SCRIPTURE: 1Corinthians 13:1-13
TEXT: THEME: Desire the very best for each other in Christ Jesus. INTRODUCTION Someone shared a Google article with me that said that Most successful CEO are sociopaths. So, I googled it for myself and found this: “Organizational psychopaths crave a god-like feeling of power and control over other people. They prefer to work at the very highest levels of their organizations, allowing them to control the greatest number of people.” These CEO use the power they have to use people to accomplish what they need for themselves, whether it is money, power, prestige, control or more money. We bring these attitudes of self into the church, but these systems of thinking get challenged with a paradigm based on love. SCRIPTURE Anything we do for ourselves is less excellent than what we are capable of doing. When we are insecure about ourselves, we have to draw the attention upon ourselves so others will notice how great we are. I was puttering around when I overheard a conversation about one of the last playoff games. This one guy proclaimed, “I predicted the fumble, with so many seconds left in the game. I predicted the fumble. It was as if he reached in, through the TV and lodged the ball free for his team to recover. Because he said it, and it happened, he was now taking credit for it. In the church, that would be equivalent to someone bragging about having the gift of prophecy, and then taking credit for what God was doing because they were able to speak of it, before it happened. They didn’t recover the fumble, they didn’t heal that person, or provide the money, or protect the vulnerable even though that was what they were thinking. They don’t deserve the attention for what the defensive tackle or God did. If our attitudes are not in the right place, even if we have gifts from the Holy Spirit, we could be in danger of being annoying, obnoxious, irritating, arrogant spirit filled Christians. There is a more excellent way, when we begin to desire what is best for others in Jesus Christ. The Gifts from the Holy Spirit are to help us participate in Jesus’ mission of release, recovery and restoration. The Good News releases those who have been captive. The Good News Recovers the sight to those who have become blind and the Good News Restores those who have been oppressed. As we are all different, there are a variety of ways we are loved. And as there are many members there are varieties of ways for us to love others, Love desires the very best for someone else in Christ Jesus and what is best for someone isn’t always the same. The more excellent way is not banging a gong as loud as we can to announce the presence of God or playing the cymbals with all of our might to praise God. Our giftedness is not the focus of a dish, but more like Ajinomoto that helps to Accent the other flavors of a dish. So just because we may have some insight to truth, if we are unable to share this in a loving manner, we should be silent in prayer until we discern how to do that. This is a more excellent way. I have been in situations where someone has had a word of knowledge for me and shared it with me without any regard for me, but because they believed it to be true, blurted out to show others what they knew. This kind of thoughtless act can derail and person’s life when not placed in the context of love for the other person. APPLICATION Paul mentions gifts from God being used through the members in the church of Corinth; a God given ability to speak in an intelligible language, healing, leadership, wisdom, knowing the will of God, faith. These are flavor enhancers towards the church’s engagement in Jesus’ mission of release, recovery and restoration. With the ministries God has engaged us in, how do we desire the very best for someone else, in Christ Jesus? The work of God is relational. This is why love is such a big part of what we do, Verse 4 of this passage, gives us a clue of how to pray for the ministries God has called us to. Pray to being loving. What does love look like? It looks like patience, kindness, happy, humble, mannered, concerned about others, flexible, good natured, appreciative, justice oriented and truth seeker. Love has a tremendous capacity to hope, to keep on going, to be optimistic and to have faith in us and in God. All in the context of Jesus’ ministry of release, recovery and restoration. I am going to pull back, because this certainly is the work that God enables us to participate in our relationships, with our spouse, our families, with our circle of relationships, but this is also how the varied, many members of us engage church work and treat each other and how we find ourselves engaged in varieties of services our community and in all the world, including all people, Jews and Gentiles. CONCLUSION We love uniquely, as God enables us to love, matching our own variety of who we are, as Ajinomoto to the world for God. (Others do the same for us, as they love us in their own unique way, and we give thanks for them). We have our own unique ministries as well as how we contribute as a member to the whole work of the church. I am going to use a football analogy from a couple of weeks ago at the Cowboy’s defeat at the hands of the 49ers. Neville Gallimore apologized for causing a penalty that set his team back and contributed to their loss. Yes, he used his hand illegally, but this was one incident in a series of events that contributed to their loss. His team had also committed 13 other penalties, with flat performances from quarterback Dan Prescott, running back Ezekiel Elliott, and receiver CeeDee Lamb, not to mention their offensive line that allowed Prescott to be sacked 5 times. It is commendable to take responsibility for how you contributed to the loss, but this was one incident in a series of errors at the hands of the 49ers by the Cowboys. The members of this team, corporately bare this responsibility for this loss. What’s this got to do with love? A sociopath CEO would look for blame instead taking personal responsibility and admitting to how they, had contributed to the loss. We all fall short of expectations at times. In the community of faith, we share the suffering as well as the rejoicing. There is love, patience, kindness, humility, appreciation, manners, the capacity to hope, keep on going, optimism and faith in looking forward to the next season of being the team. Did I say team I meant Church.
0 Comments
SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31
TEXT: THEME: Caring for each other. INTRODUCTION “What difference does it make, having Christ in our world?” Jesus shows us how-to live-in relationship with God and with each other. The power of God gives us the ability to change, from the way that we have been living in order to be loving. With that, is the workings of the Holy Spirit. We see miracles, healing, profound teaching, acceptance, as part of Christ’s ministry. On our own, we are not able to perform miracles like how Jesus did, but God through the church can, through its members, together, aided by the Holy Spirit. Our culture has us thinking about only what we can do; how rich, strong, talented, and powerful we can be, but Christ shifts our thinking off of ourselves and onto the community of those who believe and live in relationship with God. Through the church, working together, God’s work in our world takes place. The Apostle Paul saw this as he became a church consultant helping churches move beyond their difficulties, and into life and ministry with God. The church is not just for Jews but includes Gentiles, that means it consists with everyone who believes. The church is rich in variety. Our individual faith is encouraged to join up with other believers in community and ministry to follow God. The Holy Spirit gives to us varieties of gifts for varieties of services to participate in God’s work in the world. God’s mission takes varieties of members. SCRIPTURE The church is a marvel, made up of Many members, Many Varieties of Services, Many Rich varieties of persons, assembled by the One; One God, One Spirit, One Christ. God assembles and arranges the many, for God’s purposes. So, when we show up at church it is like showing up at a farmers Market with all kinds of people, varieties, richness, talents and gifts. We are many rich varieties finding our solidarity in God’s assembly and arrangement of us to join God’s missional activity in our community. Conformity to mission, not to uniformity. This is different from other collections of people in the community. The church is informed by God and empowered by God’s Spirit to operate in ways different from the other groups. Kahu Wayne of Kaahumanu Church hosted a public Zoom meeting to inform our Maui Community about our Wailuku Mission Housing project. People from EAH, PBR, Mason Architecture, AMA Architecture, Hoku’Iwa and WUC were there as well as others concerned about housing, Wailuku and our community. The next day, Kahu Wayne and I were complimented of how our being there, set the tone of the meeting. Our church is the catalyst for forming these partnerships with the state, the County, our community, contractor and developers to build affordable rental units on the Mission Ground for our neighbors. The diverse nature of the church is varied, multi-talented and assembled for God’s purposes, Paul addresses how we should live and work together in this dynamic community of God. Coming from different cultures, experiences, faith back grounds, family traditions, life experiences, the community of God’s people need to practice good manners, patience, withhold condemnation and be open to learning something new. I must admit that working on this housing project, there are times that I am perturbed with people who are obstacles more than helpful. I tend to ignore those who sing the same tune but are not doing anything more constructive. And now I find myself shying away from those who want to attach themselves to our project, to have a ‘win’ in their lives. At times I feel a bit cynical, but I hold it to myself. I practice graciousness, and tolerance, I am kind and hold my tongue. And I am glad that I do, because I am often humbled by their generosity, their kindness, and when I listen to them, they share their heart and wisdom. My first impression often passes away when I live more like how God wants us to live, than how I want to live. This is what Paul is saying, be patient, appreciate each other, recognize their contribution, and even though not everybody is doing things all in the same way, have respect for each other, treat each other with courtesy and manners. Be accepting, make accommodations and be willing to do something differently to allow others to be included. The church is made up of varieties of Members to participate in God’s mission. APPLICATION Maybe the more difficult question to ask is “Looking at the varieties of members that God has arranged and appointed to our church, to what mission do we discern, God calling us to?” When we were participating in the New Creation Initiative in the late 90’s, one of the areas we looked at was how we were organized, or administered. Conference Staff were assisting in giving observations and I remember the comment made was that “Wailuku Union Church accomplishes God’s mission through valiant individual efforts from its members.” We have a small membership, we dream big, and we have exceptional, dedicated people who are able, through the gifting of the Holy Spirit are able to accomplish amazing things. That was true then and is true today. The Food Pantry, Soda Booth, the Organ, the Stained-Glass Windows, Ritter and Sanderson Hall Roofs, the 150th Anniversary Celebration, the Preschool, renovations of Dodge Hall, enduring through a pandemic, and the Wailuku Mission House project. Thank you for all of your valiant individual efforts. This is all done through the gifted abilities of our members, working together as a church to accomplish the work of God in Wailuku. CONCLUSION The church in Corinth was at a sea port, with an influx of new Ideas, fads, technologies, goods and services. The Church that is formed there was tremendously gifted, its members varied, cosmopolitan in nature. Their challenge was in being able to treat each other with love and respect. To have good manners amongst themselves and to serve rather than to be served. The members of the church are many and varied in order to contribute the its life and mission of God. How we live together is every bit as important as what we do. Other Lectionary Readings for today have to do with the Spirit of the Lord, being upon Jesus. This reminds us of the mission of Jesus to release, recover and set free. Our mission today is the same as then, to be a community of believers, with our varieties of members, gifted together by the Holy Spirit, to participate in God’s mission of release, recovery and setting free, all while living by God’s gracious love. SCRIPTURE: Acts 8:14-17, 1 for. 12:1-11
TEXT: 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good THEME: God gives us gifts through the Spirit so we can participate in accomplishing God’s common good. INTRODUCTION The last series of sermons snow balled with the Reign of Christ. It packed up more snow with the Advent themes of the Reign of Peace, the Reign of Hope, The Reign of Love and the Reign of Joy. Then at Christmas we considered in the incarnate God that needed to be hanai by us, in the care of a woman to mother him. Christmas means that the Reign of Christ is every day. So, we dress like it, our identity is informed by our adoption into the family of God, and lastly, we are included to live in the community of believes, Jews and Gentiles, and an avalanche of People forming the church. For a long time, the church has been about making more believers and focused on a set of tenants to know and believe. Like a pyramid marketing strategy to convert more people. I have to admit, that I have never been very good at converting people. I began to wonder, “What is this evangelized army of believers supposed to do besides replicate themselves?” This is when we became a Pilot Church in the New Creation Initiative. We study the Bible to discover Good News, then asked how our lives might change because of this good new. Secondly, we look at stewardship not as a fund-raising drive, but the uses of the gifts of God in the way that God would like them to be used. More like the steward in charge of running a household while the master is gone. Then lastly, we behaved as the people of God with each other, we practice; respect, listening, believing, withholding condemnation, grace, forgiveness, faith and reconciliation. Okay one more thing we spent time observing and meditating on what God was doing around and among us to discern the will of God and then to figure out what God was calling us to do. This was a shift of gears for us, from evangelizing an army for God, to becoming missional as we take action in what God was calling us to participate in, as we discerned what God was doing. SCRIPTURE This long introduction is because, looking at the passage from Acts, we can see how the believers in Samaria were content with their personal salvation of knowledge and belief. But Christianity is not just for an inward transformation but also invites us to join God in what God is doing in the world. This is the outward or missional component to faith that takes more talent, skill, energy, ability and varieties of services, than what we can do on our own. We need each other and the Holy Spirit in each of us to do this. Peter and John see this when they get to Samaria and pray and lay their hand on them to receive the Holy Spirit so they can move from just believing, into action in Mission with God. The Apostle Paul addresses the continued formations and evolution of the people of God, as a church community, with the Holy Spirit, in his letter to the Corinthians. Remember, the gifts of the Spirit are for us to participate in what God is doing in mission. Power can be very seductive. Even the power given to us by the Spirit to do God’s work. We are easily tempted to use power for ourselves, to get what we want, rather than to use the power God gives to us for the ‘common Good’ (12:7) of what God wants. The Gifts of the Spirit are to be used in mission; for varieties of services that buildup of the people of God. Magic, idols, gods, soothsayers are ways that we want to have power over things so we can have our way in the world. But God’s Spirit is given to us so that we have the ability to participate in accomplishing God’s designs in our world that are liberating, missional, relational and transformational. This is the difference from our individual salvation, to participating in the gifted building of the Community of God. So, we look at the Spirit’s gifts in ways that build community, relationships and self-confidence. Inexpressible joy bubbles over in the proclamation that “Jesus is Lord”. Taking the facts of the matter and applying them in wise ways, Having insights into the present situation. Varied gifts, varied opportunities of service, and varied activities. No one person has all of the gifts, and no one is without any (12:7). We can have a combination of gifts that are unique to us, for what God is calling us to do. Gifted does not mean perfect but as with any talent, we have a propensity in that direction and can accomplish a level of proficiency in it, that is just what is needed by the community of God’s people to take action in God’s mission. There is no comprehensive list of the Gifts of the Spirit in the Bible because they could not possibly list them all and they come and go as they are needed for God mission to be accomplished through us. There are also new ones that come up as they are needed. Over the years I have considered praying as a spiritual gift as well as preaching, although these are not listed on any gift list. One last observation on this passage. We have a talkative God. Idols don’t give us flack, but our God does. God speaks to reveal God’s will and continues to speak to keep us engaged in what God is doing. APPLICATION The Holy Spirit gifts the church, to take action in rich varieties of services. What activities are we gifted for, to accomplish for God? My Family arrived on Maui on January 15, 1991. That was my first day as the Pastor of Wailuku Union Church, 31 years ago. We have been on a journey together for a long time. Over that time, God has brought varieties of services to the church: a roofer, contractor, retired Army officer, banker, attorney, purchase order clerk, affordable housing expert, architect, tree trimmers, grant writers, the wise, good listeners, church consultant, generous givers, strong backs, gifts of faith, stubborn pastor, and fund raisers. Each for the time that they have been here, were empowered by God to participate in the mission of God. Musicians, singers, worshipers, prayers, and healers, too. I remember people saying that this church has a healing ministry. I tried to see if there was someone in our congregation like Benny Hinn who had the gift of healing, but it was not evident. What was evident was when the church prayed there were people who were healed. It was not the power of any one gifted individual. Which brings me to another point. We have no power on our own, we are only stewards of God’s power through us. CONCLUSION The other night I played a board game called the Chicken Game. The chicks have run away. A lone chicken makes the journey back to the chicken coop. Players take turn on a spinner and counts the steps, to a sheep, dog, fox, tractor or pig and the path home. For each step they take, the same number of chicks are gathered off the board and placed in the hen house. The goal is to gather all of the chicks and place them in the hen house before the chicken gets there. Each player contributes something towards this goal. At the end, when the hen arrives at the chicken coop all of the chicks are there, and everybody wins. It is a cooperative game with no individual winner. Interesting concept, playing a game where the varied contribution of each player makes all of the players the winners together. This is how our gifts of the Spirit work. They enable us to make a contribution, that adds to the accomplishment of varieties of services which the church needs, in achieving God’s mission. The community of God, the church all wins together. SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 3:1-12
TEXT: 10so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. THEME: The church community helps us to live like it is Christmas every day. INTRODUCTION Christmas should not be just one day event but lived every day. This year I needed the 12 days of Christmas to get all of my Christmas stuff done. 12 days beyond the Christmas due date helped me to relax into the grace that is there in God. I like the image of putting on Christian qualities liken to the clothes we dress ourselves with each day. Living like it is Christmas every day is relational; we are adopted as a member of the family of God. This is where we discover our identity, find love, acceptance, belonging and are given what we need to flourish in life every day. Today, from another section of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, is an Epiphany lectionary reading about the church. Christmas everyday means to belong to the church community where we can live out our lives corporately with God and others, including Gentiles from the East. SCRIPTURE Do you remember those math lesson, where they talked about groups and subgroups? If A equal B and B equals C then A equals C. The Israelites view the world as Us Israelites and them, everybody else, Gentiles. The Israelites equal the People of God. A equal B. What the Apostle Paul shows us is that the Gentiles are also included in the People of God because what Christ does is not only for Israel but for everyone. So, B equals C. And so, the new People of God is Gentiles and Israelites being one, A equal C. The Apostle Paul approaches this part of the letter by establishing that the Gentiles are included in the Good News of the Christmas Gift of Jesus, Son of God, incarnate Christ and Paul has been called by God to bring this revelation to a Gentile audience. Then in verses 8-10, Paul introduces the church. This is the new People of God, of Israelites and believing Gentiles. “8Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, 9and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; 10so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” The church then becomes a compelling example of inclusion, acceptance, grace, and the workings of God. I take this to mean that in order of us to live Christmas every day, we need to be part of a church that is engaged in living out what believing is Jesus is all about in real and practical ways. It can be seen in the way they treat each other, by the way they treat strangers, it can be seen in the things that they do and by the things they choose not to do. Some churches are anchored in the stewardship of their buildings and have not figured out how to listen and follow God’s call of mission in their neighborhoods. Paul is called to bring the mystery of Christ to the Gentiles. This changes the temper of the People of God from being elite to inclusive, which God has always been, but they had taken their specialness not as a unique call to mission but something that distinguished them from everybody else. The phrase that sticks out from this passage is “Rich variety”. The people of God become a rich variety of variations, fusions, creativity, expressing a love of God. So, a hula, danced by part Portuguese girl, to a Country Western song about faith in the God of Israel is possible in this rich variety. APPLICATION Whether people believe Jesus is the Christ or not, they have an expectation of how the church is to behave and what the people who attend these churches are like. Basically, they want us to be nice and not cause waves. Our County sees us as docents of a missionary history, a museum with no mission. There are some things that are beyond what we can do on our own and we will need to have the gifts, skills, talent and resources of a community of faith to do this. It is hard to get everybody all on the same page. But with open conversations, addressing people’s concerns and finding the right answers and people to help us we can come to agreement so that the desires of God, can be lived out by a church, and are not just held by a few visionaries. A church’s mission is to follow and do for God what God wants for our neighbor and in our community. Recognizing the humanity of each other with respect and affirmation, we may have to use our best practices to partner with unlikely partners to ‘accomplish this work for God’ such as the county, the state, foundations, the Federal Government and our neighbors. Again, a model of a “rich variety’. In the past we believed that we had to do things all by our self and limited ourselves to only what we had. Now we are developing broader partnerships where others are able to lend their talent, resource, and skill to fulfill this dream of God for our community. Following God’s call, we all have the opportunity to give witness to the work of God in a real and compelling way that makes God alive to those who have not considered God in this way before. I listened to a rebroadcast of Krista Tippet’s interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, remembering this man’s heart in the wake of his death. He talked about how the church affirmed the humanness of all people and spoke against Apartheid. Then after being a force that actively dismantling of this form of racial prejudice, they formed the “Truth and Reconciliation Committee” as a route to heal their nations with truth telling, forgiveness and amnesty. Our UCC was one of the first congregations that ordained women. Now they occupy most of the student body in seminaries. Our UCC was one of the first churches that considered members in discernment as candidates for ordination no matter what their sexual orientation might be. Desmond Tutu said that with so much that is going on in the world. Why has the church chosen to pick on this instead of focusing on something more significant. CONCLUSION As we leave Christmas time and move into Epiphany, it is the Church community that helps us to continue to live a Christmas life every day. The church is able to do this with the help of the Holy Spirit, whose work gifts us to build the body of Christ and to equip us to participate in the mission of God. The next set of lectionary passages, from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth will help us learn about the Spirit’s work in the life of the church through us, with rich variety. SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 1:3-14
TEXT: 5He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. THEME: INTRODUCTION Tying the Reign of Christ theme from Advent with the Christmas everyday theme, we first looked at getting dressed as a way of putting on the qualities of our relationship with Jesus on every day. Today we take “living Christmas Everyday” in a different direction by living with our identity, as an adopted member of God’s family. SCRIPTURE The Author of the letter, to the church in Ephesus informs our discussion on adoption. Ephesians is a carefully laid out argument for our adoption as God’s children (5). This has been God’s plan from the very beginning (3) of Creation, not our recovery from the inevitable fall in the garden, but about our being loved and adopted as the children of God. God does not hold back anything from us. Abundant grace, abundant love, and amazing world are all part of God’s plan for intimacy. To draw us into a deep relationship with God where we become partners in living. Partners, not perfect. God is perfect but that doesn’t mean that we have to be. That comes as we get to know God, we are influenced by God’s ways and experience God’s love that desires the very best for us. (Notice I didn’t say everything that gives us everything that we want but moves us towards what is best for us). This is transformational and moves us towards a better version of ourselves. We are always journeying towards God, in becoming. Often times when we we read this passage, we overlay a template of salvation that portrays God’s love in debt canceling forgiveness. But once the debt is canceled then what? Our salvation is not the end goal, as it is in so many theologies. It is the entrance way into a compelling life lived in dynamic relationship with God. (5) We are destined for adoption as Children of God through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of God’s will. This is the plan. Adopted as family members of God. Over this COVID holidays, I’ve been thinking about my family, none of us are perfect, every family has their quirks, we are not the same, but given room to grow. There is a family resemblance depending on which sided of the family you are talking to, but it only means that we belong. we are all included. We are all loved, we all desire the very best for each other. Our identity is not based on how we compare to each other, but on being related together and by each other’s accomplishments that add to the honor of the family; Doctor, Lawyer, Educator, Business Administrator, Artist, Therapist, Graphic Designer, Accountant, Computer Scientist, Dancer, Cook, Baker, Philosophical Theologian, Engineer. Funny, wise, silly, smart, serious, determined, time creative, organized, challenged, athletic, technical, adventurous, we are alike and different in many ways that make us a glorious family. God is the common blood that links us all together in love. From Creation, intent, design, will, forgiveness, according to a lavish grace. (10) gather up, hanai, into the Ohana of God. And now for the good part, (11) our adoption into God’s Ohana comes with an inheritance. Everything that belongs to God, we have a stake in, a shared interest. What we inherit from God, through Jesus is; love, forgiveness, grace, life, call, challenge, will, creation and the community of the people of God of which we are adopted as family. This is what God owns and bequeaths to us. It is relational, and so we need the Holy Spirit to help us, guide us, get us to do the relational things that if left for us to do on our own we would not. This is the sign and seal of the way that the people of God live, in the quirky, unique, counter to culture, not about money or power, creative, unique way, that gives glory to God. That is the argument for our adoption. APPLICATION We are loved to bits and forgiven by God with a community and family as our inheritance. What does living as God’s adopted children look like? As we talk about how we are adopted to be the family of God, there is a flip side to this that I got from an On Being pod cast, with Krista Tippet interviewing Jeff Chu who just completed writing a book for his friend Rachel Evens who died recently, this is what I got from Rachel Evens writings by Jeff Chu: Wholehearted Faith, into the world. INCARNATION Page 4: “It is nearly impossible to believe: God shrinking down to the size of a zygote, implanted in the soft lining of a woman’s womb. God growing fingers and toes. God kicking and hiccupping in utero. God inching down the birth canal and entering this world covered in blood, perhaps into the steady, waiting arms of a midwife. God crying out in hunger. God reaching for his mother’s breasts. God totally relaxed, eyes closed, his chubby little arms raised over his head in a posture of complete trust. God resting in his mother’s lap. God needed to be hanai by us. COMMUNION “On the days and nights when I believe this story that we call Christianity, I cannot entirely make sense of the storyline: God trusted God’s very self, totally and completely and in full bodily form, to the care of a woman. God needed women for survival. Before Jesus fed us with the bread and the wine, the body and the blood, Jesus himself needed to be fed, by a woman. He needed a woman to say: ‘This is my body, given for you.’” Just a couple more thoughts from this interview: the incarnation reminds me that …Our bodies are our first homes. So how do we make peace with them? Jeff Chu says: “Most of us don’t want to be the object of a cause. Most of us want to be friends. Rachel Evens also knew that she could learn from everyone…” He says by says, “being a Christian is not the result of a convincing debate, or that being a Christian means that we need to become know-it-alls.” Rather he says, “being a Christian is realizing how much of God’s beauty remains to be explored - and that the life of faith is also a life of holy curiosity.” CONCLUSION Jeff Chu concludes this interview by saying, “I want to belong. Isn’t that one of the greatest desires of every human? I don’t know that we can remain tenderhearted alone. I don’t know that we can survive alone. We weren’t built for that. We need community. We need love. We need to belong.” God needed to be hanai by us, we need to live every day hanai by God. |
Pastor robbSermons Archives
April 2024
|