Our final service of this series offers the vision of the New Creation — a world where we are no longer strangers or aliens because of our differences. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been a Christian all your life or if you are unsure about your path, we are all part of the house that God is building and the reconciling love of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone, the one that anchors and structures...

As disciples of Jesus, we are called to believe that living a new way is possible, and also to share that good news with others. Not all of us are called or equipped to preach, heal, or cast out demons in the biblical sense! But by our very attempts to live in peace and wholeness, we can live a life of example and witness to others. We don’t have to wait until we are perfect to do this…certainly t...

When we tend to our relationship with God, we connect with the power of new life and healing. Sometimes there are wounds that have remained with us over the years and we continue to “bleed” even though we think ignoring them will make them go away. Jesus says to the woman in our scripture story for this week that her faith has healed her. Are we willing to move confidently toward Jesus, knowing hi...

The poet Mary Oliver asks in one of her works, “what are you going to do with your one wild, precious life?” The Apostle Paul is trying to spread the Gospel news of new life in Christ but new Christian communities like the one at Corinth frustrate him with their petty feuds and small thinking. “Open yourselves!” is the message here. What do you tend and nurture? Fear or hope? One leaves us small, ...

Every little thing we do with compassion is a small seed that can sprout into good things beyond our imagining. Like “paying it forward” or “random acts of kindness,” we can tend a new creation with a small droplet that ripples out in ever-larger circles of caring relationships. Can you think of small acts of compassion that changed your life? God is working through others and through you!...