How do we deal with conflict in the church? Certainly not by pointing fingers and calling folks out. Quarreling and testing are common human experiences; we in the church do not claim freedom from that. The parable from Matthew asks us to pay attention to whether our words match our deeds.
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God provides. It seems clear that this is one of the messages from our texts this week. But it would also be clear that God provides for our needs in unusual and sometimes confusing ways. Whether it is manna and quail in the desert or a surprisingly generous but perhaps
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As we launch or continue our journey of faith, are we called to look for signs of God’s presence or are we called to be a sign of God’s presence? The answer, as you might expect, is yes! We are the ones who are trying to be tuned into God’s
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As we launch or continue our journey of faith, are we called to look for signs of God’s presence or are we called to be a sign of God’s presence? The answer, as you might expect, is yes! We are the ones who are trying to be tuned into God’s
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Knowing God and making a declaration of faith is an important part of the journey of faith. But then what usually follows an encounter with God is an acute and often painful awareness of self. Our awareness of self is an important element of the journey. But like our understanding
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We seem to be always beginning. Or at least we have a tendency to speak about how we start our journey of faith. We want to know God, as we begin our journey of faith. We want to be able to call God’s name, to know something about God’s nature, to
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We claim to want fairness, or at least we want fairness in a way that benefits us. Deep down, however, the truth is that we don’t really want fairness; we want mercy. At least that is what we want from God. At the same time, we want to deal fairly
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When we ask, “What are you seeking?” we are talking about kingdom living. We are talking about the community of faith representing the body of Christ. As we worship this week, we celebrate the signs of God’s presence among us. We lift up our acceptance, our hospitality, our fellowship, and
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Worship this week can be a reminder that we are seeking the face of God when we gather but also when we scatter. Our hunger for God is not only met when we gather for worship but also when we are at work, when we are in fellowship, when we
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We prefer the obvious. We like to be sure. But faith is something else indeed. Hebrews 11:1 reminds us that faith “is the conviction of things not seen.” Not seen? Like a treasure hidden in a field, or like yeast mixed in the flour, hidden and mixed in. That’s how
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