This Sunday we’ll wrap up our July sermon series with our fourth and final question, “Where Do We Go from Here?”  How many times in our lives have we asked ourselves this very question?  Probably a countless number!  Sometimes we’ve asked this question quite literally, especially in the days before GPS! But many a time we’ve asked ourselves this question in a much more figurative way.  Where am I going from here?  What is ahead for me?  For us?  For our families, our friends, our faith community?  The future is not crystal clear and we are not able to predict what is ahead.  But still, we ask the question, seeking direction, guidance, wisdom and light for our path.  

It’s often hard to know how to ask another person about their pain.  It’s equally hard to take the risk of being vulnerable and talking about our own.  So why do it at all?  This Sunday we’ll explore the value of making space for one another’s pain on both a personal level and in the public domain.  We’ll also dig into our scripture passage from Mark with its reminders that the Divine not only doesn’t shy away from human suffering but always seems to be right in the thick of it.  

It’s often hard to know how to ask another person about their pain.  It’s equally hard to take the risk of being vulnerable and talking about our own.  So why do it at all?  This Sunday we’ll explore the value of making space for one another’s pain on both a personal level and in the public domain.  We’ll also dig into our scripture passage from Mark with its reminders that the Divine not only doesn’t shy away from human suffering but always seems to be right in the thick of it.  

Where are you from? This is the first week of our four week sermon series “I’ve Been Meaning to Ask.” This is an opportunity to turn back toward one another, child of God to child of God, leaning in with courageous and heartfelt questions.

What does God want from God’s people when it comes to buildings?  What does God NOT want?  What needs to be broken down first in order to build up?  How do we know, in God’s realm, when it’s time to build?  Who is the builder?  What is being built?  I hope you’ll ponder those thoughts and we’ll delve into this and more on Sunday!

I think the notion of walking in the truth…the truth of who we are and whose we are…is probably a fairly appealing notion to most of us.  Our spirits, I believe, inherently yearn for this type of authenticity.  But day to day reality has taught many of us that this is probably easier said than done.  There are all kinds of things and forces and entities that tempt us to step outside of our truth, sometimes unnecessarily puffing ourselves up…sometimes tamping down the essence of who we are.  

Perhaps you have noticed that some portions of this week’s Scripture seem more familiar than others. Some of this is due to sheer repetition — as in the case of John 3:16 or Psalm 23. Other occasions are due to certain material actually being repeated in the scriptures. Our passage on Sunday has two very instances of this!

There was an activity at camp where we handed out cups, upside down, to each of the campers on the field.  We turned on the sprinklers and hoses and told the campers to collect as much water as they could with their cups upside down and help each other fill their cups. Of course, they were a little confused and soaked as they ran around trying to figure out how to get water into their cup. It wasn’t until we had told them that this is kinda how we do life. We run around with our cups empty. It’s not until we consciously flip our cup and make room for God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to enter into the cup and into our lives. 

Being “born again” is language that most of us are probably familiar with but many of us may not have adopted or used.  What was Jesus talking about in being born again?  How might that be meaningful for our lives as Christians who continue to seek to follow in Jesus’ way and live lives of faith, love and service in the world?