Dear brothers and sisters, I implore us to seek unity with one another, just as John encouraged us to do through his letters to the early church. Let us not be pulled apart by disagreements that lead to hate and division. Can we show the world what it looks like to disagree with love? Can we show what it looks like to have differences but be united because we have something so incredible connecting us that we can’t be pulled apart? We all have this one major, amazing, life changing thing in common, not only with each other in the church but with those outside the church. We are loved by God, who provides and cares for us so deeply. Within the church we recognize the need we have for God, not only for salvation but for true and abiding hope, for unshakable peace and unspeakable joy. We know as a church family that the only reason we can stand before a loving, perfect, Holy God is because Christ stands besides us and reminds God that we have been pardoned because of His sacrifice. ...
Dear brothers and sisters, I write these letters to you because I love you. I don’t want to see you destroyed by hate and pride and isolation. I don’t want to see the church fall apart because we are so focused on ourselves and our comfort that we ignore the pain of others. We’ve stopped looking at others with God’s eyes and instead we’ve begun to label others as “them”. We’ve started to first consider what works best for me, what is comfortable for me and not what Christ considers best. We’ve started to judge first and then, maybe, consider what Christ would have done within the confines of what we want. My generation of believers who grew up in the church was raised with the question, “What would Jesus do?” I fear that as we tossed those bracelets in the trash we also tossed away the question and reflection it brought. Can we say with confidence we respond as a church the way Christ calls us to? Are we reaching out with love and compassion? Sitting down with those cast aside, j...