Words of Welcome

Luke 5:33-39 Heraclitus supposedly said: "All things are in a state of flux." In other words, change is part of life. Whether we like it or not, nothing ever stays the same. And to prove his point, that old Greek philosopher pointed to a river and said, you can’t step into the same river twice. Why? Because the water that runs down the river is ever changing. And so it is with life. You might say that change defines modern life. Fashion and music tastes change from day to day. The same is true of hair styles. We look back at old photos and laugh at the big hair or the big glasses. And as for technology, as soon as you get that computer out of the box, it’s already obsolete. I don’t know if you ‘ve noticed it, but politicians have been talking a lot about change – where they differ is in the kind of change they propose. But this is the year of change! The church is nearly 2000 years old, so you’d think it might be immune to change, but even in the church change has become the

Joshua 1:1-9 It was really just a few days ago that the family left California and headed East in our two-car caravan for the Promised Land – Michigan that is. We had to travel through Sin City , cross deserts and mountains, rivers and corn fields. We wandered through nine different states and touched the edge of Chicago before we crossed the state line into Michigan . Even then the journey wasn’t over, because we hadn’t reached our final destination. So, we continued driving across the state, entered the Detroit area, stopped in at the Morehouse domain, had dinner and picked up a key to the new house. Only then could we finally cross the threshold and claim our new house in Troy as our own. I could expand on the journey a bit more, but that would take more time than is available. I could also show you some pictures, but that too must wait until another day. The journey east, however, isn’t so much about a new house as it is a new calling and a new ministry.

Matthew 17:1-9 We’ve all had life defining experiences. They may not be Damascus Road, Mt. Sinai, or the Mount of Transfiguration types of experiences, but whatever they might have been, they helped define our lives and transform us into the persons we are today. If we look back on them, even years later, we can remember the event vividly. There are historical and public events that define us – events like Pearl Harbor, the assassination of Martin Luther King, or 9-11. These events define generations and eras. Those of you who grew up during World War II see things differently than we who grew up during Vietnam or the first Gulf War. Because they’re public events, we share them with the multitudes, and so even strangers can find a connection through them. There are also very personal events that mark us as individuals. We may share these events with a few people, but the circle is much smaller and deeply personal. I’m talking about events like a marriage, a birth, a divorce, a