Words of Welcome

Romans 12:9-21 Sometimes you come across a passage of Scripture that could take several months of sermons to explore.  This is true of today’s reading.  With sentences coming at us in rapid-fire fashion, it demands a great degree of reflection.  Since I’m not planning an extended series at this moment, I will try to refrain from dwelling too long in every nook and cranny of Paul’s message.   Each statement is an imperative sentence that speaks to what it means to live the Christian life.  It’s fitting that this reading comes on Labor Day Weekend, because it will take a lot of work to fulfill Paul’s expectations.   The key to this passage is the call to “let love be genuine” (vs. 9).  Everything that follows is an expression of genuine love.  It’s not romantic love.  It’s not just friendship.  It’s Agape love.  When it comes to defining love, I’ve been turning to theologian Tom Oord for help.  His basic definition goes like this: To love is to act intentionally, in symp

Romans 9:1-5 Did you see the article in Tuesday’s  Free Press  about  Rippling Hope ?  Although neither the Michigan Region nor Central Woodward was mentioned, we can read ourselves into it.  That’s because Carl Zerweck told the reporter that a couple of pastors from the area invited Rippling Hope to come to Detroit. That happened four years ago, and those pastors were Eugene James and me.  The reason why Rippling Hope made the paper and the  Channel 7 news  was because it was joining up with   Arise Detroit’s Neighborhood Day. Yesterday, I spent much of the day in Detroit, along with Diana Payton, David McCormick, and Kevin Murnaghan – an Irish co-worker of David’s who is on temporary assignment from the company headquarters in Germany.  We joined the Rippling Hope contingent doing some painting, gutter cleaning, yard cleaning, and caulking of windows.  David, Kevin, and I worked on Mr. Zachary’s porch.  It needed quite a bit of work, and while we didn’t get it finished,