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A Forgiven Community

Read: Colossians 3:8-17 As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (v. 13) A primarily white church in Tennessee hired a new lead pastor who was young and black. After his first sermon on Ephesians 3, exhorting the congregation to love one another and forgive past wrongs, an older black man requested a […]

A Diverse Community

Read: 1 Corinthians 12:14-27 Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. (1 Cor. 12:12) The numbness and tingling in my feet made walking difficult. In the past, I loved hiking. Now, I held tightly to […]

A Called Community

Read: Genesis 12:1-3; Revelation 21:1-7 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. (Gen. 12:2) We gathered in a circle at my small church and answered the question, “What brought you to this church, and why do you […]

A Blessed Community

Read: Ephesians 1:3-14 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. (v. 3) Each month, our church has what we call Fourth Sunday Feast. We bring food and eat together after the morning service. I love that I prepare […]

A Beloved Community

Read: Romans 8:26-36 For I am sure that neither death nor life . . . nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (vv. 38-39) I sat next to her with a tissue for her tears. Others had left the Good Friday service in […]

Created for Community

Read: Genesis 1:26-2:3 God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (v. 27) In early spring, before leaves come out on trees, the woods around my home fill with short-lived wildflowers. So intricate and tiny, looking fragile, yet tough enough to keep their […]

He Will Be Our Light

Read: Revelation 22:5-16 I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. (v. 16) In this devotional series and throughout the story of Scripture, we encounter a God who speaks in the darkness of night. He created the stars as symbols that proclaim his faithfulness. He speaks to Job in the darkness […]

The Starry Covenant Fulfilled

Read: Matthew 2:1-12 We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. (v. 2) The longest journey I ever made was from my home in Seattle, Washington, to the island nation of the Philippines. It was a trip of blind faith. I went not knowing anyone, not knowing the culture or language, […]

Lift Up Your Eyes

Read: Isaiah 40:1-5; 21-31 Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? (v. 26) Have you ever struggled to believe that God sees you, loves you, and has goodness in store for you? There was a season in my life when I experienced deep depression. It felt as if all the lights had […]