The story of Joseph reminds us that we serve a God of grace and transformation. We serve a God who knows there is pain and evil in the world, but is working to bring healing and wholeness and love back into it. And God wants us to be a part of it too. God’s grace is powerful enough that even our worst enemies may one day be again our brothers and sisters.
From the very beginning God did not want us to be alone. God wanted us to know romance. God wanted us to know friendship. God wanted us to know love and play and fellowship with one another. God wanted us to know community.
How can we read passages like this one and believe women should preach and lead and be ordained?
The only thing that will get us there is God’s grace. The full amazingness of God’s grace is not just that it forgives our sins, not just that it saves us from death, but that somehow God’s grace will one day, in an instant, completely transform our hearts and minds and souls. Our brokenness will be healed. Our sin stripped away. And we will know what it means to be fully children of God.
There is so much that demands our time and energy and resources in this world. Everything is clamoring over each other to say, “We are the most important thing. Make us top priority” And I admit, sometimes the church even gets that way. We think the most important thing is our tasks, our music, our preaching, our budget, our numbers. And we get so wrapped in all of those things, we forget the core of the gospel. We forget to love one another and love God.
Whatever your story is, whatever wrong you may have done, whatever pain you know, whatever mess and brokenness surrounds you, you aren’t alone. The one who made you, the one who sees you, the one who knows you better than you know yourself, will be by your side.
Whatever your story is, whatever wrong you may have done, whatever pain you know, whatever mess and brokenness surrounds you, you aren’t alone. The one who made you, the one who sees you, the one who knows you better than you know yourself, will be by your side.
Whatever your story is, whatever wrong you may have done, whatever pain you know, whatever mess and brokenness surrounds you, you aren’t alone. The one who made you, the one who sees you, the one who knows you better than you know yourself, will be by your side.
Whatever your story is, whatever wrong you may have done, whatever pain you know, whatever mess and brokenness surrounds you, you aren’t alone. The one who made you, the one who sees you, the one who knows you better than you know yourself, will be by your side.
Whatever your story is, whatever wrong you may have done, whatever pain you know, whatever mess and brokenness surrounds you, you aren’t alone. The one who made you, the one who sees you, the one who knows you better than you know yourself, will be by your side.
“The only command God gives to those three disciples on that mountain is to listen. Not to build. Not to make sense of it all. Not to create a religion or rules or buildings or lists of things to do. But just “Listen!” Pay attention. See what Jesus is doing in front of you.”
In our scripture reading for today, Jesus tells us directly who we are. “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.”
In Jesus’ most famous speech, he does not begin with a list of commandments or some grand metaphysical, philosophical statement about the universe. Instead, he begins with a blessing.