The Good Samaritan

There's a great saying from author Anne Lamott that you can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.In today’s text we read about when a lawyer asks Jesus a question. This lawyer, is really good. He knows the law.  And when Jesus asks him what the law says, he says: 

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself." 

And Jesus begins his response with…

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead."

Covered By Grace

You are covered…do you know that you are covered…maybe you don’t believe you are covered, like maybe you feel like you’ve done something along the way and your coverage got dropped…

 No, no you’re still covered. So you messed up, so you think you aren’t worthy of coverage… maybe you’ve forgotten that this isn’t a divine points game, this isn’t about earning or achieving, I mean the rest of the world is into that but God isn’t into that…and we know that because of Christ crucified, because through him, success is redefined, weak is the new strong…the way up is the way down…

Watch the clip used in the service below

The Radical Thing About This Table

We may disagree on the issues, we may have conflict with one another, but we never ever stop seeing one another as brothers and sisters.

The pull of tribalism is strong now...it is strong and it is trying to influence us to treat one another as less than human beings, it is trying to get us to name call and to have closed minds and mean spirits…but it is no match for the power of Christ that is present at this table and in this bread and cup that compels us to love our neighbor.

Eager To Give

Talk about what money you have, learn about where it is and where it is, your 401ks and your IRAs, and your Roth IRAs, and your debt, and track your spending and your saving, because if you don't each know what you have and where you are spending it and why, if you don't talk about it, money will be your master, instead of your servant. 

Money will possess you--I am being intentional with that weighty word--Money has this incredibly power, and if you don't think about it and talk about it, you'll argue about it, you'll fight about it, it will come between you, it will rule over you, yes your relationship with money, your attachment to money, can take over your marriage, it can take over your life.

God knows the power money can have in our lives, I think this is why Jesus talks so much about money, teaches about money, invites us to see money in a different way: God knows we human beings struggle with consumerism. 

All In

Pastor Blair woke up with laryngitis on Sunday morning, so she reworked her sermon. In addition to her raspy voice, you'll hear testimonies from Pastor David and Kelly Carpenter and have time to reflect on your own response to the question: 'What would going on 'all in' with Jesus look like in my life?'

What Does It Mean To Follow Jesus?

People in churches ask all kinds of questions. In our reading we hear James and John asking Jesus something we may ask. If we are disciples and if we truly want to follow Jesus, shouldn’t we be asking different kinds of questions? In today’s sermon, guest speaker Rev. Hugo Magallanes, helps us learn to ask questions that are less self-centered and lead us to a life of service and community.

Don't Settle

Whatever it is in your life that is coming in at you from all sides, do not settle in...stand in and stand up! God's grace is here today for you: receive it, believe it, experience it, bask in it, walk in it, run it it, you are made for connection, you are made for community, you are made for this moment, you are made to be a blessing.

Move

Move

There is always some distance between where we are and where God wants us to be. It is always a climb from where we are to where God wants us to be but the view God wants to show us, it is so so good, so spectacular.

Our tradition calls this journey from where we are to where God wants us to be sanctification. God is calling us to become more like Christ. In order to move from here to there we have to be willing to move from what we know. We have to move from the comfortable, the familiar, the way we have always done things, the person we have always been, we have to move from our plans, our trajectory, our vision and go where God is calling us to go - which is up the mountain.

But It Is Also True That Love Never Ends

It is true that you are going to die. But it is also true that Love conquers death. There is this part of you deep within that has this sense, this intuition, this understanding that you are connected to the Source of Life and that this connection can never be broken. Your connection to the Source of Life can never be lost. Your desire for the life that you have - this desire to live forever is there because it is meant to be there, because you are made for eternal life.

Remember Who You Are

Do you know that this place at this table is for you? Do you know that it has always been set for you, do you know that you belong here, that you are accepted here, that you are needed here, do you know God wants you at this table, needs you at this table, made you for this table, yes you are made to be one with God and to participate in the work of God in the world.

Rublev’s Icon - Trinity

What Is Your Story?

What is your story?  Or better yet: What is the story you are telling yourself about yourself?  It is not too much to say that the story you are telling yourself about yourself has the power to change your life for better or worse.

If your story is preventing you from being your true self, from giving the gifts you have been given to make the world a bit better, you are living out of a story that is not the gospel story.

From The Bible On Broadway Worship Series - Les Misérables

What on earth are you doing?

So here we are, placed in the middle of a garden we didn’t plant and called to till and keep it. The word is stewardship and our stewardship doesn’t always live up to its promise. We haven’t contributed to the thriving of creation, which includes the thriving of the people around us. What do we do?

We need to remember what stewardship means.  It’s more than the time of year when the church asks for your financial support.  It’s about being responsible with something that ultimately belongs to someone else.  We do not live in our creation, we live in God’s creation. We are using it now and will hand it off to the next generation.  It’s about remembering Jesus’s words to seek first the kingdom of God and the rest will be given to us as well.

FAQ: What is the Bible, Why Should I Read It and How?

The Bible has inspired me and challenged me and encouraged me and comforted me and guided me and what I know is this: I know that I need it. I know I need the Bible in order to become my best self. I know that because of the Bible I know more about who I am and who God is and what on earth I am here for. I know that studying the Bible has helped me to become more loving, more
passionate about justice and care for the poor, more capable of dealing with the difficult stuff of life...

It is not too much to say that Bible has saved me and still saves me when I spend time with it, it shows me my humanness and my profound hope…it is a way through which God gives me grace
upon grace upon grace...

FAQ: How Do You Live A Faithful Life?

It is back-to-school time here in Richardson, TX. This Sunday we did a "Walk For Schools" event where we prayed for our local schools. Our worship service was led by our Youth Group where they shared the experiences and learning of their summer mission trip. David Finley spoke about our Frequently Asked Question: How Do You Live A Faithful Life?

FAQ: Why Do Bad Things Happen?

A “punishing God” doesn’t sound like the God that Job knows but hears it so much he starts to think that maybe his friends are right, maybe everything happens for a reason.

This phrase is so prevalent in our culture, it has become the go-to thing that people say when something bad happens, when there is some sort of suffering people say: oh well everything happens for a reason, God must have a plan for this.

I want to say this very clearly: This idea that everything happens for a reason is a misrepresentation of God and it needs stop.

I hope we can each do our part to call it out as violation of the third commandment, which is to misuse or misrepresent God, because that is exactly what it does. No wonder so many people have turned away from Christianity, I would too if the impression I was given was of a God that caused bad things to happen.

There Is Freedom and then there is Freedom.

We have an incredible amount of freedom. We have freedom of choice. We can pursue what we want. We can buy what we want; now with one-click and same-day delivery.

We are also the most obese nation in the world. We consume the most opioids than any other country. We have 4 percent of the world's population but the greatest number of deaths by drug overdose by far.  We are addicted to our smartphones. The average number of times a person in the US checks their smartphone is 80 times a day, that's once every 12 minutes. Sociologist Brene Brown observes through her research that: "We are the most in debt, obese, addicted, medicated adult cohort in history."

You can be in the land of the free and be in bondage. There's freedom. And THEN there's freedom.

Grace and Goads

When our will is not aligned with God's will, when we are letting our ego drive and direct us instead of God, when we get on the fast lane to success and set aside God's purposes for our lives, we are goaded, we are prodded, we are nudged in the right direction...God is constantly and consistently trying to help us to go the right way but God doesn't force us to go...we can resist it...you can kick against the goads. 

When you say yes to Jesus, yes to following him, something mystical happens, you feel this divine energy as close to you as your deepest breath, you experience for the first time your true self...you feel connected to the power in you which you always sensed was there but now you know for sure, you feel; when you claim the Christ in you, you feel the peace that passes all understanding and you know in your gut that you are part of something so much bigger than you and it is so good, and so right.

Christian Adulting

Christian Adulting: 

The practice of behaving in a way characteristic of a responsible follower of Jesus, especially the accomplishment of mundane but necessary tasks.

Following Jesus isn't all about performing signs and wonders. Sure, there may be some of that but most of the time it isn't walking on water...it's watering the garden, it's paying the water bill on time, it's advocating for clean water...and even that work--which may seem like exciting justice work--when you get down to it, but it mainly involves sending emails and calling people and setting up meetings...mundane but necessary tasks...doing these tasks as Christ would do them, with integrity and honesty and selflessness, that's Christian adulting.

Most of the time following Jesus isn't performing miracles surrounded by crowds, it's putting a band-aid on your grandson's booboo; it's walking for a cause like curing breast cancer; it's sitting by your friend as she receives chemotherapy treatment. Not exciting, not glamorous, but necessary...doing these tasks as Christ would do them, with integrity and honesty and selflessness, that's Christian adulting.

Holy Boldness

Holy Boldness

The people who stand in the gap between where we are and where God wants us to be are resisters. They are disciples who have prayed for and received the power of the Holy Spirit...and the Holy Spirit leads them to speak and to act in the name of Jesus...what these first disciples understood, what their witness has taught generations of followers of Jesus since, is that not speaking the truth and standing up for what is right is not an option. You simply cannot be a faithful Christian and sit in silence on the sidelines while atrocities occur.  

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a pastor in Germany when the Nazi regime took over and he was one of the few faithful leaders who used his voice to speak out and organize against the Nazi movement. At the time most church leaders in Germany refused to openly oppose the Nazi regime, they remained silent about the Nazis and criticized Bonhoeffer for speaking out, so he had it coming at him from all sides, but he continue to speak with boldness. He said: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” 

Day By Day

Consider what stepping outside of our comfort zones to be led by the Spirit looks like. For some that may mean starting a weekly prayer practice, perhaps with family members, or friends. For others, stepping outside of comfort zones may mean going and talking to someone more about how God is impacting your life, sharing the state of your souls w/others.

One way that churches seek to live a day-by-day faith, in addition to the normal pattern of programming and worship is to consider attending various small groups to grow spiritually with one another. Now, these are not the only avenues for us to explore in living out a day-by-day kind of faith. We all have so much to offer in terms of the different gifts we each bring, gifts of leadership, care, spiritual renewal, and more as we grow in faith together.

I truly believe that through God’s grace each one of us has the capacity to be a source of transformative faith, to others, and to ourselves as we follow God in community here and in our daily lives. But, we are encouraged to share that kind of transformation together, being led by the Holy Spirit, who makes it possible for us to be on the same spiritual page. The invitation to live a day-by-day faith is before us, what will our response be?