Month: November 2023

Scripture:  1 Corinthians 15:12-26 & John 11:1-44

Ultimately, all our hope is in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then our faith is meaningless and in vain. We turn to the story of Jesus raising his friend Lazarus from the dead and discover that we can hope in the resurrection when our faith is strong and when it is weak, because Jesus is God of the Resurrection, restoring life is what God does.

We hope, not in what we can do, but in the outrageous goodness of what God has done in Jesus. Because we know that Christ is risen, we have suffering, we have trouble, we have problems, but we have nothing to fear, because the gift of eternal life can’t be taken from us.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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Scripture:  Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV) & Daniel 3:13-18 (NIV)

Dear Church,

 The hope we have in Jesus is a hope that resists.  

Our hope is not resigned to evil in the world.
Our hope does not compromise or collude.  
Our hope does not hide, even when it makes enemies.  
Our hope fights.
Our hope will lead us into battle.

Many people mistakenly believe that following Christ requires us to be bystanders, passively waiting for Jesus to do something about injustice, suffering and the ways the powerful crush the poor and powerless.

If your Christian hope leads you to wait quietly until Jesus rescues you from evil, you’re doing it wrong.

But do not be deceived. We fight, but not as the world fights.  No violence. No destruction. No dehumanization. We may be called to lay down our lives, but we are never called by God to take a life. We have weapons, but not the ones chosen by our enemies.

Our hope equips and compels us to confront sin and evil in the way of Christ.

This Sunday, we turn to Paul’s words in Ephesians and the witness of our brothers Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego for inspiration about when and how to resist.

Peace,
Pastor Kate

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Scripture:  Luke 17:1-5, Acts 9:10-19

Dear Church,

There’s a beautiful verse of psalm 85 that reads

     Mercy and Truth have met together,

     Righteousness and Peace. have kissed each other.

In our world, in our individual lives, in our church, so often it seems like we have to choose between mercy and truth.  It seems like we can’t have both righteousness and peace. We feel that we have to pick one or the other.

There is pressure to ‘let it go’ when someone we love hurts us, to rationalize evil that seems like it can’t be forgiven or healed, to swallow truths that spoken cause shame, discomfort, and remorse.

But there is a hope that allows us to hold mercy and truth together, to seek righteousness knowing it will make peace, even and especially for the unrighteous. That hope is reconciliation–our belief that our Lord can both forgive and redeem sin.

Through the righteousness of Jesus, we are reconciled to God and to one another.

In the body of Christ, we discover that we all are more than our worst moments and deepest brokenness.  In him, we receive new life and second birth and the grace to change and grow. We can face our unrighteousness, because the mercy and grace of Jesus can restore us to wholeness as individuals and as a community.

God’s glory is revealed when enemies are reconciled to one another, made righteous and find new life making peace together.  That’s what abundant life in Jesus is–and we can have it starting now, with one another. 

Jesus can and will reconcile us if we ask him to.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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Scripture:  Romans 5:1-5 & John 2:1-11

Dear Church,

Do you have hope in these days?

Notice I didn’t ask you if you were feeling hopeful.  I asked you if you have hope. That’s important because hope isn’t an emotion we feel (or don’t feel).  Hope is something concrete we possess if we believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Maybe you think it doesn’t matter if you have hope, as long as you live a faithful loving, generous and compassionate life. But beloved, it does. In fact, I would argue that we can’t live a faithful life without hope.

Our hope in Christ is the source of our vision and our wisdom and our strength.  Our hope shapes our lives.

If we do not have hope in Christ, our fears, cynicism and weaknesses make our choices. 

As the year winds down, we will dedicate these November Sundays to recovering–or maybe discovering–our living hope in Jesus.

Friends–it’s even better than you think. We are always surprised by the beauty and goodness and power of our hope.

Our hope is more than enough. Our hope does not just to sustain us in these days, our hope leads to free, flourishing and abundant life, even and especially in seasons of suffering.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

Want to chat about what you have heard? Click here:
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