Words of Welcome

Luke 7:36-50 H.L. Mencken described a Puritan as a "person with a haunting fear that someone, somewhere is happy."1 Unfortunately that description could apply to many Christian communities. Churches are often places of discord, abuse, and fountains of hate, even though this stands in contrast to Jesus’s message of grace, love and forgiveness. This attitude is often enabled by a legalism that is contrary to Jesus’ message of freedom, healing, and acceptance. Unfortunately, this reality has led large numbers of people to conclude that the church of Jesus Christ is the last place to go if you’re looking for a word of hope or happiness. The word on the street is that churches are places of ostracism, exclusion, and condemnation, where no one dares to laugh, lest they offend God and their neighbor. I hope that’s not true here, but that’s the reputation we must deal with! 1. AN INVITATION TO DINNER This reputation of legalism and exclusiveness isn’t new. You see it on display in...

Jonah 4:1-11 If you want to insult a chef or cook, tell them that the dinner was “fine.” Why? Because the word “fine” means: “it was edible, but I’ve had better.” Yes, the word “fine” means “tolerable” or “acceptable.” It could have been worse, but it also could have been better. When you hear the words accept or accepting, do you hear the words “fine” or “tolerable”? Do you hear a sigh of resignation in these words? If you do, hopefully that’s not what you hear in the core value that we focus on today. Hopefully, what you hear in these words is something positive and dynamic. Instead of resignation and toleration, I hope you hear words like including, welcoming, and embracing. 1. What a Day to think about being an Accepting Missional Congregation: It may be fortuitous that today is both World Communion Sunday and Reconciliation Sunday . To top it off, we will also be celebrating the 200th anniversary of Thomas Campbell’s Declaration and Address , a document that laun...