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From the Pastor….
Today, I have lots on my mind…. What does it mean to inspire generosity, Stewardship, discussions and conversations that we need to be having and when we have them will we be kind, Grace UCC’s mission statement, Mission, outward looking instead of inward, completely welcoming, how are we being compassionate, are we living our core values, how can I be challenging and leading better….
A year ago I was packing up memories and things, saying goodbye to friends, and getting ready to move, so that on Sept. 12 I will have been here a year, where I unpacked and new memories and friends have grown. Sometimes it feels like yesterday, and other days it feels like I just moved. Sometimes it feels like we have grown in many ways, and other days it feels like we haven’t grown enough. Sometimes it feels like I have made many changes and other days it feels like I haven’t pushed enough changes. And through it all God is still speaking, the Spirit is moving, and calling me, calling all of us….
Ok, what do I mean?
What I mean is this….
God spoke through the prophets to a time and place, to a people that needed God and God needed them to hear, to a people that needed rules in order to know whom they belonged to.
God spoke through Jesus, when God sent God’s own son to live among the people, and to be truly human, and to die a horrible death on a cross, and then to rise again, to take all of our sins away.
God spoke through the disciples and the apostles as they lived and were changed and told the stories of Jesus and brought people to faith.
God spoke through Paul in a conversion as Paul wrote letters to a certain people at a certain time.
God spoke through our parents and grandparents as they too tried to figure out what God was saying to them at a certain time in a certain place.
God speaks to us, helping us to hear God’s voice in the world that we live in.
God speaks to us today in new and different ways. And God will continue to speak to our children and grandchildren.
God is a God of justice and love. God is a God of compassion and spirit. God is a God who isn’t quiet in our world. God is a God who isn’t stagnant in our life. God is a God of peace and justice, mercy and grace.
I am so glad that God continues to speak, that God loves us enough to keep speaking.
Today God is speaking in many ways… God is speaking through the Black lives matter movement, God is speaking through equality for all, God is speaking through children and youth that say enough is enough, God is speaking through us, how we respond, how we live. Are we listening?
God is speaking at Grace United Church of Christ.
Shalom,
Pastor Mindy