Words of Welcome

Acts 2:14a, 36-47 Brett will often ask me “what’s going on in church-land today?” Even if his question is job-related, it is a good question. What is happening in church-land? What does it mean to be church? To use the words of a song by Bill Thomas, do you “see a church with a vision; ... a church with a mission?” [ Chalice Praise , 133.] Although we are still in the season of Easter, the reading from Acts 2 takes us to the Day of Pentecost and beyond. Easter is awe-inspiring, because it invites us to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. It invites us to take hold of the promise that in Christ life conquers death. But the story of resurrection continues in the life of the new community which was commissioned to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the world, as Jesus directed on the day of his ascension(Acts 1:8), and then formed into a dynamic missional church by the Spirit on Pentecost. 

Acts 2:14, 32-39 We’ve reached the half way point in our Lenten journey, and I believe that God is doing something important in our midst. With Gay Reese as our guide, we have opened ourselves up to being transformed as individuals and as a congregation. I do think it is appropriate to say that we’re becoming a converted community. That is, God is unbinding our hearts and minds so that we might be open both to the future and to the community that lies just beyond our doors.1 There’s a new spirit and purpose in this congregation. Not so long ago our congregation was wracked by conflict and division. We were broken and many were angry. Over the past few years God has been healing those wounds and preparing the congregation for something new. That new thing is beginning to happen. Oh, you may only see the first shoots sticking out of the ground, but it’s happening right before our eyes. As this new thing grows and develops, it will move us beyond these walls and out into ...