Words of Welcome

Matthew 16:21-28 Yesterday, at our retreat, which Alex led with great wisdom and wit, we “played” a few games, and after each game our  facilitators had us debrief our experience.  We talked about how felt and what we learned, with a special focus on what these experiences said to us about the way the church works.  We actually did this several times, and each time we would talk about our feelings and our insights about the way we communicate with each other and as a church.   One of the important lessons learned had to do with listening, and to listen we have to stop talking!   For some of us, that’s not easy to do!   But as the Psalmist wrote: “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10).   Jesus would debrief his disciples on occasion, especially after a big event, like feeding a few thousand people with a couple of loaves of bread and a few fish.  He would  also gather them up after a teaching session.   So, as Jesus was closing out his Galilean ministry, he gath

Genesis 45:1-15 From what I hear family reunions can be a lot of fun.  There’s food, and games, and conversation.  You get to catch up on the latest gossip and tell stories about long-ago exploits.  For some of you this is an annual occurrence.  I can’t speak with any authority on such matters because our family is small and scattered, and we just don’t have such things.  But I trust that the stories I hear are true! Of course, family reunions can also be uncomfortable and awkward. There might be a family feud going on or someone may have been hurt by what someone has said or done.  There may be empty seats, left by those who felt excluded from the family.  While some family members receive the invitation with eagerness and joy, others receive it with dread and wish they could find a way to skip the event.    If modern families can be dysfunctional, the biblical families weren’t any better off.   I chuckle when I hear people extol biblical family values.  What value