From Fake Unity to Radical Love

“A choir is made up of many voices, including yours and mine. If one by one all go silent then all that will be left are the soloists. Don’t let a loud few determine the nature of the sound. It makes for poor harmony and diminishes the song.” ― Vera Nazarian John 17:1-11 …so that […]

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Your Following

“To follow Jesus means to follow Jesus into a society where justice rules, where love shapes everything. To follow Jesus means to take up his dream and work for it.” — Scot McKnight————————————————————————————————–Dear Friends: Where are you being called to follow? The concept of “following” holds unique meaning in this era of social media. When […]

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LOVE What You Do, Do What You LOVE

People love to say, “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” What they don’t say is, “And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.” That’s the part of the analogy that’s missing. — Trevor Noah ————————————————————————————————–Luke […]

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Mustard Seeds of Revolutionary Love

Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52Jesus put before them another parable: ‘The experience of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in theirs field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the […]

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Lean into Love

John 14:15-21 [Jesus said:] “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Abba, who will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees the Spirit nor knows the Spirit. You know the Spirit, […]

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True Love is Golden

Luke 6:27-31       Have you heard of the law of reciprocity? How about the golden ratio? In essence, the law of reciprocity is the social norm of responding to a positive action with another positive action, rewarding kind actions. Reciprocity means that in response to friendly actions, people are frequently much nicer and much more […]

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The Power of Love: a Different Joy

Zephaniah 3:16-17; 19-20a You know it must be Advent if on the in later December we’re reading from another minor Hebrew prophet, in this case Zephaniah. It would be a stretch to say that many people know the book of Zephaniah well [Jewish or Christian alike]. Though, come on–I mean, he was the son of […]

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Basic Rules Don’t Apply: Love Is Wealth

Mark 10:17-22 What possesses you? Okay, weird question? What I mean to ask is: what consumes you, what drives you? What possesses you? Is it your career? Are you one of those people who is completely driven by your job and all the things related to it? Do you find yourself thinking and talking about […]

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A Taste Test

Psalm 34:1-8;18, John 6:51          Okay, do me a favor. Open your mouth and say “ah…” Go look in the mirror. You have taste buds. You know, those sensory organs on your tongue that allow you to experience tastes that are sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. See the bumps on your tongue? Those are called […]

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Won’t You Love Your Neighbor?

John 13:33-35 Someone who loves a neighbor allows them to be as they are, as they were, and as they will be.  -Michel Quoist You can be a follower of Muhammad or Jesus or Buddha or whomever. Always, they said that the most essential factor is to love your neighbor and to love you.  -Leo […]

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