John 8 – Dignity Instead of Shame

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John 8 – Dignity Instead of Shame

Without naming the crime, Jesus acknowledges the woman’s transgression and immediately offers her God’s love, grace, mercy, and compassion. When I read verses that talk about God judging us, I think about this brief exchange between Jesus and the woman. Today’s story is a powerful reminder of God’s ceaseless, tireless efforts to deliver us out of shame and into dignity, out of despair and into renewal, out of judgement and into blessing. Surely this is how the redemptive Kingdom of God operates. Surely this is the theology, the philosophy... the way of living into which God invites us.

The only question for us today is how can each of us offer the people we meet God’s love, grace, mercy, and compassion? IF each of us sincerely makes an effort to share those aspects of God’s nature with others, we will become better and better at loving God, loving ourselves, and loving others.

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John 4:1-30, 39-42 – The Woman at the Well: A Community Transformed

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John 4:1-30, 39-42 – The Woman at the Well: A Community Transformed

By shining the light of our faith, we too can offer people the hope and courage they need to face the challenges in their lives.
Know that God’s light is and always has been inside you.
Know that the world needs to hear and see God’s light through you.
Know that everyone can share God’s love in some way, shape, or form.
Every person has a role to play in growing the Kingdom of God.

If you and I genuinely want to be a light of God’s love to others, then we must work to achieve what we want to become. Jesus went out of His way, into potentially hostile territory, just so He could shine some light into people’s lives. Can you and I today go out of our ways and out of our comfort zones to share the Good News of God’s love with others? I think we can. And I think people need and want us to do so.

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Mark 16:1-8 – Jesus has Risen! What’s Next?

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Mark 16:1-8 – Jesus has Risen! What’s Next?

The Good News of Easter is that the rolled stone and the empty tomb tells us that God is at work in our lives doing what we cannot do. God is actively working for us and with us to create new possibilities beyond our imaginations. Rather than worry about possible problems, we can look to our future with joy and hope.
Today, how will we – individually and as a church – respond to the empty tomb, to the risen Jesus? As we strive to follow God’s lead and expand the Kingdom of God within ourselves and throughout our communities, we must ask, what’s next?

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