There is something simple that bears repeating as often as we can.
You are a beloved child of God.
This church is a place where you are loved. Whether you are black, white, hispanic, undocumented, gay, transgender, democrat, republican, independent. Grieving or joyful. Full of faith or doubt. Full of hope or despair. Here we insist that everyone of you is a beloved and beautiful child of God. Loved, and worthy of love, no matter what.
We don’t do it perfectly. But we strive, every day, to show God’s love as best we can. Sometimes we love in big ways. More often it’s the little ways. Little acts of care and kindness which, taken together, are our way of bringing heaven to earth. We were doing that yesterday. We are doing that today. We will be doing that tomorrow too.
I think of each thing we do at this church as having a place in that greater call. Piece by piece, by joining together in worship, fellowship, study, and prayer, by giving generously to the organizations and causes that need our support, by teaching our children well, by caring for one another through the ups and downs of life, through all of it, we are weaving together these little acts of love into something much bigger, and much more beautiful, than any one of us could do alone.
