This weekend was blessed. We were with about a hundred people at the picnic and then we had to add more chairs on Sunday morning for people to sit. God willing, if we continue to do the work God has given us, we will continue to experience God’s favor.
We did not get here by choosing to grieve and be satisfied in being under forces of death, destruction, and darkness. We got here by following Jesus. We got here by offering people a choice to choose life. We got here by being bold enough to break traditions and norms. We got here by extending our hands to people who needed to be pulled out from under the burden of darkness, death, and destruction. And we did it boldly with the love of God.
That is what Samuel was called to do in the lesson we heard on Sunday. That is what Jesus did on Sabbath. That is what those who seek control over people’s lives did not like and for that reason they plotted Jesus’ death. Paul reminds us that we carry the death of Christ in us only so we may proclaim the life we find in Jesus.
My friends, we have chosen life, we have decided to follow Jesus, we are committed to being bold, creative, imaginative, collaborative, and accepting of where the Holy Spirit may lead us. I urge you to continue to follow Jesus in love for everyone – no exceptions. Let that love compel us to offer joy to the people we encounter, for God so loved the world that he sought his son to be bold and committed in offering life to all who believe in him. God sent him to be light in a dark world. So, let’s continue to be that light; let’s continue to be a bold joyful community where healing is inevitable for everyone who chooses Christ.