The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most famously controversial and convoluted elements of the Christian faith. But what if the doctrine is not what is important about having a Triune God? What if what really matters is God's ability to meet our needs in different ways?

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The God who Meets Our Needs

When the gospel writers clue us in on things the people in their stories don't understand it's a call to engage with the story ourselves. To do what those in the story could not do. To let Jesus be who he came to be, instead of who we want him to be. On Palm Sunday, that recognizing Jesus as the king on a donkey, the Son of God who empties himself in order to change the rules that say power is what wins.
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Hosanna (save us from our need for power).

The story in John's gospel of Jesus washing his disciples' feet on the night before his arrest has inspired a long tradition of foot-washing in the Christian faith. We wash each others' feet to follow his example and to practice servanthood and humility. What we may be less conscious of is the way that foot washing is an intimate act of gentle care. On Jesus' last night with his friends, his choice was to show them how much he loved them.

Art: Lavement des pieds de Saint Pierre par Jésus; Artist unknown. Public Domain

Love on his last night

Question: What name would you call Jesus by? 

The gospel of John invites us to imagine what it would be like to not recognize the risen Jesus until he calls our name. In the experience of Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb we can recognize so much of the fear and uncertainty that we also experience when we do not understand what God is doing. We can hear the question, "who are you looking for" and realize how hard it can be to explain who Jesus is to us when we are caught in doubt or anxiety. But in that story we also hear Jesus call her name first, before she answers the question. In being recognized, she recognizes him and calls him "teacher."
So, the question is - what name springs to your lips when Jesus calls your name?
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Imagine hearing Jesus say your name

Question: What lenses shape the way that you make meaning?

The third Sunday of Easter always features a gospel story of Jesus sharing food with his disciples. These are not the stories that we usually associate with the sacrament of Holy Communion, but perhaps they should be. The resurrected Christ sharing food adds an important element to the way that we interpret his "last" meal, and it also gives us the opportunity to think about the ways that we find meaning in the practices of our faith. 

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Hermeneutics, Sacrament, and Other Relatable Experiences

"The Lord is my Shepherd" may be the most familiar of all Psalm phrases, but do we believe it? Do we believe that each of the promises of caregiving in the 23rd Psalm are ways that we CAN experience God's love, guidance, and protection? Try joining in the verbal repetitions as you listen to this sermon. Try on what it feels like to believe that "The Lord is my Shepherd."
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The Lord is My Shepherd

The invitation to abide in Christ's love is both a comfort and a challenge. It is a comfort to know that we are welcomed and valued. It is a challenge to know that living in love means also loving those who are hard to love... especially those who want to exclude others from the community of love. But the early church offers us stories of navigating just these challenges, and the lesson from their example is to follow God's lead and just point to God if we are challenged.
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Abide in Love with Them?!

The texts for Ascension give up two different takes on Jesus' final goodbye to his closest friends. While the emotional tone in each account is different, in both stories Jesus promises the disciples that he is sending God's Spirit to Empower them. We inherit this same promise, and in our lives it is the power of transformation.

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Jesus, Lift Us Up.

When Jesus promised his disciples the Spirit would come, he said the Spirit would lead them into all truth. And when the Spirit came of the church's first Pentecost, the very first thing the Spirit did was to manifest as a radical welcome in the native language of the gathered crowd. That welcome is essential to the truth of God's work in the world.

Spirit of Welcome & Truth

The Doctrine of the Trinity is famously difficult to understand. But what if the point is not understanding? What if the point is to lean into the trust that is shared within God's self, and to find in that trust the overwhelming love that is as the center of God's being. 

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Trinity of Love

When our world is so full of conflicts and opposing sides it is easy to get pulled into us vs. them mindsets that focus on our attention on wanting those on the other side to be "defeated." But winning the argument is always only tangentially important. What matters is fixing the problems. And often, to get there, we have to be willing to do the messy work of setting aside our self-righteousness to work of figuring out what will be most healing. 

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The Messy Work of Healing

Welcome to the sermon feed for Abiding Peace Lutheran Church: Journey of Faith. We would love to have you with us for worship, but if you can't join us on Sunday mornings, we hope these messages bring the challenge and grace of the gospel to your life.

The God who Meets Our Needs

Abiding Peace Lutheran Church

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