church

I wonder what people see when they see "the church", and by that I mean our building and the few people who come here on Sunday mornings. Do they see a dead tree? A wintered tree? A tree without leaves? And how might we become leafy to our neighbors? How might we soak up the sun/son and emit the breath of life like tree leaves do? Is that not our task and calling as church? To abide with Jesus in such a way that we can't avoid the light,the water, the wind. To let those things cause in us the emergent growth of spring and to provide shade for the weary and breathable air for all. I suspect that the challenge is to get people connected with Jesus as the source of their life first. We need to create a space for hospitality to take hold and welcome people. And we need to create space for holy conversation, prayer, and listening to occur. We need to create space where people can encounter the holy, sacred, otherness of GOD present to us in the ways God promises to be. "I am the vine, you are the branches." This weekend I hope to call our attention to that John text as a source of our spiritual nourishment.May those Words of Christ bear muchfruit in our hearts, minds, and lives.