Thanks to all who worked to make our Festival of Faith a good community event . I understand that the speakers were great. Tracks of Southminster will continue to be our theme through Celebration Sunday. Our focus in this Festival of Faith is what are the great challenges facing the future church. We looked within , around our community , and in the larger area. We will continue to reflect on these questions. I have been interested in a convergence of ideas around the church regarding things better left unsaid. Here are some of them . Love the sinner, hate the sin. This one fails the Jesus test miserably. Lets mark it off our list. Another one to draw a line through, the implication in our public presentations that we have what you need. Another form is the rather prideful belief that all your problems will go away after you join with us. Again , the Jesus test: take the last seat , lose your life to find it. We are all in this together. Theological thinking is absolutely necessary, but it is a conversation, not a set of instructions. The Bible contains amazing insights , but they rarely can be reduced to proof texts. Jesus was immersed in the scriptures of Judaism, and many of his radical actions sprung from his understanding of those sacred texts. Bible study should liberate, not confine. The primary thrust of Christian thought is the embodiment of forgiveness and reconciliation. That is the center-point of the gospel. When Jesus ate with just about every body, he was reconciling. Those who had drawn a line in the sand said, look how he eats with sinners. Jesus was simply eating with his friends. Reconciling! We all have enough problems without reading church signs that make us feel worse. Whats missing in church? U-R! Wow, that makes me feel better? Signs that too many times, point out the supposed failures of those reading the signs. The list goes on forever. Yet, it is a hopeful time. Jesus seems more at one with us in these days. The church seems more humble and patient now. Peace to you all. Pastor Sam
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 17:02:00 +0000