedom before the violence of the world.

God saves us by changing our hearts, but one of the great temptations for the church is to try to turn that back into a system of exclusion and control.

Much of reality is usually hidden to us, but we can catch glimpses that become sustaining visions.

Belonging to God does not exempt us from disasters that may come, although that is often what people hope and expect, but it does mean that they will not have the last word on us.

Like Mary, we are called to participate in God’s recreation and blessing of the world, and when we comprehend that call, we will, like Mary, explode with joy.

John calls us beyond insurance policy religion, but Jesus calls us still further into participation in God’s radical generosity to all the world.

God approaches us in an eager desire for communion, so our task is not to strive for communion, but simply to open ourselves to receive it.

The foundation of our faith is in a living Christ who enables us to understand the Bible, rather than in a Bible that enables us to understand a dead Christ.