On Faith: Body of Faith

As we continue to look at the topic of faith, we shift our focus a little today. In the last two weeks, we have seen Peter called a man of weak faith, and we have seen a foreigner called a woman of great faith. At the same time, we have realized that God can do amazing things even with weak faith and that those we consider outsiders sometimes have the strongest faith of all.

Today, in his letter to the Romans, Paul helps us begin to make sense of how our previous stories fit together (see Romans 12:1-8). 

What Gift Can We Bring: Peace

I was inspired this summer by a question asking how we can better connect the call to love God and others that has been central to worship here with the needs of our local community. It got me thinking about the Advent and Christmas seasons when we focus our attention on the gift of Jesus.

Inspired by the hymn, What Gift Can We Bring, and this question related to the mission of the church, I asked myself the question, how are we, as the body of Christ, still a gift to the world today? This inspired me to flip my focus in Advent this year. Rather than simply looking forward with expectation to the gift that God has given to us, I began to wonder how we as the church continue to make those gifts visible still today.

Drawing on the traditional themes of Advent (Peace, Hope, Joy, and Love) and the themes of Grace and Faith present in the season of Christmas, we will reflect this season on how we as the body of Christ continue to make these gifts known in our communities. On this first Sunday of Advent, we use the prophet Isaiah (see Isaiah 2:1-5) to help us reflect on the gift of God's peace.

Going Beyond: Going Beyond with Thankfulness

Today we concluded our series based on this year's Vacation Bible School themes with a healing story found in the Gospel of Luke (see Luke 17:11-19). In this story, Jesus heals ten lepers as he enters a village. In doing so, one of the lepers goes beyond expectations to express his thankfulness...and Jesus goes beyond boundaries.

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Going beyond. Over the course of June, we have used the theme and texts from this year’s Vacation Bible School as our focus for worship. Starting at the beginning of June, we have looked at different point each Sunday - going beyond with faith, boldness, and kindness. We have explored the ways that in each of these stories, the characters have gone beyond expectation, and the results have been even more than could have been imagined.

Today we look at going beyond with thankfulness in this healing story found in the Gospel according to St. Luke. And along the way, we will look at the ways that Jesus was also going beyond in today’s story - beyond expectations, beyond social norms, and beyond religious norms.