The Road

At the center of the Christian message is a peace that is offered to each of us and is extended to everyone, creating communities and societies that reflect God's vision for wellbeing and justice.

Christian faith not only frees us FROM the forces that would bind us, but inspires us to use our freedom FOR the sake of our neighbors.

In a time of deep divisions and conflict, we learn that a healthy community and society does not start with laws and rules, but with love, grace and belonging. Only after that can rules provide necessary correctives along the way.

Jesus offers a way of life grounded in truth and grace and guided by the Spirit.

God's Spirit breaks through human divisions and patterns to share a message of truth and peace with all.

Christians can make an impact by developing clarity about our calling to share God's love and grace, and by being courageously present in our community and the world.

God's Spirit creates motion. As followers of Jesus, and in a time of many challenges, will we find resonance with the Spirit and be guided and blown in the direction we need to go?

Our life of faith is simple: love one another. How we act upon that can be challenging. But, together with God's help, we can see that love transform the world around us.

In the story of Tabitha, we see the power of community to support and seek help for someone in need. It's an encouragement for us to courageously seek assistance as we face our own personal challenges.

God calls us to live our faith boldly in our community and world, being a witness to the love and hope of Christ. As we do so, we trust that God is present with us, even if we should encounter adversity.

At the very heart of faith is a deep peace. We also call it grace. That peace is the basis for everything that follows. Have you experienced that peace?

Sometimes we see only the contour of hope and renewal at first. But, when we step out and step in to signs of new life and share in the generous and gracious good news of the gospel, hope and life arise.

Jesus shows us the value of service and a selfless form of love and care for one another that disrupts the usual arrangements of status.

Jesus entered Jerusalem as a different kind of king. Jesus was a servant. He showed us the path to a world shaped by compassion, and care for neighbors, foreigners and enemies. While vulnerable, it's a kingdom that is eternal.

Challenging times require resilience. If we rely on faith, build community and notice the gifts of abundance and beauty all around us, we can find a way in the wilderness.

Jesus told a story of two brothers who who cast themselves into their own forms of exile and isolation. Each has to follow their own path out of their wilderness to embrace life and discover the compassion of their father.

For those willing to listen and embrace the opportunity, God calls us to change our minds and put aside paths of judgement that would cause harm, turning instead to a life of grace and hope.

We all find ourselves in a wilderness at some point. In our time of distress and disorientation, Jesus offers a way of life defined by hope, peace and grace. It's a call to love every neighbor even in our uncertainty, in contrast to a life defined by fear and domination. We must choose the path we will follow, knowing that Jesus offers us his care and protection.

In the wilderness, Jesus is tempted to place his own needs and desires above his mission and the needs of the people he's called to serve. How we navigate our own wilderness experiences can impact whether we emerge from it strengthened in our identity and purpose, on the way to renewed life.

Ash Wednesday is about facing up to our restlessness with our limits and shortcomings. We discover that, while sobering, this gives us a more genuine grounding to experience new life.

For some, a celebrity, hero or powerful person can possess a mythic quality. Or they may look to false prophets or self-appointed spiritual figures who claim to speak spectacular visions from God. But instead, even in this amazing moment on the mountain, the voice from the cloud simply calls us to listen to Jesus.

The movement Jesus started is shaped by grace. It's the same grace that each of us has received and which we are called to share.

Jesus reverses age-old beliefs that those who live ideal lives must necessarily be blessed by God, and those who suffer must be cursed. Instead, Jesus speaks a word of both comfort and challenge that each of us must hear.

The word disciple in Greek means student. Learner. At its core, that's what it means to be a follower of Jesus: being a disciple leads us to learn and then serve and help others.

The movement Jesus started is shaped by grace, trust and generosity–of serving those beyond ourselves. It's the path of altruism. It's a path that some will scoff at. Each of us is prone to do the same. But, Jesus calls us to another way of being.