The church is so much bigger than any building or place because the church is so much more than that.

In a word, saints are blessed.

Jesus invites us to change our perspective.

Instead, Jesus calls us to move beyond division and binary thinking.

There is a blessing in our wrestling, reminding us that we are not alone.

This is a story about the power of one that attests to the love of the One who loves us first and always.

All around us, creation laments.

This message is good news for those who are hungry, cast aside, and ignored.

How much more profound is the way Christ throws off all respectability in order to save us who are lost and despairing.

Today we hear the good news of a God who seeks us out and finds us in our lostness.

But here’s the thing: Because Jesus wants our full attention, he also invites us to bring our full selves – the best and the not-so-great.

At God’s banquet table, there is a place for all and enough for all. That’s Jesus’s point.

Audio sermon from the 11th Sunday after Pentecost with guest preacher Rev. Paul Pfeffer

Audio sermon from the 10th Sunday after Pentecost with guest preacher Rev. Rebecca Gordon

God calls us to be the church – in all of what that means.

We know that we need God, but here’s the extra amazing part: God needs us too. God cannot and will not give us up.

God will never stop loving us, even if it doesn’t make any sense.

God’s no is an interruption to the status quo – whether it’s a welcome interruption or not.

When we are fed up, God feeds us.

God seems to have a knack for working with and through outsiders.