Beloved ones in Christ,
When I first came to you, one year ago now, on the hottest day of the year, the very first request brought to me by our SPRC and Council chairs was if we were able to open our doors, which had been closed for many moons due to the Covid quarantine. We had to choose to say, “yes”, we will choose to care for one another in loving tenderness, “yes,” we will choose to wear masks and to sanitize our hands, and to take precautions that will make sure we are placing the needs of others before our own. I said, “yes” and you said, “yes” and we have been caring for one another in love ever since.
I preached that first Sunday in July 2021 on “The Freedom to Serve,” and in our second week together on “The Freedom to Worship”. And together, we rejoiced in both! After a year of learning more about one another and listening together for the Voice of the Spirit of God, I find that these sermons still resonate with me, and I hope they do for you, too. We are so blessed, even in the midst of shadows and schisms around us today, for indeed, we have many freedoms that are not available to all persons throughout the living world. And we, who know that we are free, have a constant
and urgent calling to use our freedoms for the blessing and benefit of those around us who may not have so many freedoms.
Jesus says, ““If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31) Since then, we stand in the truth that Christ has set us free, we must always seek to live fully, as Disciples of Love in the world, who inhale and exhale the presence of the Holy Spirit through our daily lives. For in this way, we honor and bless our Creative Dreamer, who hand-formed us from the clay of the earth in the very beginning.
We were created in freedom and beauty, and we want to use this freedom and this integral connection with our creator, to benefit those who are yet asleep in spirit, or who have forgotten who they truly are.
“We love, because God first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) Let us do our best, each and every day, to employ our freedom for the purposes of Christ’s Love
Comentários