Greetings to all in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord

To be sure, we are living in challenging times, with several challenges bearing a sense of urgency and response. These challenges can often be seen as potentially divisive and demoralizing. Just the other day, I was having what I thought was a good and productive conversation with another person of our community. But I was taken aback by a question directed to me: "Whose side are you on?" Not quite sure at first of where this question was headed, I asked in return: "A side for what?" The reply was quick and assured: "You know what I mean?" I had some ideas of where this conversation was headed, but not with much certainty, for there are many concerns floating around for which one could take a particular side- ways of dealing with COVID-19, concerns over race relations, political preferences. The list could go on. Not wanting to further an engagement of division and separation, I concluded: "Hopefully, on God's side." Evidently, that was not what the other person was looking for, as I was given a look of displeasure and the conversation ended with a turn of the back.

I raise this matter because we as Christians are often confronted with troubling and challenging concerns requiring discernment, understanding and choice; decisions of where we stand and why. Most of these concerns do not come with simple and easy solutions. And we all know that we don't always come to a unified agreement on various issues. But what happens when we allow disagreements to turn into enmity and the formation of enemies and a battleground for waging a war of rhetoric or worse?

The concerns we face today are not new. People of faith have been struggling over like issues for quite some time. Divide over such issues have had devastating impact among religious communities, advancing a rhetoric of hate and infidelity, discrimination and disdain, persecution and, even death. In Christ, God has shown that God is on the side of humanity, sinful though we may be, and in Christ lifts us by grace and mercy out of the mire of separation and hatred, of the formation of enmity and enemies. Christ gave his life for all of us, sinners each and every one of us, and now redeemed and cherished through an act of grace.

That said, we need to be accountable to each other and before God regarding our thoughts and actions. Evil and actions that seek and promote divide are not what and where God in Christ calls us to be. Apathy and indifference are no more warranted than are behaviors lawless and lacking respect for the other. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 69, the waters are rising dangerously high in the heated rhetoric that pits person against person, people against people: "Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God."

We have now a foothold with Christ Jesus who knows a thing or two about suffering and persecution, of societal hurts and pain who risked being oppressed in order to reveal God's love. We can escape the mire of division and hatred if we but lean into the grace and mercy of Christ as he lifts us into a vision of hope and promise beyond what we may be currently experiencing. So before attempting to 'pick a side' may we hit our knees to the floor and pray for forgiveness and a way of healing so that we might express in word and deed the unity that Jesus himself prayed for in John 17.

God's blessings and peace to all.   Pastor John

Greetings to all in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord

To be sure, we are living in challenging times, with several challenges bearing a sense of urgency and response. These challenges can often be seen as potentially divisive and demoralizing. Just the other day, I was having what I thought was a good and productive conversation with another person of our community. But I was taken aback by a question directed to me: "Whose side are you on?" Not quite sure at first of where this question was headed, I asked in return: "A side for what?" The reply was quick and assured: "You know what I mean?" I had some ideas of where this conversation was headed, but not with much certainty, for there are many concerns floating around for which one could take a particular side- ways of dealing with COVID-19, concerns over race relations, political preferences. The list could go on. Not wanting to further an engagement of division and separation, I concluded: "Hopefully, on God's side." Evidently, that was not what the other person was looking for, as I was given a look of displeasure and the conversation ended with a turn of the back.

I raise this matter because we as Christians are often confronted with troubling and challenging concerns requiring discernment, understanding and choice; decisions of where we stand and why. Most of these concerns do not come with simple and easy solutions. And we all know that we don't always come to a unified agreement on various issues. But what happens when we allow disagreements to turn into enmity and the formation of enemies and a battleground for waging a war of rhetoric or worse?

The concerns we face today are not new. People of faith have been struggling over like issues for quite some time. Divide over such issues have had devastating impact among religious communities, advancing a rhetoric of hate and infidelity, discrimination and disdain, persecution and, even death. In Christ, God has shown that God is on the side of humanity, sinful though we may be, and in Christ lifts us by grace and mercy out of the mire of separation and hatred, of the formation of enmity and enemies. Christ gave his life for all of us, sinners each and every one of us, and now redeemed and cherished through an act of grace.

That said, we need to be accountable to each other and before God regarding our thoughts and actions. Evil and actions that seek and promote divide are not what and where God in Christ calls us to be. Apathy and indifference are no more warranted than are behaviors lawless and lacking respect for the other. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 69, the waters are rising dangerously high in the heated rhetoric that pits person against person, people against people: "Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God."

We have now a foothold with Christ Jesus who knows a thing or two about suffering and persecution, of societal hurts and pain who risked being oppressed in order to reveal God's love. We can escape the mire of division and hatred if we but lean into the grace and mercy of Christ as he lifts us into a vision of hope and promise beyond what we may be currently experiencing. So before attempting to 'pick a side' may we hit our knees to the floor and pray for forgiveness and a way of healing so that we might express in word and deed the unity that Jesus himself prayed for in John 17.

God's blessings and peace to all.   Pastor John

Greetings to all in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord

To be sure, we are living in challenging times, with several challenges bearing a sense of urgency and response. These challenges can often be seen as potentially divisive and demoralizing. Just the other day, I was having what I thought was a good and productive conversation with another person of our community. But I was taken aback by a question directed to me: "Whose side are you on?" Not quite sure at first of where this question was headed, I asked in return: "A side for what?" The reply was quick and assured: "You know what I mean?" I had some ideas of where this conversation was headed, but not with much certainty, for there are many concerns floating around for which one could take a particular side- ways of dealing with COVID-19, concerns over race relations, political preferences. The list could go on. Not wanting to further an engagement of division and separation, I concluded: "Hopefully, on God's side." Evidently, that was not what the other person was looking for, as I was given a look of displeasure and the conversation ended with a turn of the back.

I raise this matter because we as Christians are often confronted with troubling and challenging concerns requiring discernment, understanding and choice; decisions of where we stand and why. Most of these concerns do not come with simple and easy solutions. And we all know that we don't always come to a unified agreement on various issues. But what happens when we allow disagreements to turn into enmity and the formation of enemies and a battleground for waging a war of rhetoric or worse?

The concerns we face today are not new. People of faith have been struggling over like issues for quite some time. Divide over such issues have had devastating impact among religious communities, advancing a rhetoric of hate and infidelity, discrimination and disdain, persecution and, even death. In Christ, God has shown that God is on the side of humanity, sinful though we may be, and in Christ lifts us by grace and mercy out of the mire of separation and hatred, of the formation of enmity and enemies. Christ gave his life for all of us, sinners each and every one of us, and now redeemed and cherished through an act of grace.

That said, we need to be accountable to each other and before God regarding our thoughts and actions. Evil and actions that seek and promote divide are not what and where God in Christ calls us to be. Apathy and indifference are no more warranted than are behaviors lawless and lacking respect for the other. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 69, the waters are rising dangerously high in the heated rhetoric that pits person against person, people against people: "Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God."

We have now a foothold with Christ Jesus who knows a thing or two about suffering and persecution, of societal hurts and pain who risked being oppressed in order to reveal God's love. We can escape the mire of division and hatred if we but lean into the grace and mercy of Christ as he lifts us into a vision of hope and promise beyond what we may be currently experiencing. So before attempting to 'pick a side' may we hit our knees to the floor and pray for forgiveness and a way of healing so that we might express in word and deed the unity that Jesus himself prayed for in John 17.

God's blessings and peace to all.   Pastor John

Greetings to all in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord

To be sure, we are living in challenging times, with several challenges bearing a sense of urgency and response. These challenges can often be seen as potentially divisive and demoralizing. Just the other day, I was having what I thought was a good and productive conversation with another person of our community. But I was taken aback by a question directed to me: "Whose side are you on?" Not quite sure at first of where this question was headed, I asked in return: "A side for what?" The reply was quick and assured: "You know what I mean?" I had some ideas of where this conversation was headed, but not with much certainty, for there are many concerns floating around for which one could take a particular side- ways of dealing with COVID-19, concerns over race relations, political preferences. The list could go on. Not wanting to further an engagement of division and separation, I concluded: "Hopefully, on God's side." Evidently, that was not what the other person was looking for, as I was given a look of displeasure and the conversation ended with a turn of the back.

I raise this matter because we as Christians are often confronted with troubling and challenging concerns requiring discernment, understanding and choice; decisions of where we stand and why. Most of these concerns do not come with simple and easy solutions. And we all know that we don't always come to a unified agreement on various issues. But what happens when we allow disagreements to turn into enmity and the formation of enemies and a battleground for waging a war of rhetoric or worse?

The concerns we face today are not new. People of faith have been struggling over like issues for quite some time. Divide over such issues have had devastating impact among religious communities, advancing a rhetoric of hate and infidelity, discrimination and disdain, persecution and, even death. In Christ, God has shown that God is on the side of humanity, sinful though we may be, and in Christ lifts us by grace and mercy out of the mire of separation and hatred, of the formation of enmity and enemies. Christ gave his life for all of us, sinners each and every one of us, and now redeemed and cherished through an act of grace.

That said, we need to be accountable to each other and before God regarding our thoughts and actions. Evil and actions that seek and promote divide are not what and where God in Christ calls us to be. Apathy and indifference are no more warranted than are behaviors lawless and lacking respect for the other. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 69, the waters are rising dangerously high in the heated rhetoric that pits person against person, people against people: "Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God."

We have now a foothold with Christ Jesus who knows a thing or two about suffering and persecution, of societal hurts and pain who risked being oppressed in order to reveal God's love. We can escape the mire of division and hatred if we but lean into the grace and mercy of Christ as he lifts us into a vision of hope and promise beyond what we may be currently experiencing. So before attempting to 'pick a side' may we hit our knees to the floor and pray for forgiveness and a way of healing so that we might express in word and deed the unity that Jesus himself prayed for in John 17.

God's blessings and peace to all.   Pastor John

Greetings to all in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord

To be sure, we are living in challenging times, with several challenges bearing a sense of urgency and response. These challenges can often be seen as potentially divisive and demoralizing. Just the other day, I was having what I thought was a good and productive conversation with another person of our community. But I was taken aback by a question directed to me: "Whose side are you on?" Not quite sure at first of where this question was headed, I asked in return: "A side for what?" The reply was quick and assured: "You know what I mean?" I had some ideas of where this conversation was headed, but not with much certainty, for there are many concerns floating around for which one could take a particular side- ways of dealing with COVID-19, concerns over race relations, political preferences. The list could go on. Not wanting to further an engagement of division and separation, I concluded: "Hopefully, on God's side." Evidently, that was not what the other person was looking for, as I was given a look of displeasure and the conversation ended with a turn of the back.

I raise this matter because we as Christians are often confronted with troubling and challenging concerns requiring discernment, understanding and choice; decisions of where we stand and why. Most of these concerns do not come with simple and easy solutions. And we all know that we don't always come to a unified agreement on various issues. But what happens when we allow disagreements to turn into enmity and the formation of enemies and a battleground for waging a war of rhetoric or worse?

The concerns we face today are not new. People of faith have been struggling over like issues for quite some time. Divide over such issues have had devastating impact among religious communities, advancing a rhetoric of hate and infidelity, discrimination and disdain, persecution and, even death. In Christ, God has shown that God is on the side of humanity, sinful though we may be, and in Christ lifts us by grace and mercy out of the mire of separation and hatred, of the formation of enmity and enemies. Christ gave his life for all of us, sinners each and every one of us, and now redeemed and cherished through an act of grace.

That said, we need to be accountable to each other and before God regarding our thoughts and actions. Evil and actions that seek and promote divide are not what and where God in Christ calls us to be. Apathy and indifference are no more warranted than are behaviors lawless and lacking respect for the other. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 69, the waters are rising dangerously high in the heated rhetoric that pits person against person, people against people: "Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God."

We have now a foothold with Christ Jesus who knows a thing or two about suffering and persecution, of societal hurts and pain who risked being oppressed in order to reveal God's love. We can escape the mire of division and hatred if we but lean into the grace and mercy of Christ as he lifts us into a vision of hope and promise beyond what we may be currently experiencing. So before attempting to 'pick a side' may we hit our knees to the floor and pray for forgiveness and a way of healing so that we might express in word and deed the unity that Jesus himself prayed for in John 17.

God's blessings and peace to all.   Pastor John

Greetings to all in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord

To be sure, we are living in challenging times, with several challenges bearing a sense of urgency and response. These challenges can often be seen as potentially divisive and demoralizing. Just the other day, I was having what I thought was a good and productive conversation with another person of our community. But I was taken aback by a question directed to me: "Whose side are you on?" Not quite sure at first of where this question was headed, I asked in return: "A side for what?" The reply was quick and assured: "You know what I mean?" I had some ideas of where this conversation was headed, but not with much certainty, for there are many concerns floating around for which one could take a particular side- ways of dealing with COVID-19, concerns over race relations, political preferences. The list could go on. Not wanting to further an engagement of division and separation, I concluded: "Hopefully, on God's side." Evidently, that was not what the other person was looking for, as I was given a look of displeasure and the conversation ended with a turn of the back.

I raise this matter because we as Christians are often confronted with troubling and challenging concerns requiring discernment, understanding and choice; decisions of where we stand and why. Most of these concerns do not come with simple and easy solutions. And we all know that we don't always come to a unified agreement on various issues. But what happens when we allow disagreements to turn into enmity and the formation of enemies and a battleground for waging a war of rhetoric or worse?

The concerns we face today are not new. People of faith have been struggling over like issues for quite some time. Divide over such issues have had devastating impact among religious communities, advancing a rhetoric of hate and infidelity, discrimination and disdain, persecution and, even death. In Christ, God has shown that God is on the side of humanity, sinful though we may be, and in Christ lifts us by grace and mercy out of the mire of separation and hatred, of the formation of enmity and enemies. Christ gave his life for all of us, sinners each and every one of us, and now redeemed and cherished through an act of grace.

That said, we need to be accountable to each other and before God regarding our thoughts and actions. Evil and actions that seek and promote divide are not what and where God in Christ calls us to be. Apathy and indifference are no more warranted than are behaviors lawless and lacking respect for the other. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 69, the waters are rising dangerously high in the heated rhetoric that pits person against person, people against people: "Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God."

We have now a foothold with Christ Jesus who knows a thing or two about suffering and persecution, of societal hurts and pain who risked being oppressed in order to reveal God's love. We can escape the mire of division and hatred if we but lean into the grace and mercy of Christ as he lifts us into a vision of hope and promise beyond what we may be currently experiencing. So before attempting to 'pick a side' may we hit our knees to the floor and pray for forgiveness and a way of healing so that we might express in word and deed the unity that Jesus himself prayed for in John 17.

God's blessings and peace to all.   Pastor John

Greetings to all in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord

To be sure, we are living in challenging times, with several challenges bearing a sense of urgency and response. These challenges can often be seen as potentially divisive and demoralizing. Just the other day, I was having what I thought was a good and productive conversation with another person of our community. But I was taken aback by a question directed to me: "Whose side are you on?" Not quite sure at first of where this question was headed, I asked in return: "A side for what?" The reply was quick and assured: "You know what I mean?" I had some ideas of where this conversation was headed, but not with much certainty, for there are many concerns floating around for which one could take a particular side- ways of dealing with COVID-19, concerns over race relations, political preferences. The list could go on. Not wanting to further an engagement of division and separation, I concluded: "Hopefully, on God's side." Evidently, that was not what the other person was looking for, as I was given a look of displeasure and the conversation ended with a turn of the back.

I raise this matter because we as Christians are often confronted with troubling and challenging concerns requiring discernment, understanding and choice; decisions of where we stand and why. Most of these concerns do not come with simple and easy solutions. And we all know that we don't always come to a unified agreement on various issues. But what happens when we allow disagreements to turn into enmity and the formation of enemies and a battleground for waging a war of rhetoric or worse?

The concerns we face today are not new. People of faith have been struggling over like issues for quite some time. Divide over such issues have had devastating impact among religious communities, advancing a rhetoric of hate and infidelity, discrimination and disdain, persecution and, even death. In Christ, God has shown that God is on the side of humanity, sinful though we may be, and in Christ lifts us by grace and mercy out of the mire of separation and hatred, of the formation of enmity and enemies. Christ gave his life for all of us, sinners each and every one of us, and now redeemed and cherished through an act of grace.

That said, we need to be accountable to each other and before God regarding our thoughts and actions. Evil and actions that seek and promote divide are not what and where God in Christ calls us to be. Apathy and indifference are no more warranted than are behaviors lawless and lacking respect for the other. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 69, the waters are rising dangerously high in the heated rhetoric that pits person against person, people against people: "Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God."

We have now a foothold with Christ Jesus who knows a thing or two about suffering and persecution, of societal hurts and pain who risked being oppressed in order to reveal God's love. We can escape the mire of division and hatred if we but lean into the grace and mercy of Christ as he lifts us into a vision of hope and promise beyond what we may be currently experiencing. So before attempting to 'pick a side' may we hit our knees to the floor and pray for forgiveness and a way of healing so that we might express in word and deed the unity that Jesus himself prayed for in John 17.

God's blessings and peace to all.   Pastor John

Greetings to all in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord

To be sure, we are living in challenging times, with several challenges bearing a sense of urgency and response. These challenges can often be seen as potentially divisive and demoralizing. Just the other day, I was having what I thought was a good and productive conversation with another person of our community. But I was taken aback by a question directed to me: "Whose side are you on?" Not quite sure at first of where this question was headed, I asked in return: "A side for what?" The reply was quick and assured: "You know what I mean?" I had some ideas of where this conversation was headed, but not with much certainty, for there are many concerns floating around for which one could take a particular side- ways of dealing with COVID-19, concerns over race relations, political preferences. The list could go on. Not wanting to further an engagement of division and separation, I concluded: "Hopefully, on God's side." Evidently, that was not what the other person was looking for, as I was given a look of displeasure and the conversation ended with a turn of the back.

I raise this matter because we as Christians are often confronted with troubling and challenging concerns requiring discernment, understanding and choice; decisions of where we stand and why. Most of these concerns do not come with simple and easy solutions. And we all know that we don't always come to a unified agreement on various issues. But what happens when we allow disagreements to turn into enmity and the formation of enemies and a battleground for waging a war of rhetoric or worse?

The concerns we face today are not new. People of faith have been struggling over like issues for quite some time. Divide over such issues have had devastating impact among religious communities, advancing a rhetoric of hate and infidelity, discrimination and disdain, persecution and, even death. In Christ, God has shown that God is on the side of humanity, sinful though we may be, and in Christ lifts us by grace and mercy out of the mire of separation and hatred, of the formation of enmity and enemies. Christ gave his life for all of us, sinners each and every one of us, and now redeemed and cherished through an act of grace.

That said, we need to be accountable to each other and before God regarding our thoughts and actions. Evil and actions that seek and promote divide are not what and where God in Christ calls us to be. Apathy and indifference are no more warranted than are behaviors lawless and lacking respect for the other. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 69, the waters are rising dangerously high in the heated rhetoric that pits person against person, people against people: "Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God."

We have now a foothold with Christ Jesus who knows a thing or two about suffering and persecution, of societal hurts and pain who risked being oppressed in order to reveal God's love. We can escape the mire of division and hatred if we but lean into the grace and mercy of Christ as he lifts us into a vision of hope and promise beyond what we may be currently experiencing. So before attempting to 'pick a side' may we hit our knees to the floor and pray for forgiveness and a way of healing so that we might express in word and deed the unity that Jesus himself prayed for in John 17.

God's blessings and peace to all.   Pastor John

Greetings to all in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord

To be sure, we are living in challenging times, with several challenges bearing a sense of urgency and response. These challenges can often be seen as potentially divisive and demoralizing. Just the other day, I was having what I thought was a good and productive conversation with another person of our community. But I was taken aback by a question directed to me: "Whose side are you on?" Not quite sure at first of where this question was headed, I asked in return: "A side for what?" The reply was quick and assured: "You know what I mean?" I had some ideas of where this conversation was headed, but not with much certainty, for there are many concerns floating around for which one could take a particular side- ways of dealing with COVID-19, concerns over race relations, political preferences. The list could go on. Not wanting to further an engagement of division and separation, I concluded: "Hopefully, on God's side." Evidently, that was not what the other person was looking for, as I was given a look of displeasure and the conversation ended with a turn of the back.

I raise this matter because we as Christians are often confronted with troubling and challenging concerns requiring discernment, understanding and choice; decisions of where we stand and why. Most of these concerns do not come with simple and easy solutions. And we all know that we don't always come to a unified agreement on various issues. But what happens when we allow disagreements to turn into enmity and the formation of enemies and a battleground for waging a war of rhetoric or worse?

The concerns we face today are not new. People of faith have been struggling over like issues for quite some time. Divide over such issues have had devastating impact among religious communities, advancing a rhetoric of hate and infidelity, discrimination and disdain, persecution and, even death. In Christ, God has shown that God is on the side of humanity, sinful though we may be, and in Christ lifts us by grace and mercy out of the mire of separation and hatred, of the formation of enmity and enemies. Christ gave his life for all of us, sinners each and every one of us, and now redeemed and cherished through an act of grace.

That said, we need to be accountable to each other and before God regarding our thoughts and actions. Evil and actions that seek and promote divide are not what and where God in Christ calls us to be. Apathy and indifference are no more warranted than are behaviors lawless and lacking respect for the other. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 69, the waters are rising dangerously high in the heated rhetoric that pits person against person, people against people: "Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God."

We have now a foothold with Christ Jesus who knows a thing or two about suffering and persecution, of societal hurts and pain who risked being oppressed in order to reveal God's love. We can escape the mire of division and hatred if we but lean into the grace and mercy of Christ as he lifts us into a vision of hope and promise beyond what we may be currently experiencing. So before attempting to 'pick a side' may we hit our knees to the floor and pray for forgiveness and a way of healing so that we might express in word and deed the unity that Jesus himself prayed for in John 17.

God's blessings and peace to all.   Pastor John

Greetings to all in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord

To be sure, we are living in challenging times, with several challenges bearing a sense of urgency and response. These challenges can often be seen as potentially divisive and demoralizing. Just the other day, I was having what I thought was a good and productive conversation with another person of our community. But I was taken aback by a question directed to me: "Whose side are you on?" Not quite sure at first of where this question was headed, I asked in return: "A side for what?" The reply was quick and assured: "You know what I mean?" I had some ideas of where this conversation was headed, but not with much certainty, for there are many concerns floating around for which one could take a particular side- ways of dealing with COVID-19, concerns over race relations, political preferences. The list could go on. Not wanting to further an engagement of division and separation, I concluded: "Hopefully, on God's side." Evidently, that was not what the other person was looking for, as I was given a look of displeasure and the conversation ended with a turn of the back.

I raise this matter because we as Christians are often confronted with troubling and challenging concerns requiring discernment, understanding and choice; decisions of where we stand and why. Most of these concerns do not come with simple and easy solutions. And we all know that we don't always come to a unified agreement on various issues. But what happens when we allow disagreements to turn into enmity and the formation of enemies and a battleground for waging a war of rhetoric or worse?

The concerns we face today are not new. People of faith have been struggling over like issues for quite some time. Divide over such issues have had devastating impact among religious communities, advancing a rhetoric of hate and infidelity, discrimination and disdain, persecution and, even death. In Christ, God has shown that God is on the side of humanity, sinful though we may be, and in Christ lifts us by grace and mercy out of the mire of separation and hatred, of the formation of enmity and enemies. Christ gave his life for all of us, sinners each and every one of us, and now redeemed and cherished through an act of grace.

That said, we need to be accountable to each other and before God regarding our thoughts and actions. Evil and actions that seek and promote divide are not what and where God in Christ calls us to be. Apathy and indifference are no more warranted than are behaviors lawless and lacking respect for the other. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 69, the waters are rising dangerously high in the heated rhetoric that pits person against person, people against people: "Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God."

We have now a foothold with Christ Jesus who knows a thing or two about suffering and persecution, of societal hurts and pain who risked being oppressed in order to reveal God's love. We can escape the mire of division and hatred if we but lean into the grace and mercy of Christ as he lifts us into a vision of hope and promise beyond what we may be currently experiencing. So before attempting to 'pick a side' may we hit our knees to the floor and pray for forgiveness and a way of healing so that we might express in word and deed the unity that Jesus himself prayed for in John 17.

God's blessings and peace to all.   Pastor John

Greetings to all in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord

To be sure, we are living in challenging times, with several challenges bearing a sense of urgency and response. These challenges can often be seen as potentially divisive and demoralizing. Just the other day, I was having what I thought was a good and productive conversation with another person of our community. But I was taken aback by a question directed to me: "Whose side are you on?" Not quite sure at first of where this question was headed, I asked in return: "A side for what?" The reply was quick and assured: "You know what I mean?" I had some ideas of where this conversation was headed, but not with much certainty, for there are many concerns floating around for which one could take a particular side- ways of dealing with COVID-19, concerns over race relations, political preferences. The list could go on. Not wanting to further an engagement of division and separation, I concluded: "Hopefully, on God's side." Evidently, that was not what the other person was looking for, as I was given a look of displeasure and the conversation ended with a turn of the back.

I raise this matter because we as Christians are often confronted with troubling and challenging concerns requiring discernment, understanding and choice; decisions of where we stand and why. Most of these concerns do not come with simple and easy solutions. And we all know that we don't always come to a unified agreement on various issues. But what happens when we allow disagreements to turn into enmity and the formation of enemies and a battleground for waging a war of rhetoric or worse?

The concerns we face today are not new. People of faith have been struggling over like issues for quite some time. Divide over such issues have had devastating impact among religious communities, advancing a rhetoric of hate and infidelity, discrimination and disdain, persecution and, even death. In Christ, God has shown that God is on the side of humanity, sinful though we may be, and in Christ lifts us by grace and mercy out of the mire of separation and hatred, of the formation of enmity and enemies. Christ gave his life for all of us, sinners each and every one of us, and now redeemed and cherished through an act of grace.

That said, we need to be accountable to each other and before God regarding our thoughts and actions. Evil and actions that seek and promote divide are not what and where God in Christ calls us to be. Apathy and indifference are no more warranted than are behaviors lawless and lacking respect for the other. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 69, the waters are rising dangerously high in the heated rhetoric that pits person against person, people against people: "Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God."

We have now a foothold with Christ Jesus who knows a thing or two about suffering and persecution, of societal hurts and pain who risked being oppressed in order to reveal God's love. We can escape the mire of division and hatred if we but lean into the grace and mercy of Christ as he lifts us into a vision of hope and promise beyond what we may be currently experiencing. So before attempting to 'pick a side' may we hit our knees to the floor and pray for forgiveness and a way of healing so that we might express in word and deed the unity that Jesus himself prayed for in John 17.

God's blessings and peace to all.   Pastor John

Greetings to all in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord

To be sure, we are living in challenging times, with several challenges bearing a sense of urgency and response. These challenges can often be seen as potentially divisive and demoralizing. Just the other day, I was having what I thought was a good and productive conversation with another person of our community. But I was taken aback by a question directed to me: "Whose side are you on?" Not quite sure at first of where this question was headed, I asked in return: "A side for what?" The reply was quick and assured: "You know what I mean?" I had some ideas of where this conversation was headed, but not with much certainty, for there are many concerns floating around for which one could take a particular side- ways of dealing with COVID-19, concerns over race relations, political preferences. The list could go on. Not wanting to further an engagement of division and separation, I concluded: "Hopefully, on God's side." Evidently, that was not what the other person was looking for, as I was given a look of displeasure and the conversation ended with a turn of the back.

I raise this matter because we as Christians are often confronted with troubling and challenging concerns requiring discernment, understanding and choice; decisions of where we stand and why. Most of these concerns do not come with simple and easy solutions. And we all know that we don't always come to a unified agreement on various issues. But what happens when we allow disagreements to turn into enmity and the formation of enemies and a battleground for waging a war of rhetoric or worse?

The concerns we face today are not new. People of faith have been struggling over like issues for quite some time. Divide over such issues have had devastating impact among religious communities, advancing a rhetoric of hate and infidelity, discrimination and disdain, persecution and, even death. In Christ, God has shown that God is on the side of humanity, sinful though we may be, and in Christ lifts us by grace and mercy out of the mire of separation and hatred, of the formation of enmity and enemies. Christ gave his life for all of us, sinners each and every one of us, and now redeemed and cherished through an act of grace.

That said, we need to be accountable to each other and before God regarding our thoughts and actions. Evil and actions that seek and promote divide are not what and where God in Christ calls us to be. Apathy and indifference are no more warranted than are behaviors lawless and lacking respect for the other. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 69, the waters are rising dangerously high in the heated rhetoric that pits person against person, people against people: "Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God."

We have now a foothold with Christ Jesus who knows a thing or two about suffering and persecution, of societal hurts and pain who risked being oppressed in order to reveal God's love. We can escape the mire of division and hatred if we but lean into the grace and mercy of Christ as he lifts us into a vision of hope and promise beyond what we may be currently experiencing. So before attempting to 'pick a side' may we hit our knees to the floor and pray for forgiveness and a way of healing so that we might express in word and deed the unity that Jesus himself prayed for in John 17.

God's blessings and peace to all.   Pastor John