SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, March 1, 2020

Dear Friends in Christ – 

One of the big takeaways from this past weekend many of us spent with Dr. Stan Ott was this: we must be the people of God before we attempt to do the work of the people of God. 

One can stand at a distance and chuckle – of course! But I think many of us fall into a trap, a no win situation. We see what’s happening in the broader church where statistics don’t paint a positive picture. We are aware of the shifting loyalties, patterns of behavior, what appears to be waning commitment to the ‘church’ as we have known it. 

And while we don’t shield our eyes from what’s right before us, we need to- with eyes wide open, with “people eyes,” as Stan described them- look deeper and beyond the surface. If we look with compassion at people’s lives today we see health issues, soccer weekends, family caregivers, multiple jobs – we see that lives are different and that yesterday’s norm is not today’s. 

Dear friends, we have an opportunity to be a part of and live into Jesus’ new creation. We will spend Sundays in this Lent exploring what it means to be the people of God. We will accept each other, build each other up, be open to discipline and disciplining, come to know what it means to forgive and allow ourselves to be forgiven with humility modeled by our Christ. 

Lent is a time to be used, to accept the chance to ponder… you!

What is in the way of your marriage, your friends, your work, your aspirations? By becoming the people of God we will be set free to God’s work which is our destiny (and our joy!).