Radical Grace

Jesus is remembered for many reasons. Some people think of His miracles. They are inspired by the healings and the the wonderful actions that He did. These works were certainly important. They show that Jesus cared about offering hope to the people of the world. However, it is forgiveness and grace that were essential to the message that Christ offered. Jesus wanted people to see the loving nature of God, and He wanted people to know what forgiveness could do. 

As I look at the world today, I see people who are obsessed by works of wonder. It seems like everyone wants to be a superhero that can overcome any obstacle. However, many of these people have stopped looking for real miracles. Instead they want to believe they can accomplish anything without help. In some ways, this way of living doesn't desire grace. We all want to be right all the time, and if we do mess up, we never want to admit we were wrong. I see this behavior my little kids, but I also see it in adults, including myself. 

Jesus came to this world to declare God's love for us. God does not love us because we are perfect. God doesn't love us because we are right all the time. We are loved just as we are. We are chosen to be God's people, and we can have hope in new life. 

Today, I think Jesus is asking us: Are we willing to let grace in? Are we willing to let go of the facade? Are we willing to let go of trying to be a superhero who is right all the time? This is an important part of everyone's faith journey. Our church says we are a people of Radical Grace. God also declares that He wants to bring grace and forgiveness into the world. Are we ready to admit we need this?

Today I hope we can all reflect on what it means to be honest. I hope we can take time to consider the impact that grace has on our lives. I also hope we can go out of our way to be a church that accepts others. We should not expect perfection. We should share the love that God first gave to us.

Blessings,

Pastor Brian

Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! 

I love this season. I had so much fun on Easter watching my two older boys help our one-year-old son look for Easter eggs. It was a blast to watch the kids share this excitement. My wife and I usually try to limit the sugar intake, but we couldn't resist laughing when we caught the older two sneaking their younger brother his first jelly beans. (He really liked them!) We experienced so much joy together. The entire season felt like it flew by so fast. I am glad we had a bit of time to enjoy together.

Are you celebrating the joy of the Easter season? It can be difficult to do. There is a lot of bad news in the world. To truly celebrate Easter, I think we have to look at more than jelly beans and Easter eggs. Easter doesn't happen without reflecting on death. Last week, we took time to remember Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. We spent time looking back at the Last Supper Jesus had with his disciples. We gathered around the cross to meditate on what Jesus did for us. I do not think our society is great at reflecting on imperfections. No one wants to admit their mistakes. I see young kids doubling down when they get in trouble, and I see leaders all around the world doing the same thing. People do not want to confess to any imperfections. We are also surrounded by social media that doesn't seem to help much. I can find a new study every week that describes people being harmed online. Anxiety and depression are on the rise and bad news seems to be everywhere in the world. 

What does it mean to be a people of the resurrection in the midst of all of this? We share the Good News that Jesus Christ is risen, but sometimes we may not feel Christ's presence.

I firmly believe Jesus is here. We do not have to pretend that we are something that we are not. I want my kids to always feel the kind of joy and love they felt on Easter. However, to feel real joy they have to know they can make mistakes, and they have to trust that God still loves them. This is the world I hope we can all share with each other. We don't have to put on a facade. We can admit we are broken, and we can find the truth of the resurrection as we love one another.

Blessings,

Pastor Brian