Some thoughts on Romans 12:9-16 in light of yesterday...

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer...rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another.
-Romans 12:10-12,15,16

We face a challenge as the people of God in the next few days, weeks, months, and year. God's people have always faced fundamental choices, but it often isn't until catastrophic situations take place that the deep need to make sound, consistent, and faithful choices that protect the identity of the family of God, the calling to be in unity as a body, and the calling to be rooted first and foremost in the pursuit of God is felt. We will face the constant temptation to be fragmented by the difficult decisions we must make; as well as face the constant, deeply-shaping beautiful opportunity to depend on one another and confess our powerlessness without God to sustain, empower, and heal us.

The process has already started. We will gather tonight at Emerson and Elaine's house just down the road from the church to pray at 7 p.m. Tentatively, we will gather for worship at the New Hope Community Center (old New Hope Elementary) on Sunday. More info soon.

How do we face life? Here's a segment from last Sunday's sermon:

"We slow down. One guy I know said it like this: 'We don’t just fly at 560 miles an hour in our 747, miles above a grove of fruit trees and look down and say, “My, what an impressive grove of fruit trees.” Instead, we land the plane and walk through the grove of trees and stop here and there and linger, inhale and smell the fruit, pick the fruit and eat it and savor the beauty and the sweetness of the grove.' In other words, we meditate on these words. We don’t rush over them."

Our rootedness in God can enable us to see the sweetness of a people gathered together in the name of Christ...not afraid to bring all that we are to the table in prayer and dump it down and say, "God, we can't handle this ourselves. We are powerless, identity-less, vision-less without you."

Let's reject the temptation to fragment right now; and daily. Forcefully. Let's embrace unity and our identity in Christ. We don't deny the grief, or the struggle; we honestly face it...