Topic: Grace

The instinct to call down fire on those we perceive as God’s enemies is a “fruit of the flesh” that must be supplanted by the fruits of love.

When we crusade against the evil of others, we end up crusading against Jesus himself, for he asks us to become givers and lovers of life.

It is with the love of Christ taking charge of us, that we can venture into combat with the wrongs of our time without being dragged down by the very same demons that we oppose.

What is God challenging you to return to? Will you be a witness to the joy and love, and the possibilities of the alternative world heralded by Jesus?

Jesus models for us a willingness to listen, learn and grow rather than a domineering certainty that insists on knowing who’s right and who’s wrong.

Jesus calls us to choose between the old bread of hostility and death and the new bread of compassion and life.

We are often blind to our own entanglement in evil, but when our eyes are opened, we are called into pathways of repentance and transformation that lead to life and healing.

Glimpses of the transformed world that God makes possible transfix us and leave us hungering for more.

Pretending to be better than we are alienates us from God and one another. Being open and real about our weaknesses and failures open us to God and one another.

The Holy Spirit fills the church with gifts, not only for its own sake, but so that it might be a gift to the world.

Rather than close the book on who can and cannot be accepted into the church, the Bible calls us to follow Jesus on a path of continually expanding inclusion.

Tonight we farewelled Peter from our congregation as he moves north, and he shared his reflections of what his time in this church has meant to him.