Words of Welcome

Acts 5:27-32 When I was a child, we began every school day with the Pledge of Allegiance. In doing this we declared our love and support for our nation. I doubt if I really understood the implications of my pledge; it was just something I said every morning as school began. Only later, when I got older, did I begin to understand what it means to give my allegiance to my country. I also learned that not everyone agreed on what allegiance means. Do I, for instance, have to love it or leave it, as the old bumper sticker suggests? Do I have to agree with everything our government does in order to be a loyal citizen? With these questions about loyalty and allegiance circling in our minds, Christians face another question – is allegiance to the nation the ultimate allegiance? Or, does our allegiance to God trump our allegiance to family, to community, to nation? As we think on these questions, consider for a moment those who risked their lives in the 1930s and 1940s to hide their Jewish n...

Isaiah 2:1-5 John Lennon imagined a world without religion or nations, but one with peace. Imagine there's no countries, It isn't hard to do. Nothing to Kill or die for, and no Religion too. Imagine all the people living life in peace . . . Then in the chorus he sings: You may say I'm, a dreamer But I'm not the only One. I Hope someday you'll join us and the world will be as one. Imagine for a moment a world at peace. What might that be like? What will it take? Will it take the end of nations and religions as we know them today? It’s unfortunate that John Lennon is on the mark. Nationalism and religion have often contributed to the hatred and the violence that make a mess of our world. And just to be clear, it’s not just Islam that’s at fault. Every religion, including ours, contributes to this problem. When we think of peace, we tend to think globally. But it’s not just a global issue, it’s also very local and very personal. Wherever conflict and anger and hatred ...