Book: 1 Corinthians

God has given us all we need to live out our calling with integrity.

In the growth of children, God reveals to us much of how we all should be growing and developing.

God speaks prophetically through the Church and through some individuals, and the prophetic task is inseparable from humility, constructiveness, graciousness, love, patience and generosity.

The message of the cross cuts against everything that would divide us from one another, and so cuts against everything that would drive us out.

The encounter with the resurrected crucified Jesus enables us to see the absolute love, mercy and non-vengefulness of God.

Recognising Jesus as Lord requires such a reversal of conventional values that it cannot but dangerously transform us.

When we know ourselves as known by God, the demonic power of violent naming is broken and new life dawns.

In the encounter with Jesus, our self-delusion and our scapegoating are painfully exposed, but with the possibility of forgiveness and freedom.

Repenting of our past ways and following Jesus does not guarantee us safety from disaster, but it certainly opens the way to an abundance of life that is beyond what any disaster can destroy.

God consistently favours love and acceptance over purity, so when we are not sure, it is better to take a risk on love and acceptance.

The Advent season is a gift that illumines our present with light from our promised goal, to shape us as a people of patient and vigilant faithfulness.

Living as God requires may not make sense in the world, but God will make it worth our while.