Over and over again the Apostle Paul tries to help us understand the implications of Christ coming. Paul’s biggest metaphor for this endeavor is that we are now family with God.

As we’ve reflected all week on what it means to be broken - by the world, by our own decisions - now we are getting set up for this coming week when we talk about healing.

When Jesus talks about the world unraveling into a deep brokenness, this is how he describes it: our love grows cold.

How hard is it for you to own your own mess? How much do you struggle with comparison?

The scripture is also clear that sin is personal. It’s individual actions that we take that hurt ourselves and others and which dishonor God and mistreat our world.

There are plenty of ways to define sin from the bible. One of them is say that sin is social.

Today is a good time to reconnect to that deep longing we each have for a deeper wholeness that runs deeper than the brokenness we’ve come to accept as normal.

The wedding of the Lamb is the big image that runs through the final book in the Bible. Jesus is marrying his bride, which is us.

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. - Galatians 5:6. Really?

So we each get to go on a journey, instead of the the depths of the sea or to some far off jungle, we get to explore a part of creation that is even more marvelous than those places. We get to explore our very heart and mind and body and soul.

What’s it like for you to look in the mirror like David? Do you come away praising God… or judging yourself for how you look or because the the sense of not matching up to some (unrealistic) ideal?

All week we’ve pondered Mary. Once again we get a window into why she had such great access to Jesus… and are invited into that same sort of relationship.

Mary Magdalene has been called ‘the apostle to the apostles’ because she was the one who told them about the resurrection. Let’s take a moment to ponder this.

You’ve probably never heard a sermon these verses, particularly not the last sentence.

On Sunday, Brenna pointed out how Mary deeply loved Jesus and showed up early at the tomb while the boys were all back in bed.

There are so many different perspectives we have when it comes to God. Sometimes it’s helpful to ask the hard question: who do we really want?

Today we look at a few short insights about neighbor love.

Jesus is far more interested in people loving well than in talking a lot about love! After the amazing parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus invites the religious leader, and us, to actually do some loving.

Sometimes the famous parable of the Good Samaritan is weaponized to inflict guilt or shame on us when we fail to care for every need we face out in the world.

Inevitably, our Jericho Roads always make us face ourselves. The bring up questions like, Do I have what it takes to make a difference? What if God doesn’t show up? What can I do anyway? What if it costs me too much?