There is a temptation to take our faith and keep it in a safe and peaceful place in our lives. We can isolate our life of grace in a cave of religious jargon, familiar rituals, and nice people who are always smiling and joyful. Paul speaks to us from prison about ”grace under pressure.” How can grace shine through even when our external lives and/or internal lives are chaotic, disturbing, and anxiety-filled?
This week in Family Worship we're going to look at how we find JOY in serving. There are tons of opportunities to serve one another in our family, school, and community.
It is so easy to cruise through life taking a lot of things for granted and developing patterns of behavior. Sometimes the “easy way” isn’t the best way. Jesus uses a parable to give us a “Kingdom of God” perspective when our relationships are wounded.
One of my favorite memories as a child was the wonderful pictures I saw in Sunday School. I had two favorites. One was Jesus knocking at the door. But my most favorite was Jesus and the children. I found out much later that the artist was Richard Hook and even today seeing that picture takes me back to a time of simple and strong trust in Jesus. Our Gospel lesson points us to the tremendous love Jesus has for children. This is the love we reflect in our strong ministries with children at Our Savior. Welcome children of all ages! -Pastor Ted