Proclaiming the Gospel - What is the Gospel?

Proclaiming the Gospel - He is Risen!

He is risen! This proclamation and statement of faith is the center of the Gospel that we as Christians proclaim. Because of our over focus on the death of Jesus to save us from our sins, we have sometimes become people who wait around waiting for the day to come when we can leave this place. The resurrection of Jesus Christ ushers in the New Creation and the Kingdom of God lived out here and now by his followers as we wait for it to be made fully known when Christ returns. "His is Risen!" becomes the proclamation of the gospel in every moment of our lives as we see the world's brokenness and breathe new life into it.

Proclaiming the Gospel - What is the Gospel?

What is the Gospel? How you answer that determines how you read and understand the Bible, how you live your life, and how you engage people and the world around you. We need to reclaim the fullness of the Gospel and live into the reality we are to proclaim.

Reconciliation - The Ministry of the Church

In a loud world where speaking takes more value than listening, the church is called to be a non-anxious presence to create space for listening and reconciliation. The world makes changes through force, through cancel culture, boycotts, and the like. These kinds of movements have potential to change policy but rarely change hearts. The church has a responsibility to step into the tension and bring about a transformative reconciliation the brings people closer together. Paul calls this the ministry of the church as Christ's ambassadors and God's co workers (2 Corinthians 5).

The Lord's Supper - Sanctifying the Tables in our Lives

How would life be different if we invited God's presence to be made especially known in the spaces we enter and inhabit? Would it change the way we see people? Would it change the way we act? Eyes were opened to Jesus's identity in the breaking of bread in Luke 24. May the eyes of every person we meet be opened to who Christ is in our lives when we sanctify the spaces around us. At some point this week before entering a community space, pray this prayer: Lord, make me aware of what you are doing in the lives of the people I encounter in this space. Make me attentive to the needs of each person I meet as though I am attentive to Jesus himself. Help me to leave that person more at peace, filled with joy, and/or more in touch with the love of God. Lord, come quickly and make your presence known. Amen. At the end of your day, answer these questions: -  Where did I feel the Holy Spirit tugging at me to act? -  Was I hesitant? Why? -  How would that situation have gone differently if I had slowed down to be attentive to God’s presence? -  Pray that you’ll be more aware and attentive tomorrow.

Lord's Supper - Bring Your Offering to the Table

Read John 6:1-15 as a Eucharistic passage where Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, and then distributes it for the nourishment of the multitudes. Consider the elements of the table: bread and wine. God gives us grain and grapes. We make the bread and the wine and offer it back to God. The mystery of the Lord's Supper is that God then sanctifies the gift we have given and gives it back to us as the body and blood of Christ. Our simple gift is transformed into the nourishment of the church and transformation of the world.  What small gift do you have to give, that when offered to God can nourish the multitudes?