Today was a day to celebrate the mystery of God at work in the world and to remember we live and grow in community, often without realizing where we are called to grow. In worship, we heard stories of the complexity, at least from the human perspective, of God’s interaction with the world. How the […]
Happy celebration of the Day of Pentecost. What a glorious day to gather to worship and to celebrate the remembrance of the day the disciples recognized the Holy Spirit among them. In church we heard a recounting of the coming of the Holy Spirit to the 120 gathered and how the Holy Spirit helped the […]
Today we recognize our community and the place we inhabit in the life and faith of Suffolk, Virginia, and the world. Part of our life together today was filled with the definition of “imago dei” – the meaning of the phrase “made in the image of God.” In our worship today we heard lessons about […]
We begin to wind down our Easter journey with Jesus’ disciples and community following his resurrection before his ascension. God simply asks us to abide with God and Jesus by following their example. Our forebears weren’t ashamed to ask questions for clarification – look at Peter today “what prevents us from baptizing the members of […]
Scripture talked to us about abiding, loving, and being present for the bidding of God in community. We were reminded that God’s love doesn’t see boundaries nor does it fit our paradigm. We heard about God’s love being active, expansive, relational, and faithful; all of these, even when we don’t feel faithful, relational, expansive, or […]
We looked at the oddity of life: being human AND made in the image of God, called a child of God. We heard reflections of the fallibility of our human focus and the ability to either ignore or simply miss God’s interaction with us in community. While it seems odd to hear these stories just […]
We celebrate our journey in this Easter season and consider how our life and the practice of the Christian church has changed on this side of Easter. Scripture paints many pictures of how that first and second century church practiced its faith. Some traits to consider: unity of focus, community empowerment, all are welcome – […]
In worship we sang songs to welcome the resurrection and heard scripture read that affirmed that God acted, acts, and will act in our lives. This was affirmed in the Resurrection of Jesus and the intimate relationship between God and humanity. God allows humans to reach out and touch him so we can be assured […]
“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord…” It is difficult to say more or anything in a sermon that expands on the Passion Gospel and portrayal of Jesus’ last days on earth. Yet, as we sit in reflection and try to not be overwhelmed by the emotion and passion it […]
Our lessons remind us of our intimate relationship with God and the cost of our relationship. We were reminded by Jeremiah that the true knowledge of God is within us and our mission is to let that knowledge surface. Yet, it’s not just knowing God that’s important – we are also charged to “upset the […]